I have had this title written on an index card on my desk for a month or so. The title came to me when I was driving thinking about my spiritual walk; how I can attend church and do all the things but still not be doing very well. In my mind, I thought this post would be about how we work on ourselves spiritually. And then life happened.
How you doin'? If you were around in the 90's to early 2000's, you read that in your head in your perfect Joey voice from Friends. But really, how are you doing? This summer has a heaviness about it, doesn't it? We all went into these warmer months with the idea of late night swims in the pool, lazy jammie days, and lots of grilled yumminess. And then life happened.
A heaviness not only fell on our country, but on our world. My husband and I talked a lot about what is was going to take to get us to stop the madness; what needed to happen in order for the senseless pain to stop. He kept saying we may need one catastrophic event to rock us. I would always counter with, "Isn't this tragedy enough?" He would always end by saying, "Apparently not." I wondered if we were all supposed to walk around hopeless for forever forced to swallow adversity every day. And then life happened.
Tragedy after tragedy occurred without an end in sight. It seemed like each day brought something even more horrendous or worrisome. And then life happened.
Mr. Rogers from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood is often quoted during hard times about how we should look for the helpers amidst tragedies. Heroes always shine when life seems too hard. He was right.
I live about forty-five minutes north of Dallas. While I am a native Californian, Texas has truly become my home. I was sick when our city, our officers, were ambushed so I didn't get the full story until a day or two later. I watched with the nation in horror as more innocent lives were lost. It seemed the killing would not end. And then life happened.
I saw the helpers. I watched a divided community come together like no other. I witnessed leaders, religious teachers, communities members come together hand-in-hand to pray. No one saw race. No one saw a badge. No one saw titles or financial status. No agendas to shout other than hope and unity and healing. They just held hands and prayed. The city lit up in blue. I was proud to be a Texan that day and prayed that the world would see the steps my home state decided to take towards unity, healing, and love. And then life happened.
Another day. Another tragedy. France. The place we all romanticize. Atrocities do not happen there. That's where love resides. I watched as Dallas once again stood in solidarity with the world saying ENOUGH; the words spelled in French on the Omni downtown. A father and son who once resided in my little town passed away on that fateful night. I again watched my community come together honoring their lives through prayer, vigils, and the like. And then life happened.
But this time, life seems to be moving in a different direction. I think the time has finally come , that moment my husband talked about, where we are done with the tragedies. We can't do this anymore and we are finally willing to put in the work to move towards more love and more peace because tragedy can no longer be our theme song.
A lot of people question God during trying times. Where is He? How could He let that happen? Why doesn't He stop the senseless killings? If He is so good, then why are people so bad? Satan asked Jesus many of these same questions.
'Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you and they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me. “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus. Matthew 4:1-11
Get out of here, Satan. God has not left us. Jesus is still very real, very alive, and very active in our fallen world. What if, what if God is allowing this chaos to occur (our insane state of government & the election, wars and rumors of war, senseless killings, etc) to get our eyes focused back on Him? Sometimes we need despair in order to see that we need Him.
Chaos and despair are difficult to muddle through. How do you mourn such senseless tragedy? I don't even know where to begin. How to I raise three boys to become men in this world? What on earth are they inheriting? The only answer I have is Jesus. When everything seems completely out of control, His hand is still steady.
We need to stop living for a political side, an agenda, or the most popular hashtag and start living for the Kingdom. If we shift our eyes and our perspective to Him, we will see what matters: love. Time and again, Jesus loved. He didn't love after people reconciled their sin or healed themselves or made themselves right. He loved immediately with no agenda other than we accept grace. Jesus knows that once we experience His love, we will never go back and our lives will be forever changed.
Our world is not gone forever. If ever there were a time for the church to shine, it would be now. Tragedy will strike again. It's inevitable. Even the Bible talks about that. It's how we react to tragedy that matters. Do we become the dividers or the helpers? I would like to be the latter.
Life is going to happen. It's our response that matters. Be a helper. To more love!
