Breaking the chain of Destination Disease

Who is the wisest person you know?

What does it take for someone’s voice to earn a hearing with you?

One of the greatest benefits of being a lifelong listener/learner is that you can tap into the wisdom of other people without requiring them to prove anything.

My personal conviction is that I can learn something from every person and from every encounter—even if I deeply disagree with them on almost everything.

On fairly regularly occasions, I hear or see something and I think, “That’ll preach!” (Or, in recent years, “That’ll column/blog!”).

I have a new friend that I met a couple of weeks ago in a church consultation in which I am assisting.

Dawud Mabon is on the church’s staff and, in a couple of days of meetings, I have found him to be a source of golden articulations of concepts.

In our meeting last week, he said their church needed to “break the chain of destination disease.”

I told him on the spot that I would be using that phrase and that I would credit him the first time I used it. (And now I have).

When Dawud made that statement, he explained it by saying that some of the more experienced/mature members of their church (we won’t use the “o” word) need to get past the idea that they have “arrived,” have “done their part,” and are ready to sit back and let someone else do the work.

Almost every church that has been around for any length of time has that issue, but I’m certain that it is not a “church” problem.

I’m not certain about the age at which it happens, but I know that the chains of destination disease are burdensome and restrictive in many people my age.

As I have pondered the concept of “destination disease” I think I can identify a few common symptoms.

One symptom is a lingering sense of nostalgia. If only we could get back to the way things were in the “good old days.” Nostalgia identifies the past as good, the present as irritating, and the future as, at best, bleak or, at worst, terrifying. An overactive nostalgia impulse steals vision by shackling everything to memories and steals hope by shackling everything to familiarity.

Another symptom is tacit dismissal of the younger generations as lazy, irresponsible, and ignorant. They won’t work. They won’t listen. They have no respect. They’re spoiled. They don’t appreciate history. This tacit—and demonstrably misinformed—dismissal hinders both our growth and theirs because we are willing to let them do the heavy lifting as long as we are calling the shots. We are shackled by competition rather than released to collaboration.

A third symptom is a little harder to name, so I’m just going to describe it as being “settled.” We’ve stopped learning—or even trying—new things. We only listen to those with whom we agree. We’ve lost our sense of adventure and willingness to risk. We’re just trying to hang onto whatever sense of security we have until we die. Being “settled” shackles us to an attempt to endure existence rather than fully experience living.

I’m not sure my friend Dawud would agree with my application of his concept, but part of discovering our amazing is to take a good idea and adapt it for personal growth and exploration.

Are you experiencing any of the above symptoms? What treatment options would you be willing to consider?

Be amazing today, my friend.