No Easy Fixes
Scripture: Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 and Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43
Reflection
In May 2023, the US Surgeon General released a report entitled, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” The report discussed how even before Covid, half of US adults reported experiencing loneliness. The report also goes on to detail the negative impacts of loneliness and being disconnected from others: for instance, loneliness can lead to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
The Surgeon General, in an interview, explained, “In the last few decades, we’ve lived through a dramatic pace of change. We move more, we change jobs more often, we are living with technology that has profoundly changed how we interact with each other and how we talk to each other.” She goes on to say, “And you can feel lonely even if you have a lot of people around you because loneliness is about the quality of your connections.”
There are no easy quick fixes for the loneliness epidemic. The reality is that some of the fixes require systemic responses. It is easy to view loneliness as an individual problem in isolation from other ills that plague our society such as poverty, gun violence, racism, queerphobia etc. But all these issues are tangled up together.
In our capitalistic society which reduces humans to their productivity, it can be difficult for people to build connections because so many of us are simply trying to survive. It’s hard to build deep meaningful connections with others if we are working multiple jobs or if we are worried about how we can care for our families.
Gun violence and the US government's inability and unwillingness to tackle it, is leading to hundreds if not thousands of people feeling isolated in their grief of losing a loved one or having their lives irrevocably changed. And when they try to speak out, to get others to listen, they are quickly ignored. Because their pain makes the majority of society uncomfortable because it is easier to ignore the realities of gun violence than acknowledge that the day might be coming when each and every American will have been personally impacted by gun violence.
And racism and queerphobia, lead not only to violence against those on the margins but also contributes to societal disconnection and isolation among both those who are the target of racism and queerphobia and those causing the harm.
Decreasing loneliness not only requires individual changes in habits but a society willing to tackle the injustices in its midst.
Now you may be thinking, “Wow, that’s a lot....where is the hope in all that?” Because when looking around at the world, it is easy to lose hope. The Matthew passage talks about the wheat and the weeds. And let’s be honest for many of us, all we see are the weeds choking the healthy wheat and living behind destruction.
But this week’s Scripture readings ask us to hold onto two truths 1) God’s ever-faithful presence and 2) God’s promise that eventually there will be no more weeds.
Truth 1: God’s ever faithful presence.
Psalm 139, is one of my favorite Bible verses, especially the verses selected. These verses serve as a reminder: that no matter where we go: God is with us. I will be honest when I am in the midst of my own struggles with loneliness, it hasn’t always been helpful when other people have said, “Oh don’t worry, God is with you.” Because oftentimes, those words were used to dismiss the very real anguish I was experiencing.
So let me be clear, I do not mean for the phrase God is with us to be dismissive. Loneliness sucks. The injustices in our world, suck. No amount of nice words can erase that. And yet, for me, central to Christianity, is the idea of a God who journeys with us. Who comes down to earth as one of us-a helpless baby, born to a Jewish Palestinian teenager, whose homeland was occupied by the Roman empire. A God who then grows up in the shadow of the Roman empire has a ministry that challenges it and then ends up being killed and yet whose resurrection promises the defeat of the empire.
The idea of God being with us, is not supposed to be a cliché or a platitude, used to dismiss difficult conversations or ignore painful realities. But it is supposed to be a radical truth that we hold onto. One that gives us the courage and strength to navigate our own loneliness while advocating for a society that cares for all.
The truth of God being with us gives us the courage to both be honest about our pain and our loneliness, about our desire for community, and how often the reality of community lets us down.
The truth of God being with us doesn’t always soothe our pain, but it gives us the strength to work through the pain.
Truth number 2: God will destroy the weeds
Anyone who knows me, knows I am a Christian universalist. Meaning, I don’t believe in an eternal hell. Instead, I believe that all will eventually be redeemed. So how do I make sense of this passage? Well, the metaphor of fire being a purifying substance is one I hold onto. Redemption doesn’t always look like a cheery, I have seen the error of my ways, and now I am changed. Redemption is sometimes painful, as we have to confront the reality of the harm we have caused. In addition, this is a metaphor. Jesus isn’t literally talking about picking weeds and wheat, so why wouldn’t the fire also be metaphorical?
Anyway, for me, what is at the heart of this passage is that even in the midst of the evil in this world, even when it feels as if we cannot possibly tackle all the weeds without causing harm to the wheat, God says, “don’t worry, I got your back.”
Obviously, this doesn’t mean that we don’t advocate for justice and push back against oppressive institutions. We absolutely need to. But we also hold onto the idea that we do not do this work alone. Even when it feels as if injustice is winning, we know that ultimately God will have the last word.
This truth goes hand in hand with the first one. God being with us, means that God works with us to create a more just and equitable world. And that even when we feel as if we are failing and we can’t see progress, God continues to work. The story of Jesus-of his birth, life, death, and resurrection is one of a God who walks with us and who ultimately defeats injustice.
God is with us. We do not journey alone.
Image: background pink sky and clouds with the silhouette of a hiker. Text: The truth of God being with us doesn’t always soothe our pain, but it gives us the strength to work through the pain.