I have a bad case of jet lag. Really bad.<\/p>\n
I experienced it going TO Europe a few weeks ago, and I got it again coming BACK to Oregon a few days ago. I didn’t think it would affect my return trip, because I was drinking lots of water, holding off bedtime, and doing all the right-please-don’t-get-jet lag-John-things.<\/p>\n
But, it got me.<\/p>\n
I’m typing this blog in the wee early hours of morning, having been up since 2 am-ish, having just finished reading The Canceling of the American Mind<\/em> by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott. I don’t say this often about our assigned reading in our doctoral program (looking at you Max Weber and Karl Polanyi), but I couldn’t put this one down. For me, it was a page turner. I understand that “mileage may vary” for others. You may have skimmed it or thought it sucked royally, but I LOVED it. It answered so many burning questions for me as to how we “got here,” and by “here” I mean this cultural juggernaut of a moment in which we don’t know what to say or not to say, basically we’re “danged if we do and danged if we don’t.” \u00a0This is coming from one who was told to my face that “Silence is Violence” and then later that week, after saying something, <\/em>I was then referred to as a Socialist Woke Marxist.<\/p>\n Ah, dang.<\/p>\n I tried so hard, did what I could to the best of my ability, but I too got jet lag. I’m teasingly calling it “jet lag” because I couldn’t in all integrity say I got “cancelled.” That would be a gross overstatement. I like to joke, but I’m no Dave Chappelle. However, as a public person with a platform (also known as a pulpit) I HAVE misspoke, I have said things that were misconstrued (remind me to tell you about the time I was accused of supporting and distributing WEED at church!), and I have even said things that were outright stupid (remind me to tell you about the time I said that ‘Jesus pooped,’ and because He is God His poop must be huge!), and yes, admittedly, I have said things that could be deemed to be offensive. Not intentionally, of course. I’m not a monster.<\/p>\n Each time when there has been a “reaction” to what I have said, I have felt a little “jet lagged.” I’ve experienced that out of body feeling with sparkly, tingly vision, sluggish and heavy body movements, replete with a sick stomach and a throbbing headache. And when I’ve been made aware of my short-comings, I have endeavored to apologize, and ask for grace to be extended.<\/p>\n There it is: grace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Let that word sink in.<\/p>\n Grace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In The Canceling of the American Mind<\/em> there was a plea for grace. I wasn’t overt; the authors only mentioned the word “grace” 4-5 times throughout the book, and yet, each time my eyes crossed the word “grace” something in my soul resonated.<\/p>\n We need grace. Grace extended. Grace received.\u00a0We. Need. Grace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n