For Wilshire Baptist Church
“You can see how on edge he is.” That’s not something you or I usually want said about us. If friends or coworkers are whispering that under their breath, then we’ve done or said something that raises a red flag. Worse yet if the observation comes from a counselor or psychologist. But if you’re an Olympic snowboarder, it means you’re right where you should be.
I picked up that quote during the Olympic Winter Games from a broadcaster calling the men’s parallel giant slalom race. He was explaining how South Korean snowboarder Lee Sang-Ho was maximizing his speed and turning efficiency by balancing on the thinnest edge of the snowboard. Because the key to moving fast on the snow is to have as little of you as possible actually touching the snow.
We often talk about “being on the edge” in a negative way. Someone is “put on edge” and they are uncomfortable, irritated, about ready to snap. Someone is “living on the edge” and they are behaving dangerously and near the point of hurting themselves or others. A piece of art is “edgy” and it is unsettling, provocative, irreverent, even shocking.
So the “edge” can be a dangerous place, but it also is the place of greatest movement or change. For an Olympic snowboarder it is where he or she finds the medal-winning speed. For an artist it is where thoughts and emotions are stirred, and for consumers of that art it is that thin place where new ways of seeing and experiencing the world are found. For the entrepreneur or inventor it is where new ideas or theories are tested that become new products, new philosophies, new ways of living.
I’ve rarely lived on the edge and I usually don’t seek the edge, although I’ve been thrown onto the edge a time or two. I’ve always survived and in fact have discovered in hindsight that those edgy times have provided the impetus for movement toward new ways of living. But that’s only happened when I’ve ceded control to the one true God who has ultimate control.
The only time I’ve ever skied as fast as an Olympian is when I’ve been totally out of control. Thank God I found a way to stop – usually by sitting or falling down – because I don’t have the skill on the edges to make it down alive. In contrast, when my life has been out of control, trust in God has given me the edge I’ve needed to survive and in fact thrive.