Faith | Is something ‘out of joint’? Look no further for a diagnosis
Thankfully, I have never dislocated my shoulder, at least not yet.
However, reports from those who have suffered this painful malady agree it is not a pleasant experience. But shoulders and other joints can and do dislocate, becoming out of joint, at least for a while.
It’s not just bone linkages. The phrase, “out-of-joint,” is used in various ways to describe a sense or experience of dislocation.
For example, time can seem out of joint when things aren’t happening, or plans aren’t unfolding in expected and functional ways. Relationships can get out of joint; the parties are not in sync or are not smoothly and flexibly connected. One’s sense of meaning and purpose–one’s faith–can become dislocated from what is presumed to be true, good, and beautiful. Each of these initial examples can be further explained, explored, and applied to various life experiences.
Let’s look closer at the word, “dislocate.”
The root word is “locate,” which anchors related words including local, locale, location, allocation, relocation, and here, dislocation. These words and their cousins all refer to the root sense of place, of connecting to a particular place in space, time, relationships.
Thus local and location commonly refer to this specific place, locale refers to a bit broader present place, allocation refers to assigning place to parties (for example, allocation of resources among participants), relocation refers to changing one’s place, and finally, dislocation which refers to a negative change to some type of expected place.
Dislocation of one’s physical place may be the second most common use, after bone linkages. The prefix, “dis-,“ implies that the change in location may not have been positive, desired, or planned.
News agencies regularly report on people being dis-located (out-of-joint, out-of-sync, out-of-place), as well as mis-located (lost) or re-located (moved). And like the opening account about shoulders, any type of dislocation usually involves distress, suffering, and even pain.
Mass dislocations, all too often enforced by threats or weapons of violence, characterize the histories of countless persons, families, and civilizations, even to this very day. Being dislocated as a people is a painful theme of the human condition, one with which the Bible and other sacred texts are all too familiar.
“East of Eden,” Exodus, Exile, and Wilderness are some of the dislocating experiences that are seemingly part and parcel of life for countless people, communities, and even nations. In each case, the story of dislocation is located (pun intended) in terms of a relationship with God, as known to those involved.
The experience–benign or malignant–of being forced to a new place, home, and community often stirs up a powerful sense of dislocation, feeling betwixt and between, of being a stranger in a strange land, of not belonging, of being nobody.
In such painful dislocations, no wonder people cling to divine words of comfort like “Once you were No People, but now you are My People” (I Peter 2:10). Hopefully, dislocated people will find a place of knowing and being known (Genesis 28:16).
Timothy J. Ledbetter, DMin, BCC is a retired American Baptist-endorsed professional chaplain and member of Shalom United Church of Christ in Richland. Questions and comments should be directed to editor Lucy Luginbill in care of the Tri-City Herald newsroom, 4253 W. 24th Avenue, Kennewick, WA 99338. Or email lluginbill@tricityherald.com.