DISORIENTATION

Matthew 26:44-45 - So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”

The other day, I was listening to a sermon by the Rev William Barber. He discussed Walter Brueggemann’s idea of disorientation. Brueggemann is an Old Testament scholar who came up with the theory of Orientation, Disorientation, and Reorientation as a way to read the psalms. Well, some of them. Briefly, Orientation is when everything is going great, Disorientation is when things are confusing and we’re not sure what’s coming next, and Reorientation is when we come out of Disorientation with a new understanding of ourselves and of God. Barber clarified that we are in a period of Disorientation.

Do you feel it? Do you feel the confusion and uncertainty? How are you coping? Have you been weepy like me the past few days or have you been stoic about the chaos going on around us? what about your connections to God and others. Is it difficult to maintain them? Are you feeling like everything is a chore? Even things that should be fun?

Well, you’re not alone. I have been going through periods during the last five years of such disorientation and confusion. Many others have too. This is especially true for those of us who live in “red” states and where COVID is making a comeback due to the inaction of our elected officials. It is maddening and sad, scary and terrorizing. If you feel this way, please believe there is nothing wrong with you. The pandemic, the ongoing insurrection, the civil war between Republican governors and Biden, the extreme laws being passed by Republicans, and Republican ignoring of the climate change threat each by themselves are enough to challenge our peace and certainty. That they are all happening at once and one party is creating them multiplies the uncertainty, fear, and sadness.

You may be wondering how disorientation ties in to the text. I think the disciples are also experiencing disorientation, but they are in denial. They have not yet allowed themselves to feel in their bodies what Jesus has been trying to tell them. They are stuck on their own ideas of what the Messiah would be and act like, they cannot see the Messiah in front of them. They will shortly have to face their disorientation.

That’s good, because really, the only way out is through; through the feelings, through the protesting, through the survival mode, through the muck and the grime. One day at a time. The good news is God is here with us.

I’m going to hang on to that thought. I hope you will too.

B