Life has a way of throwing undesirable events into our lives. If a person suffers an emotionally traumatic
event, they will suffer intrusive and painful thoughts about the event until
they are able to accommodate for what happened.
In other words, they are able to make some kind of meaning out of the
meaningless occurrence. Unfortunately,
some people are never able to make meaning out of some of the tragedies of
their lives. Even though years have
passed, they still experience distress from their painful memories. Often those traumatic events play in the
brain like a looped video. For others,
these intrusive memories work with a domino effect and trigger other feelings
of loss or shame. For some, these
memories may be so overwhelming that they cause self-destructive acts. We need help to be able to accommodate these
bad memories. I have good news and that is that God who made the brain and
knows how it works and how it gets messed up can help us make meaning out of
chaos.
Here is a word picture to help imagine the transformation that God can
bring to our lives. I live only a few miles from the grand Mississippi
River. In the mid 1800’s steamboats
traveled all the way from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Kansas City, Missouri and
beyond to South Dakota by means of the connecting rivers. On September 5, 1856 the Arabian steamboat, that had traveled the Mississippi and Missouri
Rivers for several years, hit a submerged tree stump and sunk near Kansas
City. The Missouri was notorious for
these kinds of dangers. All the
passengers survived, but the boat was a total loss. That is until 131 years later when Bob Hawley
and his sons found the steamboat ½ mile from the river. It was buried under 45 feet of topsoil. Through elaborate efforts it was raised with
most of its cargo still intact. Today it
is a fascinating museum to see what was rescued and lost for so long. This is a picture of what it means to
accommodate and make meaning out of the tragedies of our lives. They may be buried under years of hurt and
resentment, but with the right help they can be resurrected and accommodated to
have meaning. No longer do they just
represent tragedy and loss. Instead you
are able to see something of value. Now
you are not afraid to talk about what happened because it makes sense. Out of
the tragic events of the past God gives you treasures to share with others.
Through the miracle of grace and forgiveness, God truly makes meaning out of our
chaos.
