I just read the morning newspaper and my head hurts.
Since I read it on real paper and not online, it’s harder to just “scroll” past the bad stuff:
A man is charged with murder for leaving his child to die in a hot car because, apparently,
he “had tired of family life and wanted to escape its burdens.”
– “Al-Quaida open for business in Asia.”
“White privilege prevents understanding of racial tensions.”
Ebola continues to rage in Africa.
And it’s only 9:30.
And yet, there are stirring moments of wonder such as these:
Scientists are “in awe” (words not usually associated with scientists!) at finding the skeleton of an 86- foot long, 30-foot tall, 130,000-pound dinosaur in the Patagonia region of Argentina, the remnants of the biggest land animal ever discovered.
The Mankato football player who fought his way back from a brutal beating a year ago walked onto the field, supported by his teammates and a whole stadium full of people.
Forget about making sense of all of it. The problem is just taking it all in and then going on with the day.
The scientist Archimedes, who discovered the lever, said, “Give me a lever and a firm place to stand and I will move the earth.”
We need that, too: a firm place to stand. The earth has been a mess many times before and the past 100 years doesn’t have a corner on suffering. Yet this is the first time in human history that, on an hourly, basis, we learn about suffering in every corner of the world. It is, literally, in our face every time we connect with the news.
We need a firm place to stand. Religious faith has often served this purpose, giving us not only moral principles but a connection to a power bigger than the largest dinosaur and stronger than selfishness and hate.
How in the world can we navigate all of this without “a firm place to stand”?
This coming Sunday’s lesson from Romans says this: “Now is the moment for you to wake from sleep…. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, let us live honorably…”
A tall order, but the Gospel from Matthew gives us a suggestion about how to do it, and create a place to stand that does not topple when the fiercest winds blow.
We certainly need it.
See you in church.
Barbara
