This blog too shall pass

This too shall pass……

This time in your life when it’s all gone pear-shaped, when nothing’s coming together…

Some problems resolve, some don’t. But even if your situation doesn’t actually resolve…

It shall pass.

That demanding situation, with its stress. The confusion and torment.

This too shall pass.

Those endless hours of overtime you put in just to try and get by.

This too shall pass.

That chronic illness that hounds your waking hours and haunts your sleep, like a rabid dog.

This too shall pass.

That drawn-out wait in the queue at Barclays….and what’s happened to their air conditioning….?

This too shall pass.

The imbecility of people you have to put up with – day after……flipping daaaaay…….

Those fools whom you don’t suffer gladly. Their lack of compassion and understanding. “Humans! Why are they so brainless?”

This too shall pass.

Even worse, your own stupidity. Those times you kick yourself, because of the things you do that you know you shouldn’t. The people you’ve hurt. In the words of the Black Eyed Peas, “Where is the love [in me]?”

The things you put off doing, or saying, that you know you should really get round to. That card. That phone call. That compliment. “When will I ever learn to do the right thing?”

This too shall pass.

This Government. A society tangled up in chains of injustice. Slavery to addiction all around you – and even in you. Global poverty – and your own inadvertent part in perpetuating it by hoarding more than sharing your relative wealth.

This too shall pass.

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These four little words came to me the other day when I was stewing about something, in prayer. I had no idea where the phrase came from, where I’d heard it, what its origins are, but I guess it’s one of those sayings that are so deeply ingrained in our culture like Shakespeare, the Bible and the Beatles, that they spring out of nowhere.

It popped into my head, out of the blue,

from my inner self,

my subconscious,

and/or God.

A personal situation was weighing on me so heavily, my anxiety exacerbated by workload tiredness and the non-stop demands and broken nights of family life. When time to relax, reflect and re-create is difficult to find, every difficulty feels worse.

“This too shall pass,” that inner voice assured me.

I’ve since discovered through extensive research into ancient traditions and literature across a range of classical cultures (i.e. a quick glance at Wikipedia) that the origins of the phrase lie in Middle Eastern folklore.

Persian poet Attar records the fable of a powerful king who asks his assembled wise men to create a ring that will make him happy when he is sad. After deliberation the sages hand him a simple ring with the words “This too shall pass” etched on it, which has the desired effect to make him happy when he is sad, but thus also becomes a curse whenever he is happy.

Jewish tradition sees Solomon as either the king humbled by the adage, or as the one who delivers it to another.

Not surprising, really, that Judaism, with its belief in an after-life, adopted this legend.

Not surprising, either, that although the phrase doesn’t come from the Bible, similar ideas emanate throughout the New Testament, following Jesus’ teachings on the life to come and the Christian hope for a better future. A silver thread of hope weaves majestically through the Judeo-Christian scriptures – a constant reminder that this world is not the final word, always pointing us magnetically like a northbound needle to eternity.

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And therein lies one of the great strengths of the Christian faith – hope. For people like me, faith in the resurrection of Jesus and his life within us produce a sense that things will always get better, that all injustice will finally be put right – that even we will be put right!

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One day I was talking with a friend about some mission work going on in a third world country and the hope being given to the people there through the missionaries’ message. And my friend said to me, “What good is it giving people hope if that hope is never fulfilled, if nothing ever changes?”

It was a reasonable question.

But hope inspires us to change things, to work towards that better future we believe in. For many Christians, when we pray “Your kingdom come”, we don’t just sit around passively hoping with some vague optimism that one day God’s kingdom will come, righting every wrong.

On the contrary, we feel caught up in our own prayer, sensing the call to play our part in bringing that future realm of wholeness and justice into the present.

People of faith and hope that “this too will pass” are inspired to help this (whatever “this” may be) to pass. To make poverty history. To relieve suffering. To run soup kitchens, food banks, 24-7 prayer networks, counselling services, HIV clinics, disaster relief agencies….

Hope gives people the courage even to change themselves.

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Throughout the ages, people of faith and hope (including, but not exclusively, Christians) see themselves as temporary visitors to this planet.

“Just passing through….”

…expressed perfectly in the amazing ‘Supernatural’ by my musical heroes, DC Talk:

“This world’s a tortured place to be So many things to torment me And as I stumble down this road it takes a toll…

Beyond this physical terrain There’s an invisible domain Where angels battle over souls in vast array But down on earth is where I am No wings to fly, no place to stand Here on my knees I am a stranger in this land”

We see ourselves as strangers in this land. Our physical life in this world is seen as short-term.

This world, too, shall pass.

We have a perspective that makes suffering in this life more tolerable.

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But thankfully, not all our problems last a lifetime. The situation I was facing – am still facing – will most likely resolve itself within just a few years, perhaps even sooner.

