One of the most high capacity leaders in Missouri United Methodism is The Reverend Jennifer Bell Moxley. Years ago I served on a church staff with her. During that time she brought a unique workshop to our congregation, formed around one of her interests and passions – improvisational theater. Frankly, I was dreading the event, not knowing much about improv. As an off-the-chart introvert, I could imagine nothing worse than being responsible for making up lines in some kind of an impromptu play.
As it turned out, the event was great, and it anchored a powerful learning for me. It’s still the case that what I know about improv theater could be spread thin on a Ritz cracker with room to spare. But Jennifer helped me to experience a foundational principle for improv that has implications way beyond that particular art form. It’s practice of “Yes, and…” Participants in improv do not work against each other as they mutually create the scene or the event. It’s never a matter of “yes, but…”, or “not that, but this…” It’s a collective partnership, unbounded in possibilities. (“Look, the sky is full of purple geese…” “Yes, and they’re all honking the National Anthem…”) The fun is in the unlimited creativity unleashed by, “Yes, and…” The approach is that of partnership, and it is non-adversarial.
Sometimes we lose sight of how adversarial our existence is. We assume an “either/or” world. You’re one of us, or you are our enemy. You agree with me, or you’re as wrong as you can be. You either love the United States of America (as I define that love), or you hate our country. You’re either a Bible-believing Christian (as I define biblical interpretation) or you’re a heretic. You’re either a saint or a sinner. On and on it goes.
Locked into such an adversarial world view, we become stilted and confined in how we communicate with one another. An “either/or” framework puts a full stop on actually hearing one another. But a “yes, and…” climate opens up possibilities we would never have imagined and never would have encountered in the confines of our own little thought worlds alone.
This isn’t about compromise or even changing our minds on important matters. It’s about truly hearing and seeing one another. Jesus of Nazareth got in a boatload of trouble because of how much time he spent with those who were deemed to be on the wrong side of presumed “either/or” definitions. And time and again he said, “Yes, and your faith has made you whole, “Yes, and I don’t condemn you either,” “Yes, and I want to have lunch at your house today,” “Yes, and today you will be with me in Paradise.”
I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.
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