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On Christmas Day, the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy, on a
research cruise to Antarctica, sent a distress signal indicating that it had
become locked into the frozen sea a few miles from the coast of that continent,
with 74 people on board. Subsequently, icebreaker ships from three nations,
China, France and Australia, have attempted to reach the Akademik
Shokalskiy, but the severity of the weather and thickness of the sea ice
have stymied all three.On Monday, the third of the ships, the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis, which as the most powerful and heaviest of the three rescue vessels had the best chance of reaching the Akademik Shokalskiy, got to within 10 nautical miles of the stricken ship, but had to turn around to avoid becoming icebound itself.
The passengers and crew on board the Akademik Shokalskiy had sufficient food to remain with the ship for several more days, but after the failure of the icebreakers to reach the icebound ship, rescuers decided to remove most of the people aboard it by a helicopter flying from the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long ("Snow Dragon"), which has remained in the area. Thus, on Thursday, 52 passengers and four crew members were rescued by helicopter, leaving a skeleton crew on board the Russian ship in hopes that it can eventually be freed when the weather allows.
While not an icebreaker, the Akademik Shokalskiy is an ice-strengthened ship. It was built in Finland in 1982 for oceanographic research and refurbished in 1998 for Arctic and Antarctic work. Named after the Russian oceanographer Yuly Shokalskiy, the ship is owned by the Russian Federation's Far Eastern Hydrometeorological Research Institute and is currently chartered to Aurora Expeditions, an Australian expedition cruise line.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Helicopter Rescue Planned for Ship Stranded in Antarctica. CNN
Aurora Australis Abandons Attempt to Save Akademik Shokalskiy. Sydney Morning Herald
Akademik Shokalskiy Rescue: How Mission Came Undone by 'One Giant Meringue.' The Age
The Big Questions
1. What forms of "stuckness" -- literal or figurative -- have you experienced yourself or seen others affected by in life? (Note to teachers: If people have trouble coming up with examples, you could read the list from the second paragraph of the introduction above.) What solution, if any, did you find? Did the solution involve soliciting or receiving the help of others? Are you one of those who resists help or welcomes it?
2. Is the state of being stuck a gift of God, a work of Satan, a matter of fate or just something that happens in life? Can it sometimes be more than one of the above? Explain your answer.
3. With what spiritual opportunities does being stuck present us? What spiritual dangers are inherent in being stuck? What part does pride play in getting stuck?
4. What are some good ways to become "unstuck"?
5. Comment on this, from Robert Persig, in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: "'Stuckness' shouldn't be avoided. It's the psychic predecessor of all real understanding. An egoless acceptance of stuckness is the key to an understanding of all Quality in mechanical work as in all other endeavors."
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Exodus 14:13-15
But Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to keep still." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward." (For context, read 14:5-29.)
Here's a case where the Israelites were stuck, with the Red Sea in front of the them and the Egyptian army in hot pursuit behind them. In fear, the people complained bitterly to Moses (see vv. 11-12), but Moses replied with the words above.
God, however, had a different word for the people than the one Moses gave them. Moses told the people that the way out of their stuckness was to do nothing themselves ("keep still") but to trust God to deliver them ("see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today"), but God told them to "go forward."
Questions: Is trusting God but taking no action ourselves usually the way forward from the things that trap us in life? Why or why not? Is waiting something you find comfortable? Frustrating? What does our society seem to think about waiting as a solution? How do we discern whether our current stuckness requires waiting or action? How can we tell when going forward is preferable to keeping still?
Genesis 26:18
Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham; for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names that his father had given them. (For context, read 26:17-22.)
Wells were a necessary source of water in the dry lands where the Hebrew patriarchs lived. Metaphorically, however, wells sometimes stand for sources of inspiration, the "water" from which can help us become unstuck when we are stymied by spiritual dryness, a lack of creativity, tough problems, writer's block and the like.
Questions: Notice that Isaac "dug again" the wells that had been dug in his father's day. In what ways might re-immersing ourselves in the things previous generations counted on help us find the way forward today? What new insights have you discovered, if any, when you returned to a previously solved situation? When you returned to a much mined biblical passage?
Lamentations 3:7-9
[God] has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with hewn stones ... (For context, read 3:1-3, 7-9, 22-24.)
1 Thessalonians 2:18
For we wanted to come to you -- certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again -- but Satan blocked our way. (For context, read 2:17--3:5.)
Here are two biblical interpretations of stuckness. The writer of Lamentations is talking about literally being trapped, with the people of Judah exiled in Babylon. Notice, however, that the writer says the real source of the stuckness is not the Babylonians, but God, who "has blocked my ways."
