Vertebrae

This is a lesson I learned a decade ago, and it made sense then, but as my life has become increasingly complex, nuanced, added responsibilities, stresses, variables, etc. it’s become all the more relevant. I was in the my early 20s and I was at a church leadership conference with my pastor and some other staff members, and the conference theme that year was “The Tension is Good.”    The Tension is Good.    It was helpful, although I didn’t have much tension in my life to apply the lessons to, but that’s just the way God works sometimes. Sometimes teaching is for today, and sometimes it’s equipping you for the inevitable tomorrow. Tomorrows always come, and they’re very rarely predictable.    So here’s what I’ve come to understand about tension. There’s a dualistic way to think about tension—that all tension is bad and that you should work with everything inside of you to resolve any and all tension. Tension—bad, Release—good. And this seems to be what’s sort of baked in with our culture. It’s at least what I