Throughout 2020 and now as we realize 2021 will continue with unsettling and upsetting circumstances, I have, at times, been surprised by the drive in so many circles to get back to normal. We heard “new normal” so much that I think we became exhausted by that idea, so we began to discount or ignore that idea. Human nature is, after all, to trend toward the simpler or known. However, if you are paying attention, you might have noticed that the more we try to get back to normal, the more challenges arise. Mark 2:22 has been a source of new understanding of this phenomenon.
“No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
Mark 2:22
Unfortunately, we are doing damage when we try to put new wine into old wineskins. In 2020-2021 terms, we are hurting other people, ourselves, or the situation when we try to take the new opportunities, learning, experiences, and squeeze them back into the way things used to be. Of course, we recognize that both the old and new have value, but sometimes we have to let go of old things or former ways of doing things to make room for the new to flourish.
We can trust that God is continually working. His hand is not static but is always cultivating and transforming.
“No matter what is going on around us, it’s important to remember that God keeps transforming creation into something both good and new. Instead of hurtling us towards catastrophe, God always wants to bring us somewhere even better. A helpful word here is “evolution.” God keeps creating things from the inside out, so they are forever yearning, developing, growing, and changing for the good. That might be hard to see sometimes in the moment, but it’s nevertheless true.”
Richard Rohr
So, instead of trying to put new wine into old wineskins, we are being invited into the creation going on around us. We can trust that God is moving in us (and the rest of the world). We must be aware of the times we are falling into former tendencies and resist those habits. Our awareness needs to focus on the developing, growing and changing for the good that Rohr writes about.
Sometimes, that means taking a pause in our action to allow our awareness to catch up, so we can determine if we are trying to put new wine in old wineskins. By pausing, we can recognize the places we need new wineskins for our new normal and start the process of moving toward that growth.
What is an area in your life, you have been striving to return to normal? Is it working? Or are the old wineskins bursting from the new wine?
KATHY PIERBURG 