The artist/author, Don Freeman was best known for his children’s literature. Most youngsters and their parents have heard of “Corduroy,” the little red bear.  He died in 1978, so had no clue about what the United States would become in the next fifty years.  Gerald Ford was president at that time.  The nation had been through internal turmoil for a while, including the resignation of Richard Nixon and the entire Watergate Scandal which set that into motion.

I too have seen a huge change in our country since that time. I have seen a slow erosion of morality along with a topsy turvy society that can’t even begin to compare to the early years of my life.  Today as I write anything, I must be cognizant of not hurting anyone’s feelings or offending anyone in even the slightest way.  There is no rule book for this, other than the popular opinion that says we must not step on any toes.  Does that mean we must not correct, admonish, educate, assist, guide, set rules or voice our thoughts?  I hope not, because as soon as free thinking is abolished, so will the freedoms we share in our country.

We’re in the middle of a crisis, in my opinion.  We’ ve endured a year and a half of a plague that doesn’t show any signs of giving up.  People are tired of being cooped up so the extreme opposite is now happening.  The fact that schools are open and the usual fall allergies and germs from gathering have taken on the guise of  COVID19, doesn’t seem to bother some folks.  The grocery stores, restaurants, retail, entertainment and sporting venues have gone back to normal numbers and people wonder why the virus is spiking.  We tend to look to our leadership to make sense of all of it, but that just intensifies the anxiety.  Some choose to numb the effects of all this by indulging in drugs and alcohol.  Some become slaves to technology.  Others feel that they can overcome these difficulties by looking inward and meditating on their navels.  We may even become involved in special interest groups and think we can fix things by ourselves.  I’m not saying that becoming active in the outcome of our society is a bad thing. What I’m trying to convey it that I think we’ve turned away from the One who can help us through any circumstance.  

Being a solid Christian is certainly not going to guarantee a life of ease.   In fact it can lead to a life of persecution and hatred towards us.  Maybe that’s why folks don’t find hope in the church anymore.  We’re all pretty tired of fighting a losing battle – right?

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12

Those words of Jesus should give us consolation, but who wants to be at war with the world all the time? Sure, we know that a better place is on the other side of death, but can’t we enjoy our lives as well? The darkness of our world is not going to get better until Jesus returns to us. That’s the truth. We will endure all of it, if we have something to look forward to and God has provided that as well. When Jesus first came to us, He gave us the promise of eternal life. He told us how to live – even when we’re in an upside down world. He promised to give us the strength to fight the evil one. He gives us confidence, endurance, perserverance, power and His Holy Word as the armor we need to fight the enemy. He also promises to be with us every step of the way. We are more than conquerers, because He always keeps His promises.

It would be nice to just press a button and stop the world so we could get off, but where would we go?