Is Passing

Control

We come by our desire for control pretty honestly: we want it because we are tired of feeling controlled. We are tired of feeling like somebody else has the power. Whether that “somebody” is God, life, systems, politicians, the wealthy, etc. humans have long experienced the world as something that acts upon us rather than works with us. And since control is what we know, it’s what we reach for. But in doing so, we often end up perpetuating the very cycle of manipulation we’re trying to escape. This Spotlight invites us to notice that cycle and to imagine what it might look like to loosen our grip.

Entropy

Attempts to control always fall apart. Always. This is where theology and our lived experience collide beautifully, because this thing that can be called sin is not just moral failure - it is foolish, unsustainable effort. Scripture repeatedly shows that human systems of control decay: Law multiplies rules. Power requires enforcement. Fear divides and escalates. Control creates exhaustion, rigidity, fragility, and (eventually) collapse. Entropy, therefore, can be seen not simply as punishment, but as exposure.

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In the Spirit

It is common - almost instinctive - to experience God as another force trying to control things. Another authority. Another system of pressure. However, God’s desire has never been control. God desires freedom, but not indulgent, self-justifying freedom. This is not freedom from responsibility, but freedom for love. It is freedom within grace, freedom that does not require self-justification. God is not trying to manage outcomes. God is forming people - and that changes everything.

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Flow

The idea of "going with the flow" isn't always good - it can be an apathetic way of escaping. Flow, at least in the way Jesus talks about it, is not escape. It is presence without panic. Flow is not the absence of pressure, but it is the refusal to let pressure define or control us. Let's talk about something from the love of God that might be called "flow" - something that moves through us not because we manage it well, but because we stop interrupting it with control.

VIEW FOCUS FOUR