And those four words spoken from the spirit or Spirit within me significantly relieved my anxiety. The right words at the right time. Hope has been re-kindled. I continue to pray about that situation, but with a more peaceful trust that my Father, who sits outside of time and even eternity, who just is (Yahweh), will see it through, and see me through.

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And even that queue at Barclays shall pass….

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“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever.  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

2 Corinthians 4: 17-18, The Bible (New Living Translation)

5 EASY STEPS TO WHOLENESS

For all you less-than-perfect people out there, here are the only 5 easy steps you’ll ever need to know, to attain inner healing and wholeness.

Just kidding, of course. I’m not into trite formulas, Buzzfeed lists or three-point sermons that deny the complex realities of people’s lives.

There are no easy steps to wholeness or perfection, and any self-help psychology that says otherwise is blatantly blagging.

When it comes to character development and healing from our mental distress, perfection is not an option and the process can be long and arduous, with two steps forward, one step back. Such is life.

In the world of mental health and addiction, the ‘recovery model’ accepts this reality. ‘Recovery’ in this context does not necessarily refer to the process of complete recovery from a mental health problem or addiction in the sense that we might recover from a physical health problem.

For many people, the concept of recovery is about developing resilience in the face of difficulties and setbacks, about managing their lives in spite of an ongoing mental health problem or addiction, rather than simply treating or managing symptoms.

Like a silver thread through the plethora of recovery definitions runs a common theme of hope – the belief that it is possible to regain a meaningful life despite serious mental illness. Recovery is viewed as a conceptual framework, a guiding principle, a journey rather than a destination.

Recovery takes an optimistic, positive and holistic view of individuals with their own goals and aspirations, rather than focussing on the mental health problem or addiction. It may involve living with the problem rather than eradicating it.

Recovery bears interesting similarities to – and differences from – ‘salvation’.

This concept, inherited by Christianity from its Jewish roots, is about being rescued from our oppressors and captors, whether they be physical persecutors (in the Old Testament) or the addictions, selfish habits, and emotional and physical sicknesses that enslave us.

Salvation is health, healing and wholeness of mind, body and spirit. When the Messiah is named ‘Jesus’, meaning ‘Saviour’, God is telling the world: “Here is your salvation, here is the One who can lead you to health, healing and wholeness. Here is good news for the whole world!”

I was recently meditating on the book of Jonah, the reluctant prophet known for having a whale of a time. Funny, but the Old Testament books with the strongest mythical quality about them, that read as more legend than history, seem to be the ones richest in allegory and meaning, telling us significant things about God and human nature. The Jews had a rich culture of story-telling, for good reason – something we would do well to learn from.

Anyway, deep in the belly of this probably-mythical big fish or whale, whatever it was, Jonah praises his God for rescuing him before it even happens, stating in faith:

“…my salvation comes from Yahweh (God) alone.”

Jonah was messed up, full of resentment and self-interest. And he was still trapped in the fish. So in what sense was God his salvation?

Here’s where salvation and recovery coincide. It’s the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ that we Christians often refer to. Salvation is now and in the future.

Jonah was indeed rescued from his physical circumstances in the fish. But by the end of the book, we’re still left waiting to see whether he’s going to be rescued from his inner resentment and self-centredness. Like recovery, salvation was, for Jonah, a journey.

I was ‘saved’ in 1987: rescued from a life of confusion, hopelessness and meaningless hedonism; rescued from my own utter self-centredness; rescued from the insecurity of my past; but most of all, rescued from a life of not knowing the love of Father God – and therefore rescued forever from loneliness and aloneness. I’ve experienced amazing salvation.

But of course it’s also a journey. There are difficulties I still face inside me – attitudes and addictions – which one day will be overcome, because salvation is both ‘now’ and ‘not yet’. Like in the recovery model, I’m learning to some extent to live with some of those struggles.

However, I believe there is at least one important difference between recovery and salvation.

Jonah hits the nail on the head when he says that his salvation comes from Yahweh alone. I believe that all recovery, all healing, comes from God, whether people acknowledge him as the source or not. I wrote in Mindfulness: More Than Fringe Benefits about the transcendent, all-pervasive nature of God and his love in this world, as revealed through the name YHWH or Yahweh (‘I Am’) to the ancient people of Israel, and then ultimately through Jesus, the Rescuer.

And yet, it seems that those who acknowledge Jesus as their Saviour and place their trust in him experience a kind of healing or recovery unlike any other.

Often radical transformation. Always from the inside out – an inner revolution that happens deep within those who put their faith in him. A change of heart, that starts inside and ripples outwards. Certainly that’s been my experience and that of many others who claim to have a relationship with this Saviour.

