2) I have moved steadily and continuously down a path toward valuing people more than production, relationship more than results, and well-being over wow-factor. I have a long way to go.
These words may or may not be what you are expecting, but they helped me so much...
Covering
Gary Molander
I hate the word authority. Honestly, I do.
But I like the idea of someone providing a covering for me. I need a covering or two in my life. I suppose we all do.
In the Scriptures, anyone who has authority over someone else has the charge of providing a covering for them.
All authority exists - at some level - to cover people.
That's the way God designed authorities in our lives. They cover us from injustice, they protect us from evil people, and they lead us to the wellspring of life. They confront us when we're on a path that's destroying us. They help us become bigger people. They lead us. You know you're under the right covering when you feel safe, a little uncomfortable, and growing.
And the only way we know how important these authoritative coverings are in our lives are when they're removed.
After my parents both passed in the last half of 2010, I was trying to wrap my brain around what my heart was feeling. I missed having them around, but my heart was feeling something far greater than that. There's something extremely sad about picking up the phone to call your mom, then realizing there's no one at the end of that line anymore. But that sadness was a symptom of something more, something deeper.
I discovered that the overwhelming sensation happening in my heart was simple. For the first time in my forty-six years...
I was uncovered.
You know that blanket you used to pull over your head when you were a kid? The blanket that protected you from the evils that only came out at night? With the death of both of my parents, I felt like someone pulled that blanket off. And they did it without my foreknowledge or permission.
It just happened so quickly.
My parents were no longer on this earth with me. And it took their passing to help me realize just how much they provided a covering for me.
A covering that protected.
A covering that provided me with warmth in the cold.
A covering that allowed me to try new things, without fear of failure.
A covering that helped me experience the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible as both a father, and a mother.
You have undoubtedly served a client, a leader or a pastor who has provided this kind of covering for you. But you've also served someone who, rather than covering you, abused you and left you unprotected. They were selfish and blinded. They needed you to get what they wanted, and they quoted the right scripture to get it.
I think that's why Jesus was so harsh with the Pharisees and the Religious Leaders. They were placed in a position of authority, but they didn't cover. They invited people into their kingdoms, but never offered them an entry key. The people collapsed under the weight of their leaders' expectations, and the leaders continued expecting even more. Their people were not covered.
They were exposed.
I'm left a little out of breath at this point. Somewhere in between the gospels and my own experience of abusive authority figures, I find myself asking...
What kind of covering am I providing my wife, my children, and my workmates?
It's easy to point to abusive authority figures in our own lives, and harbor resentment or bitterness or anger or hostility. That comes naturally for most artists, and it takes an intentional act of forgiveness to get past that stuff.
But we also need to become courageous enough to turn the finger-pointing back around in our own lives.
Do the people we have authority over feel covered, protected, and loved by us? Or are we achieving our own dreams, all the while using them to get there?
I wish I could have told my parents how appreciative I am of the covering they consistently provided. But I honestly didn't realize any of this until it was too late.
And I have a feeling they're fine with that.
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