Friday.....America.....Three Views

This is a personal reflection on three arenas where I tend to view life in America. Maybe it will resonate with you...maybe not. The first of these views is simply when I walk the neighborhoods or the Main Streets of small towns. Picture a lovely day, maybe 72 degrees with a slight breeze and the leaves gently rustling above. The smells are clean, as least as we have come to know clean. Maybe there is the scent of lilacs as I pass a garden or maybe just freshly cut grass. I pass another person walking and say hello, or see others puttering in their yard. A few cars pass and I detect a look of content or even a smile as they are talking on a cell phone. There is practically no noise save the purr of tires turning on pavement at only about 20 miles per hour. Possibly there is the sound of a lawnmower in the distance that disturbs the quiet and if I'm fortunate, there are the chirps and calls of various small birds. I admit, there is little stress to discern on a walk like this. Walking Main street is a little bit different for there is a measure of hustle and bustle as I see housewives doing their grocery shopping, older folks stopping at the pharmacy for their prescriptions, kids of various ages laughing as they munch on some snack that they to came to town for and men simply doing errands. At times like these, I almost agree with most folks who take the position that though there may be troubles in the world, all will go on, mostly smoothly, with only the occasional bumps. I like it very much and I only wish that it were the only reality, but it is not. The second way to view life today, or lens to look through if you will, is through the news in every imaginable medium available to us. There are no fragrances, no breezes, no birds and the only smiles are in pictures of politicians and other notables, but those smiles are not convincing, or soothing. In the news I see a major confrontation brewing in the Middle East, different from the continuous ones of the past for there is uncertainty in this one. I see the Russian bear stirring up strife as if they considered themselves immune from the consequences. I see a Red China growing in power and influence, both financial and military, through nefarious schemes from Africa to Europe and in the Americas north and south. I see a world financial community that proved in the last year that it is truly winging it, its confidence being a facade. I see nervous looks, on those who should know, of possible pandemics. Unfortunately, I see American government leaders that have lost that crucial edge that was always present in our crises, that being that they were, in the past, more on the side of that which is right...than our enemies. Their intentions may have been to benefit America as well as protect it, but they were not in pursuit of an ideology that does not acknowledge God. George W. Bush, whether his decisions in Iraq were wise or not, was on his knees often. Many hold absolutely no value in that. I hold much value in it...and it is gone. Our once great strength of having an American Creed that united us in distress has been purposely chipped apart with hammer and chisel for decades. I have said this before that the 13 days of October 1962 were a blissful stroll through the park compared to waging war against the suicidal insanity of our enemies today. The stark contrast between these two world...views is vivid and almost surreal. The third view is one that only a Christian can see. Every person that I meet is subject to my concern for their salvation. The grocer, crossing guard, the janitors at work, the older people walking so slowly, the kids speeding by on their bikes, the news anchor, the people who serve me my McDonald's breakfast every morning, celebrities who waste their lives and the lives of those infatuated with them, the Pittsburgh Penguin, the person who sings the songs I at times sing along with in the car, the mailman and the numerous people in news reports who have suffered some sort of tragedy that put them in the news. At work I'll sit and laugh with others over the amusing little things that we all share...all the while knowing that this is a human soul that will one day stand before a God of perfect love but also a God of perfect justice who has clearly told us that we must be born again...born from above and look to His Son ,who was lifted up on a Cross, for our salvation. To me, another remarkable thing that God has blessed us with is that we can retain our personalities in our new faith. Now I don't mean that if we are cantankerous we can remain so without rebuke but that if we are quiet and introspective we can remain so and if we are outgoing we can still be very outgoing. All of our different personalities are needed and ultimately form a more beautiful mosaic, a symphony. There were times in history past where that first view could be enjoyed without the ominous signs of the second...and there were times when the second view called for extreme vigilance in our daily lives. You would agree with this, would you not, as you consider world wars, plagues and famines? My position is that we are now in one of those times. As for the third view, the times really do not matter for every Christian that has ever lived has been on a pilgrimage through a world we truly live in but if we are of that world it will surely consume us. I am 59 years old but can remember my 4th birthday party. Forty years ago today, I joined the United States Army at the Federal Building in Pittsburgh! Time passes quickly and in itself is a great mystery except in that it will never stop in its present form until we experience the vista of eternity. I am thankful for these views that I have for they are reassuring. That's right...reassuring in that if it is clear enough to see the dangers then it is also clear enough to see the one that will see us through them. With great trepidation comes a knowledge of one who is greater! With the tears of a fallen world comes the joy in knowing Him who has overcome!