Some totally rambling thoughts on current events. These are some things I’m pretty sure of…
- Good news! Your dog will not go blind if he’s outside during the solar eclipse on Monday. He’s no more likely to stare at the sun during an eclipse than any other time.
- On the other hand, I expect a good number of humans will be in emergency rooms the next day with damaged retinas from staring at the sun. Be smart like your dog… Don’t stare at the sun… just watch it on TV, please.
- We shouldn’t even have to be saying it, but I will… Racism is a still the same pervasive evil as it always was. We do have a deeply racist history in our nation (like almost every other civilized nation on the planet does) that we are still working to get past. I hope we will…
- The everyday expressions of racism that don’t make the news are probably the worst kind for a society. It’s easy to confront and condemn Nazi marches here on Facebook. It’s much harder to change hearts where the source of prejudice and racism resides. That’s where I will focus my energy, though.
- White supremacy groups strangely and illogically continue to exist in testimony to the presence of something evil in the human heart… Or at least in testimony to the power of peer pressure among hapless, purposeless white boys in our society.
- In my generation, we had mostly relegated these crazies to being just that… crazy people. Not long ago, Nazis and the KKK were not even deserving of counter protests or news coverage. Now we’ve given them legitimacy and lots of airtime. That’s crazy, because now their cause will take shape and grow in response.
- Protest has it’s place. It’s impact is dilute today because there are so many rallies and so many causes. I would probably walk down a street with a sign for certain things myself. But if your goal is to make an impact then you should actually become a police officer, become a teacher, run for office, open your home to homeless people, mentor a kid from a broken home, answer that call to ministry.
- The solar eclipse really is just the moon passing between the earth and the sun. It’s just something that happens because of the design of our solar system. It looks cool and unusual but I’m pretty sure it’s not the start of the apocalypse or the second coming. And NASA isn’t hiding something from you. Probably not… :-]
- Jokes about blood moons and eclipses aside… We might be on the verge of cataclysmic and sudden societal change. It’s already happening… It may feel like the end of the world, but it’s going to be ok. Really ok.
- Our God, in his character, does not change like the shifting sand. He is in control and at his core, he is love… (So #9 is ok!)
- This is a very good day to be living in authentic relationship with Jesus because you can learn to listen to the voice of truth, not the voice of fear.
- Democracy and the American experiment have not been destroyed. I do, however, predict that we are corporately nearing the end of our endurance for hearing about what Donald Trump did in the last 30 minutes. TV, radio, internet, comedy, commentary… I have “Trump fatigue” and I suspect you do, too. Pray for the man like the Bible instructs us to.
- God designed you to be his… Not to be a soldier in a culture war. Here’s what you should do: Seek him out in prayer long and often. Let his Word sink deeply into your heart and mind. Be together with people where God’s love is authentically lived out. Just trust and obey and enjoy him…
This eclipse… this administration… this season of anger… even this generation… will pass away. The things of God remain unchanging.
Grace and Peace…
Pastor Mark Ramsey 