2020
I wish for a time-travel morning at my grandparent’s kitchen table. My little brown hands folded in front of me, imitating the sounds of prayer in a sacred mixture of languages, watching the ribbons ascend from their small coffee mugs as they smoothed the open pages of their Santa Biblias. Grown-up me has a small but significant list of questions to ask them. Questions like, “What did you think when you first saw Grandma?” and “tell me all about the Great Depression and about beet picking.”
My grandchildren might one day ask me about 2020. They might have a name assigned to this unique Awakening. This year of medical, cultural and spiritual crisis. The Great Shaking. The Great Disruption. The Uprooting.
The Great Revealing.
The season where illness and sin-sickness revealed our opportunity as image-bearers to lead other image-bearers back to the image of the One who holds us. The season where the broken world and devastating heartbreaks invited us each one out of our sleepy stupor. The season of opportunities to serve others so hard right where we are with the gifts we’ve been given.
The season where our neighbors and family and friends alike have suffered big heartache and setbacks. Where the wheels have come all the way off and a fog has descended. Where “homes” have burnt to the ground with all the beloved things inside, and the owners painful stumble around, kicking charred timbers. Faces covered with masks unable to hide the pain of their rock bottom losses. Eyes revealing the grief, sadness and frustration over the death of their dreams.
The season where we all held lament for the very lives of precious brothers and sisters. Where we tried our very best to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly.
The season where my beloved friends and family planted flags of outrage on the edges of political fields while I stood small in my kitchen, clutching a crock pot full of ranch pork chops.
In my desire to “feed,” I’m reminded of the great feeder, Joseph. After a lifetime of enduring the worst kinds of personal setback and rejection, Joseph opened his hands wide. During seven years of abundance, Joseph gathered grain and when disaster struck, he opened wide the storehouse doors and fed. Boy, did he feed. For seven solid years of famine and widespread suffering, sharpening every tool he had, he fed. All of his God-given skills and strategies and wisdom were on full display. His divine gifts saved countless lives.
This is our Joseph moment.
It’s time to open wide our grainaries and share the hope of Jesus. It’s time to give it away in abundance. It’s time to be Gospel generous in every possible way. It’s time to dispense truth, hope, love, forgiveness, goodness and grace daily and then open wide the storehouses tomorrow morning and give it away again.
It’s time to resist the urge to rush in and band-aid the unfixable. It’s time to sit with your friends who are hurting. Just sit with them. Move closer. Lean in hard and prop them up against the immovable Rock. Give them a hug and listen. Honor their feelings of anger and betrayal without shoving them too fast down the road to resurrection while gently reminding them of the Resurrected One. Treat each moment and interaction as holy and sacred opportunities to work through grief on the way to abundant, full life. Give them a sense of hope by loving in small, significant ways. Show up and remind them of their unseen God-given potential and possibility. Remind them it’s going to be ok. Maybe not today, but someday it’s going to be ok. Remember they are looking for the same love, purpose, connection and authentic relationships that we are all looking for.
Open up the grainary by showing up and saying yes. Amplify hope when the days grow dark and broken. Move beyond the “Let me know what I can do” to “I’m right here”.
If you’re the one with your face flattened against the cold stone rock bottom, hold on. Joseph the feeder was there. So. Many. Times.
This is your Joseph moment.
As painful as rock bottom feels, there is always something to learn about yourself, your God and this gorgeous life He has in store for you. There is so much to learn and there is no need to rush the answers. Don’t squander the ugly parts. Don’t spend energy spinning your story to protect and censor yourself and others. Rock bottom will be useful to help others. Trust me here. New authority is given at rock bottom. Greater authenticity, capacity and empathy is forged. The opportunity to be super real is a gift. Take all the minutes you need to grow your God-sized perspective and clarity while you’re down there.
Perhaps I would throw away my list if I actually time-travelled to my grandparent’s kitchen table. I would just sit and soak and breathe deep the Spirit-filled air. I would touch their hands and kiss their faces. I might even throw some ranch pork chops in the crock pot to feed them. As they fed me. I would tell them about my beautiful life and how I sharpened every tool they planted in me, and with them, fed others. I would assure them I tried my very best to use my God-given skills and strategies and wisdom daily. I would delicately trace the faithful hand of God by sharing the great gain of my rockbottoms.
I would tell them about 2020.