Make Another Choice : some thoughts on the 7th Sunday of Easter

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What happens when things don't work out as planned? I mean, if you lived much of a life at all you should be used to it by now. We've all heard that line from the Robert Burns poem, "The best-laid schemes of mice and men, go often awry". Or how about the old Yiddish proverb, "Man plans, and God laughs." 

My Tiny Buddha thought for today says its all about continuing to show up. The word in organizational theory right now is pivot. Several years ago I blogged about The Agile Church by Dwight Zscheile. Show up, be adaptable, learn to, dare I say it, improvise.

During Improv, when a teammate makes a choice that throws the scene in an entirely new direction, you can't ignore it, deny it happened, or fight it. You have to "Yes, and!" You have to learn to accept and then build on what you've been dealt. It requires you to "make another choice." When I teach Improv I always incorporate the Make Another Choice Game. This entails me dinging a bell during a scene which forces the last person who spoke to make another choice. Usually by the third "ding" the improviser has let go of control and then the scene really took off. I can say there were more than a  few improviser who hated that game, even to the point of hiding my bell. You see, we don't want to change our plans or ideas. We want it the way we want it. 

This Sunday is May 17, the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The first lesson is from the Acts of the Apostles. It's the Assumption of Jesus. One moment the disciples are asking Jesus questions about the future and then without warning he's sucked up into heaven. I'm sure they that story looked different from what they thought it would be. They probably assumed Jesus was back for good and he would set up his Kingdom and all things would be right with the world. Instead he said, "It's up to you now. In a few days will be the Feast of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit will come and empower you to go out and finish my work." (Slightly paraphrased.)

Then in Peter's letter, the church community is told not to be surprised when things don't always go as planned. It's going to be tough going and folks are going to hate you and probably kill you, just like they did me. As Peter's letter was read in church I'm sure a few folks said, "Wait a minute. This isn't how I expected this to go." Scripture tells us that when it got hard, many left the church. The demand was too high. They loved the passages that promised "I will give you life and give it abundantly" or "give and you will be given back seven fold." But the love thy neighbor and carry thy cross verses, not as much.

Improv teaches you to hang in there, be agile, learn to pivot, and make another choice. It also teaches you to trust your team. Your team is your community, they have your back. The second rule of improv after "yes, and" is "Make your partner look good."  When things don't go your way and plans don't turn out, lean on the team. Lean into the church. Often when things "go awry" we look for a scapegoat, someone to blame. Or we give up entirely. Stay connected to your two main power sources, The Holy Spirit and your faith community. Together you can handle any storm. 


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