Regression Nation

There might be a deeper problem embedded in our nation's financial crisis, said Dr. Michael Kerr, Director of the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, at a conference at Pacific Lutheran University, Feb. 12-13. The problem? Chronic anxiety that has led to regressive behavior.

I heard Dr. Kerr speak last week at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of Consulatation to Clergy in Region 1, a resource for ELCA and Missouri Synod clergy and congregations. Kerr is an expert in Bowen family systems theory that looks at how an individual functions within a system. It's very a helpful system for learning more about self and how we function in families and congregations. I've been through a Bowen family system theory workshop; I do not exaggerate when I say it has totally re-shaped how I relate to my family and congregation.

Anyway, Bowen theory has several concepts. One of them is regression: "If chronic anxiety escalates in a relationship system, the system becomes dominated by less thoughtful and more reactive ways of interacting that are older in an evolutionary sense than the advanced complex behaviors of a well-functioning relationship system."

In other words, when we get anxious, our brains shift into neutral and we react more emotionally, less rationally. Ever seen this in someone? How about yourself?

Regression isn't just for indivuduals, it happens to larger groups, like a whole nation. Kerr suggests the US is in a period of regression. He points to manifestations of emotoinally-driven regression: violence, we-they factions, polarizations, litigation, teen pregnancies, focus on rights, fundamentalism, quick-fix legislation, and terrorism. While statistics for these may vary on the month or year, these concerns have been part of our national reality for some time.

What causes a regression? Some suggest a period of abundance. Consider this example from the Galapagos Islands. During an El Nino deluge of rain one year, the islands produced an abundance of caterpillars which were eaten in abundance by ground finches. The finches behavior changed at this good fortune. Researchers said "the birds went crazy" and there was a "copulating frenzy." Females produced more eggs than they could care for, "teen" females were getting pregnant, males staked out poor territories but got females anyway, some females abandoned their eggs, and other manner of odd behavior.

Apparently, the birds couldn't handle the abunance. They failed to self-regulate.

Our country has been in a period of abundance. How did we handle it? Did we indeed fail to self-regulate?

Fear not, I'll not leave this post on such a downer. What's the cure for chronic anxiety? Well, perhaps it's not a cure but there is a way to mediate anxiety. Physician, know thyself! Seriously, it's time for a little introspection. Get quiet. Get thoughtful. Bowen theory suggests the way to deal with anxiety is to connect to the self, the deeper self and operate from that place.

Living the Questions

(The following comments are from my sermon at Central, preached Sunday, 2/01/09)

When I was thinking about going to seminary, I asked a pastor who was also a mentor if he learned the answers to complex theological questions. "No," he replied, "I just learned to ask better questions."

Sunday's gospel (2/01/09) from Mark 1 finds Jesus in a synagogue teaching with authority, not like the scribes, Mark is careful to point out. The lecture is interrupted by a man possesed with an unclean spirit. Jesus casts out the demon and everyone is amazed. They start asking, and kept asking, questions. "What is this? A new teaching? With authority!"

There are a lot of questions floating around out there. I saw a Thrivent (Financial for Lutherans) representative last week and he said he's getting questions like, "Why didn't we see this [economic downturn/recession] coming?" As if he knows the answer! The recession leads to tough questions: How much longer must I postpone retirement? How do I deal with the anger of losing %40 of my investments? What do I do when I can't pay the heating bill/mortgage/credit card?

We've been asking tough questions at Central lately. Can we afford four full-time staf? Can we afford a full-time youth director? (We've decided yes, at least for now, but these questions were asked during the budgeting cycle.)

Other questions rise up: Why is our attendance dropping? How can we attract more young people and families? Why do people sometimes feel disconnected from each other at Central? Why is it so hard to find volunteers? Why is everyone so busy?

Back to our gospel. The man with the unclean spirit clearly had a problem but didn't ask Jesus for help. Maybe he was so possesed that he couldn't find the words. Yet he dared bring his unclean self into the holiest place in Capernaum on the holiest day of the week. He made no request. He just placed himself in front of the Son of God. And Jesus healed him, restoring the man not just to health but back into community.

When we question God, each other, ourselves or our mission as disciples, I wonder if we can be so brave: place ourselves in front of Christ. Could we do so even without agenda or expectation? Could we come before God in quiet hope, in open desire to follow?

Perhaps this is the way, as the poet Rilke says, to "live the questions." Rilke continues: "Try to love the questions themselve, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not look now for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself expereincing the answer, some distant day."

Amen.