Resigned and Cynical

I recently attended the Landmark Forum and I am amazed by how the disticntions of the Forum line up with and shed new light on the Gospels. The following is a reflection on the concept of "resigned and cynical" which is a key Landmark distinction.


Pastor’s Ponderings – Resigned and Cynical

In today’s world it is easy to be resigned and cynical. Haven’t you sometimes felt that way? Our lives and the lives of those around us seem to be determined by factors outside of ourselves and the more things change the more they stay the same. I think that has always been true. Even if we decide that we are created in the image of God and placed here on Earth to co-create the people around us will continue to react to us in the ways that they have always reacted to us. In the gospels think of what happened to Jesus when instead of continuing to work in the trade of his father Joseph he began to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the poor and the hungry, the widows and the orphans. The people who heard him begin to talk this way in his hometown of Nazareth said, "Hey! Isn’t that the carpenter’s son? Where did he get these crazy ideas?" Jesus was unable to be Jesus in his hometown and so he took his show on the road. Aren’t we glad that he did? If he had stayed home the shaping current of the culture around him would have turned him into a nice young man who honored his father by carrying on the family trade of carpentry and you and I would never have heard of him. I think that people move away from their home towns in part because they want to create a life for themselves that doesn’t fit the family or town dynamic and so they go where they can be who they want to be.

The example of Jesus shows us that as much as it seems impossible for anything to ever really change it is possible. Not only is it possible to change yourself and the world the power to make lasting and real changes is vested in each of us. In our tradition, Christianity, we have a very good example of someone to follow. Not only did Jesus declare the good news of the Kingdom of God to all of us, he lived a life totally about loving God and loving each other.

Maybe the idea that things can change seems threatening to you. One of the ways that the world is shaped by the forces of evil is to nurture the belief that change is dangerous. Most of us believe that leaving well enough alone is a good plan in life. So, if our lives are pretty good we try not to see how things could be and settle for the way things are. It’s a dangerous fallacy that such a thing is possible. When we pray, "As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be," we are not declaring that nothing will ever change in our lives. Rather we are declaring that the wonderful and living dynamic of growth, cooperation and change that has been going on since God spoke and the big bang began goes on even now. The good news of the Kingdom of God to all us widows and orphans is that we can be what we imagine. Our lives can be the lives that we co-create with God. Our church can be the lively and growing place that lives in our dreams. Our town can be as vital moving into the future as it ever was in the past. All of this is possible when we take up our crosses and declare ourselves the followers of the one who showed us the way to really co-create with God. We are the people who make up the United Church of Christ. Nothing is impossible when we follow Jesus.
Peace to all of you,

Pastor Bill