Diana Pascoe “You monster! Get out of there!”- I heard the disturbance from the kitchen, and went to go break up the argument… it was about spatulas. For one reason or another, Miss Rose would go make her way into the kitchen to rearrange the silverware that Olga had meticulously organized for her chore. The conversation that pursued was not a fun one. It took about a half an hour to calm Olga down. And then I had to go talk to Miss Rose… yes her habits could be annoying: playing with toilet paper, dumping the bathroom trash, moving blinds across the building believing they would impact the vents in her room. I feel myself immediately changing tone when I talk to Miss Rose; my voice becomes low and slow. Knocking on the door I cooed, “Miss Rose, can you tell me what happened?” The short elderly lady peaked her face out of her door. “Oh nothing! I guess she doesn’t want to do it right. I’ll just stay out of her way from now on,” Miss Rose was ready to end the conversation, but I wasn’t. “What doesn’t she do right? How would you do it?” Miss Rose tone quickened, “The spatulas are going to jump up and hit me!” I gave her a pensive look, and she continued, “When they are on their side they get all stuck in the drawer and the bounce up and might hit me.” I thought about stuffed silverware drawers, I do hate it when utensils get caught. Olga’s arrangement was superb and as close as any drawer would be to perfection… her drawer never stuck. I could, however, understand why Miss Rose felt the possibility of jumping spatulas, even if I didn’t. I knew I would have no luck in convincing her that there would be no trouble from the spatulas, so I went for a different tactic. “Miss Rose, how would you feel if Olga put the spatulas on their side after you put them away?” There was silence, so I continued, “Do you think that when it is your turn to put away the dishes you can do it how you want, and when Olga puts them away she can do it the way she wants?” I was surprised as anybody when Miss Rose calmed down and said, “That would work.” She retreated back into her room. These arguments are not the highlight of my day, but they rarely bring by blood pressure up. And at the end of the day, it was really neat to find out why Miss Rose does what she does: there is more there than what the world thinks. So I can handle talks of spatulas, but I have often found myself in an awkward position when my clients talk about religion. In my life, reason has served my faith to a great extent. Having spent a lot of time in academic settings, it has been my default to discuss and reason topics of disagreement. One such topic that brings the blood to my cheeks it espousing any form of the “health and wealth gospel” in which those who are faithful will have material wealth and riches in this life. My largest objection is the logical ends: those who are poor, sad, burdened for the extent of their life are not faithful, even deserving their outcomes. This type of theology and thought has the ability to undermine any compassion or charity. So I have no pause when I state that this is not scriptural and clearly lacking the message of God’s grace. Yet, I find this theology in so many of my clients. Just as I would have been unsuccessful telling Miss Rose that spatulas were not going to jump up, my arguments have little power. But then maybe I can accept this as something my Pastor calls “happy inconsistency”; that is my clients do not bring such theories to their logical conclusions, they stop short of the error. But there was one other concern on my mind: won’t they be disappointed or even have their faith dry up when these expectations are not met? But I have some understanding now. My clients are not disappointed because their reasoning is coming from faith provided by the Lord, Himself, and Jesus will never disappoint. I know this in my own life. I have frequently prayed with the grieving father in Mark (9:24) “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief,” and with the apostles, “increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). When my mood shifts, I lack motivation, and my whole world is upside down that faith holds. Whether it be spatulas or theology we all of us have failings in our understanding. Especially understanding God, for who can? His ways are not our ways. But what the Lord provides will not dry up. Faith is not just a thought, reason, or idea; faith is a gift that comes from, is strengthened by, and pulls us to God: there is more there than what the world sees.
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"More Than What the World Sees"