A few people have asked me recently to preach on what is going on in the world. My response to one person is that I am not sure what to say yet. Surely I don’t need to run through the list of all of the traumatic events in the US and beyond. Surely I don’t need to point out how our government and system of democracy has become a sham. Surely I don’t need to reiterate how the rich are getting richer while the middle class becomes poor and the poor become destitute. Honestly, what is there to say? Should I be honest about the fact that I don’t know why we have not taken to the streets and shut everything down for days? Should I issue a call to mass protest across the country? Should I comfort everyone with words about how God is bigger than the world’s problems and can handle whatever happens? Should I call the church to task for being mostly irrelevant in what is at its heart a struggle for justice? Should I facilitate lamenting so we can all simply air our cries together?
In the movie “Twister” there was a great scene where the main character (Helen Hunt) was in the eye of a storm and she used a belt to strap herself to a huge pole and she held on for dear life as the storm threatened to tear her apart limb by limb. She held on with all of her might and it took every ounce of energy she had to simply hold on. Sometimes it feels that way when it seems as if the world might unravel completely. I find myself holding on for dear life and wanting everyone else to do the same. Who can hear words in the midst of the tumult?
Maybe all I need to say is that I don’t know what to say. Like you, I pray daily for wisdom, for courage and for the sense to risk whatever is needed to create a world where all are provided with basic needs. May God give us the wisdom, courage and sense to be co-creators in our beautiful though troubled world.