Creative and Misunderstood

"Misunderstandings, confusion and concerns about a new business model are quite common obstacles that disruptive companies face when they challenge the status quo... It will take time for many to understand us and probably in hindsight, only some will realize what we’re seeing now." Mohawk Group Holdings, Inc. (MWK), CEO Yaniv Sarig on Q4 2019 Results.

"The nature of the personal computer is simply not fully understood by companies like Apple (or anyone else for that matter). Apple makes the arrogant assumption of thinking that it knows what you want and need. It, unfortunately, leaves the 'why' out of the equation - as in 'why would I want this?' The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called the 'mouse'. There is no evidence that people want to use these things." San Francisco Examiner, John Dvorak. 1984.

Creativity- disruptive creativity - breeds misunderstanding.  Not because people have ill-intent and not because they want to misunderstand. It's because with fresh creativity comes a creation that no one has ever seen before.

Creativity often lacks relatable context. It's "outside of the box" - outside of what would historically be relatable. And in a sense, disruptive creativity does carry with it a sense of arrogance doesn't it? For better or worse, it assumes it will find a home - a context- even though there's little evidence yet that it will.

I suppose the artist God is quite accustomed by now with being misunderstood. And if you doubt that, it may be appropriate to ask yourself, "How often have I been misunderstood?" Perhaps you are misunderstood, not because of your flaws but because God is creative. Maybe it's actually God who is the one misunderstood through you, his masterpiece. 

Have you ever read a parable of Jesus and not understood it? Perhaps you are a parable of sorts. Maybe your story is one worth re-reading a couple times. Or look at the life of Peter. Jesus understood Peter, even when Peter was ramping up to deny Him. Jesus knew what the story looked like at the end. Only the artist understands the finished product prior to it's completion.

Listen to the Painter's words, "But I have prayed for you Simon, that your faith would not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:31) It's as though Jesus, paint brush in hand, prayed out Peter's path ahead of him. Yes, you will deny me but I have painted your return.

To see beyond the denial is grace. And only grace can bring the denier home. Because only grace is disruptively creative enough to create us new, creatures without our previous context of sin. And only grace is arrogant enough to create us pilgrims, aliens, and pioneers of forgiveness in this world of shame. We are a people without worldly context. We do not belong here and yet here we are. And God, in his great wisdom has done it to display the glories of His heavenly context. And so we are an instrument, and God is playing his music through us. A people of heavenly context, woefully misunderstood, but full of joy because of it. 

If you are feeling misunderstood, endorse the God who creates. In Him our, earthly and heavenly destinies are born.

The Human Beyond the Machine

"We can no longer say the impacts of coronavirus are only beginning to be felt. The beginning of all this is over: we’re in the thick of it now." – Myles Udland

"It’s like the event horizon of a black hole, where suddenly everything that made perfect sense to every quantitative model, every pairs trade, every scalp trade – it all made sense until we got to the edge of that system, and suddenly everything started to crumble. That’s the exact point where we need to stop relying entirely on these models and machines, and allow human beings to step back into the market." – Sean Debotte on financial markets

There's a point at which things stop making sense to the systems and routines we've built. And that typically occurs at the edge of what we deem possible. To most, the effects of Covid-19 on daily life were only a fiction story. A zombie movie. A pandemic book. An alien invasion. But over the past two weeks, those impossible storylines have grown oddly parallel to our reality.

We stay in our homes. We distance from society. We scavenge for toilet paper. But now, two weeks into quarantine, we're beginning to grow accustomed to the change. We are now immersed. Like it or not, the systems we created prior do not exist as the safety nets we'd hoped them to be. The past two weeks have crushed their reliability. In truth, our systems were only made for what’s possible. They weren’t made for the black hole, rule bending nature of global pandemic and quarantine. And neither were our precious routines.

Routines are creatures mourned heavily when they die. But all routines must die at some point, lest we think them immortal gods and hope in their sure blessings. Systems, machines, and routines all have their place but we must collectively remember that all of these creations were made by humans and contain the limitations of their creators. They are not eternal and treat us poorly when relied on as such. 

And so, in this time of new routine and new normal be awake to that which is not routine. The breadcrumbs of eternal things will be found there. Be human, the way Jesus was human. Open up to interruption, like Jesus opened himself to interruption from the sick and dying. His destiny as a human was found in the interruptions. Go on adventures, the way Jesus went on adventures. No one walks on water while standing on the land. 

Remember you are but dust and so are your routines and systems. But God is spirit. He’s wind.  And the wind can carry the dust much farther than dust can carry itself. Be willing to wander. Be willing to do things out of order and find peace in trust not schedule. It’s there we’ll find sudden grace in these trying times.