Thursday February 24, 2022

I took my bicycle for a ride along the Mission Creek Greenway in Kelowna, not long ago. I didn’t bother checking a map –why bother? The creek runs down to the lake; the Greenway follows the creek; what could go wrong?

            Except that the trail I was riding along abruptly ended at a wire fence.

            Clearly, the main trail had diverged somewhere, but I was so preoccupied with my own  ride that I didn’t  notice. It must be somewhere to my left. And fortunately, there was a trail of sorts leading that direction. 

            The trail was rough, but passable. Until I got to a little stream, seeping down through millennia of rotting vegetation, just too wide to leap across. 

            I’m inventive. I pushed my bike out into the middle. I used it to vault across to the far side. 

            But I couldn’t go any farther. The slope up to the Greenway trail was too steep, too slippery. I had to turn back. 

            So I pushed my bike back out into the middle of the little stream.

            Where it promptly fell over. 

            I couldn’t get it up. I couldn’t drag it back.

            I found a small tree that had fallen over, slightly farther down the creek. The tree was thin. Slippery. Quite unstable. But like a tight-rope walker, I teetered across to solid ground.

            I tried to drag my bike out of the muck. It stuck. I tugged. My shoes slipped on the muddy bank.

            Suddenly, I stood in cold, thick, black guck past my ankles. Filthy water seeped into my running shoes. 

            I wanted to scream at the sky, “Why are you doing this to me?”

Biblical precedent

            Later, after I had retrieved my bicycle and squished some of the goo out of my shoes, I thought of the biblical Book of Job. 

            Briefly, the story says that God and Satan were having a friendly chat one afternoon. And Satan told God that people only followed God because God did favours for them – what would be called the “prosperity gospel” today. 

            God didn’t agree. 

            So they made a bet. Using Job, a prosperous farmer with ten children and thousands of livestock, as their test case. God bet that Job would stay faithful, even if all hell broke loose. 

            And it did. Job lost his family, his investment portfolio, his animals, his houses, his employees – everything. 

            His friends told him he must have done something terribly wrong to deserve this treatment. That’s the way things work, they assured him.

            Job told take their pious platitudes and, well, umm, go away.

            He went out and screamed at the sky – presuming that God was up there somewhere – “Why are you doing this to me?”

            And God answered. Not nicely, mind you. God thundered, “Who do you think you are, you miserable pipsqueak, daring to challenge me? What makes you think you have a right to know the secrets of the universe?”

            So Job apologized. And according to Bible, God made everything right again. Job got a new family, a new farm, new servants.

            But I bet it felt good to go out there and yell at God. 

*****************************************

Copyright © 2022 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.

                  To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca

*****************************************

YOUR TURN

Last week’s column played with the theme, “It’s all about ego.” I received a wide variety of responses. I had, for example, commented that we tend to “imagine God in our own image. Or at least in the image of what we would like to be: wise, understanding, thoughtful, kind, compassionate, fair…”

            Isabel Gibson responded, “I can think of people who don't imagine themselves in this way. Smart, tough, strong, successful, maybe.

            “That's not to argue against your notion that we imagine God in our own image, but it is to argue that we don't all have the same self image.”

I had further wondered, “Does anyone imagine themselves as the opposite?”

            Diane Forrest tried it! “Given the recent opportunities for self-reflection [because of Covid restrictions, I assume: JT], I've spent more time than usual trying to imagine myself as the opposite. It's not that difficult. The evidence is all there. Sigh.”

Tom Watson had two questions: “Is it ego that suggests to a 17-year-old that he/she knows more than anyone else about any subject? 

            “Is it possible to have a huge ego and a huge inferiority complex at the same time?”

Allan Baker suggested, “Allan Baker: “EGO is an acronym. It stands for Edging God Out.”

Ted Spencer took issue with the implication that the way things are is the way things ought to be: “I first heard ‘It is what it is,’ from a thoroughly reprehensible human, and it encapsulates the fatalistic acceptance of modern-day horrors, from spam calls through corporate exploitation to Ukrainian invasions. We in ‘Vacuum Land’ (the late Alan MacFee’s expression) shouldn't ask any awkward questions. 

