Living in a Paradigm Shift
Founders’ Day
10 September 2023
Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral
New Westminster BC
About forty years ago I saw a cartoon that I now wish I had made a photocopy of it for my reference.
We, the viewers, are inside a suburban home. A professionally-dressed woman with a brief case over her shoulder has just opened the front door to the house. Hanging on to the doorknob on the other side of the door is her husband. Unlike his wife the man is completely dishevelled, his suit in complete disarray, his shirttails hanging out, his briefcase open with a trail of business papers leading back to his car, door open and parked half on the road, half on the sidewalk. The caption reads, “It’s hell to live through a paradigm shift!”
If you’re not familiar with the phrase ‘paradigm shift’, it’s a term that began to be used in the 1960’s to describe a fundamental change in the foundations of commonly-held social and cultural values. Such shifts can last decades, even a century or more. Some historians of the Christian movement have suggested that after the initial paradigm shift in the 1st century of the Common Era that gave rise to Christianity, a new paradigm we call the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christian movement experiences such shifts about every five hundred years or so.
In the 6th century, for example, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire initiating a period of suppressing the Greco-Roman religious and philosophical traditions. Five hundred years later in the 11th century, Eastern and Western Christians split over differences in theology and language, a split that created unfriendly if not outright hostile camps that continue to influence political affairs in central and eastern Europe and the Middle East. Jump forward to the 16th century when western Catholic Christianity broke apart into the traditions and sects we know today – Roman Catholics, Lutheran, Presbyterians, Anglicans and thousands of smaller ‘denominations’.
And now, in the 21st century, many commentators say we’ve entered a new paradigm shift, a multi-faith and secular world where we can no longer claim nor assume that Christianity forms a majority in our own society nor in the world at large.
For a congregation such as ours, founded one hundred and sixty-four years ago, at a time when the 16th-century paradigm was alive and well, we may find this paradigm a bit hellish. If a wider cultural shift isn’t enough to occupy us, we’re also experiencing significant transitions in the leadership of the Parish and our on-going efforts to renovate the Cathedral and to re-develop our property. So, how do we not live in but continue to grow and even thrive in such times?
When I attend a difficult meeting or prepare for what may prove to be a challenging conversation, I take time to write down the following words in my notes: Wait. Watch. Listen. Ponder. Breathe. Then act. Just seven words – Wait. Watch. Listen. Ponder. Breathe. Then act.
Wait: Our culture seems obsessed with speed. As soon as a new computer chip appears and we all upgrade our software, engineers are hard at work developing faster hardware. People are often impatient and impatience can lead to rashness and rashness to poor decisions. Times such as ours require patience so that we can discern patterns and currents in order to make wise decisions.
Watch: When I was a boy and travelling with my father, he always emphasized watching. I learned to look for wildlife in the skies and on the ground as we drove through the mountains and plains of Colorado. I learned to look for patterns that revealed the stone artifacts of the original Aboriginal inhabitants of the land in which I grew up. To this day I love to go to the airport early and I watch people and wonder what is going on in their lives as they rush back and forth. Times such as ours require watching what is going on around us in the lives of our neighbours and our neighbourhoods to discern what is actually going on around us.
Listen: Contemporary society is very noisy. We rarely go anywhere where there is no background music and digital voices. We tend in conversations to be composing our response to what someone is saying rather than listening to what they have to say. It means being willing to listen to points of view that differ from our own. It means becoming comfortable with silence. Times such as ours require listening to the needs and concerns, the hopes and fears of others to hear the Word of God speaking in the midst of all the words being spoken.
Ponder: Waiting, watching and listening enable us to ponder, ponder not make snap or convenient decisions, about what course of action we ought to take and what course of action we ought not to take. Developing not only a tolerance but a love of silence is great preparation for fruitful pondering. Times such as ours require pondering how we live out our discipleship.
Breathe: So many times taking a breath does wonders for the body and the mind. Oxygen fills our lungs and thence our blood. The simple act of breathing gives us a moment’s peace before we plunge into the work we are called to undertake. Times such as ours require breathing deeply the Breath of Life God first breathed into creation.
Then act: We are God’s agents not fate’s pawns. We may find ourselves in the midst of social, cultural and personal turbulence or caught in currents we do not fully understand, but simply yielding to the currents rather than navigating them with purpose is not an option. Times such as ours require people such as we who know that what we do as persons and communities matters.
So here we are, one hundred and sixty-four years into our ministry, taking care of our neighbourhood in the midst of a paradigm shift our founders’ could not have imagined. It’s not the first time Christians have faced such times nor likely the last. But for us, it is our task to serve in such a time in this place. We may well wish that such a time would have passed us by, but it has not. Here we are – waiting, watching, listening, pondering and breathing – seeking to discern how the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit and the labour of our hearts, minds, strength and bodies will help us to live in and thrive and grow in such times. It may well be hellish to live through a paradigm shift, but it is also a grace-filled time, a time not of God’s absence but of God’s abiding presence leading us from strength to strength.
God of grace and God of glory,
on your children pour your power;
now fulfil your church’s story;
bring its bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour,
for the facing of this hour. [1]
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