TIM SCHROEDER Sometimes, everything won’t be OK

What do you do when you don’t like the truth? Many of us have believed the myth and subsequently used the cliche that ostriches bury their head in the sand when something scares or threatens them.

In reality the cliche more accurately describes human behaviour than that of birds.

Ostriches are apparently turning their eggs in a shallow nest when they appear to be ducking reality.

People, on the other hand, are just ducking.

Our presidential neighbour may have coined the phrases “false news” or “alternative facts” as a way of dodging realities he doesn’t like, but he is far from alone in the practice.

Avoiding reality is one of our most common coping mechanisms. We attempt to bring cheer to people facing grim circumstances by telling them “everything will be OK.”

We instruct them to get a good night of sleep and it’ll all look better in the morning. Although our intentions may be honorable, we often do them a significant injustice.

Sometimes things won’t turn out OK, at least not in the short term, and it often won’t be better tomorrow.

Some hard realities are just hard, and are here to stay for a while. Those of us from the Christian perspective also need to face the fact that saying a prayer or two for someone in a dark moment doesn’t magically alleviate their suffering. Yes, I believe it helps to pray and sometimes God does intervene dramatically, but prayer is not a magic pill that makes all hardship disappear.

Attempting to minimize hard realities is nothing new. Almost 600 years before the time of Christ, a group of approximately 3,000 people were taken into captivity in Babylon. Almost immediately, some charlatans erupted telling them not to worry, their captivity wouldn’t last. They were, after all, the people of God.

Into that scene came a prophet named Jeremiah who wrote this memo to them: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.”

That’s a phrase worth re-thinking, “Do not listen to dreams you encourage them to have.” In plain language, some people take popularity polls and then tell you exactly what you have indicated you want to hear, be it true or false.

Jeremiah challenges people to a higher perspective.

Polarity Management guru, Barry Johnson, suggests that as much as we are all oriented toward solving problems, not all problems are solvable.

Some are tensions to be managed. I think he took a page from Jeremiah.

Instead of suggesting to the captives in Babylon that everything would be OK and that like a bad dream, their captivity would soon end, he instead told them to learn to live well in captivity.

“Build houses,” he wrote, “plant gardens and trees. Get married. Have children. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city in which you are living in exile.”

In other words, quit trying to escape reality, instead, redeem it. Make the best of it. Live fully.

Highly respected Christian psychologist Henry Cloud says that when the truth comes to wise people, they adjust their lives to fit the truth. When truth comes to foolish people, they adjust the truth to fit their lives.

I am not writing today to answer the question, “What do you do when you don’t like the truth?” I am writing to ask you to think seriously about your own answer.

Tim Schroeder is a pastor at Trinity Baptist Church