In the 1 Thessalonians passage, the apostle Paul alludes to circumstances that prevented him from returning to Thessalonica to visit the Christians there, "but Satan blocked our way." We don't know what those specific circumstances were -- perhaps a travel embargo or illness -- but Paul interprets them as being from the devil.
Questions: How can you determine when God is the source of your stuckness? When Satan is the source? Are these characterizations of the source of our stuckness even useful? Why or why not? How should we respond if we determine that God is the source of our stuckness? How should we respond if we determine that Satan is the source?
Matthew 2:1-2
... after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." (Matthew 2:1-12.)
This is from the story of the magi seeking Jesus. In popular imagery, we often picture these men as being led by the star the whole way to where Jesus was. But what the text says is that they saw his star "at its rising" (NRSV) or "in the east" (NIV), and thus, set off for Jerusalem (possibly thinking that that was where a king of Jews would probably be born). They ended up stuck in Jerusalem because they didn't have the information they needed to know where to go next. It was only after the chief priests and scribes, at Herod's request, reported that the birth would be in Bethlehem that the magi became "unstuck."
Once they headed from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, however, "the star that they had seen at its rising" (v. 9) went ahead of them and eventually stopped over where the child was.
Question: In what ways does more information sometimes help you become unstuck?
Luke 18:3-4
In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my opponent." For a while he refused ... (For context, read 18:1-8.)
This is from Jesus' parable of the widow and the unjust judge. Though she had a legitimate case, she had no clout, so the judge was inclined to ignore her pleas. But finally, because she kept pestering him, he gave her her day in court. He said, "I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming" (v. 5).
Questions: In this widow's situation, perseverance seems to be the key to having the way forward opened up. In what blocked situations do you need to persevere? Why?
Mark 2:3-4
Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. (For context, read 2:1-12.)
The paralyzed man in this passage was stuck not only because of his paralysis, but also because his access to Jesus was blocked by a crowd. In this case, the first step to becoming unstuck was the help of his friends who, because they believed Jesus could help him, made the effort to open the roof and get him into Jesus' presence.
Question: When has the faith of friends helped you get past some blockage in your life?
For Further Discussion
1. Comment on this: While in seminary, a young man who'd been raised a silent-meeting Quaker was invited to be the student pastor at an Evangelical Friends Church in rural Indiana. He was a bit unsure how to lead worship in a church accustomed to a vocal ministry, but he figured he'd just follow his heart. Thus, during his first service at the church, the entire congregation sat for an hour in total silence because the young man did not feel moved by the Spirit to speak that Sunday. Following the service, a church elder came to him and said, "Friend, if you wish us to feel moved by the Spirit to pay you next week, you should come prepared to be inspired to preach."
2. Respond to this, from TWW team member Stan Purdum: "Some years ago, my brother Scott and I spent several days backpacking on the Sheltowee Trace, a long trail in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky. We had a map, and the trail was also marked by blazes painted on trees periodically. About a day out, we discovered that a lengthy section of the trail had been newly rerouted. We found ourselves hiking in deep forest for more than a day on trail that no longer matched our map. And since this portion of the trail was so new, it had not had enough traffic to tramp it out clearly. We often came to places where the trail was so faint we weren't sure where it went next. The blazes were about a tenth of a mile apart, not nearly close enough on unbeaten trail. We were stuck several times a day, not knowing where to go next. The way we had to proceed was for one of us to remain where we'd lost the trail while the other walked around until finding the next blaze. Often we lost sight of each other while doing this. If I found the next blaze, I would call to Scott and he would follow my voice to where I stood. If I didn't find it, I'd follow Scott's voice back to the last blaze, and then try a different direction. In this manner, and with much backtracking and guessing, we finally found our way through to where the new section of trail rejoined the more beaten path. We arrived feeling very much like pioneers."
Stan adds, "There is very little clear trail in many areas of our lives. We often have to find new paths to make our friendships, marriages, jobs, family relationships and so forth work, and sometimes that's a trial-and-error process."
Share about a time when you were aided or when you helped another in walking in faith. Whom has God placed in your life who functions as a partner in faith for you?
3. Read Numbers 22:22-35. What was the significance of the way being blocked against Balaam's passage? What danger did it present? What opportunity?
Responding to the News
Consider this: With an active, vital connection with our Creator intact, the life problems that stymie us often don't seem quite as insurmountable as they did before. Our church-going grandparents knew that. They used to sing a little chorus about stuckness, and it went like this:
Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?
Got any mountains you can't tunnel through?
God specializes in things thought impossible.
He does the things that others cannot do.
Closing Prayer
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