THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL

Again and again lately, both personally and vicariously, I have been reminded that those things that really matter are not in my control. If I sit down and think about it, I see that really nothing is. I recently got on an airplane. Well-wishers told me to travel safely. I know what they mean. It is a wish that flows from kindness, but the farewell wish always strikes me as strange. What can I do to be safe? I suppose the fact that I don't try to open a hatch and jump midflight is something. In reality, though, I sit down, buckle up and the whole thing's out of my hands. My health? I try, I'm going to go exercise in a bit, but I know lots of really fit folk who die in all sorts of ways. My wealth? I have cash in my wallet that is just paper, money in the bank that is no more than code on a computer, and house and investments that could vanish in a puff. I could go on, but let me tell you what tipped off this line of thinking. An email subject--maybe some of my fellow pastors received it as well--"77 Ready to Use Graphics to Increase Giving." Really? Do I print them on paper, project them on a screen, or subliminally inject them into rich people's minds? I didn't even open the email. I'm sure they are very nice pieces of art. No doubt they have been market tested and there are numbers to back up the claim. I guess I was just struck by the Svengali-ness of the subject line, when taken at face value. "You see all those people out there in church? I can make them do whatever I want them to do. If I show them these pictures they'll give more money." My mind goes in several directions on this one. Is this how we ought to help people decide about their investment in God's work? Is this what we have really come to? Preachers used to teach about what God's Word says about stewardship; now we show pictures. I know these thoughts are tinged with cynicism. My main thought though is all about realizing my weakness. The actions of others are one of the classes of things that are beyond my control. Not onlyare they, in a reality sense, they should be, in an ethical sense. Unless you are my child or employee or student, or some other relationship like that, I don't have a right to tell you what to do. Even when I am in charge, my authority has limits. I'm not in control. On my better days, that compels me to trust the Lord more fervently. It's a good thing when I realize that I'm out of control. It's STTA (Something To Think About).