As a Parent

  • my children are excellent listeners. They are picking up more than I realize about the state of our anxious world and are not fully capable of discerning truth from reality. Their resulting fear is real, which they are equally incapable of navigating properly. They need our intentional, loving, and calming reassurance as parents.

My Neighbor

  • I don’t just live on my street, I live in my town. Many streets, many neighbors, I’m a part of a whole. We function in relationships like our bodies and when we work in harmony. The whole of our community, like our bodies, flourishes when we seek the greatest good together.

The Church

  • When forced to adapt, religion is more agile than it realizes. Millions gathered this past Sunday online, forced out of their comfortable buildings. This adaptive opportunity might be an opportunity for declining religion in the West to consider it’s own self-quarantining nature – so you can do ‘services’ online among yourselves. Now what?

The Media

  • We can’t blame the media. Every industry constructed in the West is a reflection of consumer demand. That’s the nature of capitalism. Consumer society is chronically anxious, media is simply feeding up and reinforcing the symptom. The unhealthy, reactionary public controls the policy, the stories, and now the economy through connectivity. I’m not sure capitalism ever saw this coming.

Mission

  • Thankfully, Jesus mission is unchanging. To love, to heal, to rescue the oppressed, give sight to the blind, and heal the broken-hearted. Wars, famine, revolution, and yes, disease will test our participation in this mission, but believers throughout history have risen to the occasion and passed to us a heritage.

My Opinion

  • Though i’m writing my thoughts and opinions here on my blog, the reality is that my opinion really doesn’t matter for the rest of the world. It’s simply one among a billion, and that feels oddly humbling. Yet, it’s also somewhat liberating. Among the thousands of thoughts, are there a thousand actions? I think our greatest gift to our social system is that of an emotional immune system, bringing peace in the storm, living for eternity, embracing death daily as the better thing. The sting is lost, outward wasting away, inwardly renewing by the mercies of God. I believe, I really believe. Perhaps many can find their own deep meaning as they are forced off the treadmill of life. Perhaps they’ll lay hold of something that gives their own life more meaning than what they’ve known before the chaos of these times. Adapting is necessary for all growth, regression leads to death. Those that adapt and flourish provide a hope and a pathway for those drowning in fear. Salt, light, Jesus help us be creative and come alongside the Father’s loving heart in each season.