TOLERANCE FOR AMBIGUITY

Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to Me. Job 38:2-3

 

In my master’s program for counseling, we studied “tolerance for ambiguity,” or the ability to manage uncertainty in which an outcome is unknown. Life is full of situations when we are not certain what will happen. A 2018 study at Brown University found that people who can handle uncertainty are more likely to trust others and cooperate in seeking solutions to problems. This makes sense because trusting others means we have to take a risk that what they say to us is true and what they say they will do, they will do. This trust allows us to work with others to solve problems, within our families or work or church. Embarking on group projects automatically means we don’t know the exact outcome, But sometimes the outcome can be much more than we expected or hoped for.

 

A case study in tolerance for ambiguity is the Bible story of Job. Psychology Today Magazine columnist Dr. Mark Banschick has an interesting commentary on how Job, a man with faith, health, wealth, wisdom, and a large and close family experiences numerous undeserved traumas. The book opens with God telling Satan what a good man Job is. Satan challenges God that surely Job will not maintain his faith if he loses everything. God says, “You’re on,” and the tragedy begins. Job loses livestock, possessions, family, his own health and much more…but he never once denounces God. Then Job’s “friends” arrive. They argue, “You must have sinned (really bad),” “There’s a grand plan (and you don’t know it),” “You’re really mad at God (so admit it).” But still Job persists in his faith. He asks God what’s going on, and God answers him loud and clear. In fact, in Chapter 38, God wallops Job: “Who do you think you are? YOU didn’t create the universe and set the world in motion!” Job might have been terrified of God’s judgment, but what this faithful, good man saw was that God cared enough to come down and be with Job in his sorrow and pain. And that’s what He does for all of us when we experience trauma.

 

Almighty God, we thank You that you comfort us when we are afflicted and traumatized. Amen

 

Meg Blaine Corrigan is the author of three books: Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child; Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist; and Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of New Mexico and has over thirty years’ experience working with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, war veterans, and other trauma survivors.  Her books may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .

JAZZ IT UP!

For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 1:13

 

In my earlier life, I played percussion in a dance band in my home state of Minnesota, the surrounding states and Canada. We played large ballrooms, small nightclubs, weddings, anniversaries, holiday parties and an infrequent funeral. But the most fun I ever had with that band was when we hosted “shed parties” for our many musician friends and some very grateful fans. Musicians young and old came to “jam”, sometimes on their way home from afternoon gigs, sometimes on the way to evening jobs. Sometimes they purposely took off the whole day to enjoy playing music with their friends. The party ran from early afternoon until we thought the neighbors had had enough. Songs from many different genres of music were played, with one tune sometimes lasting a half hour or more as various musicians cycled in and out among the players. Just about every instrument was represented: woodwinds and horns, keyboards and accordions and concertinas, trap drums and congas, acoustical and electric and bass guitars, and more. And the people danced until the music ended. Playing with all those musicians was an honor: many of them had decades of experience compared to me. But everyone had a wonderful time. Music is a terrific bonding agent.

 

To me, the Christian life is like a jam session. Throughout our faith walk in this life, we encounter all types of people from all walks of life and all stations of society. We may not look alike or think alike or interpret the Bible exactly the same way. But we all believe in the sustaining power of Jesus Christ to bond us together as one. Like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:13, “we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” Our Lutheran church has a slogan, All Are Welcome, and we try to live by that concept. If we think of our Christian walk as making music together for the Lord, we can enjoy each other’s contribution to that great symphony and know that God is listening. He likes to hear His people singing and worshiping together.

 

Great God of Wonder, we thank You for music and musicians and the opportunity to sing and worship You together! Amen

 

Good News! Meg Corrigan’s weekly blogs will soon be in a second daily devotional book, Saints With Slingshots TWO: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian. The book is expected to be completed and on the market by December 2020! Watch for more information when the book is available!

GONE!

