In the nineteen twenties, American women had the right to vote in their first election.  They voiced their desire for better education and health care,  Sexual freedom was the talk of the day.  Gangsters ruled large cities as they trafficked in illegal drugs, alcohol and prostitution.  They ruled with an iron fist and the growing Mafia became untouchable until Elliot Ness came along.

Policemen were on the take.  There was corruption in the government and in law enforcement.  It seemed everyone could be bought for a price.  This time in history led to the jazz age.  Great music was created.  There was a little more money in the family till, allowing for excesses like the refrigerator, the stove, the first national broadcast on the radio and most important – the automobile.

Servicemen returned from battle in World War One determined to start a new and better life.  The world was in the final wave of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.  The economy was beginning to pick up again and people were spending money. There was discontent in the northern states as African Americans moved up from the south.  Segregation was rampant and many northerners joined the Ku Klux Klan.  In the beginning of this decade, it was all about freedom, starting over and money.  Ten years later would lead to the Great Depression and the downfall of the economy.

Pandemics and protests seem to walk hand in hand.  People, when isolated from others, tend to get testy.  Anger festers.  Tempers flare.  When you spend every waking hour alone with family, your mind begins to play tricks on you.  Reason often takes a back seat.

What I’m saying here, is that history often repeats itself.  We seem to be doing a good job of that one hundred years later.  We can also learn a lot from the past and what it represents for our future.

We’ve been subjected to an unknown disease that doesn’t seem to want to go away.  We’ve been forced fed on conspiracy theories and political innuendos. We’ve been kept from our places of worship.  We can’t gather more than fifty people at a time without being socially distanced.  Rules that we don’t especially like are causing us to be careless.

This should be a time of restoration and healing rather than division and more dissension.  Times change, but minds and hearts are much the same as they were at the very beginning of ages.  Instead of dwelling on the ugly parts of all of this, let’s place our trust in Almighty God to bring us through it.  There are many new opportunities arising because of the events of the last six months or more.  Rather than letting them fester in our minds and become another reason to become depressed, let’s look for answers.

When this is all over, we can be sure that God will not have changed.  He is the only consistent being in our realm.  He is in control.  He will answer our prayers.  He will lead us if we let Him.  It’s time to be still and know His great might.