A letter from Rachel Anderson in Mexico
December 2009
Can Wrong Ever Be Right?
It cannot be a coincidence that wrongness is filling my life during Advent, during Christmastide, during New Years. I cannot help but wonder if Mary and Joseph ever thought they had been wrong.
A social worker cannot be wrong. She must learn to quickly evaluate a situation and respond correctly. If a social worker does not know the correct response, she must observe, study, learn and then act and act correctly. If a social worker is wrong, hurting or even danger continue. People and society rely on social workers to be correct.
A theologian is not wrong. She must spend extensive time reading, researching, completing word studies and immersing herself in the Word and tradition. She must follow guidelines long established and context regenerated daily. A theologian must be led by prayer deeper into tradition. But, in the end, if she can back up her thesis, she is not wrong.
Then one day, the social worker/theologian finds herself studying another language. She is always wrong! Studying only creates a random, yet still minimal, vocabulary. Research only means she can produce verb endings in a meaningless chart. Truths remain unspoken. Love remains undeclared. Hopes remain unshared. Grief remains isolated.
That is, of course, unless she is willing to be wrong. Willing to speak truth through games of charades. Willing to declare love while butchering the pronunciation of the few words she does know. Willing to share hope without words. Willing to invite others into grief regardless of what is right.
I have lived in Ensenada, Mexico, for four months now and will not finish language school until April. Then, finally, I will move to Tijuana and begin working with Pueblos Hermanos — one of the six sites that comprise the Presbyterian Boarder Ministry. “Wrongness” has become a way of life for me. It is expected by all those around me. Yet, there are days I rebel and resist this wrongness with all my being. But it comes nonetheless — constantly.
It cannot be a coincidence that wrongness is filling my life during Advent, during Christmastide, during New Year’s. I cannot help but wonder if Mary and Joseph ever thought they had been wrong. Sure there had been visitations and angel-filled dreams, but really, that was months ago. These days have been about long trips, labor alone in a stable, unexpected threats from Herod and a last minute escape. Did they ever think maybe they were wrong? Think about just throwing their hands up in the air and declare, “Never mind!”
We do not know. All we know is that the wrongness of a teenage, unwed mother and quiet carpenter brought us life abundant.
Maybe it is not so bad to be wrong after all.
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 275
