The next right thing.
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned over the last few months, it’s that I’m rubbish at uncertainty.
I like plans. My backup plans generally have backup plans. I work well in a world where I can generally say, if this happens, then this…
Then the pandemic hit. Every plan we had made got blown up. Every backup plan we made got blown up.
Just before the pandemic, our family discovered Frozen II ( yes, I know, we were late to the party). For those of you who have not watched it a dozen or more times, one of the best quotes of the movie is the line, “When one can see no future, all one can do is the next right thing.”
I loved that line, it seemed the perfect motto for this new world….except it quickly became clear how difficult it was to find the next right thing.
While staying home felt right, not allowing my son to see his grandparents did not. And each day the information seemed to change. Wipe down your groceries; no don’t bother. Masks don’t help; actually everyone should wear them. Kids aren’t affected all that severely; actually there’s this really complicated syndrome that kids can get after Covid.
There were too many words and none of them seemed to matter.
And suddenly I couldn’t seem to find the words anymore either. I muddle through my job fairly successfully, but when it came to my own work it seemed I had become completely voiceless, paralyzed with the uncertainty.
Nothing seemed worth saying. There seemed to be no way to get it right, no way to make it better, and no way to add comfort to this crazy situation.
Then three men stood voiceless, while a fourth put his knee on the neck of black man begging for breath. They said nothing. And because they said nothing, George Floyd died.
We are not done with uncertainty, but I am done with paralysis and I am done with voicelessness. What I say may not always make things better, (though I will always try not to make it worse); what I say may not bring comfort as little can in these troubling times; what I say may even anger people, but I have seen the dangers of saying nothing.
And I’m done with that.
Well said.