It's easy to get lost in the reverie of yesteryear. Everything flies at us these days at breakneck speed, and before we're anywhere near processing it, it's already old news, as in way old news.
Recently, I was looking at some snapshots going back to the 1970s. A couple were of my uncle. He was standing at the counter of Jim's Finer Foods, a neighborhood delicatessen he owned and operated with his mom on Chicago's South Side. Looking out through the front screen door of this neighborhood institution, I could see the familiar Phillips 66 gas station across the street, a few trees, and a couple passersby.
Suffice it to say, that Chicago neighborhood has undergone some changes. Like my relatives and the gas station, the store is long since gone -- leveled to make way for a two-story apartment building that is also showing its age and decay. Fifty years is a lot of water over the dam when it comes to 20th-century changes. Fifty years ago, the Vietnam War was winding down; there was a national energy crisis here (so what's new?); Saddam Hussein was gaining power in Iraq; an earthquake in Guatemala and Honduras killed 22, 000 people; and people were buying brand-new AMC Gremlins.
And 50 years from now, who knows what we're capable of -- polar ice cap condominiums? The majority of cancers wiped out with childhood vaccinations? A continent-wide water system that provides fresh H2O to every nation in Africa? You can come up with your own scenario.
The forces at work in the world often seem beyond our control. We read the headlines and what we see is too kooky to be real, too disjointed and chaotic. But then we have to pull back and remember: through it all, the Good News of Jesus continues to go forth and, even amidst the chaos, is changing lives by transforming hearts.
It's good to know that (thanks be to God) some things never change.
What do you miss from yesteryear? Is the current age with its conveniences and technology always to be preferred over times gone by?
You can let us know by clicking here and telling us about it.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Our Quest to Know
"I can't wrap my mind around that." The first time I heard that phrase it bothered me a bit. I wondered what was wrong with the good old-fashion admission: "That just doesn't make sense"? But then I thought about it and the more I did, the more I liked the whole getting my head around it idea. It visualizes the drive we have to make sense of our lives and the world we live in.
We tend not to like unsolved mysteries. Wise Solomon had it right when he wrote, "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out" (Proverbs 25:2). Most people want to know the reason things happen, and the more unclear a matter is, the more anxious they may become until they have a feasible solution.
Sometimes that curiosity leads us to wonderful discoveries. Scientists have long searched the workings of the natural world around us. When I read of new things they have discerned about the human body, outer space, or the inner workings of molecules, I'm spellbound before the handiwork of our God and Creator.
It's not just the magnificent touch of God's hand upon the universe that can leave us awestruck, too. Sometimes our own lives -- or the lives of those around us -- experience perplexing things like sudden death, life-altering accidents, suicides, or extreme violence, of some sort. In these instances, we want to wrap our minds around something that may not be understandable -- at least not from our conventional wisdom.
In a world so vast, there are people everywhere who are daily trying to make sense of tragic events in their lives. Natural disasters, criminal acts, out-of-the-blue accidents can all impact our lives and send a shockwave to our thinking. When they do, we may ask, "Why is God treating me this way?" or "What is God trying to tell me through this?" That can be a dangerous game to play, especially when we demand an answer to our question.
The truth is we may never know why this or that happened -- or why it happened to us. Seeking answers is natural, but when no answer comes, then what? God puts our mind-wrapping quest in perspective when He says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord" (Isaiah 55:8). This is a sobering thought ... and a liberating one, at the same time. Though we may demand answers from God to our life's circumstances, these may be answers that will never come -- at least not to our satisfaction. It is in these times that we most need to trust Him as a child trusts a loving parent.
What are some things you've tried to wrap your mind around? You can let us know by clicking here and telling us about it.
We tend not to like unsolved mysteries. Wise Solomon had it right when he wrote, "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out" (Proverbs 25:2). Most people want to know the reason things happen, and the more unclear a matter is, the more anxious they may become until they have a feasible solution.
Sometimes that curiosity leads us to wonderful discoveries. Scientists have long searched the workings of the natural world around us. When I read of new things they have discerned about the human body, outer space, or the inner workings of molecules, I'm spellbound before the handiwork of our God and Creator.
It's not just the magnificent touch of God's hand upon the universe that can leave us awestruck, too. Sometimes our own lives -- or the lives of those around us -- experience perplexing things like sudden death, life-altering accidents, suicides, or extreme violence, of some sort. In these instances, we want to wrap our minds around something that may not be understandable -- at least not from our conventional wisdom.
In a world so vast, there are people everywhere who are daily trying to make sense of tragic events in their lives. Natural disasters, criminal acts, out-of-the-blue accidents can all impact our lives and send a shockwave to our thinking. When they do, we may ask, "Why is God treating me this way?" or "What is God trying to tell me through this?" That can be a dangerous game to play, especially when we demand an answer to our question.
The truth is we may never know why this or that happened -- or why it happened to us. Seeking answers is natural, but when no answer comes, then what? God puts our mind-wrapping quest in perspective when He says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord" (Isaiah 55:8). This is a sobering thought ... and a liberating one, at the same time. Though we may demand answers from God to our life's circumstances, these may be answers that will never come -- at least not to our satisfaction. It is in these times that we most need to trust Him as a child trusts a loving parent.
What are some things you've tried to wrap your mind around? You can let us know by clicking here and telling us about it.
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