On my way to work, I listened to the title cut of 40 miles north's cd Overjoyed. First line: "I'm overjoyed, overwhelmed, overcome by your love." "Overwhelmed"--now that's a word I've heard--and used--a lot lately. It's been an overwhelming semester. Students are overwhelmed; faculty are overwhelmed. Life is just overwhelming. I'm overwhelmed by class preparation, details that need administrative attention, students who are struggling, grading papers, keeping house, paying bills, housebreaking a dalmatian puppy--lots of very overwhelming things in life. What I'm not overwhelmed by is God's love, probably because I'm so busy being overwhelmed by everything else. I wonder: can one choose what to be overwhelmed by? Life is inherently overwhelming, and that's a good thing. If it weren't, the "intolerable ordinary" would be all the more intolerable. Without the overwhelming, life would have no drama, no challenge, no triumph, no meaning. But can we choose what will and will not be overwhelming? I've had to learn to choose--and refuse--stresses this semester. With department chair duties and Teaching Faculty Organization leadership responsibilities, I've had to face down some issues and deny them permission to stress me out. My friend Fredna has taught me a wonderfully useful response: "We're just going to have to pick something else to get upset about, because we're not going to get upset about this." Can I apply the same approach to the overwhelming that I'm learning to apply to the stressful? And can it work the other direction also--this piece of life, this phenomenon will be overwhelming. I give it permission, time, and space to upset my equilibrium, to blow me away. How does one make that happen?

posted by Annie 1:08 PM

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