I was never a pilot for long; however, my love of aviation still remains four decades later. In those days we had to learn that when an emergency occurred the first thing you were taught was to sit on your hands. All too often we might jump to conclusions and make that wrong reaction – there was never much time so going down the wrong road lost valuable seconds. Hence ‘Aviate, Navigate, Communicate’ was a mantra.
After sitting on your hands…
So first things first, Aviate – fly the plane: keep it straight, perhaps gliding at a good speed. Amidst the chaos of the emergency, take a breath and stabilise the situation.
Then, Navigate – look for the direction we need to travel. This is the re-orientation phase. This is the transition between the immediate chaos and the re-entering of the normality. In aviation, we may be looking at an emergency landing site – one we might walk away from.
Lastly, Communicate – tell others of what is happening. We would inform people of the situation and tell them how we are recovering from it. There are set expressions but in such circumstances, plain words will suffice.
You could relate this to Recovery – Reorientation – Renewal even…
Why is Amos here?
In the Hebrew Scriptures, we may read of the places of Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba – all places of pilgrimage. People had been directed to these places of sanctuary for millennia. In the book of Amos we find a litany of perspectives from the 7th C BCE. Israel believed that they were powerful, but that perspective may have been relative. The influence of the surrounding countries was diminishing. However, soon Assyria were to invade again. The focus of the book is YHWH and victory, albeit disasters were also the ‘norm’. There’s prominence of social justice and decrying exploitation of the poor and the vulnerable: in Chapter 9 we read of a restored creation: as Methodist’s, what’s not to like? 😉
I’d like to draw our attention to one particular Chapter of Amos. In Amos 5: 4-8 we can read that the Prophet should not go to Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba. Not go to these places of pilgrimage?! No, they were to seek the Lord and live. They should re-orientate their lives towards God, not the places of sanctuary. It was a refocusing, to return to find their intended target, their original destination, one of safety.
This pandemic has made us re-adjust, amidst the chaos, and as we re-emerge our perspective that of concentrating upon the target – God for us is so important. So amidst all of what is happening, as lockdown restrictions are removed, keep our focus upon God.
Where is our focus?
Matt Redman, the worship leader in Watford, saw that the inappropriate emphasis was not on Jesus, but upon the music, the band. So he removed the music for a while, “When the music fades, all is stripped away”
Prayers
Holy & Loving God,
If we can keep our head & heart focussed upon you
whilst others are losing theirs and assigning blame
If we can calm ourself when others doubt,
and when even our doubts also surface;
If we can patiently wait and seek you,
our perspective not distracted,
our focus upon what matters most,
then we pray that you’d be our target, our desire.
Amen
Cover photo by Richard R. Schünemann on Unsplash
Interesting , my first lesson in my noviate in centring prayer , a way of creating a sanctuary for yourself in troubled times.