I am normally the first up in our household, in fact, sometimes hours before my bride or anyone else would get up. Perhaps this fact goes unnoticed since I no longer “leave the house, fight the traffic, and sit at a desk all day”.
Nevertheless. I’m still up early like I’ve been doing for nearly 50 years! I’m okay with that, but I do like to wake up on my own terms. No jangling clock, or someone shaking me awake because of an emergency…like what happened this morning.
For some reason I was “sleeping in” and about 6:30 my bride is shaking me awake telling me she’s fought off a coyote but to no avail…he got another chicken! She yelled at him, chased him off with a shovel but the damage was done. We are now down to two chickens where once we had six…
Tension! How much longer till they are all gone?
Have you ever read a book, watched a movie, enjoyed a play, and literally sat on the edge of your seat because the tension was high? You were not sure what’s going to happen next, but the storytellers have done their job well getting you to buy into the tension of the moment.
Nevil Shute. On The Beach. Published in 1957. Movie 1959. Gregory Peck. Fred Astaire. Many other notables. It’s a story about life after the next world war when nuclear bombs wipe out civilization as we know it, and the radioactive cloud is drifting down the globe to Australia where the last people still live.
I was reading the book about 1977, and on my way to work early one morning, I felt like I was a part of the story. I remember looking around me thinking, “Well, it’s about over. The cloud will be here next month.” I had to shake myself out of my reverie (and it wasn’t a pleasant experience), affirm that we had not been through a nuclear holocaust, and continue my day of living!
The tension of the book was leading me down the path to a conclusion whether I liked it or not. It made the moment feel real. I was a part of the story!
Tension is important when stringing fences. It takes so much tautness to keep the fence feeling strong to hold in or hold out, that which we are working to protect.
High tension wires, you know, those electrical conduits of power that keep our lives comfortable, they require so much pressure and anchoring to keep them hanging above our heads so we can enjoy the power they deliver.
This morning, I awaken to a tense moment and have been thinking about tension.
Can we successfully live life with less tension? I don’t think so!
Think of the early pioneers and pilgrims. There was tension every step of the way as they advanced around the globe. Consider the space program. Every intricate detail could produce a failure that would result in the loss of life and an untold amount of money, perhaps leaving human life stranded with no hope of recovery! Think of driving down a two-lane road with each car in their respective lanes traveling high speeds toward each other, just inches apart! Now. Let distraction occur as you glance at your mobile phone and drift toward the painted line that separates your lanes of traffic! Snap! You have just lost control of the tension!
You better believe that tension exists and we need to know how to live with it!
Every act of creation, manufacturing, and usage, all have certain tension added to the formula. Even the telling of a joke, or reciting an event, or driving to the store! Tension in every moment.
Tension is simply the idea of something being "stretched tight" and it's the tension that probably adds protection and safety to the mix. Without tension, certainly, many things do not work very well! Click To TweetTension is simply the idea of something being “stretched tight” and it’s the tension that probably adds protection and safety to the mix. Without tension, certainly, many things do not work very well!
Think about a parachute. You want those lines connected from your harness to the envelope above you to be stretched tight! You need it taut with tension! Else it doesn’t work very well! The parachute does not fill up with the air that floats you softly to the ground like a balloon!
However, too much tension causes a strain of the material (and user!) and eventually, something will fail. There must be a relief valve, and a moment of knowing that the next time will definitely, probably, produce a failure – so don’t do it!
How does tension work? It requires a force to stretch something, and then some kind of anchoring system to keep the tightness in place. Imagine someone walking a “tightrope” over a precipice, and suddenly the anchoring system begins to fail, tension is lost, and danger is imminent!
For some reason, and there are many possibilities, I’m thinking about sharing with an audience and the benefit of keeping the story tense so that everyone pays attention, sitting on the edge of their seat, waiting for the answer that is sure to come!
Think of this tension with a story about Jesus.
It’s been a week-long annual event for Israel. It’s not Pentecost. Yom Kippur (Atonement). Rosh Hashana (Trumpets). First Fruits. Unleavened Bread. Or Passover. [Source is Leviticus 23)] It’s been a week-long sacrifice for the event called by many as the Feast of Tabernacles [John 7:2]. For seven days Israel has been presenting their offering as gifts and sacrifices.
Imagine the hustle and bustle through crowded markets, streets, and temples. Israel has been invaded several times and a foreign power sits in control of everyday life, and you can be sure that the patrols were stringently trying to keep control of the crowds!
For Israel, this is one of many gathers and it’s a requirement to be where they are and do what they are doing. But the last day finally arrives. It’s supposed to be Holy. Reverant. And without controversy!
Jesus has been stirring the waters ever since the Angel appeared unto Mary! In the middle of the feast Jesus stands in the temple and teaches. Everyone is astonished at his message!
And the Jews marveled, saying,
“How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”
Jesus answered them and said,
“My doctrine [beliefs, teachings] is not Mine, but His who sent Me.
(John 7:15-16 NKJV)
Cries of Demon possession! The people are stirred! The authorities are indignantly asking who he is and could he be the Christ (Messiah)? Some believed, and many others had doubts, but the tension of the moment is stretched tightly! What will happen next? Trust the story to unfold with Jesus standing up and speaking aloud. Again!
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
(John 7:37-39 NKJV)
Prophetic words of Promise stirred the people! Believe in Him and you could receive the Spirit! This man is a Prophet, the Christ, the Seed of David, born in Bethlehem!
His tension producing moment created division! Arrest him! Bring him to justice! The officers return to the temple and the chief priests and Pharisees cried out, “Where is he? Why do you not have him?” The reply?
No man ever spoke like this Man! (John 7:46)
What will happen? Well. We know the end of the story. Finally, he’s arrested, tried, convicted and executed. But the story doesn’t end at the tomb! He arises and for 40 days he is seen and heard from throughout the land until finally, he tells his followers to go to Jerusalem until they receive the Spirit and Power from on high. (Acts 1:8), and then he ascends into the heavens.
You would think the tension is broken. Life returns to normal. The conquering army is still in control. The chief priests and Pharisees are content. The problem has been solved and the next feast (Pentecost) is just around the corner and it’s time to prepare for our next major event.
But the tension is not over. History has a way of making us see it from our future perspective, but to those living in the moment, the stress of the stretch is still in place.
What happens next? Simply the fulfillment of God’s plan! For 10 days the followers of Jesus are in the Upper Room, settling business needs, praying and waiting. Well. That’s another story for another tension filled drama that will set the world afire!
Update: My bride was sure we lost a chicken, feathers were all over the place outside of their pen…but I just found her wandering the yard and ready to join her friends in the pen! Coyote beware!