(Note: the insight for this writing comes from a wonderful colleague of mine, Rev. Janelle Kurtz. I want to thank her for her amazing work and witness.)
Fear does some crazy things to us, doesn’t it? Ever since I’ve come to the PNW, I have yearned to go snow shoeing up around Mt. Ranier or Mt. Baker. I just think it would be so cool! For 9 years now, every time I taste a snowflake on my tongue, I say to myself, “This year, Brook, you’ve got to do it!” But I don’t. Do you know why? It’s because I watched a documentary once about a ski community that was nearly wiped out by an avalanche. And it has instilled in me a real fear of being swallowed up by snow.
Recently, though, I found some hope. My friend, Janelle, shared this little bit of hope just yesterday in a clergy gathering I was in. She shared that if you ever get in an avalanche, one of the key problems is that you don’t know which direction to dig. The avalanche comes so fast, and tosses you around so much, that by the time you come to a rest, you don’t know which way is up or down. Tragically, many folks who are found dead after an avalanche are found digging in the wrong direction!
But there is some good news! Folks have found a solution to this predicament, and the key to it all is to first dig a small space in front of your face (so you can breathe) and then make sure you spit! (Yes, you heard me...spit!) Why? Because after you spit, you will notice that gravity will take that spit in the direction towards the ground, and you will, therefore, know which direction you need to dig to get out!
What a revelation for me. There was something about this little bit of information that alleviated my fears just enough, that I was able to move away from my “frozen” state concerning snow shoeing! And guess what? I’ve booked a snow shoeing date! Thank you, Janelle!
In some ways, folks, we are in the midst of a political avalanche these days. And unfortunately, it has caused too many of us to freeze...or even worse...to throw up our hands and drop our agency and power into our basements. Fear has a way of doing that! And I have to admit that there is a big part of me that has found myself falling into that trap. “What can little old Bear Creek UMC do against all of this?”
But this new image of “spitting” has helped me. Maybe the church (and pardon the mental image here) is called to be “the spit” in the avalanche! Maybe what we do and how we do it can help people regain a sense of “a more excellent way” to live in these times. Maybe when we show compassion to the immigrant, provide shelter to those in fear, feed (both spiritually and physically) those who have nowhere to turn...we are in essence “spitting” into this political avalanche and showing people which way is true and honorable. Maybe when we defend our company’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion program (way to go Cyndy) and choose to be a church that welcomes everyone regardless of their sexual orientation, we are not only doing what our faith directs us to, but we are also “spitting” into the avalanche and showing the world which way is up...showing them that there is a more excellent way to be human beings. Showing them that there is a more excellent way to treat people who are different than we are!
In the church’s original baptismal rite...the congregation and those getting baptized were asked at one point of the ritual to do something very strange. They were asked to turn in the opposite direction of where Jerusalem was and then spit in that direction! As they said in essence, “We renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of our sin.” Later on in that ritual we not only reject those forces, but we also take on agency, “we accept the freedom and power God give us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”
Maybe when we show compassion, provide sanctuary and shelter to those who are being bombarded with hate, feed and encourage those in our country who are hungry to belong, clothe those who have been stripped of their dignity, or join with our community in singing a song of justice and joy, we are providing this world with an alternative narrative that, when done in love, might just help this country and world find the right way up.
Your friend and pastor, knowing now which way to dig with all my heart, Brook
Jeanne. Id love to hear more about your silivon valley experience. Very insightful. We can’t do it all, but our acts of love and kindness hopefully remind the world of what it means to be fully human. I think your take on capitalism and its roots have been our achille’s heel. When will we relinquish ourselves from that myth of fool’s gold?
I have been frozen, overwhelmed by it all. They are honoring the ridiculous* mantra of Silicon Valley (move fast, break things) and it reminds me of the dinosaur Clever Girl in the first Jurassic Park movie who was constantly testing the boundaries of her compound, looking for a weak spot where she could break out.
I am gradually digging my way out, doing some little things to make things better, but it's going to take more than my little drop of spit, so to speak. We are going to need a whole lot of spit.
*I worked there, so I can say that it's ridiculous.