For example, I recently met some amazing people from a Christian rehab called Betel. These 3 individuals had all lived under the cruel dictatorship of drug and alcohol addiction with its accompanying violence, abuse and homelessness. Now they are transformed people, living stable lives that glow with love and with liberty from the deep roots of addiction.

For them, recovery and salvation will still be a journey, but they have found extreme power to change.

We Christians make some astounding claims! One of these is that our lives are somehow, spiritually, tied up with Jesus’ death and resurrection….

…that his suffering and death was in our place, for our healing, as the ancient prophet Isaiah (ch. 53) predicted:

“He was beaten so we could be whole.

He was whipped so we could be healed”.

…and that because he overcame death, we who live in union with him can overcome all our inner struggles: partly in this life; ultimately, completely, in the next. It’s now and not yet.

What about salvation being a rescue plan from future hell? Hmm, maybe. What I do know is that Jesus was and is very much concerned with saving people from the hellish elements of this life – not always from circumstances but definitely from the flames of resentment, fear, shame, addiction and mental distress, replacing these fiery elements with experiential love and acceptance, so that we can face our present circumstances and future uncertainties with greater confidence.

As the wonderful Christian Aid slogan goes, “We believe in life before death.”

As someone who works with people with complex needs and is acutely aware of my own struggles, I like the recovery model a lot. Sometimes we need to accept our difficulties and weaknesses and learn how best to live with them. And we need the humanistic hope that this concept offers.

I love the way of salvation – the death and resurrection of Jesus – even better. Because in this is, for me, a source of real hope, a powerful potential for change. Perhaps you believe this too. If not, perhaps you’d give it some more thought?

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(“You Alone Can Rescue” by Matt Redman eloquently expresses this hope.)

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Please feel free to comment below! Thanks,

Roger Nuttall

Christmas is for Life

It seems really trite to say ‘Jesus is for life, not just for Christmas’ and yet there are so many deep truths that could be unpacked from that statement. I’m going to touch on just one.

As a young atheist I hated Christmas, with its consumerism and ostensibly religious nature. After unexpectedly becoming a Christian, Christmas still held much of the same distastefulness for me for some of the same reasons, its mixed origins and its religious sentimentality that seemed to have little to do with the true message of why Jesus came into the world, with the Bible’s emphasis on the events of Easter rather than Jesus’ birth.

Sometimes I take things far too seriously!

And I suspect that the real reason for my dislike of Christmas was more sub-conscious, to do with unhappy times as a child (see My Life’s Soundtrack).

Having children of my own now (the oldest being 15), I’ve had no choice but to lighten up and soften my attitude towards Christmas. And that’s been a good thing.

I’ve even reached the point of enjoying decorating the church for Christmas (with friends like Shane here)!

But further than that, I’ve begun to appreciate the true wonder of the Son of God entering the broken world of humanity.

My attitude towards Christmas has changed. And I’ve changed because of Christmas, or rather because of Jesus and his life in me. His wholeness healing my brokenness.

To be a Christian is to allow endless possibilities for change and healing.

You cannot be a Christian and remain the same.

Christmas candles at St Matthew’s Church

For this blog post, I’m going to cheat and let one of my literary and spiritual heroes, the late Brennan Manning (for whom I wrote the tribute Death of a Ragamuffin), explain it far better than I can:

 

‘The Christmas contemplative knows that hope is a gift, an undeserved gift of peace, but that it is also a call to decision – the decision to trust….

‘Hope thrives on the difficult and challenges the conclusion that our only contribution to the world will be, in the words of T.S. Eliot, “an asphalt driveway in front of our home and a thousand lost golf balls.” Hope convinces us that in clinging to a miserable sense of security and status quo, the possibility of growth and greatness is utterly defeated. Hope says that I no longer need to be dismayed over my personal dishonesty and self-centredness and feeble life of faith. That I no longer need to feel defeated, insensitive, and superficial.

‘Because the question no longer is: Can I do it? Am I able? Can I overcome my moodiness, my laziness, my sensuality, my grudges, and resentments? The only question is: Is Jesus Christ able? Can my Savior, the Lord of my life, revive my drooping spirit and transform me at Christmas as he transformed the world through his birth at Bethlehem?

‘“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33’

(From Reflections for Ragamuffins, p.352)

Brennan Manning experienced the enslavement that alcoholism brings. But like many addicts, he learned the secret of admitting powerlessness over his weaknesses and trusting instead in the ultimate higher power to bring about change.

What we Christians celebrate at Christmas (and Easter) is true for us all year round.

Because of Christ in me, I’m still changing, still growing, still being healed – as long as I continue to put my trust and hope in him, rather than in my self-effort. Where do you place your trust?

Jesus hasn’t finished with me yet. And if there’s hope for me, there’s hope for you too!