As a creative act of teenage rebellion one young man in a highly musical family would return home late at night and play the first seven notes of a scale on the family's piano. As the last note hung in the air, he would wait for one of his parents or siblings to come out of their bedroom and finish the scale. Someone always did. His family had trouble coping with unfinished business (Melander and Eppley, The Spiritual Leader's Guide to Self-Care, 55)Unfinished business can consume a lot of our energy, OK a lot of my energy. Leaving matters open-ended or unresolved means they are still potentially volatile. Like not tightening the bolts on a swing set and hopping on the narrow plastic (blue on our home model) seat for a ride, further movement or activity threatens the whole structure which could easily collapse. Unfinished business is unreliable since it is subject to change in the next moment or by the next meeting.
But what do we assume about things that are finished or completed? Aren't they subject to being reconsidered or reopened based on new information or changes in relationships? The nature of daily life seems far more fluid than fixed for me. What if there were a creative way to take care of unfinished business, as unfinished business, without finishing it? Melander's and Eppley's book referenced above offers this suggestion:
"As you leave your workspace say this prayer: O God, into your hand I commend those tasks that I have not yet completed. Until I can return to them, I entrust these tasks and all whom they affect into your never-failing care."What works for you in living creatively with unfinished business?
Peace, Pastor Jeff
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