Surprises

I spent a few hours yesterday sifting through the collection of topics-to-be-written; organizing them, consolidating some of them, and making a plan for them. I even had a topic ready to go for this week, about appeasing and placating people.

But then I read an article that came out last week, from Vice.com, and well… this is how I have a backlog, folks.

I mean, look at this! A new stone just rose up from a muddy lake bed! Another moai, like the others, that scientists had no idea was there. Apparently, it wasn’t in a line with the others, but rather showed up, unexpectedly, in a place no one ever thought a moai would be. From the article:

“Even the ancestors, our grandparents, don’t know [about] that one,” said Salvador Atan Hito, vice president of Ma’u Henua, the island’s national park authority.

This all means that an island already filled with mysteries has a few more to add to the pile, with a few more statues than previously thought. The moai, it seems, are not done telling their stories. (emphasis mine)

You probably know where I’m going with this.

Especially if you’ve found yourselves examining your past, uncovering all the previous harms, slights, controversies, quagmires, conflicts, misconduct, and shockingly harmful congregational shenanigans™.

Whether or not you’ve hired a developmental or interim minister this year, you will probably do some of that retrospective work as you look toward your visions and strategic plans for the coming year. What’s happened, how we are handling it, will there be any surprises, can we move forward in/toward better health?

And then a moai will pop up in the middle of a dried up lake bed, covered in mud, leading you all to think “how did this get here, and how did we not notice before?”

How you handle it matters. We know surprised people don’t react well, and something big like that could shake the congregation to its core. But it’s rare to find a congregation with any kind of history that doesn’t have something that hasn’t surfaced yet. And like the moai, the congregation ‘isn’t done telling its stories.’

If you’re a religious professional or a lay leader, tread carefully and be prepared for something to show up that no one expected. Be gentle as the details emerge. Consider how to incorporate the new lessons and new stories into the bigger story of who you are and who you want to become.

And then celebrate - because you learned something new that brings further clarity to the system, and you can let go of the hidden angst that story may have caused.