THE Agent of Chaos

 

New Life begins at the Cross.  It’s there you realize how arrogant you are.  You don’t welcome trials.  You lived for no greater purpose than to avoid them if they come.  Your ambition has risen no higher than a life that works pretty well.  Perhaps you’ve disguised your narcissism by dressing it up in Christian clothing.  Find fulfillment in ministry. Clean up your life.  Overcome your sexual addiction.  Live by the Book.  But now you see that none of it had God at the center.  God’s glory has mattered little to you.  A quality life is what you’re after.  And Christianity, or the Christian culture, provides you with the meaning, the sense of community, and the respect you desire.  The Spiritual Cycle begins with brokenness.  It hurts.  The two Old Way cycles are much more seeker friendly.

 

Larry Crabb

The Pressure’s Off

 

Plans, plans, plans.  Boy did we have plans.  Plans for a world without war and terrorism.  Plans for a stable economy in the “most powerful” country in the world.  Plans for prosperity, stability, and a life on the pristine slopes of Bliss Mountain.  It’s easy, so easy to think life should be A = B; we live right, we invest right, we raise kids right, we eat right – we should be able to live right – without bumps, stumps, and valleys as deep as the Mariana Trench. 

 

But then, we have this Enemy… don’t we?  What a “Jokester”, eh?  He laughs at our expectations… yea our demands on God to bless with a stable life and financial success.  Reap the rewards, right? That’s our plan…

I don’t want to sound fatalistic (especially right before the holidays – sorry about that), but let’s face it – we’re in for one heck of a ride in the 2009, maybe from here on.  With an international recession, a proliferation of available weaponry to terrorists, and the possible resurgence of an old (and desperate) enemy the probability of a major Black Swan striking in the next few years is dramatically high.  But even if blessings (as we define them) disappear and chaos produced by THE Agent of Chaos (who I’ve also referred to as the Illusionist) seems to decimate all we have known as a “normal” quality of life, God is still in control and His glory will prevail. 

 

Prepare now; prepare your son now.  Break with expectations of normality and invest in those things (like your relationships with God, family and friends) that will transcend the chaos that is almost sure to come.  And when the time comes we will be the Agents of THE Creator who will combat THE Agent of Chaos.

Black Bird Squalls

 

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.”  So they got into a boat and set out.  As they sailed, He fell asleep.  A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.  The disciples went and woke Him, saying “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”  He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided and all was calm.  “Where is your faith?”  He asked his disciples.

 

Luke 8:22-25

 

Squalls by definition have several characteristics.  They appear unexpectedly, they strike quickly, and they devastate those in their path.  Sounds a lot like those stupid Black Birds I’ve mentioned so often in the past few months, doesn’t it?  Here’s Wickapedia’s definition of the legendary version of this storm event, known to sailors throughout history as the “white squall”:

 

A white squall is a sudden and violent windstorm phenomenon at sea which is not accompanied by the black clouds generally characteristic of a squall. The name refers to the white-capped waves and broken water, its meager warning to any unlucky seaman caught in its path.

 

The disciples experienced this type of intense calamity first hand.  So did the crew of the Albatross, the sailboat school at sea in the early 1960s that encountered a white squall at sea with devastating results:

 

 

We all experience white squalls of sorts, don’t we?  Probably not at sea, but certainly on our journey across this ocean we call life.  It can be disturbing that Jesus not only rescued the disciples from the storm, He also created the calamity.  Another gospel account of a similar storm describes that Jesus observed the disciples at a distance as they tried to survive the pounding waves; He actually waits several hours before walking out (on the water) and chastising them for their lack of trust. 

 

What do we do when we find our family, our business, or our entire economy suddenly surrounded by waves the size of the Smokies and thunder as loud as Wagnerian percussion?  Our human nature screams “Panic, every man for himself!” while Jesus watches us thrashing and waits for our hearts to calm and trust.  Squalls probably fall into that unpleasant “ferocious flirting” category I mentioned a few posts back.  God is “…in the rain” as Evy described in the movie “V”.  Storms fortify our faith and forge the foundation of our teams and families if we embrace the experience:

 

 

Take your son to Starbucks and tell him about the “squalls” you’ve experienced in your life.  Tell him that storms are on the horizon, but when they appear he doesn’t need to run from the wind – he couldn’t even if he wanted to.  Train him to prepare now – emotionally, physically, mentally, and most importantly – spiritually.  He needs to know he won’t see the squall coming, but he can remember Who created the storm.  Your son can, with his ship mates, learn to trim his sails and trust that God is indeed, in the rain. 

 

 

Do We Need Dark Knights?

 

I saw something interesting on my trip to Germany a few weeks ago:

 

 

 

Yes, Black Swans do exist – fowl, friend, and fiend.  I’ve already described the definition of a Black Swan, but as a reminder it’s:

 

• A highly improbable event or occurrence outside of the realm of our expectations,

• that carries extreme impact,

• and which is unexplainable in retrospect, or predictable in the future.

 

So what does the “The Dark Knight” have to do with the “The Black Bird”?  I read an interesting article recently in a local newspaper entitled The Superhero Trap.  Here’s a quote:

 

The Dark Knight, praised by critics for its somber themes and grand ambitions, has proven to be a mighty box office force in a summer already dominated by superheroes of various kinds.  But any comic book fan knows that a hero at the height of his powers is a few panels removed from mortal danger, and that hubris has a way of summoning new enemies out of the shadows.  Are the Caped Crusader and his colleagues basking in an endless summer of triumph, or is the sun already starting to set?…. Those poor, misunderstood crusaders must turn big profits on a global scale and satisfy an audience hungry for the thrill of novelty and the comforts of the familiar.  Is it just me, or is the strain starting to show?

