Have you ever seen those bumper stickers or t-shirts, probably from Hot Topic, that say “Fly Casual”? In Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Han tells Chewie, “I don’t know. Fly casual,” to avoid the Empire Super Star Destroyer. While it adds comedic relief, I’ve never really liked the line. Casualness is pervasive in all of our media, our workplaces, and our relationships, and if casually allowed to fly by will sneak behind the defenses guarding our faith lives.
The stereotype epitomizing casualness is the Silicon Valley CEO-type. With the tech-booms of the early 2000’s the Silicon Valley CEOs became the stereotype for unorthodox dress and leadership style within the workplace. When we came back to our offices after the Covid lockdowns, the Silicon Valley style came with us. Why did it become so pervasive? Why didn’t offices go back to typical dress codes? Most would probably point towards wanting to be comfortable in the work environment, but does that fully explain the phenomenon? The Silicon Valley CEO didn’t lead meetings in jeans and bean-bag chairs because it was the path of least resistance. He chose an avant-garde approach to the corporate work culture, subverting expectations to try to take control of his situation. He produced an environment he could be comfortable in, free from traditional corporate hierarchical structures and expectations. It is here we come to the crux of casualness: to be casual is to seek interior comfort.
But has making things more casual actually made us more comfortable? Casualness has started to subvert our relationships, especially in our post Covid work environment. Once an office fully embraces casualness, how do you address the boss? A coworker? Someone visiting who’s not from the office? In breaking down and subverting the workplace environment, we start to break down the necessary relationship structures within our lives. This, then, has the opposite effect of why we are trying to be casual, to be comfortable. Instead, it can make our relationships more arduous and takes more maneuvering. In our attempts to be comfortable, we find ourselves unsure of how to relate to each other in different facets of our lives, and, most importantly, how to relate to God.
So what are some solutions for the traps of casualness? Should we start dressing in suits, have formal tea parties, and fight fire with fire? When we look at the saints we see what looks like casualness—St. Philip Neri would dress in crazy outfits around town and formal events, half shave his beard, and was even recorded skipping through the aisles of the church—but the trick is to look at where they find their comfort. In Matthew 11:28–30, the Lord says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The movement of taking up the yoke of our Lord can not be a casual one. It is fundamentally radical; it requires full surrender to the Lord. In echoing the prophet Jeremiah, Christ exhorts us to a different kind of comfort, one through the yoke he bears, through the ancient paths (Jer 6:16), rather than through ourselves with our own sense of comfort gained from casualness. The Lord is inviting us into the same receptivity of leisurely ease that we see in the saints.
By being casual we seek our comfort for ourselves. We put forth images of ourselves and these facades create obstacles in how we relate to one another. Without us needing to snatch it for ourselves, leisurely ease gives us the comfort we desire, through our prayer and relationship with Christ. Once we are able to passively receive Christ in his ease, our relationships can be defined by him and flow through him, through the yoke, rather than ourselves. With the receptivity of Christ in relationship and prayer we are then able to relate to one another properly again. With Christ there is no need for casualness because his love is the burning fire of the Spirit. It is through the Spirit that the Lord invites us to fly to him, not casually, but in leisurely ease.
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Photo of Winston Churchill flying from Virginia to Bermuda, by Capt. Horton (Wikimedia Commons)
