Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
THE CHRONICLE
The Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 6, 1999
Volume 44, No. 23

". . .a world of safety, security and predictability . . . "
It was the final session of a small bereavement group series, facilitated by a renowned Pastoral Counselor and Seminary Professor. The exercise was to use one's imagination and put in the empty chair in the middle of the circle, the person departed, or whatever one was grieving (e.g., one's youth, job, marriage). Then, to say "goodbye" to the person and let the grief go so as to be able to move on with one's life.

When it was Karen's turn, she said, "I guess what I have to give up is my expectation of a life that is safe, secure and predictable." Wow! When I heard that it really hit home. Take for example the current epidemic of school shootings. My world did not include even the imagining of such terror and grief, just two or three years ago. And when it happened, I went in my mind to a familiar place, where I thought, where is that world in which I grew up? Where is that safe, secure, predictable life in which these "darknesses" did not exist?

Well, the hard, cold fact of life is that this darkness does exist and always has existed throughout human history. There may be solutions (God knows we pray so) to this particular manifestation of "the human condition." For example, gun control? Of course. It should be much more difficult to find and possess a gun. TV and movies? I guess, but disturbed minds supply their own "pictures." Restore religion to the schools? Nice idea, but I don't think it will stop emotionally disturbed people from "acting out." As I said, there may be solutions to this particular horror, but human nature being what it is, there will be others.

The goal of religion and of faith in the midst of "darkness" is to be able to stay in touch with the joy of life despite the "valleys," so as to be part of the "light" and to contribute to possible solutions. In bad times the community of faith strives to find meaning and purpose in life and to be a model of "victorious living," notwithstanding the grief and tragedy that are part of this existence.

Where, then, are the security, safety and predictability for which our hearts long? Jesus said: "The Kingdom of God is within." God's calm is within us, where we may find the "peace which passes all understanding." In the heart of a raging storm our seas can be still, as we seek and find that special, sacred place/space, where God centers and surrounds us in the sanctuary of God's love and protection. That is the only place there has ever been true safety, security and predictability. Ever.
Peace,
Bill Kolb+