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that EVERYONE who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (emphasis mine)
"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35
Love & Blessings,
Meg
How you doin'? If you were around in the 90's to early 2000's, you read that in your head in your perfect Joey voice from Friends. But really, how are you doing? This summer has a heaviness about it, doesn't it? We all went into these warmer months with the idea of late night swims in the pool, lazy jammie days, and lots of grilled yumminess. And then life happened.
A heaviness not only fell on our country, but on our world. My husband and I talked a lot about what is was going to take to get us to stop the madness; what needed to happen in order for the senseless pain to stop. He kept saying we may need one catastrophic event to rock us. I would always counter with, "Isn't this tragedy enough?" He would always end by saying, "Apparently not." I wondered if we were all supposed to walk around hopeless for forever forced to swallow adversity every day. And then life happened.
Tragedy after tragedy occurred without an end in sight. It seemed like each day brought something even more horrendous or worrisome. And then life happened.
Mr. Rogers from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood is often quoted during hard times about how we should look for the helpers amidst tragedies. Heroes always shine when life seems too hard. He was right.
I live about forty-five minutes north of Dallas. While I am a native Californian, Texas has truly become my home. I was sick when our city, our officers, were ambushed so I didn't get the full story until a day or two later. I watched with the nation in horror as more innocent lives were lost. It seemed the killing would not end. And then life happened.
I saw the helpers. I watched a divided community come together like no other. I witnessed leaders, religious teachers, communities members come together hand-in-hand to pray. No one saw race. No one saw a badge. No one saw titles or financial status. No agendas to shout other than hope and unity and healing. They just held hands and prayed. The city lit up in blue. I was proud to be a Texan that day and prayed that the world would see the steps my home state decided to take towards unity, healing, and love. And then life happened.
Another day. Another tragedy. France. The place we all romanticize. Atrocities do not happen there. That's where love resides. I watched as Dallas once again stood in solidarity with the world saying ENOUGH; the words spelled in French on the Omni downtown. A father and son who once resided in my little town passed away on that fateful night. I again watched my community come together honoring their lives through prayer, vigils, and the like. And then life happened.
But this time, life seems to be moving in a different direction. I think the time has finally come , that moment my husband talked about, where we are done with the tragedies. We can't do this anymore and we are finally willing to put in the work to move towards more love and more peace because tragedy can no longer be our theme song.
A lot of people question God during trying times. Where is He? How could He let that happen? Why doesn't He stop the senseless killings? If He is so good, then why are people so bad? Satan asked Jesus many of these same questions.
'Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you and they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me. “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus. Matthew 4:1-11
Get out of here, Satan. God has not left us. Jesus is still very real, very alive, and very active in our fallen world. What if, what if God is allowing this chaos to occur (our insane state of government & the election, wars and rumors of war, senseless killings, etc) to get our eyes focused back on Him? Sometimes we need despair in order to see that we need Him.
Chaos and despair are difficult to muddle through. How do you mourn such senseless tragedy? I don't even know where to begin. How to I raise three boys to become men in this world? What on earth are they inheriting? The only answer I have is Jesus. When everything seems completely out of control, His hand is still steady.
We need to stop living for a political side, an agenda, or the most popular hashtag and start living for the Kingdom. If we shift our eyes and our perspective to Him, we will see what matters: love. Time and again, Jesus loved. He didn't love after people reconciled their sin or healed themselves or made themselves right. He loved immediately with no agenda other than we accept grace. Jesus knows that once we experience His love, we will never go back and our lives will be forever changed.
Our world is not gone forever. If ever there were a time for the church to shine, it would be now. Tragedy will strike again. It's inevitable. Even the Bible talks about that. It's how we react to tragedy that matters. Do we become the dividers or the helpers? I would like to be the latter.
Life is going to happen. It's our response that matters. Be a helper. To more love!
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that EVERYONE who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (emphasis mine)
"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35
Love & Blessings,
Meg
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