July 9th, 2020: Clouds of Life

 

It has been a summer of many heavy storms. We have gotten more water than I can ever remember. Coming along with that is the tornado warning we had about a week ago. We did not see a funnel cloud, but some folks from the outskirt of the city did. Last night we had another one as the sky turned dark in a hurry and the air became so still. It was an eerie time.

There are also many other kinds of storms in 2020. It has been a year that many of us find it hard to find rest although we have not much to do. It has been a year that many funnel clouds have covered our nations. It is hard to find stillness in our hearts.

The cloud that creates fear:  With all of the knowledge of medical science we have around the world, we have not seen the real leadership in battling this pandemic. We are at a loss in not knowing who will be the dependable voice of reasoning. We have become ambivalent toward what we hear from "medical experts."

The cloud that creates mass confusion: The pandemic is not bad enough. While there is no clear direction for the future, some tell us that we need to erase the past. Who is going to benefit? Not those who are discriminated against and oppressed. We look ahead, and there is no clear path. We look back, and there is nothing there. So what is next? And according to whose plan.

The cloud that incites division: We see a great division that exists in Canada. Canadians are more divided than ever. Somehow the nations have elected a whole bunch of self-serving politicians. In Canada, the East and the West don't trust each other. In the US, the division is multifaceted. It is the first time in history that people around the world don't envy being American.

The cloud that nurtures hypocrisy: It is perplexing to see how we have allowed hypocrisy to manipulate us. The nations are being run by Narcissists whose egos are more damaging than the pandemic itself. Day after day and night after night, we witness the unthinkable charade of pomposity.

It is time for us to get back to the basics of what it means to believe in God and walk away from the need to attain the power of this world so that we can lift away some of these funnel clouds.

Acts 20: 24

"But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."