Literal-mindedness is a kind of stupidity, or, better, a kind of stupor, an insensibility or deadness of spirit brought about by the shape our lives have been forced to take by the pressures of the world we have made for ourselves through violence and irresponsibility, vanity and abuse, ingratitude and unchecked ambition, consumption and apathy. Chris EW Green
What caught my attention in this statement from Chris EW Green is the idea that our lives are shaped by the pressures and forces that we generate and invite into our lives. Not all pressures and forces have been self generated or invited, but some, maybe even most have.
If I choose to get married, I am shaping my world in such a way that it will shape me. If I choose to have children, I am inviting a pressure into my life that will shape me. If one of my children is severely disabled, that is not something that I invited into my life but it carries with it a certain pressure and force that will certainly shape who I am becoming.
Everything from my career to my breakfast is a choice I make. And the choices I make shape the world that shapes me. The Grand Canyon was not formed over night. It is the result of the imperceptible force of erosion. Hard to believe that such a massive chasm is the result of a river coursing over rock! Water seems much too soft to have any affect on rock! The Grand Canyon is perhaps a great teacher there to remind us that the seemingly insignificant choices we make and live with everyday are shaping who we are becoming.
If I want to have a life filled with love, my choices have to be consciously oriented towards learning to love better. I have to value love and live with the pressures and forces that will shape me as I invite love more and more into my life.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:17-18
To share in Christ sufferings is to invite love more and more in my life. Perhaps another way of saying “pressure and forces” is “sufferings”. The cross, in the literal sense, is not the only time Jesus suffered. For God to become one of us as Christ, He limited himself to take on the form of man. If I give up coffee for one morning, I suffer. Any self-imposed limitations we take on, is suffering. In what I choose to suffer is perhaps the opportunity to learn how to suffer when it is not something I have chosen.
Just like we all have to make choices and choosing not to make a choice is still a choice, we all have to put our energy into something. And putting our energy into nothing is still putting our energy into something. Whatever I decide to give my energy and attention to will shape my life. I am shaping the life that shapes me.