Wood Chips
From the shores of Lake Superior (The Third Coast)
My work as a pastor and social worker has carried me into dozens of prisons, county jails, and youth detention centers over the years. There are lessons I’ve learned from those who have been incarcerated. I believe one of them may prove helpful during these unpredictable days of the spreading coronavirus.
In the field of human psychology there’s a distinction made between “internal locus” and “external locus.” The former has to do with those who primarily have an inner sense of purpose, the latter describes those who are outwardly focused. I’ve found those who navigate long periods of isolation and confinement soon discover that their own personal rituals and value system can offer them a sense of grounding and security, a kind of integrity, against which a larger group cannot compete. Those that have nurtured that kind of inner geography often prove more resilient and, in many circumstances, more helpful to others.
Our country is in flux, politically, economically. Public health advisories are shifting, daily, weekly, depending on where you are living and working. There is no better time to take a second look at our personal values and relationships. Examine your commitment to truth-telling, compassion, justice, and community. Remember the value of an internal locus. Trust your experience. Test it. Stand strong. The old order is dying. We are each a citizen of a global world, blessed but confused, that is being born anew into a hope of this 21st Century.
Jon Magnuson
The Cedar Tree Institute
“Wood Chips” is a series of brief reflections written by Jon Magnuson, Director of the Cedar Tree Institute.
