Thorns

So, we now have a super majority in the Senate. No filibusters. Perhaps less difficulty for the president when he wants to pass legislation. Is that a good thing? I wonder sometimes if the best product will arise when there is tension -- when there is a necessity for compromise.

When I worked in a lab, I was responsible for making sure that the work we did in the lab complied with all legal regulations as well as departmental rules. That meant that I often had to complete long and complicated forms, explained what we planned to do, proving that we had done the research necessary to support our hypothesis, and demonstrating that we either had the training we needed to conduct the research or that we had a way to obtain it. One form, uncompleted, was 17 pages long. When I began to fill it in, it expanded to over 20 pages. Awful. These were terrible forms to complete. One thing I could say about them, though. They meant that we had to think through what we planned to do -- if you have to prove that you can support the hypothesis with previous research, then you have to do it. Each year more rules and questions were added, but I suppose, in the end, because of the tension of the work being reviewed by a committee for approval, the end project was better.

In the 2 Corinthians passage that is part of the lectionary this week, includes the following (Verse 12:7b):

Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.

Something I read today suggested that for some of us, that thorn can be another person. Have you ever thought of your thorn as being another person? We are placed in proximity to people we might not choose to be in ministry with, but can we sometimes see that there are benefits to that? Is the end product of ministry better because of the tension of working with someone with whom you do not agree?

Could be....(doesn't mean I have to like it)