Isaiah 1: 16-17 "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow".
Everyday brings news of another tragedy - another war or continuation of a drawn-out feud across generations, another fight, another bombing or 'terrorist attack', another drug smuggling, another robbery or killing, another natural phenomenon, another abuse case, another heinous, brutal crime, another disease, another death. Sites by Amnesty International, Call and Response and the like give us the cruel facts. Statistics of the frequency and intensity of rape, human trafficking, sex trade, matters that matter. Today news of a brawl in Sydney leaving several dead, several wounded. The war in Israel goes on. A famous couple lose their teenage son. A baby is given an Ecstasy pill by irresponsible, drug-induced parents. The world is full of corruption, full of futile thinking and depravity. People have the craziest ideology. They twist and turn the truth and make everyone else believe the mad lies. And out of that comes pain, suffering, death. A godless, loveless, lifeless eternity.
Wake up world! Wake up all those people with their heads in the gutter from one too many bottles of grog. Wake up all those people haunted by hallucinations, trapped in a comatose state from repeated injections of vile chemicals. Wake up all those who take pleasure out of the power to control another's life, to inflict grave bodily, emotional, psychological trauma. Wake up all those who feel they have a right to shame another for their own perverted version of justice. Wake up all those people forming inanimate objects out of their own valuables to offer their lives to.
We are people of worship. We will give our lives to someone or to something. It could be ourselves. It could be a tyrant leader who has set so much hatred in our hearts that we're driven to fight for their cause no matter what the cost, even if it means losing our humanity. It could be the career, fame and status we've been chasing for years, trying to get that extra million or the promotion to the position we've been eyeing and vying for, though in the process we've already lost the people in our lives we claimed to love and care for. It could be that new religion or group in town. It could be that one material thing we want so much to get our hands on or can't get enough of. Some are avid collectors of stamps, others vintage cars, and yet others an intimate piece of clothing from every victim.
The mind is so easily lost, following after some train of thought, some school of belief, some great plan of ambition, something. Where has yours taken you?
Mine sometimes spins in spirals. Runs like a tape recorder. Feeds frightful thoughts that keep me peering over my shoulder into the quiet darkness when I'm alone at home. I wondered, last night, as I sat at my desk in our little study, if someone was watching me from the window. Standing there, face just a breath away from the screen. It was pitch black outside. He was wearing a mask. Covered fully in garments as dark as the night surrounding him. Cool, calm, composed. He knew what he had come for. He'd done it too many times before and never placed a wrong step. I lowered my head. And for a split second, I thought I saw a man approaching the door. He was just there, out of the corner of my eye. Tall, sturdy frame. I couldn't see his face. I tried to focus on the Bible, tried to get back to reading. I hate feeling unsafe. I hate knowing that men have broken into homes in other suburbs, raped and killed elderly women, rudely awoken couples in their sleep, dragged wives away from their husbands, raped them and shot their partners. I hate knowing many things about this world. I told God I never want to raise a child in a place like this. But He's got other plans.
Trust and peace. These are the two things I really need in my life. Trust and peace. I need to find hope in the future that seems so bleak. I need to find hope in the people I would rather have gone so they can't do anymore damage. I need to find rest. I need to stop thinking like this. I need to know I will never be hurt. Some of these things can't come true. I know that. I need to stop wanting complete control over everything so I can make sure everything I'm not prepared for does not happen. I need to let go. I need to let go. God, help me.
Everyday brings news of another tragedy - another war or continuation of a drawn-out feud across generations, another fight, another bombing or 'terrorist attack', another drug smuggling, another robbery or killing, another natural phenomenon, another abuse case, another heinous, brutal crime, another disease, another death. Sites by Amnesty International, Call and Response and the like give us the cruel facts. Statistics of the frequency and intensity of rape, human trafficking, sex trade, matters that matter. Today news of a brawl in Sydney leaving several dead, several wounded. The war in Israel goes on. A famous couple lose their teenage son. A baby is given an Ecstasy pill by irresponsible, drug-induced parents. The world is full of corruption, full of futile thinking and depravity. People have the craziest ideology. They twist and turn the truth and make everyone else believe the mad lies. And out of that comes pain, suffering, death. A godless, loveless, lifeless eternity.
Wake up world! Wake up all those people with their heads in the gutter from one too many bottles of grog. Wake up all those people haunted by hallucinations, trapped in a comatose state from repeated injections of vile chemicals. Wake up all those who take pleasure out of the power to control another's life, to inflict grave bodily, emotional, psychological trauma. Wake up all those who feel they have a right to shame another for their own perverted version of justice. Wake up all those people forming inanimate objects out of their own valuables to offer their lives to.
We are people of worship. We will give our lives to someone or to something. It could be ourselves. It could be a tyrant leader who has set so much hatred in our hearts that we're driven to fight for their cause no matter what the cost, even if it means losing our humanity. It could be the career, fame and status we've been chasing for years, trying to get that extra million or the promotion to the position we've been eyeing and vying for, though in the process we've already lost the people in our lives we claimed to love and care for. It could be that new religion or group in town. It could be that one material thing we want so much to get our hands on or can't get enough of. Some are avid collectors of stamps, others vintage cars, and yet others an intimate piece of clothing from every victim.
The mind is so easily lost, following after some train of thought, some school of belief, some great plan of ambition, something. Where has yours taken you?
Mine sometimes spins in spirals. Runs like a tape recorder. Feeds frightful thoughts that keep me peering over my shoulder into the quiet darkness when I'm alone at home. I wondered, last night, as I sat at my desk in our little study, if someone was watching me from the window. Standing there, face just a breath away from the screen. It was pitch black outside. He was wearing a mask. Covered fully in garments as dark as the night surrounding him. Cool, calm, composed. He knew what he had come for. He'd done it too many times before and never placed a wrong step. I lowered my head. And for a split second, I thought I saw a man approaching the door. He was just there, out of the corner of my eye. Tall, sturdy frame. I couldn't see his face. I tried to focus on the Bible, tried to get back to reading. I hate feeling unsafe. I hate knowing that men have broken into homes in other suburbs, raped and killed elderly women, rudely awoken couples in their sleep, dragged wives away from their husbands, raped them and shot their partners. I hate knowing many things about this world. I told God I never want to raise a child in a place like this. But He's got other plans.
Trust and peace. These are the two things I really need in my life. Trust and peace. I need to find hope in the future that seems so bleak. I need to find hope in the people I would rather have gone so they can't do anymore damage. I need to find rest. I need to stop thinking like this. I need to know I will never be hurt. Some of these things can't come true. I know that. I need to stop wanting complete control over everything so I can make sure everything I'm not prepared for does not happen. I need to let go. I need to let go. God, help me.
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