Paddles, Creeks & Adapting to Change
I wonder if you’ve ever been stuck up a creek without a paddle? It’s fair to say most of us can relate to that saying at the moment! How about being stuck with a load of paddles and no creek? In 1803, Captain Lewis and William Clark were asked by the American president, Thomas Jefferson, to map out a water-based route, which they assumed must exist, across the central and western parts of the USA. Their hope was to canoe all the way to the Pacific Ocean. If you know anything about North American geography, then you’ll know what a mad, crazy endeavour this was!
Assuming such a route existed, they packed their team mainly with expert canoeists, about 32 of them. What they failed to realise is that one thing stood in their way: the Rocky Mountains. The skills needed for paddling a canoe are not the same skills needed for navigating mountains! Nothing in their group, history, expectations, mindset or skillset had prepared them for this challenge. Thirty-two paddles and no creek.
Tod Bolsinger picks up this story in his book Canoeing the Mountains and speaks about the principle of adapting, especially in relation to the cultural changes that have taken place in society and the West in recent decades. His key questions are: what do we do when we find ourselves unable to do all the things we have been trained for? What happens when we find ourselves armed with paddles, without a creek in sight? Adaptation is an essential aspect of navigating the world around us, and our call to serve God within it.
“What happens when we find ourselves armed with paddles, without a creek in sight?”
We see this principle most at work when we read the post-resurrection stories. I love these accounts - rich in pathos, subtle humour and written in such a way that you really empathise with the disciples as they wrestle with what Jesus’ resurrection means. Their world had literally been turned upside down - twice - in the space of three days. Some of them struggle so much they decide to go back to the one thing they know best - fishing - until Jesus reminds them everything has now changed. No more fishing. No more canoeing.
If we are being honest, this is tremendously hard for us to grasp too. I find change exhausting, frustrating and sometimes even a little terrifying.
And yet.
Look who it is who holds our hand. Who calls out to us to get out of the boat? The risen Jesus, who has destroyed the power of death, the schemes of hell, and stands before the world as the rightful King. He is the one who says ‘trust me’ and sends his Spirit to live inside of us so we might, in an ever changing world, have confidence as we serve the ever faithful God.
So what can we be doing as a church, as followers of Jesus, to ensure that we are able to adapt and change in whatever the ‘new normal’ ends up being? Tod Bolsinger has three principles for the church to live by if they are to adapt and thrive in any moment of great cultural and societal change.
First, we must commit to be learners. One of the meanings of the word ‘disciple’ is to be a ‘learner’. It is so important to continue to give ourselves over to constant growth and development. I can remember when I finished my undergraduate degree in theology, and after all the congratulations and the feeling of achievement had passed, I remember my dad asking me this: ‘How are you going to continue your learning and not waste was has been given to you?’ I can assure you that it was not a question I wanted to hear, or answer, especially after three years of study! But it was the question I needed to be asked. All those canoeists on the Lewis and Clark expedition had spent years honing their expert paddling and canoeing craft, and then had to learn an entirely new skill set - and quickly! Yet they managed to do it. They managed to overcome those mountains, and found a way to the Pacific. I imagine this took a complete change of mindset, much encouragement of each other, and a positive ‘can do’ spirit amongst the group. The key thing is to be committed to learning. Not to settle for what we have, but to go deeper and strive to continue our development. What are we reading? Who can we be talking to? Where can we seek out or create places of safety and trust to learn from each other? How can we position ourselves, as Paul writes to Timothy, to best ‘fan into flame the gift of God’?
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake, will find it.”
Second, we must realise that loss is not just a necessary part of learning, but also a major part of transformation. There are many important and helpful articles on social media and the internet focussing on allowing people to grieve in this time. This is essential, and not only because of the increasing death toll from the coronavirus. Lament and grief are key ways to express what is welling up within us. And yet, they are also ways in which we find the deepest meaning. Bolsinger reminds us that this is the way of Christianity - transformation comes through loss. Look at Jesus’ words to his disciples, his learners, in Matthew 10: ‘Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake, will find it.’ Or perhaps Paul in Philippians, who regards EVERYTHING that he achieved in his life as loss for the sake of knowing Christ. Or even in this Easter season, in John 12 where Jesus says, ‘Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.’ Transformation through loss is embedded in the Christian faith. How does what we are losing in this time have the ability to transform us, challenge us, change us?
Lastly, Bolsinger underlines the need in this season for deep discernment. We have had to work out a completely new way of working and supporting one another here at St John’s Church. The same will be true of other churches, organisations, companies and groups across the world. Working out what needs to change and what needs to be added or retained is hard. Bolsinger challenges us to ask ourselves: What do we need to hold onto, because losing that thing means losing part of who God has called us to be as a church family? And what do we need to let go of, because if we don’t let go of it, we will lose the chance to fulfil the mission that we feel God has placed on our hearts? So we need to pray, and continue to pray, for the Spirit to help us discern the right changes to make, and the right way forward.
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
What is amazing in the Lewis and Clark expedition is that those 32 people become like a family, looking after each other and encouraging each other to make that difficult transition from canoeists to people who could conquer mountains and terrain they were not trained for. Amongst our community at St John’s we have an opportunity to model something similar to the world around us. Let’s create a community of trust where we can learn new things, and build new patterns of ministry that reach people for Jesus. Let’s trust that he will hold our hands through challenging seasons of change. And let’s be committed to be continual learners, committed to transformation even in loss, and to be a people who turn to the Lord for guidance for the future. Above all, let’s be confident that Jesus, who conquered death, who rose to glorious new life, is the one who calls us and stands with us. With Jesus, the best is always yet to come.
(It just might not involve paddles.)
Jon Tattersall
Associate Vicar