Friday, March 18, 2022
Chris Sieve
Lenten Disciplines
The other day my dental hygienist was applying her high pitched cleaning device to my poor sensitive teeth, asking me questions I could not answer with my mouth open and her hands in it. Despite my slight discomfort, I was happy to be in the mundane moment of an annual dental cleaning on a bitter cold February morning, fully in person, alive and drooling!
Some of us (introverts) have done better than others over the past 2 years, learning all by ourselves how very much we need each other. A few years ago Jen Stevens gave me a book called “The Hidden Life of Trees.” It describes how a grove of trees is not what it appears, a collection of separate, individual plants. Instead, it is a vastly interconnected root system that throws up tall, leafy stalks for us to gaze up at and walk through, sheltering us in cool shade and protecting the earth from harsh scorching, the roots of each stalk inextricably connected to all the others, safety in numbers, photosynthesizing as one organism, breathing the same CO2. Not isolated entities, but an ecosystem all its own. A community. Thank you Jen!
The metaphor is pretty obvious - these massive groves reflect human beings’ interdependence on each other. We weave a web of connectivity, unable to survive alone (even introverts, perhaps especially us!). Makes you think twice about cutting one down. In many ways the pandemic felt like a clear cutting of our relationships, family webs, public boards, our church community. Dug up by our roots, we had to learn how to relate mechanically. Sigh.
A few years ago during Lent my discipline was to have coffee or lunch or take a walk each week with a friend I had not seen in a long time. It was a really busy time in my life, one of my children was applying to college, I was working a lot. All the parts were moving, as they always do. Now I want to go to a party every week, with food and beverage flowing abundantly, and see everybody. I’m still an introvert. Pandemics don't change everything (sorry Brad). But I have a new-found awareness of the ways in which I need not just worship but coffee hour.
I need my neighbors, even the unfriendly ones. I need to interact with strangers, and see their faces when I crack a dumb joke in line at the grocery. Have you been in Market Basket and seen someone from a distance with a mask and thought…is that…Bob? Hmm, maybe not. The disconnection has disturbed our inner social compass. We’re going to have to practice connecting again. It suddenly felt scary to connect with others. But we can learn again and appreciate each other even more.
As we start to safely hug and have coffee together (not on zoom) and re-establish our friendships, it will feel strange. Our roots got clipped, and as with any thriving plant, it put us in “root shock.” We will recover from it, and as I notice when I repot my houseplants, they grow back bigger, better stronger. I have missed my people, love being back in church, and look forward to reconnecting with you all… in our new connector. I think the party is going to be held there. Thank you Lew!