Thought for Today
Psalm 80:3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
Isaiah 38:16 O Lord, by these things people live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh, restore me to health and make me live!
Matthew 19:28 Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Colossians 3:11 In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!
We live in a highly complex society. Our faith and our worship arose in much less complex times and societies. I wrote last month, “One of my favorite engineering maxims is, ‘If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.’ Regrettably, a modern corollary in our electronic age is, ‘If it isn’t broken, it doesn’t have enough features.’” Things break. Things wear out and must be repaired or replaced.
People also are sometimes broken or worn out. Thankfully, our faith teaches us that people are not thrown away, people are not ‘replaced’ in the same way toasters or televisions are discarded and thrown away.
Corporations have learned the importance of holidays and vacations. Workers at all levels need time to recharge their ‘batteries.’ Without time away, productivity decreases, mistakes and errors increase. Upon return from holidays and vacations, productivity increases, mistakes and errors decrease.
Militaries have learned that soldiers require time off for rest and relaxation. In earlier wars we heard and read about ‘combat fatigue.’ Today we read and hear about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I’m neither a military expert nor a doctor, but I understand the need for rest, recreation and renewal. PTSD is not confined to combat participants. There are various sources of traumatic stress for civilians as well as for military personnel.
Yesterday I wrote about information overload, about American futurist Alvin Toffler, his 1970 book Future Shock and his contention “that the accelerated rate of technological and social change leaves people disconnected and suffering from ‘shattering stress and disorientation’—future shocked.”
Long before Toffler, our ancestors-in-the-faith understood the need for rest, relaxation, restoration and the need to repair broken lives. Our Bible uses words like ‘restore’ and ‘renewal’ to offer us a pathway to repair the damage of information overload and of being future shocked.
One of my favorite tropes, which I have written about previously and often offer in discussions is that we never live in the world in which we grew up. Some of us (present company included) are occasionally accused of never having grown up. But that doesn’t change the fact that the world of our youth has passed on. The world of my youth, of vacuum tubes, desktop landline telephones, black and white television (only), propeller-driven aircraft (only) is now long gone. It is a ‘brave new world’ out there, and sometimes a scary new world out there.
In addition to the technological advancements, there is also the fact that living life necessitates the accumulation of both good and bad decisions and the consequences of each. Just as ‘things’ wear out and break from use, so too do lives. Thank goodness we don’t throw away worn out lives. Our faith teaches us “Hebrews 11:1 . . . the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We have the assurance of the possibility of renewal, of restoration.
Christians know that we are saved by our faith. We are restored to a right relationship with God and with each other. Jesus tells us, “John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” No information overload, no future shock, peace, rest, renewal, spiritual re-formation leading to physical and mental renewal and re-formation.
What does God ask in return? “Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Stay safe, walk with God today, trust God,
Pastor Ray