Sitting here under this spreading River Tree, it’s obvious the seasons are changing. It’s kind of inevitable, isn’t it? Sometimes change is terrific, like this beautiful spring that’s come upon us. Sometimes it can be pretty darned scary; pop up thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, gas and meat prices, mass shootings, innocent people threatened and killed, pop up wars, countries threatened and bombed. Coming at us like a runaway freight train out of nowhere. Not just a surprise but a major honking bummer! Seems like the whole world’s flying out of control.
Hey, weather we can’t do anything about, or can we? But, the other avalanching catalog of seeming chaos everywhere we pretty much can, if we really want to.
That’s kind of the way life is. We’ve seen parents with kids who just run around like chickens with their heads cut off, screaming like banshees. And they’re not even Irish. Back in the day we’d a been threatened with a razor strop or told to go fetch a nice green Elm branch, and it better not be a twig!
Consequences and control pretty much yield results. Hey, maybe not perfection, but predictability. Now, when we raised ours it was a threat to take them to the nearest restroom if they didn’t behave. Who knew what was going to happen in there; a whack on the butt, a good talking to, a mouth washed out with soap, uuugh! Whatever, it wasn’t going to be good!
Kinda like science, cause and effect. Control and direction yields predictability and a generally positive outcome.
But with those parents (or citizens?) who were/are just not payin’ attention, or waiting till the kiddos (or politicians?) are wailing or whaling on each other or taking apart the nearest sofa, it’s kind of “too late, baby…” as Carole King used to sing.
Hey, no kiddo’s perfect, nor any parent (or citizen?). We got and get angry, frustrated, impatient, sometimes not making the best decisions ourselves, maybe some strength or will beyond our own to steady us, gird us, guide us with constant, unceasing love and forgiveness of our weaknesses, lifting us up to embrace truth, fairness and ultimately justice might be a pretty good thing. Heck, it might even be the very best thing.
As citizens, we’re pretty much parents of this republic aren’t we, whether we’re good ones or not.
Dang, we seem to more and more desperately need that girding, guidance, steading and firming up of our will and strength right now.
In the early 1980s during the heart of the Cold War, with fears of nuclear Armageddon everywhere, the nation of Great Britain asked their citizens and people everywhere to pray what they called a “Prayer for Peace”. It went like this:
“Lead me (us) from death to life, from falsehood to truth.
Lead me (us) from despair to hope, from fear to trust.
Lead me (us) from hate to love, from war to peace.
Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe.”
Quite an ask, wasn’t it? Of course It took a little more than just a prayer. But faith girded and guided leaders on both sides willing to stand up to their fears and fallibilities and within just a handful of years, the Berlin Wall was down and Soviet tyranny had ended around the world.
Maybe faith does matter. Just saying. Why don’t you join us right here under the beautiful, spreading, collaborative, focused River Tree as we mutually look to and strive for liberty, love, justice and peace.
