Dealing with Chaos

MID-COUNCIL CONFERENCE

REV. DR. LAURIE FERGUSON

“The Tension of Uncertainty”

Acts 27:9-28:2

Paul takes on the role of Christ in the boat during a storm—he becomes the non-anxious presence. Paul’s confidence is astounding—he keeps faith in the face of the utter chaos of the moment. He infuses the chaos with the sacramental—he brings God into the center of the moment through eucharist. The group is led by strangers (Paul and the Centurion). No human action becomes redemptive; it becomes the grace of God that sees them through to land. In the end, they all are saved—salvation is not an individual blessing; it is always communal. Our hope is interdependence/interbeing.

The truth of life within the church at the moment is that we are lost at sea, so to speak. We don’t see where we’re going, if there is a safe harbor, or if it’s all going to sink. There are no clear signs yet of how the current state of flux is going to play out. 

Human beings don’t do well with uncertainty or ambiguity. Ellsberg in the “Uncertainty Paradox” showed how we resist uncertainty. In a simple experiment, he presented two jars, one known to be 50/50 black and red balls, the other a random selection. Observed, people chose the defined jar as more certain in terms of predictability. Unobserved, more people chose the random jar! We will risk if no one knows we are taking risks. Our brain chemistry is such that uncertainty fires anxiety, so we are wired against taking risks.

The irony, of course, is that we are in a time where the church has to take risks. Sticking with the status quo is a dead end. Uncertainty is simply a piece of life within the church as adjustments and adaptations are made to meet our context. We have to, in the name of faith, take risks to find ways of engaging the world that the world will be more open to accepting.

We do need to collect a set of anchors to offer us more stability. These will be processes and practices that will offer some structure. 

Getting grounded—finding practices that settle us. We lose rigidity to be able to relax, standing loosely, but, ironically, in full contact with our center. This comes both in mindful contact with the actual earth; and in mindful contact with simply what is. It is the presence of acceptance. 

Refuge—finding safe space that is protected from intrusion. Jesus himself made retreat central to his ministry. We disconnect from the world for a time. We do so to connect more deeply to God. We need to create these havens within our presbyteries. We need to be intentional about this actually scheduling times of exit for ourselves.

As we find these anchors and establish them for our own lives, we need to find ways to offer them to the whole group. Begin with committee meetings—offer them ways to ground themselves and to be havens for their members; then draw those practices even further out until they encompass our communal life together as a presbytery.