Disorientation

When Margaret and I joined a recent tour of the Tate Modern, I tried to approach the exhibits with an open mind. For me, art should appeal to something inside each viewer. Sometimes just aesthetically beautiful or interesting but preferably also original and profound. Just as standing high in the mountains, the scenery can be wonderful but at the same time, the wild loneliness calls to something deep inside me.
As we followed our friend Chris around the galleries, he read to us what each artist wrote about their work. At times, it was possible to understand what the artists were trying to achieve and when their work was both original and innovative. For example, I understood, without liking, the work of the Cubists. However, it was also obvious when something was just derivative and contributed nothing new. My opinion of some works was that they owed more to clever marketing and gullible buyers than artistic ability. I remember cynically chuckling whilst standing before an entirely blank canvas titled “White on White”.
It was when we entered a room filled with a giant table and four chairs that I experienced the greatest effect of the day. I felt disorientated by the strange scale and in need of reassurance. Looking at the others in our party, I could see from their faces and behaviour that they felt the same. Person after person was touching the walls and the exhibits in an attempt to reorientate themselves.
During our journey home, I realised that in the Christian story, disorientation plays a major part in making the participants receptive to the message. Throughout the Bible, we see ordinary people taken outside their comfort zone and becoming open to a range of new ideas and experiences. In the New Testament, from the moment Mary received her revelation, the whole cast of characters were taken on a roller coaster of a journey.
When starting his ministry, Christ required the disciples to leave their normal lives and follow him in the life of an itinerant preacher.At first, it must have been novel and exciting but was so different from the norm that Christ quickly became the most important fixed point in their existence; the place where they could return to with all their doubts and fears and to learn the core of his message. Then came that last week in Jerusalem. What a ride! From Palm Sunday through to the resurrection, they experienced every emotion. It is no wonder Thomas needed to touch Christ to reorientate himself before accepting what had happened. However, the very strangeness probably made the truth easier to accept. The same method of making people receptive continued as the Church grew. For instance, the blinding of Paul before his acceptance of the message.
So, the question is, should we. as individuals and as the Churches we form, be prepared to be shaken from our cosy normal existence? If we are to grow in our faith, the answer is almost certainly, yes. We must be open to new ideas and to taking risks. The parts of the world where the circumstances are most adverse are frequently where the Church is growing fastest and strongest.
For me, the disorientation caused by my recent poor health has resulted in unexpected blessings. For example, my damaged eye muscles no longer enable me to escape into reading a book. This was always my favourite way of relaxing and avoiding problems. Now I must find solutions from within myself and my own recources.The resulting ideas are then passed to others through the articles I dictate to my long suffering wife.