| The Red Telephone |
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| SmartFaith | |||
| Written by Jennifer Harris | |||
| Wednesday, 20 May 2009 21:26 | |||
 This morning I was dancing in ideas of blissful moments and hidden joys to write about. And then the call came. In an instant the music stopped and fear and anger barged in to trample where peaceful thoughts flitted seconds before.
The details aren’t mine to share, but this was the latest in a seemingly never-ending drama that has been playing out like a car wreck. It’s heart-breaking, painful and horrifyingly captivating. We all have these stories: lost jobs, cars that won’t start, cancer three times before age 30, an alcoholic, absent mother. There is the sense that at any moment the red telephone will ring and our lives will pause while the world around us shifts into a maddening fast-forward. My friend Chad and I have had several recent conversations about the way we perceive good and bad in the world. He has written a fantastic essay (which will appear in the book he is working on) describing how we are quick to see bad things as some sort of cosmic sign that God is neglectful or simply doesn’t exist, yet we rarely see the good things in life as signs of God’s work around us. God becomes our scapegoat for all the things we hate and want to distance ourselves from. In other words, perhaps we have a vision problem. G.K. Chesterton writes about life as a fairy tale: “The goodness of the fairy tale was not affected by the fact that there might be more dragons than princesses.” He suggests a perception shift, where we don’t think “why did that bad things happen?” and instead wonder how it is that good happens more often than not. Red telephone days come. But I’m thankful that the sun rose this morning, that leaves and fruit can be combined into a tasty beverage and that neither depend upon me. Why are you thankful? Photo Credit
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Comments (7)
  written by matthewjmichael, May 21, 2009
When constantly dealing with issues of racism and injustice during the mid-20th century, Howard Thurman always said that "pain has a ministry." This might be one of the grandest statements for me--most often I fail to see the work of God amid what seems to be the work of the devil.
written by droslovinia, May 21, 2009
I recently read a book on dissonance, which explains the psychological underpinnings of our need to believe things even when they fly in the face of overwhelming evidence. Interestingly, it too makes the point that we, as a species, are inclined to emphasize the bad and use that to prove our negative views of the universe a lot more often than we are to emphasize the good. IN other words, a lot of us are "wired that way."
I once preached a sermon where I talked about a devastating loss that our local football team had had the day before. Clearly, the officials made two critically bad calls that cost us the game. The gist of the sermon, then, was to talk about our collective disappointment in the loss and ask the audience if they remember any of the dozens of correct calls the officials made. We're all like that, but do we ever stop to think about how we let this color our perceptions of God? written by jennifer, May 21, 2009
In one of my conversations with Chad (referenced above), we talked about the media. He mentioned that the media seems to only cover bad stuff. I'm a reporter. Before my current job at a Baptist paper, I worked for a small town weekly. I can only think of a handful of bad news pieces I've written. I think overwhelmingly, news is good -- we just don't tend to remember the positive. I suppose I'm beginning to wonder WHY we are wired that way -- and how we can change it!
written by Chad, May 21, 2009
As Jennifer's friend Chad (the one identified in the article and the comment below it), I am inclined to say we remember the negative things much as we are predisposed to remember anything that has the potential to harm us. It may be that we are biologically wired for survival purposes to remember these things. I am reading Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" right now, and he talks about how as a species we tend to crave sweets (carbohydrates) and experience repulsion to bitter foods (which, at least in nature, tend to be harmful to us). It may be that we have this sort of natural predisposition, for the preservation of the species, to "tag" those more negative things in our minds for similar reasons. Just a thought/theory...
written by John Rutledge, May 21, 2009
Thanks, Jennifer. I love the Chesterton quote! This subject is incredibly important.
Here's another quote, from William Blake: "Joy and woe are woven fine." Just because Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the "knowledge of good and evil" doesn't mean we discern it correctly. In fact, it's always distorted in our fallen minds. We suffer from measuring with unjust balances (Lev. 19:36). Most people picture a dualistic battle between good and evil, God and the Devil. Instead, the scripture says, "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7, NIV) I take that as a comfort in the midst of life's tragedies. Write comment
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