Avoidance Strategies

Way back in the day—1984 to be precise—one of our best friends was days away from presenting her master’s thesis, and she had a lot of editing work to do. So, she arranged for a full day at home, her children and husband away, ostensibly to give her undivided attention to her task.

 But how did she actually spend her day? Making eighteen elaborate napkin rings for the family’s Thanksgiving gathering.

 So, for four-and-a-half decades now, “napkin rings” has been, for Lauren and me, a code phrase for an avoidance strategy: “You’re putting off something important, but hard.”

 Many, if not most of us, when faced with something we know will be demanding and difficult, find ways of avoiding it (think about an important conversation you know will be difficult), even though we know we can’t put it off forever.

 In this week’s Epistle reading, Paul is warning his young protégé Timothy—his “true son" and “dear child”—against any such avoidance strategies when it comes to the central task of witnessing to the gospel of Jesus, even in the face of social and political stigma and danger.