This post will make more sense if you read the one that I sent last night, The First Post —Reconstituted.
In that article, I looked back on the fears that I lived with during my first call to a congregation in Detroit, 1982-1989. I ask you, the reader, to take some time now and answer for yourself, “What are you afraid of?” and “What do you do for kicks?”
These days my fears closely tied to anger. I don’t appreciate how my attention is directed or drawn to the Federal Reserve, Social Security, Pensions, in short, money. For those who will be in church on Sunday, the sermons will focus on Luke 16, with the phrase, “You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” It’s one of the morals to the story about the Shrewd Money Manager.
Coincidence?
You decide.
My point is a simple one. Instead of allowing your attention to be drawn to the crisis of the day as delivered non-stop by all platforms, ask yourself, what scares you and what gives you joy.
In the silence, you may discover that many of your fears were manufactured by folks who simply want to sell you a false bill of goods.
It’s a bit ironic that on much of our coins and currency you will find these words, “In God We Trust.” Really?
Actually it does take faith to trust that a piece of paper or lines of computer code will get you hamburger just about anywhere on this planet.
Let your fears be genuine, not manufactured, and you will find peace as you realize that what really matters is how we’re getting along or not, with our families, friends, and neighbors. Paying attention to those relationships might even draw our attention to the One who really is holding it all together, including us. There and only there will we find joy, the kind that lasts, if you can believe it, forever.
Be well, dear readers.