Good morning. I had a
Thursday Thought already prepared to record for today. The topic of that thought is
“Perspective.” And although it is, I
believe, pertinent to the tragic events of yesterday, my time and yours will be
better served with thoughts on the day just past.
As I was keeping up with the events of the day, I
encountered a range of emotional reaction to those events. Although all were appalled by what was
happening, some were afraid the nation would not survive the day. Others were concerned that the whole of
government would become unhinged and even further polarized than it already
is. Still others were distrustful of the
media coverage, thinking it wasn’t really what it seemed to be. A few were worried about the possible loss of
life.
My response to them all was one of acknowledging the truth
of what was happening, but being optimistic about not only the survival of the
republic, but one of faith in the ability of the republic to quickly regain its
footing, repair its wounds, and finish the work laid out before it. And that is essentially what has happened, as
I see it, this morning. The Congress has
done its job. The Constitution works.
We may not have been through anything like this, with the
possible exception of 9-11, in modern history.
However, our nation’s history has multiple points of contact with lawlessness
which has tried to usurp the government laid out in the Constitution. We not only have survived those points of
contact; in many cases, we have been made stronger as a nation as a result of
the testing of our national conscience.
While I in no way diminish what happened yesterday, I was
yesterday and remain today an optimist regarding the affairs of the
nation. There are two reasons for that
optimism. The first is that I believe
there is a God who orders the affairs of humanity and the nations. I readily confess that I don’t know exactly
how that happens. Nor do I know why
things happen as they do or why God would allow this or that to happen. But I do believe in the overarching
sovereignty of God in the affairs of mankind, and am confident in His wisdom
and work. And ultimately, I rest in His
love and bow my knee to Him.
Second, I continue to have faith that most people will
eventually do the right thing. That
those who wield the handles of power will, when push comes to shove, see that
the foundation of the Republic remain firm.
Yes, we have problems…great and in many respects seemingly intractable
problems. Yes, we have division and
there are those among us who would like nothing better than anarchy. But I remain hopeful that, as we have done
over the years, we will come through this even stronger than before…our
Constitution having been tested and having come through that test of fire more
refined and pure than before.
I suppose that part of my hopefulness and optimism arises
out of my work at the church. As a
shepherd, my responsibility is to lead a very diverse and unique group of
individuals into a flock that is unified under Jesus Christ. We have all kinds in our congregation. Politically, we run the spectrum and, I
suppose, have a few who aren’t even on the spectrum. Socially, we have the homeless and the
wealthy and everyone in between. We have
all ages, all backgrounds, and are becoming more and more diverse
racially. We have professionals,
laborers, the retired, students, moms and dads, and some that defy placing in
categories.
Yet in all of this, our goal is to be united…to be one…to be
a congregation of God’s people all having been adopted into the family as sons
and daughters of God. And the work of a
shepherd is to lead and encourage that unity in the congregation even in the
midst of great diversity.
And so I encourage you as well…that even though we in this
nation have great variations in background, philosophy, opinion, culture, race,
and religion…we come together in unity of purpose and heart, with a genuine
love and respect for others, to seek the peace and prosperity of our land, and to
seek God and His will above all.
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