He will again have compassion upon us: He will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19

An Etch A Sketch is a mechanical drawing toy that has a thick, flat gray screen in a red plastic frame. According to Wikipedia.com, “There are two white knobs on the front of the frame in the lower corners. Twisting the knobs moves a stylus that displaces aluminum powder on the back of the screen, leaving a solid line. The knobs create lineographic images. The left control moves the stylus horizontally, and the right one moves it vertically. The Etch A Sketch was introduced near the peak of the (post-World War II) Baby Boom on 12 July 1960 for $2.99 (equivalent to $26 in 2019). It went on to sell 600,000 units that year and is one of the best-known toys of that era. In 1998, it was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York. In 2003, the Toy Industry Association named Etch A Sketch to its Century of Toys List, a roll call commemorating the 100 most memorable and most creative toys of the 20th century. The Etch A Sketch has since sold over 100 million units world-wide.” I think the most fun thing about the Etch A Sketch is that, when you make a mistake or you are tired of looking at one creation, you can invert the entire toy and all the aluminum powder disappears from the screen. You can then start a new design as if the old one never existed.

I like to think about the forgiveness we have with God as an eternal Etch A Sketch toy. When we repent of our sin, when we come to God to say we are sorry and we are ready to begin again, He always tips us upside down and allows our sin to fall out. Like with the Etch A Sketch, we can remember the designs—or the sins—we create after they have been forgiven by God. But Micah says God will “cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). Some theologians refer to God’s complete absolution of our sins as a “sea of forgetfulness.” God forgets and our sins are just…gone!

 

Lord of Life, thank You that You grant us new mercies every morning! Amen

 

Meg Blaine Corrigan is the author of three books: Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child; Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist; and Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of New Mexico and has over thirty years’ experience working with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, war veterans, and other trauma survivors.  Her books may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .

PROMISED LAND

Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised….” Numbers 14:40

 

I think I own some land near Crocker, Missouri. My grandfather, Walter Rollins, was most likely suffering with undiagnosed bipolar disorder when he purchased a farm in 1919, sight unseen, in a remote area of the Ozark Mountains. Walter made poor decisions while he was in the more manic phase of his illness. On one of his infrequent visits home, he instructed my grandmother, Birdie Mae, to take the last three of their eight children (including my mother) and move to the place at Crocker, transporting their meager livestock by train. Walter would meet them there. They moved; Walter never came. My mother’s youngest brother always told me the pasture there was so steep the horses fell right out of it. The dwelling on the property was a ramshackle cabin (pictured above) barely fit for inhabitance, with no source of water for miles. My mother and her siblings drove their cattle several miles weekly to bring back water for the livestock, but the animals were so thirsty upon returning that they drank all the water at once. Living off the land was nearly impossible. With Walter missing, Birdie Mae couldn’t even try to sell the property. Eventually, my grandmother telegraphed her oldest son who came and brought the family to Kirksville, Missouri with him. He bought a large home for my grandmother which she ran as a boarding home for college students until her death of breast cancer in 1937. Walter and Birdie Mae did not live together after her move to Kirksville.

 

My grandfather had trouble keeping his promises. God’s promise to the Israelites that they would inherit the “promised land” of Canaan was a promise He intended to keep. Moses sent twelve spies to Canaan for forty days, but only two gave a favorable report upon their return, in essence doubting God’s promise. Because of their doubt, God sent the people to wander for forty years in the desert—one year for each day the spies spent in Canaan! By the time the Israelites did enter Canaan, most of the wandering generation had died. It was a hard lesson that God does keep His promises!

 

Lord, give me faith to trust Your enduring promises! Amen

 

Both candid and humorous, insightful and ponderous, Meg Blaine Corrigan’s memoir, Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child, takes the reader through her chaotic childhood with an alcoholic mother and enabling father to a violent assault that nearly ended her life. She populates her tale with vivid descriptions of her parents, other influential adults, the attacker, and her disastrous first marriage. But this story has a happy ending, when Meg finds solace in a God she didn’t think she’d ever believe in, when He gently helps her heal from her past lives and move into the best times of her life. Meg has also written a novel, Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist, about said first marriage, as well as a Christian devotional, Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian, comprised of blogs from this site. Stay tuned for sequels to her last two books! All of her works may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .