I don’t need to tell you how weird life is right now.  Clearly, it’s a confusing and confounding mess.  “Clearly confusing” — that’s an apt oxymoron for these outlandish days.

Even when things are swimming along in what passes for normal, I tend to walk a fairly edgy line of uncertainty.  I probably spend more than the usual amount of time in a headspace of “hell if I know,” especially more than the usual amount of time for a minister.  Because ministers are typically in the business of knowing stuff, admitting that I know diddly-squat sometimes leaves me feeling a tad awkward in my position. 

Anyway, as we all navigate this strange uncertainty, overwhelmed with conflicting information, hopes and fears in heightened sensitivity, I find myself even less willing to presume that I’ve got all the answers.   We’re out of most of our ordinary routines that keep us grounded in shared understanding, so I’ve felt less sure even about what’s real anymore.   (“Tiger King” on Netflix is a perfect example and metaphor for how bizarre and unreal so-called “reality” is occurring lately).  

Hell if I know, indeed.  The whole worldly enchilada seems abstracted and off-kilter, more surreal than real.  More imaginary.  But I wonder if that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

John Lennon wisely said, “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.”  

So I’m thinking… if we’re finding ourselves presently unbound from the ordinary, freed from regularity, cast flailing into the dreamscapes of our wild imaginings — perhaps we’re in a better position than ever before to explore and create something new.  Maybe?

You’ve heard the agnostic knock-knock joke —
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Maybe God, maybe not.

That’s pretty much my take on anything Absolute.  Maybe God, maybe not.  It depends on how you define God.  It depends on how you self-identify in asking, “Who’s there?”  And it depends on how you conceive of the relationship between yourself and everything else.  My spiritual practice is to recognize that I have a lot of creative latitude in how I ask and answer big questions like this…

One of the things I’ve been asking myself is:  What’s the place of prayers and positive thinking right now when at the same time we absolutely need to be paying attention to hard science and the physical reality of things?

I believe that empowered spirituality is as vital and important as ever — more so.  AND I don’t want to be stupid about it, or irresponsibly woo-woo.  A lot of us are untethered and floating six feet off the ground right now, so we’ve got to watch ourselves.  If ever we needed materialist science, it’s now.  AND If ever we needed positive thinking, it’s now.  Both/And.   

We need to reckon directly and honestly with physical reality while concurrently choosing the most affirmative interpretation and optimistic outlook we can muster.

Because while I may not be certain of much in an absolute sense, I’m very confident that the relativism within which we’re maneuvering makes a huge difference.  In my individual experience, at least, it makes all the difference in the world.   

Life happens — conditions and circumstances and cold, hard facts.  And we make meaning out of it.  We provide the contextual narrative in which we are either the heroes of our story or victims in it.   We transform reality for ourselves, responsively and retroactively, all the time with our attitudes and interpretations, our thoughts and beliefs.

Where it gets really exciting and empowering, though, is when we put the horse back in front of the cart and start creating our experience of reality going forward.  We can imagine the world we want to live in, and then step forth into it with optimistic expectations, conviction, courage, and commitment.   

This doesn’t mean that everything goes exactly as we want or as we planned for it to go.  But, damn, it’s a heck of a lot more likely to go in a positive direction if we at least believe that it might, and act accordingly.

And since our shared reality, as far as I can tell, is mostly a product of whatever most of us agree that it is, then if we agree to imagine and create and step into something glorious and new together, there’s no stopping us!  Right?

So that’s my balancing act, my half-baked faith, my Agnostic Conviction…

Wide-open, not knowing much of anything for certain.  Yet at the same time letting myself be sure enough to believe in the power of my creative choices.  Sure enough to believe that my thoughts & feelings & commitments make a difference.  Sure enough to — dare I say it? — to KNOW that together we can do-be-have-make a world to fulfill our souls’ collective longing, our hearts’ deepest love.

I can’t wait to connect with you this Sunday, April 5.  This will be my 8-year anniversary of delivering a weekly talk.  Yowza, it’s hard to believe they keep coming out of me.  We’ll have a reading from Sherry Fenton, songs from Patty Stephens, and my message all here our website, on Vimeo, and on Facebook by 10:00 am on Sunday morning.  

Be well, Beloved Ones.  XO, Drew

© 2020 Drew Groves