There's a gloom in the air this week. Yesterday's stock market decline is the latest in a long string of sobering events: war continues in Iraq and Afghanistan, without an end in sight; a tense presidential campaign with ideologically different candidates wrestling to define our nation's problems and propose solutions; an economy crumbling under debts that can't be repaid. Add this onto our daily stresses: the cost of housing in New York, a tough job market, how hard it is to get a decent date.
What can we say about any of this?
For me, it's a reminder about just where, at the end of the day, I put my trust and confidence... more specifically, in whom.
To live a life in Jesus—in the Way of Christ—is to put our life in the hands of God and one another. It's to say that we belong to God. God gives us life and breath, our bodies and our minds, our hearts and our hands. God counts our days and commissions our work in the world. God loves us and welcomes us into the Realm.
And God shows us how to live in community with those around us--in the community of the church, where we have the chance to love each other and share our lives together. For us, this means the community of Connection.
These relationships—with God and with each other—are our rock and our comfort in life. It's not our relationship to our job, to our bank account or investment portfolio, or to our politicians and their party platforms. We belong to God and to one another—we always have, and we always will.
So what can we say in hard times? We can say that we are loved. And that we can always live our lives showing love for others. In the end, in bad times or good, this is what matters. |