Fear and Flow



It was 1992 when I first learned of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced: "cheek-sent-mee-hah-yee") and his concept of flow. Fascinated by his research, he added insight to pastoral care and the depth of human experience in “flow state.”  Csikszentmihalyi developed the term “flow state” for the many of the people he interviewed who described their optimal states of performance as experiences when their work simply flowed out of them. There was such mental synchronicity that competency was engrossed by the task at hand. Time did not lag.   

The human body is, itself, a flowing state. Holding all our bones, nerves and muscles together is a web of fascia that runs across and through all parts of our body. Within it, the lymphatic system fluid is managed throughout the body, making sure tissues get the protective white bloods cells they need. Here, however, the flow state is not effortless. This flowing requires the extension and contraction of the entire body. Movement is required to move fluid through the lymphatic system. Action and effort are essential.

As baptized people, we value flow. We value the flow of competence and effectiveness. But we also value the flow that fights off infection that might otherwise compromise the body. The primary infection of any community is that of fear. Fear, an important, informing emotion, can bring a community to high alert and help them take corrective action. But fear that takes up residence in a community can do great damage. If fear becomes entrenched, it creates blockage. Flow is impeded. 

There are so many reasons that fear gets our attention in the life of the church. Some of the more profound reasons have to do with cultural change, depravity of finance or loss of communal vitality. Whatever the reasons for fear, a most powerful cure for fear is flow. In the first instance, a flow that we enjoy. Csikszentmihalyi’s flow-state did not come by doing what a person thought they should or ought to do but by doing something that they loved doing. There is a lot of joy in ministry, and each congregation needs to find the joy of engaging their optimal flow-state. In the second instance, flow is the action taken that reaches out to the world and draws some of it back in toward the communal heart. 

While entrenched fear threatens to arrest corporate development. Baptism washes us forward into the courageous work of Christ that is both joy and exercise. Ministry on Monday is about flow -- for the health and competence of Christ’s church.