The element of Surprise
On January 17, 2020 by Keturah HaferkampIs surprise about timing?
Periodically surprise happens. But the element one is surprised about cannot be something expected.
And if hope is expectancy then how do hopeful people get surprised?
Recently someone discussed this idea with me:
That Western Christian Evangelicals ought to be surprised by the Incarnation, but usually aren’t.
So I asked her about surprise and whether she thought suffering might help to engender it. If hope and having are norms, where canĀ surprise fit?
We both left off wondering.
Surprised by joy was the theme of our semester abroad. We were treated with respect and kindness; I worked for a school that listened to teachers and paid well and on time.
Surprised by disappointment has been the theme of my life at home. Teachers are treated with disdain; administrators lie repeatedly, steal from staff and fail to listen to its faculty.
Unexpected. Is that surprise?
Dashed hope. Is that surprise?
Is surprise the other side of belief? I believe my job will lie, cheat and steal but they don’t. I am surprised. I believe my job will pay as promised and on time but they don’t. I am surprised.
But what about when …
Right before we left Guangzhou I made a new friend. She asked me about work life at SCUT and of course I sang SCUT’s praises. She asked me to connect her. So I passed her info along a la networking. Weeks later now I learn that she was never contacted—despite the promise that she would be contacted. I expected this. For several reasons foreign teachers with any experience in East Asia should know that that’s not how things are done. I was told she would be contacted in order to save face, to preserve the relationship and to protect from bad feeling.
I expected she would not be contacted. But when she wrote to tell me she was never contacted, I felt surprised.
How is that possible?
…and now even more weeks later I am surprised to learn that the school did contact her. And she is making new life arrangements!
…and again surprised to discover that not only have I been paid, but I’ve received back recompense for the weeks that no paycheck came.
Surprise, surprise! Nothing is as it seems.