The Unexplainable

I asked Scott to write a post for me regarding his experience in Ecuador—I had no idea what I was unleashing. Apparently he had many words waiting for a forum. Be nice and leave him lots of comments—it’s very sweet and he might even hug you!

As I sat there surrounded by other men, I could tell something was amiss. The speaker told us how much God cares for us, how much we need each other, how much we miss when… oh no, here it comes…..how much we miss as Christians when don’t truly express our love one for another. I was about to enter the zone of no escape unless I could pretend I needed to use the restroom and quietly get up and go out. Unfortunately, I was up near the front. Escape seemed way too difficult since I was hemmed in on all sides by the others who also seemed to be getting more and more uncomfortable with the way this was going.

What is it with speakers who think they need us to get touchy feely. The truth is, most men when confronted with such moments, a chance to put faith to work, to truly connect, just want to have their cell phone ring and take the call (this is one reason to go to med school – “medical emergency you know”).

Sure enough this misguided speaker was about to have all the men at the men’s conference stand up and give their neighbors a hug and tell them they love them. This was supposed to fill a need we all had for brotherly love. I was seated next to Jeff, my brother in law. Now I like Jeff and yes, as a brother in Christ, I even love him. It’s just that I do not love hugging him, or anyone else of the Y chromosome. To be clear, this includes everyone of the X except my immediate family such as wife, mother and daughters. They seem to have an exemption to this aversion.

The point I am trying to make is men, myself very much included, absolutely do not want to hug other men. It’s an awkward moment. We certainly can’t grunt and make other manly noises (just think about that). In my opinion, men are only truly comfortable among other men when high-fiving or grunting is acceptable, perhaps an occasional “huahh!” For myself when confronted with these mass touchy feely moments, I prefer to look at the ceiling and pray that no one is carried away with the moment, putting their arms out in my direction. If cornered and with no escape, I opt for the hands only hug. No body contact, only a pat on the back (long honkin arms are good for this).

So with this deep perspective on being a manly man…. I am unable to explain some of things that happened on my recent trip to Ecuador. Mind you, unexplainable phenomena in actuality are usually quite easy to explain. At least that is my opinion of one who makes it his duty in life to know everything (that sounds better than being a know-it-all). This summer, I and 45 others went on a short term mission trip to Ecuador. During our preparation for the trip our leader was encouraging us as to how God will change us on this trip. Isaiah 55 really hits home here that God’s ways are not our ways. As it turns out, God did change me in a way that was really quite shocking. Let me give you some background. First, the people of Ecuador we met on the trip were some of the friendliest people on earth. Their love for God and each other was a shinning testimony to us. Their friendliness and love for each other was very attractive, it draws you in and makes you want to be a part of it. In fact a deep change was quickly overcoming me. The truth is Gods love, when demonstrated in truth, draws us in with little hope of us resisting. I was drawn by the smiles, the friendly eyes, the older siblings caring tenderly for the younger, the old shown respect, and the joy of the Lord in all circumstances.

Our first worship service there was quite a time. We entered into a large and modest sanctuary. We were a little late but that was totally unimportant. The music seemed to penetrate right to my heart and the joy expressed by almost everyone was infectious. It was truly a special worship experience. I noticed that when someone entered the service late and took their seat (quiet common and perfectly ok there), others nearby would reach over and give them a great big hug. There was no slipping in late and taking a quiet seat. Each person was important to his neighbor and it showed. The neat thing was that even though they didn’t know us yet, we were important to them too. I wanted to be a part of this worship and these wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ. Strangely, this transformation was happening with a people for all I knew were just off the boat from Babel—I couldn’t understand a word they spoke except maybe “grawshus”. It didn’t matter as Christian brothers and sisters as we were truly of the same family with the same Father.

What happened next was shocking. At each service we attended, they would play a song that had something to do with being a family, some amigo thing. As they played, everyone would rise from the safety of their seats and walk around hugging each other. I was lured into it. Now if evolution were true, I would have had a twitch or something that would have saved me from this display. After all, how many generations of manly men had preceded me to instill in my genes the anti-hug reaction? No, evolution had no hold. What had a hold is freedom from silly inhibitions and “Norte” coldness. For the first time in my life, I was a hugger by choice. I was even hugging my fellow North Americans and liking it (that sounds kind of funny but you know what I mean – brotherly love liking only).

Over the week, I hugged more times than I could count with a large number of self-initiated hugs. It even carried over to my return to North America (at least temporarily). This brings me to the unexplainable point. How does God do it? I mean, a self-proclaimed and proud of it hug-hater initiating hugging?? My only know-it-all explanation is that God in his infinite wisdom gave me a life changing experience and used hugging as part of his method. I have a better understanding now of 1 Cor 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” God’s love when unburdened by silly inhibitions is where our strength really lies. I learned a lesson about the family of God and how truly special they are to me. His love is hard to hold in. I am now back home and I realize that what I experienced seems a little distant already and this is disappointing. Whether of not I can maintain a hug friendly attitude is unknown to me. What I do know is that I was changed and I’m glad I didn’t go to med school. It’s a start.