In case you have not been paying attention to the news lately, it has been pretty grim. There are natural disasters that seem to come on a weekly basis. There are tensions between police and the citizenry, which seem to be at an all time high, right along with the sub-context of racial tension. And then a month ago, the Pew research firm came out with startling information about how the percentage of people who no longer identify with any religion is growing at a rate that surprises most researchers, causing some to really begin to wonder about the future of the Church.
It feels like every night, we hear about someone else who is choosing violence as the first alternative. It really can feel like the world we are in is dark, that darkness is its main characteristic. And when we embrace that feeling, the temptation is to throw our hands up in disgust, curl up in a ball, respond to all of this in anger, or to offer up Captain Kirk’s favorite words (also seen on some bumper stickers): “Beam me up, Scotty, there is no intelligent life down here!” So what are we to do? How are we to respond responsibly and out of faith to all of this? I think there are a few things:
First, I think we need to decide not to panic from all of this news. Panic is a reactionary emotion and when we react, we do not analyze and consider options before we respond, so we jump on board with people who have given in to their panic, and we subscribe to their brand of being reactionary. But if we choose not to panic, we stop and analyze and consider appropriate Christian responses.
Second, we have a real opportunity to speak something different into the world because of our faith, which claims that the “darkness cannot overcome the Light” (John 1) We can speak and act in hope that pierces the darkness of fear when we choose kindness and compassion, and especially, to the extent that we can, when we choose to be joyful. We do that when by faith, sometimes seemingly irrational faith, we choose to believe that when God says “I am the Alpha and the Omega; I am making all things new” (Revelation 21), God means it.
Third, I think we speak Christian faith into the world when we celebrate when others choose joy over fear, hope over despair, peace instead of panic. When we reinforce the hopeful things that people do, they (and we) become more hopeful ourselves. Finally, we remember Jesus words to the disciples when he knew they were walking into some dark times: “Remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Blessings, Sonny