The sign in the picture above is a handmade decoupage wall hanging that was positioned above the copier/printer I used last year. Thus, I saw it a lot and developed quite the love/hate relationship with it. My initial reaction is to say no! No, I will not trust “the process,” at least not until I know more about it and just which process we’re talking about that I’m supposed to trust. I will not blindly trust “the process” because I don’t trust all processes. Some processes are created by humans and we are fallible. Therefore, these processes are potentially fallible, too. Just because they work for you, doesn’t mean they will work for me. Context is important. Some processes that I have to use are simply not designed for me and thus do not protect me the way they protect those for whom they are designed. For example, test crash dummies are proportioned to the shape and weight of an average man, 5’8” with narrower hips and a wider chest. Because female drivers are more likely to be “out of position” drivers (see this study from Stanford), with our seats moved closer to the pedals and our knees and hips at different angles than the average man, we are more 47% more likely to be seriously injured when we’re in a car crash. (I’m citing from here.) So, I’m wary to trust processes that weren’t actually designed for me.
This Sunday is Trinity Sunday and after the readings on creation, the Epistle lesson comes from the end of 2 Corinthians where Paul gives his final instructions. This phrase from verse 11 grabbed my attention, “Strive for full restoration,” in the NIV. Other translations say put things in order, be restored, be perfect, put yourselves in order, keep things in good repair, repair whatever is broken. All of these, restoration, repair, putting in order, are all processes. These processes I trust. They feel more natural and malleable. They feel like healing. Order reminds me of the way geese fly in a v-formation. These processes aren’t forced. They address what the problem is, rather than assuming or a one-size-fits-all, which means it actually fits very few. There are things we try to do in broad strokes, like the shape of a driver’s seat in a car, simply because it is more cost-effective. However, this mindset prioritizes money and productivity over humanity and safety.
Last week I came across this quote by author Joy Clarkson, “You are not a machine. You are more like a garden. You need different things on different days. A little sun today, a little less water tomorrow. You have fallow and fruitful seasons. It is not a design flaw. It is wiser than perpetual sameness. What does your garden need today?” We are not machines. We do not all fit in the same seat. The same process will not work for all of us and to force it to do so only puts us in harm’s way. Trust the process? I trust the process when I’m part of a garden. Gardens need different things depending on what you’re growing. Context matters. I don’t trust the process when I’m part of a machine.
Also last week, I came across this quote by author Nadia Colburn, “Trust your own rhythms and seasons.” Your rhythms and seasons are not the same as others’. There may be times they overlap, and other times when they do not. Your process is not identical to another’s process. Trust your process. Trust the season that you are in, regardless of whether you or others think you should or shouldn’t be there. Put things in order according to the rhythms of your own garden. Restore yourself to a process that works for you. Put yourself in order by discarding labels and hats that no longer fit you, or maybe never did in the first place. Trust that you know yourself best and that you are the authority on yourself. Don’t blindly trust “the” process, because context matters. Trust your process, remembering that you are more like a garden, and not a machine.