“History isn’t just the story of bad people doing bad things. It’s quite as much a story of people trying to do good things. But somehow, something goes wrong.”   C. S. Lewis

This weekend, my husband and I enjoyed our local community theater production of the Cole Porter musical of the 1930s.  This action packed show was filled with movement from the minute the lights came up until the final bow.  Even the scene changes were entertaining.  We laughed at the antics of the characters on stage, we hummed along with some of the familiar songs and my feet felt like flying along with the amazing tap dancers on stage.

I still own a couple pairs of tap shoes from my younger days.  I probably won’t be wearing them again here on earth, but I look forward to tapping across the heavenly stage someday.

This show’s title, though performed in 1934 on Broadway, is relevant today.  Back then, our country was still reeling from the effects of the depression.  They needed a diversion from all their tales of woe to get them feeling good again.  Today we are embedded in political correctness, political revolution, diversion from fact, deception and so much more.  We need a change of venue too.  We really need something more than tabloid news and a distortion of facts.

In those earlier days, times were tough too. Bootlegging ran rampant.  Speak easies were the problem of the day.  Prohibition brought out the evil and greed in men and a whole new set of crimes were being committed across America.  This was less than a hundred years ago, and you’d think we’d learn from our past.

We are often like the Israelites being led out of bondage into a new world – a promised land – a place where their troubles would be no more. Yet, while they traveled the road, they complained and whined.  They weren’t satisfied with the speed of God’s plan.  They wanted freedom – right now!  They were easily diverted by foreign religions and practices that went against everything they believed in.  They were in a different time and place, but the situations don’t seem to change much over time, do they?

Today we’ve picked up on the anything goes attitude.  Do what makes you feel good, but make sure it’s politically correct.  Think about yourself before others.  Don’t follow the rules.  Respect is old fashioned.  Live and let live.

So what’s the answer?  How do we get from one place to another without falling into these diversions and distractions?  The best place to start is in God’s protected path.  He led those people to their promised land.  He was responsible for wiping out crime in the 1920s and 30’s.  He repaired the economy of the Great Depression and got people back to work again.  He can change minds and bring people back to Him.  He alone has the solution to all of man’s problems.