 

Although the writer makes a logical observation based on possible future box office returns, I think he (or she – A.O. Scott) misses the point why superheroes are so popular and why they will survive in some form or fashion in the coming years. The Dark Knight, The Man of Steel, The Crimson Avenger (Iron Man – can you believe a middle aged guy knows that) and other icons represent modern mythology; epic participants who courageously step in to remedy crime or disaster when needed. We will always adore these modern day Hercules because we crave heroes and, perhaps more important, we love to experience perilous rescue. 

 

Our enemy The Great Illusionist (next entry) plots “bad bird” Black Swans like a chess master who sees victory twelve moves ahead.  He is both epically evil and strategically brilliant. We pray when his Swans swoop we will be ready to respond with courage, strength, and character. 

 

One of my most highly respected friends leads an international organization where God shows up everyday with “good bird” Black Swans.  I am amazed at how God tangibly and miraculously steps into his circumstances, both in the macro and the micro.  Recently I asked my friend to describe how an individual can move towards experiencing that kind of intimacy and response with God.  He gave me three suggestions – a “Heavenly Hat Trick”:

 

• Read the Bible every day – not just books about the Bible, but the Word itself.

• Expect God to show up, don’t just pray that He does.  Keep the radar for His invitation continually on “Defcon 1”.

• Be willing to look foolish, no matter what He invites me to do.

 

I believe these are the keys to courageous participation in both small opportunities to help others, as well as preparation to respond to the “Big Bad Bird” when it descends.  Try the Hat Trick on for size, and ask your son if he would like to join you in perilous rescue during the epic battles ahead.

 

Do we need “Dark Knights”?   No question in my mind – now and forever.

 

 

The Call to Highly Improbable and Infinite Possibilities

 

At the call, Levi leaves all that he has – but not because he thinks that he might be doing something worth while, but simply for the sake of the call.  Otherwise he cannot follow in the steps of Jesus.  This act on Levi’s part has not the slightest value in itself; it is quite devoid of significance and unworthy of consideration.  The disciple simply burns his boats and goes ahead.  He is called out, and has to forsake his old life in order that he may “exist” in the strictest sense of the word.  The old life is left behind, and completely surrendered.  The disciple is dragged out of his relative security into a life of absolute insecurity (that is, in truth, into the absolute security and safety of the fellowship of Jesus), from a life which is observable and calculable (it is, in fact quite incalculable) into a life where everything is unobservable and fortuitous (that is, into one which is necessary and calculable), out of the realm of finite (which is in truth the infinite) into the realm of infinite possibilities (which is the one liberating reality)….Beside Jesus nothing has any significance.  He alone matters.

 

Os Guinness

Entrepreneurs of Life

 

“Will we ever go back?”  Lucy asked.

“I should think so; but it will probably happen when you’re not looking for it.”

 

Lucy and the Professor in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

 

What happens when you combine the highly improbable (Black Swan) with infinite possibilities (The Mystery Box)?  Well if you believe there is no God, you experience the perpetual perception of chaos with the sense that your feet are firmly planted in mid-air.  If on the other hand you believe in God (and his Son) you can experience what Levi (Matthew) did when Jesus looked at him and said, “Follow me.”  In other words, you hear His call. 

 

What can appear as an existence of continual uncertainty is, to the Christian, a world of Adventure with incalculable and infinite possibilities.  As those who believe, all we have to do is prepare…prepare, and listen.

 

We can help our young men to be ready for His call; we can encourage them to embrace a future with highly improbable and infinite possibilities.  We can teach them the Heavenly Hat Trick.

 

The Black Swan

If you haven’t heard the term Black Swan you will soon.   “What’s a Black Swan?” you ask, “I’ve never seen one.  Do they even exist?”  Exactly.  The fact that you assume there are no Black Swans simply because one has never flown across your windshield, causing you to run a stop sign, illustrates one of our greatest societal weaknesses according to author Nicholas Taleb.

 

Taleb describes his Black Swan as an event or occurrence that has three characteristics:

 

1. It lies outside the realm of expectations because nothing in the past convincingly points to its possibility
2. It carries an extreme impact
3. In spite of its outlier status, human nature makes us concoct explanations for its happening after the fact, making it explainable and predictable

 

In short, describes Taleb, much of life is random; we live in a world where reality as we perceive it can change in a nanosecond. Black Swans alter our lives, for better or worse, and there’s no way we can predict them.  We try to interpret Swans in the rear view mirror with feeble explanations and causation theories, but we never see them coming – despite all of the Nobel Prize winning models that state we can. 

 

9/11 was a Black Swan (bad bird), so is the iPod (good bird).  Hitler was a Black Swan, so is the Harry Potter series.  Taleb, a wealthy “flaneur” (or professional thinker) as he calls himself, describes his philosophy as “The adventurous practice of uncertainty.” How unnerving is life when a dark bird can descend in the form of two planes that crash and demolish architectural icons - forever changing our paradigm of national security? 

 

We know of course that life is not random - wildly adventurous perhaps - but not random.  We serve an omniscient and omnipresent Creator who knows where dots are currently connecting to form Black Swans behind the scenes.  But we also live in a fallen world with evil enough to launch bad birds every minute of every day. 

 

So what does this mean to us as increasingly efficient technology accelerates the propensity for dark birds to emerge?  Equally or more important, what does it mean to our young men as future responders to the “extreme”?  Let’s dig into “bird watching” a bit deeper.