| “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me.” Psalm 23:4 In his well-known leadership book Good to Great, Jim Collins tells the story of Admiral James Stockdale, one of the highest-ranking American POWs held during the Vietnam War. Some may remember Stockdale from the 1992 vice-presidential debate, when he famously—and, headscratchingly—opened by asking, “Who am I? Why am I here?” But the story Collins tells comes from a dangerous time. He asks Stockdale about those years in captivity: “Who didn’t make it out?” Stockdale’s answer is striking, especially in seasons like Lent and in troubled times like these. “The optimists,” he says. “They were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come and go. Then they’d say, ‘We’ll be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come and go. And then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.” Then Stockdale added: “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” This insight has come to be called the Stockdale Paradox: holding hope that good will come, while honestly facing the reality that things are not good now. Lent invites us into something like this same kind of honesty. As we walk this Lenten path, we can’t pretend that the world is whole or that our lives are free from pain. We see clearly the suffering in our own lives and all around us—in violence, war, and death—and we face the ways that our lives are entangled with the powers of sin and death. That can feel overwhelming. But when we face such truth with courage and humility, something else becomes possible: we begin to notice the quiet signs of God’s presence already at work among us—and those signs nourish hope in us for the new life yet to come. I am praying that we will know God’s nearness in the midst of these difficult days, and that together we will keep walking this road of faith. May we trust that even through the valley, the One who walks with us will also meet us with all good in the end. With you, Scott+ The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector |
