21st Century Dads
Once in mass, I looked several pews ahead and saw the quintessential 21st century dad. Armed with weapons for every challenge, his burp rag hung out his back pocket and pacifier was in reach! Projectile vomiting has met its match!
Peace will be the last word of history
We are in a hidden crisis that is worse than Covid-19 or the economic recession because it will permeate the fabric of society with permanence unless stopped. The re-definition of the meaning and value of life, as well as personhood, has been underway many years and is now on the brink of rapid diffusion. Now is the time for us to push back. In the worst of evil times is when God raises saints, and He calls each of us to step up now. Our entire lives, the good and the bad of it, have prepared us for this very moment in time.
This is the history that must repeat itself through us.
Metamorphosis or stagnation?
As the country prepares to come out of lockdown, I ask myself am I prepared? Has lockdown been a cocoon or a prison? Metamorphosis or stagnation? Re-entering the world, do I return to my old self or continue in this path of change God has led (or lured!) me into?
Our metamorphosis is the metamorphosis of the church. We are the change, and we must proceed with the daring birthed in Hope.
Freedom and Christian Duty
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the US suffered epidemic loneliness, depression, anxiety and suicide. We were arguably the worst-prepared for crisis of any previous generation in our history. When we help individuals to foster their relationship with our Triune God, a true relationship in which they take these hidden scars to Jesus to be brought up into His own five wounds, their healing will be the healing of our society. He is the only answer, and by duty we have obligation to make Him known to others.
Rightsizing life
Fear of the unknown is an instinctive reaction of self-preservation. There is no doubt it comes from our own psyche and often is inflamed by the enemy. Thus, fear is legitimate but never of God. It is opportunity to turn to God and follow Him, trusting He has a personal plan for our providence.
Journeying to the end
In recent months, many families have suffered deaths of loved ones. Some were expected due to illness or old age; others shockingly unexpected due to young age or good health. This is compounded by the global Covid-19 pandemic which has left thousands of deaths in its midst.
Part of our mourning is for the future we will no longer share with them on earth. Part of our mourning is also for our past and present; the unspoken conversations we never had but needed to. Remorse for things said that should have been left unsaid. By having these honest conversations with God, grieving is one of the greatest opportunities to experience Divine Intimacy.