Some thoughts on handling church controversies

From a friend:

"As I look back on my life today I am able to see things differently in hindsight, things that at the time seemed to be tragedies- today appear in a different light. Not good or bad, but necessary; necessary towards learning about myself, others, and the world around me. With the benefit of age and wisdom I don’t see myself as much as an individual as I once did, today I appreciate the connections between myself as an individual and between myself and the world in a way in which I was unable to as a youth. Today I value nuance, life, and the small, sweet smells of spring, the clearness of winter, the depth of summer, and the earthiness of fall.

As Tom T Hall once sang:

I love little baby ducks,

Old pick-up trucks,

Slow movin trains, and rain.

I love little country streams,

Sleep without dreams,

Sunday school in May, and hay.

I love honest open smiles,

Kisses from a child,

Tomatoes on a vine, and onions.

I realize that, today, though obviously still a child in the eyes of God, I am no longer a mere infant. I am reminded of the third chapter in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians as they struggled internally as all human institutions do:

“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

And so, as I approach the time in my life in which I will be reunited with my maker, I realize that, although I am just now becoming more than a “mere infant”, I am able for the first time to start to break away from the worldly and see things spiritually. I don’t see bad times as I once did: as bad in and of themselves, but as necessary experiences that can be embraced for all of their uncertainty, their pain, their passion, and their disappointment. For what good am I if I cannot share with the less experienced the fact that life has always been about human suffering and human triumph, and not necessarily in that order? Again, turning to Paul and chapter 13 of his first epistle:

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal...  ...Love is patient, love is kind...  ...It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child…  …For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

...And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

 

And as Tom T Hall closes:

            I love winners when they cry,

            Losers when they try,

            Music when it's good, and life.

I love life. Even with all its trials and tribulations- which are necessary. They make life rich and meaningful. Bring on the bad times. I can only hope that all people will be able at some point to appreciate the gift of trying times. It is in these trying times that our spirits are most tested, useful, and needed. May God bless us all with and during trying times.