            “I wonder if God really wants that sort of docile behaviour from us. No: I don’t wonder -- I very much doubt that that is part of The Grand Plan. Maybe the ‘two or three’ are supposed to ask awkward questions. I hope so.”

Steve Roney: “Your thesis that it is ‘almost always about ego’ faces an immediate problem: the term ‘ego’ itself is new. In the sense in which you are using it, ‘self-esteem’ or ‘’one’s sense of one’s own value,’ it dates only to 1891. Before that, in English, we did not have a word for it. If it was so important, how can we not have had a word for it?

            “For Christians, it is not supposed to be about ego. It is supposed to be about doing what is right, trying to make the world better.”

            Steve also challenged my suggestion that often we “create the God we worship in the image of our own ego. Or at least, in the image of what our ego would like to be.” He replied, “If we do think this way, we are narcissists — this is narcissism defined. Or, in classical Greek terms, this is the sin of hubris.”

*****************************************

Psalm paraphrase

I have two paraphrases of Psalm 32. I chose this one for two reasons.

            The first half of the psalm picks up some of my feelings about having made a decision, a month ago, to have my dog Pippin euthanized. However valid my reasons, I feel guilty of having taken a life that had brought me great joy and companionship. 

            The second half (especially verse 9) supports today’s column, above.

1          A great load of guilt hangs around my neck 
like a millstone strung on fine steel wire. 
If someone would free me from my burden, I would be so happy.

2          That would be almost as good as never having slipped, 
as good as not having failed in the first place.

3          Can you imagine what it's like never being able to stand up straight? 
I have become a wasted cripple, my body bent low by tensions.

4          My bones are brittle as twigs scorched by the summer sun; 
When I try to sleep, a gigantic pillow suffocates me.

5          But you, Holy One, gave me a second chance. 
I confessed; I didn't try to hide anything. 
I poured out my soul to you, and you forgave me. 
You cut the string around my neck and freed me.

6          Without my millstone of guilt, I feel light as a feather. 
I can float; I can rise above a torrent of troubles.

7          God, I can trust you completely, because you trusted me. 
Wrapped in your arms, I feel safe as a baby, murmuring to its mother. 

8          And God says: "I will teach you my ways. 
I will share my wisdom with you. 
I will watch over you, and keep you safe. 

9          I do not expect you to obey blindly, without understanding. 
You are intelligent creatures, not sheep. 
You do not need reins to steer you; 
you can learn the right road." 

10        The millstones of failure still burden many, 
but those who know God have been set free.

11        They shout with relief for they have been saved; 
Their hearts have been scrubbed clean; 
they can stand straight again.

You can find paraphrases of most of the psalms in the Revised Common Lectionary in my book Everyday Psalmsavailable from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.

*******************************************

TECHNICAL STUFF

If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, jimt@quixotic.ca.

                  To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to jimt@quixotic.ca. Or you can subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message or subject line) to softedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at softedges-unsubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca.

                  I write a second column each Sunday called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justice issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, jimt@quixotic.ca, or send a note to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca

                  And for those of you who like poetry, please check my webpage .https://quixotic.ca/My-Poetry I posted several new poetic works there a few weeks ago. If you’d like to receive notifications about new poems, write me at jimt@quixotic.ca, or subscribe yourself to the list by sending a blank email (no message) to poetry-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca (If it doesn’t work, please let me know.)

********************************************

PROMOTION STUFF

To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols. Some spam filters have blocked my posts because they’re suspicious of some of the web links.

                  Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca He’s also relatively inexpensive!

                  I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom. She also has lots of beautiful photos. Especially of birds.

                  Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom (NB that’s “watso” not “watson”)

ALVA WOOD’S ARCHIVE

                  I have acquired (don’t ask how) the complete archive of the late Alva Wood’s collection of satiric and sometimes wildly funny columns about a mythical village’s misadventures. I’ve put them on my website: http://quixotic.ca/Alva-Wood-Archive. You’re welcome to browse. No charge. (Although maybe if I charged a fee, more people would find the archive worth visiting.)