A Word from Pastor Lisa: Emergence

Photo Credit: Jim Powers

“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

– Isaiah 43:19

The dogs and I stopped on our morning walk the other day to watch a newly hatched cicada nymph shed its shell. This nymph from the Brood X invasion had of course burrowed underground for 17 years, sucking on tree root sap. Then one day it knew that was not the life it needed, so it burrowed a hole to emerge, made a grand entrance, and fixed itself to a vertical tree trunk. Within an hour, its shell would split down the middle and crack open before it could wiggle away and spread its wings.

We did not stay for the full hour to watch the nymph emerge because I have a dog who likes to feast on cicadas. But I have been awe-struck by their life cycle and our Creator’s wisdom in fashioning them. And I wonder what they might teach us as we emerge from this pandemic. They’ve spent the past 17 years underground, content to live in their self-constructed burrow. Over time, they get coated in anal fluid. They monitor the tree sap so they know when it’s time to leave the life they’ve always known for a stint in the unknown world. They must learn to live in a completely new way, just like us as we emerge from this pandemic.

We’ve spent more than a year in what theologians and thinkers call a “liminal space,” which I’ve reflected on before. Richard Rohr says a liminal space is:

“A unique position where human beings hate to be but where the biblical God is always leading them. It is when you have left the tried and true, but have not yet been able to replace it with anything else. It is when you are finally out of the way. It is when you are between your old comfort zone and any possible new answer. If you are not trained in how to entrust and wait, you will run…anything to flee this terrible cloud of unknowing.”

There are lots of liminal spaces in Scripture. This one in Isaiah features the people of God in the position of exile, where their waywardness has led to Babylonian conquest. They are far away from their lands, their destroyed temple, and their God. The prophet is beckoning them back to God and reminding them that in this season of uncertainty, God is about to do a new thing.

I’ve heard a lot of talk these days as masks mandates are lifted and vaccines are widely available in our country about a return to “normal.” Those in places of privilege say this with a sigh of relief and gratitude. We aren’t going back to the way things were, nor should we. As people of faith, we believe that God is always doing a new thing. Redemption and resurrection are never a return to the status quo, but an invitation to a new way of life. Perhaps there are pre-pandemic practices that you need to shed to be free in Christ. Perhaps there are ministries as a congregation that we need to lay to rest. Perhaps there are situations in our community (e.g. poverty and racism) or country (e.g. mass shootings) that we need to be rid of in order to experience liberation and new life.

In order to shed our past and look toward God’s preferred future, I hope we’ll use this time of emergence to ask some questions posed by Susan Beaumont:

· Who are we?

· Who are we here to serve?

· What is God calling us to do or become?

· What are our most important priorities and how might our priorities be shifting in this season?

As we reflect, we must be gentle with ourselves and tend to our souls. We’ve been through a lot of trauma this past year. There is grief, large and small, that we must sort through. We aren’t all coming up out of the ground in the exact same moment, and we need to be patient with each other in the process of recovering from stress and healing. Here are some ideas to complete your stress cycles:

· Take lots of walks.

· See your counselor.

· Laugh often.

· Eat together.

· Snuggle your pets.

· Listen to music.

· Spend time in your garden.

· Focus on quiet prayer and meditation.

Susan Beaumont says we need to steep in liminality as long as it takes. We need to be patient as the new thing emerges. We aren’t cicadas who take only 60 minutes to shed our skin and take flight. We might need more time. We can invite a new beginning in our lives, but we can’t force its arrival. We need what William Bridges calls the 4 Ps – purpose, picture, plan, and a part to play in the next season of our lives. We can’t get there until we’re ready. We need discernment, not decision, and then the prayerful courage to spread our wings.