It's Burns Day, when people the world over gather to celebrate the life and writings of the gret mon ;-)
Even though I didn't know this when I wrote this piece, it seems like today is the day to post it. Enjoy, Steve
Best Laid Plans (a slightly longer than usual Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)
"The best laid schemes of mice and men go oft astray" says the Robert Burns quote, and my experience certainly agrees. It hasn't put me off scheming, completely, but there ARE times I wonder why I bother. You plan, organize, time-manage, equip, assemble, deploy, and, in some case, accessorize; not to mention hurry, fret, placate, rearrange, orient, and clock-watch (which is different than time-manage ... really). But, it just doesn't QUITE work out. To paraphrase Field Marshall Moltke: "No plan survives actual contact with the enemy."
In case this sounds defeatist, let me stop you right now. Moltke was just warming up his argument that strategizing for battle must ALWAYS include contingency planning; the consideration of every possible iteration.
And Burns was apologizing to a mouse.
No, I don't think either of these men would want their thoughts misconstrued. Moltke, in brief, was saying "fret not;" rather, plan WELL, all the time recognizing you just cannot anticipate everything. Have enough contingencies that you can be creative in your response when the inevitable breakdown occurs. In fact, he not-so-famously also said, "Strategy is a system of expedients."
And Burns recognized the fact that disappointment (and disappointment is, perhaps, putting it too mildly for some of us) often accompanies the realization that our plans are not unfolding as we intended them. Burns is sorry that his plowing has destroyed the mouse's home, but he a little envious that the mouse can focus only on the present, while he is subject to worry about both the past and future.
I've had good reason to reflect on the philosophies of these two men, recently. I had a scheme go astray, a plan expire in the face of reality. I had made careful arrangements for a successful appointment with my new trainer. Having set the appointment later in the evening, I still left work shortly after five to ensure I had plenty of margin in travel time. And, despite the torrential downpour that slowed traffic and made driving difficult, I still made it to the gym in plenty of time. I had already carefully packed my gym bag so I wouldn't have any last minute concerns about essential clothing, lock for the locker, shampoo, etc. I even packed a pen to use in capturing my workout plan for future reference.
There was, however, one little thing.
I arrived timely, I met my trainer, we agreed on a rendezvous point on the gym floor, and I headed off to the locker room to change. I selected a locker, started changing, set my bag into the locker, and slipped the lock into the hasp ... except, it wouldn't GO into the hasp. I focused on the situation. Perhaps something was blocking? Maybe I was coming at it from an angle?
No. It was, of course, the unanticipated thing; in fact, the almost unanticipatable thing: the diameter of the lock's shackle was just THIS much too wide to fit through the hasp. My first reaction: WHAT?! Then, I had one of those little moments where you tell yourself not to panic, to apply some logic. Of COURSE my lock would work. I just needed to find a different hasp; something was wrong with this one, the odd narrow opening.
Nope. I tried my lock on every available locker. No luck. Somehow, the shackle of my ordinary Master Lock was just a few microns too thick, and no amount of calm logic was going to change that.
These things happen to us, don't they? Frankly, all the planning in the world can't prevent them. Yes, we can and should make plans. But we need to be ready to "roll with the punch" because the punch is going to come. We WILL have to make a course correction, to put it in nautical terms. And beyond the "what" of that creative response is something perhaps even more important: the "how."
We are free to choose any solution that satisfies us. We could just throw up our hands and leave. Let's face it: if you don't feel angry at the unfolding events, the other go-to choice is self-blame and then surrender. And speaking of anger, we can, as my Great Aunt Vera used to say, "throw a hissy fit." It's emotionally gratifying and, conveniently, usually shifts the blame from ourselves to someone else. Most of us think all our options lie on a continuum between these two poles: surrender or strike out at someone else; flight or fight. Most people don't care to consider another response, to step outside the usual. And freedom allows them to leave it at that.
But, as 1 Corinthians 8 says, "God does care when you use your freedom carelessly," especially as it affects those who may not be as strong of will or certainty as we are. And how are we to know who is "strong enough" to not be impacted by our choices, actions, statements?
As for me, well, there was no solution from Burns. I'm old enough not to fret in disappointing situations ... at least, those that don't threaten my ego ;-) And while I had already applied Moltke's strategic approach to planning the night, now seemed to be the moment for some of his creative response to the inevitable. So, I went back out and made new arrangements with my trainer. We will meet another night.
In the meantime, I will buy a different lock.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (January 29, 2012)
Deuteronomy 18:15-2
Psalm 111
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Mark 1:21-28
Join us at 8:00 at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown on 6th, near the Courthouse) if you are in Waco Friday morning. Good food and great discussion of this week's Lectionary passages.
Blessings,
Steve
Sent from my iPad
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