Preface:....the first post below....Tears....Shed 'em If You Got 'em....is from November 2 of last year. The post below that....Three Views....is from September 19, 2009....thirteen and a half years ago. In that post I even mentioned possible pandemics. Most Christians have already had their church service....it being a little after noon in the East. How many may have heard their pastors mention...."as in the days of Noah"....or even detected a hint of concern about the rampant violence in America....from the murder scene to the little league diamond? The pastors are indeed fighting fiercely....and determined they are....only their determination is that they will not say anything to upset anyone! They live in abject fear that they might be called a fanatic....and people will leave their church....and they might actually have to someday examine their own ministry. There is though that remnant....and a remnant it is. May God continue to winnow....and let us recognize each other....if only by the moist eyes from the tears shed.
Tears.....Shed 'em If You Got 'em
You heard the phrase a lot in basic training....way back when anyway...."smoke 'em if you got 'em." The drill or the march or whatever had stopped for a rest....and the Drill Sergeant would just say...."smoke 'em if you got 'em." Well I have a phrase for the pastors in their pulpits today....it's about tears....the phrase is...."shed 'em if you got 'em." Give us some kind of unction fellas....some emotion....some clue that you know the intensity of the evilness of the day....some passion for the souls in your own congregation....some hope for the return of our Lord where...."He will wipe away every tear from their eyes...." Revelation 21:4
Psalm 126:5...."Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of Joy!"
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 as 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.
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. 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 to look to His Son....who was lifted up on a Cross....for our salvation.
Forty years ago today....(over 53 years as I post this 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!
