Transcending Circumstances
I have long thought about how our circumstances do shape and influence us. Those circumstances can be a limitation but they can also be that one thing that drives us to succeed, to thrive, and to flourish. We all come from different backgrounds and have had to deal with some circumstances - some challenging, and others not so much. It may seem strange but at every point in our lives, we do find ourselves in one circumstance or another.
I often reflect on my own life and the circumstances that have shaped my life. I remember losing my dad about 39 years ago and wondered what life could be without him. Life after his passing was tough. I remember times when we had to go to bed hungry because there was no food. I sometimes think about the kinds of basic life necessities that were absent in our home because my mother simply had nothing. I remember sleeping on the floor. I remember walking about 5 miles to school some days of the week. But for some strange reason, I never felt handicapped by these circumstances.
I knew I wouldn’t want to live like that for the rest of my life, and I was very sure about that until I met this beautiful girl who provided me with more than enough reason not to embrace my circumstances or to see myself being constrained by it. Unbeknownst to her, she inspired me to look at transcendence as human fulfillment and purpose.
It is indeed true that not all circumstances are of our own making. There are times when we become victims - either of the circumstances that we have created for ourselves or others have created for us. The real issue is this: whether it is created by someone, or you created it yourself, you owe it to yourself to transcend them - especially when they become debilitating.
Something is interesting about transcendence - it appears holy, sacred, and even magical, aspirational, and hopeful. To find yourself pulled in that direction is a recognition that there’s something different where you find yourself, that the present circumstances may not be working as they should or aren't working the way they're supposed to work, and so the need to consider an alternative path forward is necessary - i.e. there needs to be an adjustment.
The fact is, some circumstances can be incredibly challenging to the point where we become overwhelmed with sleepless nights, distress, grief, disappointment, and uncertainty. These can literally sink us into depression. It typically isn’t the case of not knowing what to do but how to do it.
We know we have to make decisions but there may not be any good options. A poem actually comes to my mind: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
We know there are choices to be made. Remember, indecision is also a choice. But in considering the choices that we make, we have to reflect on whether a particular choice would help us transcend our circumstances or perpetuate the status quo, even when we know that the status quo may not necessarily lead us to the place where we want to go or the person we want to become.
There’s a story of a man named Zacchaeus; he was a tax collector, and according to the gospel of Luke, he was short. Tax collectors of that era were considered to be sinners. Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was walking on a particular road and being that he was a short man who couldn’t see Jesus, he decided to avoid the crowd and climb a tree so he could get a good glimpse of Jesus.
Climbing a tree, any tree, may be akin to acknowledging the nature of your circumstances and making an effort to transcend them. The most powerful moment was when Jesus got to the bottom of the tree - Zacchaeus didn’t know that Jesus would see him and call out his name. Jesus didn’t walk on by. He called Zacchaeus to climb down from the tree, and said to him, “I must stay at your house today.”
A man whose circumstance may not have deserved a visit from the Savior now gets to host the Savior. Transcendence can be a holy moment. Transcendence can make life possible. Transcendence makes you come alive in ways you never thought possible. But Like Zacchaeus, you must be willing to first embrace your circumstance and then climb a tree.
In my story, the same beautiful girl who unknowingly motivated me to transcend my circumstance finds herself in a quagmire. There are no easy answers, and sometimes life doesn’t provide us with any. It is like having lemons and desiring to make lemonade but having no clue how to make lemonade and no amount of cookery books can help. What then is the use of those lemons if you cannot make your lemonade?
I pray for her and desire for her to transcend her circumstances. But in as much as I pray for her, I wonder if one can sacrifice two lives to save one. And how? I do not know but I remain hopeful. Hope, they say, springs eternal.
In her voice, I can hear the serenity and peace she craves yet still seems so far off. I can sense in her exasperation a beauty that seems like a mirage. I can touch her desire for transcendence - that holy moment, that out-of-the-world experience that pulls us into remaking the present - with the hope of charting a new path for the future.
It is that new path for the future that I am also hoping for Christ Church.
By now, I am sure you have received your pledge cards and letters. We, too, want to transcend our circumstances; we want to be in a position where we can, at least, call an associate rector at Christ Church to help support the amazing ministries that bring new life and transformation to our lives and those of others.
I am humbled to share with you that our church is growing. The life within this community is amazing. The richness of our common life is the envy of many. And the good news is that it's your generosity and kindness that is nurturing and sustaining all the life-giving and transformation made possible within our sacred space.
I do not doubt that we have the capacity within this congregation to transcend our circumstances - to pull our resources to reach our pledge goal of $600,000.00. If you haven’t as yet pledged, there are many ways you can pledge, and I invite you to prayerfully consider pledging to support our common life.
To pledge is an invitation to participate in the life of God within this community. It is to commit yourself to the good that happens here at Christ Church.
I will end with a quote from Emily Dickenson’s poem:
Not knowing when the dawn will come
I open every door
Emily expresses deep hope amid uncertainty, optimism in the face of unknowing, and resilience as we battle adversity. If there was ever a time to open every door, it is now.
Open doors offer us the grace to see and welcome the possibilities that lie ahead. Open doors renew the desire to transcend whatever circumstance in which we may find ourselves.
May you dare to open every door because you never know when the dawn will come.
Blessings,
Manny +
To pledge to Christ Church for 2025, please visit www.christchurchcolumbia.org/pledge-2025
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