Moths, Monkeys, & Me

Moths, Monkeys, & Me

Introduction

I want to discuss three things in the following. And, like a good Presbyterian sermon, there are three points to help our discussion stay on track: Moths, Monkeys, and my favourite subject, Me. The main take away that I’m trying to convey is that we chaplains, and those other people who are also carers, need to take care of ourselves, as in self-care. Dealing with other peoples’ problems shouldn’t become a problem for us if we learn how to drop off other peoples’ baggage as opposed to lugging it around along with our own baggage.

Loch Lomond from Duncryne Hill

Moths

I heard Billy Connolly tell this joke. I’m a natural at doing the accent! And you’ll be pleased to know that I’ve cleaned it up, a wee bit. The joke went something like this:

A man went into a doctor’s office and said to the doctor, “I am a moth!”

The doctor replied, “You think you are a moth?”

“I don’t ‘think’ I’m a moth. I am a moth!”

The doctor said, “Let me see. You believe that…”

“I don’t ‘believe’ that I am a moth. I AM a moth!”

“I’m a GP. Why did you come to see me? You should visit a psychologist or even a psychiatrist. Why did you visit me?”

“Well, I was going past your office and I saw that your light was on.”

Monkeys

I went to see a psych, a friend of mine. She is a psychologist. We talked about many things, but in the course of time I told her that, as a chaplain, people often come into my office with monkeys.

Monkeys? There is a saying in Scotland in reference to some sly person being “As fly as a bag of monkeys.” Some substitute box or barrel for the word bag. Speaking of monkeys, Charles E. Funk says,

One monkey arouses a great deal of amusement. Two or more then double the interest and amusement. If one were to release a barrel full of monkeys, we must suppose that their antics would become hilariously comical.   

Anyway, whatever you think of monkeys, people come into my office with a monkey on their back. The give their monkeys to me, you know, the monkey they’ve been wrestling with. They give that monkey to me. My office is full of monkeys.  

The psych asked me, “And what do you do with those monkeys?”

“I know a monkey handler – let me tell you about Jesus! – I hand over the monkeys to Him.”

“And have you been doing that?”

This is where I thought long. I was struck dumb for moments. Like the panic you have when you find your credit card is missing from your wallet.  “Well, er, no. I mean not really. I just kind of fire arrows of prayer up to the Lord as I drive my car to work. I haven’t really been handing over the monkeys to Jesus as I should!” Aaaargh! I have bags and bags of monkeys all wriggling free from the bags and escaping into my mind.

Me

I had a terrible time last year with a brother-in-law going through treatment for leukemia. Then his wife went through the same. Then my mother in law was dying from cancer and subsequently died. Meanwhile I was in an out hospital for surgery, then back in umpteen times to fix something the botched in the surgery.

Like an boat unhitched from its moorings, I drifted away from God. I got lost at sea. I didn’t stop believing that God exists, because that would be stupid, because that would make me a true fool, because of course He exists. But I became distant from Him. Truth be known, like many of the psalmists, I was angry with him. Why this? Why that? Why me?

How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?

How long will You hide Your face from me?

How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

Having sorrow in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Psalm 13:1-2.

I was busy, constantly on fast-forward. I even wanted someone to invent a laptop that I could use in my spa, a waterproof laptop. Yeah, I would sit in my hot tub or lie on a sunny beach with a good systematic theology book. I didn’t know how to relax. I thought I was doing “self-care”. But I didn’t really know what self-care meant.

All Presbyterians know what the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism says: “The Chief, and we’ve got to include Martians in here nowadays, the chief end of man, which includes everyone, men, women, kids, and the elderly, is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. I was glorifying Him. But I had forgotten about enjoying Him.

Now I go for walks. I enjoy God through the things He has made, birds singing, ducks swimming, breeze and trees, the sun sparkling on the water, etc. I enjoy Him, giving thanks to Him for the things He has made, the works of His hands. Now I enjoy Him, now I really enjoy Him!

Conclusion

The thing I want everyone to remember, is self-care. Look after yourselves. What were my three points again? Moths, Monkeys, and Me. The “Me” is you. If you look after the me, then you’ll be able to also look after the moths and the monkeys.