It is the feeling of helplessness that is so bothersome. The older I become, the more I realize just how powerless I am and how little I know. As an idealistic youth and young man, the world was black and white. What the pastor said in his weekly sermons were true and defensible. But now, as I have reached middle age, life is much more complex, every incomprehensible at times. Sure, there is black and white, but the gray area in the middle continues to grow. Circumstances change everything.
What then are we to do, when we are essentially powerless to really make any difference in the world around us? Governments are corrupt, sex drives everything, people have become objects to be used and thrown away. Abortion is common, abuse is common, euthanasia is common, neglect of reality and a focus on the temporal rules the day.
As I've mentioned in a previous post, the physical world around us, that everyone focuses on, to the neglect of the other 90% of reality, is painful to live in. There is so much wrong, so much messed up, so much going the complete wrong direction, that I have to ask, "What to do?"
We cannot become fatalists, for we truly believe that prayer makes a difference. We cannot simply stop caring, for we have loved ones that need us and that we need. As Jesus said, "the poor you will always have with you." So we have to get used to the idea of the persistent nature of evil and suffering. As long as we are on this side of the final judgment, life is suffering.
The only answer I can offer, the only answer the church has to offer, is that of prayer and repentance. We pray for those in need and we strive after holiness, repenting as we go.
What then are we to do, when we are essentially powerless to really make any difference in the world around us? Governments are corrupt, sex drives everything, people have become objects to be used and thrown away. Abortion is common, abuse is common, euthanasia is common, neglect of reality and a focus on the temporal rules the day.
As I've mentioned in a previous post, the physical world around us, that everyone focuses on, to the neglect of the other 90% of reality, is painful to live in. There is so much wrong, so much messed up, so much going the complete wrong direction, that I have to ask, "What to do?"
We cannot become fatalists, for we truly believe that prayer makes a difference. We cannot simply stop caring, for we have loved ones that need us and that we need. As Jesus said, "the poor you will always have with you." So we have to get used to the idea of the persistent nature of evil and suffering. As long as we are on this side of the final judgment, life is suffering.
The only answer I can offer, the only answer the church has to offer, is that of prayer and repentance. We pray for those in need and we strive after holiness, repenting as we go.
I am reminded of an old inspirational sentiment put to comic strip form, in which an old man and a child walked along a beach strewn with starfish washed ashore. The child was throwing them back in the water, and the old man told him there were too many, he could not do enough to make a difference. The child picked up another starfish and tossed it in the water, saying "it made a difference to that one."
ReplyDeleteAnother one tells of a large boulder God placed in a mans way, and told him to push on it. The man labored and struggled to move the rock but could not. After years, he could push harder and longer but the boulder still was not moved, and the man reported his failure to God, saying "Lord, I did as you asked but I could not move the rock." God replied "I did not tell you to move it, I only said to push on it. Look at how much stronger you have become."
Somewhere in between these two single servings of feelgoodz lies the resilience and strength an adult gains through trials and tribulations, and the indomitable hopefulness of a child. I get the feeling that fusion of qualities is what the Word meant to instill within us all along. The world is wrong and seems so strong but we win in the end. "Greater is He", etc.