Death by Aftershock. Spiritual Autopsies series continued

1. March 2010 by BruceSmith.

Spiritual Autopsies, The Series continued

Death by After Shock, Living in the land of Tremors

As anyone who has been watching the news lately is aware, our world is shaking, literally shaking, as our planet’s tectonic plates converge with violence.  The aftermath of the earthquakes in Haiti and now Chile is difficult to watch.  The tragedy which has unfolded leaves one squeamish in a tangible sense.  Bodies lying, decaying on rubble strewn streets, tales of the stench in the air, children dismembered.  The site is gruesome.  Do doubt, far more gruesome for those witnessing it and living in it firsthand.

It is difficult not to be moved by compassion unless one’s heart is totally calloused and hardened, when viewing such sites in our world.  Seeing this kind of life-shaking thing unfold, something inside most of us screams, “Those poor people!”, “How can I help?!”, “I want to help!”, “Let’s rescue them!”

This being so, and because this news is fresh in our minds, I think its an apt metaphor for our series on Spiritual Autopsies.  Why?  Look around you.  Have you not seen the very same thing, in a spiritual, emotional, relational, and psychological sense in the people you have known?

All around us everyday people are living beneath the rubble of victimization, violence, abuse, demoralization, and inner quaking.  In a spiritual sense, many have had no choice but to endure the victimization they have experienced.  They need someone to come along side of them and bring the hopeful resurrection power of the gospel to their lives.  Many others, perhaps still impacted by the pain of their past, have chosen to live amongst the tumbling ruins of life.  These are those people who have seen the difficulties of life, and have chosen to live amidst the death and decay, rather than embrace the rescue which has been extended to them.

Perhaps you have seen these quake victims around you.  Perhaps you are one of them yourself.  Broken by the tumbling world around them, these spiritually dead ones have made a conscious decision to remain in the epicenter of the pain despite being offered help and healing.  Its a tough thing to witness.  It breaks your heart through and through.

The girl who was abandoned or abused by a parent or loved one, the spouse broken in two by the shaking of infidelity, the man or woman living in the aftermath of a broken lifelong dream.  The profiles are endless, but the story of these living dead is the same.  The way out from under the rubble is to acknowledge that we live in a shaking world, and that bad things do happen, but then to make a decided run from the area of disaster toward a new way of living.  

To live, or rather to die, amidst the chaos and carnage of inner quaking is to continue in the same patterns which brought the very disaster in the first place.  For some its a continuation of relating patterns which can only bring division and strife.  For others its to embrace the catastrophic pursuit of fun at every turn and to ignore the unfolding of wounds which result from that approach.  Still others refuse to see the impending quake which is sure to come if they start on an all out pleasure trail early in life or early on in the aftermath of mistreatment or failure.  Whatever the day to day realities are, the result is the same.  Life in the land of ongoing tremors only breeds more brokenness.

Part of this death story is that the walking wounded refuse to see our groaning world for what it is.  They refuse to admit that the pathways of this world’s fun house are littered with debris.  For them, the falling rubble of life lived in nightclubs, immoral relationships, anger, bitterness, self-absorbing focus, and the like, is ignored despite their dysfunction, pain, and ongoing loss.  All the while, God sends His rescue team to comb through the chaos and offer help.  Too often the wounded only hide from and disregard the rescue effort.  This is born out in research conducted studying those that are being rescued from the sex slave industry.  Too accustomed to the gross abuse and misery, they cannot imagine a different life beyond the twisted “care” of a pimp.  Satan seeks to pimp us all out to one form of imprisonment or another.  We have to see it.

The scriptures tell us in Romans 8:22 that we live in a world that is groaning, longing for the day when things are set right.  We are also told in Romans 8:37 and following, that those called by God, and in His hand, can face anything this world brings and yet come out full of life, health, joy, peace, and with the fruit of the Spirit (God’s character) defining us.  

Death by aftershock, then, remains a choice for each of us.  Are we, as secular psychologists suggest, doomed to a life of miserable and broken interaction, if we have endured a tough past?  Are we, based upon our past lifestyle, unable to change our stripes after decades of behavior patterns?  

The answer to these questions, from a biblical perspective, is a resounding “NO!”

We are not doomed to repeat the failures and mistakes and patterns of the past.  We do not have to carry our brokenness with us.  We can flee the scene and run toward the light of newness.  We can do pleasure differently.  We can have more enduring and enriching friendships.  We can experience the kind of love only God offers us.  We can lead others toward the same.

The greatest problem for many is not the desire to get out from under the rubble.  Rather, its the moment by moment desire and commitment required to make it out and far away.  For most, really, the desire is there, yet only one foot makes it over the rubble and into the new world.  Too many who crave a new way are still drawn back to the old broken way of life.  They stand straddling the perimeter between life and death, past and future.  If this is you, you must know that your only hope of escape is to stop looking back, stop dragging your feet, and to get moving like never before toward the life God has for you.  If you are spending your time with others who are straddling the perimeter with you, you are asking for more of the same.  Again, your way out is to grab onto those who are fleeing the scene, at all costs, and run with them to safety and shelter.

You may be damaged so severely that you need a spiritual medic.  Find one.  You may be so entrapped in patterns of the past that you need a mentor to help you find a disciplined pattern of newness.  Get one.  You may need to educate yourself on what life really could look like on the other side if you have never seen it in all its glory.  Find someone to help you get it done.  

Death by aftershock is a gruesome reality in our world.  Can you imagine being in Haiti or Chile yourself, and being rocked by the earthquake?  Can you see yourself trapped beneath the rubble for days, what seems like years?  Can you then see loving, courageous, and devoted people coming for your rescue?  What would you do?

Maybe this very thing is happening for you now.  Maybe this is exactly where your life is and you have not fully owned it.  Can you, again, envision, on CNN tonight, a scene where rescue workers are feverishly attempting to rescue victims beneath the rubble, victims dismembered, bleeding, gasping for breath?  And yet, as the rescuers get within arms reach, the victims look them in the face, smile, and turn away to die with each other.  Is there a more horrifying scene than to see others minimize the desperation they are really dealing with?  

Sadly, many in our world live this very scene day in and day out.  They actively embrace a life filled with tremors.  One aftershock after the other, never learning or moving on.  They actually, by daily choices, pursuits, relationships, patterns, choose to run headlong into the rubble to die a slow and painful death.  There is a rescue.  There is a hope.  New life is out there.  What, in God’s name, are you waiting for?  Are you thriving in the land of aftershocks?  Do you really think things are going to get better where you are, how you are?  Wake up from your death.  Run from the trap.  Find healing from the pain.  The groaning which overwhelms you is your soul crying out for newness.  He is extending you a rescue plan.  

Will you take it?

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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