Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Our World

Maybe this really isn't of any greater importance than it has been before this time, but I've been struck recently with the craziness of all that's been going on in the world. The more I hear about news from all over the world, the more concerned I become for the entire world as a whole. I know violence and strife and even utter madness have been a part of this life for millenia, that war has always been an issue, that poverty has taken its toll throughout the ages and that men and women have done horrific and insane things to one another in the past. But for some reason, the recent string of events has caused me to look at the world with much greater concern, for I get the impression, accurate or not, that the evil in this world is in the midst of an uprising. The idea is one I usually try to shy away from, because it has been touted by religious ultra-evangelicals for some time and it often has to do with someone talking about the "signs of the times", yet another reason for us to just shake our heads and hope Jesus comes back soon to end it all. But that's not what I'm about and that's not the attitude I seek to invoke in myself or others. But something in me says that what's going on in our world today, from the nuclear testing in North Korea to the continuing middle east conflict with Israel to the ongoing struggle in Uganda and Sudan, to local stories of normal people acting ridiculous and even the heated election races, with all their fearmongering.

I know it's easy to say, yeah yeah, that's the news, and they always tell you the worst part of it and things have been bad before, blah blah blah. Some people might not think it's important that there's an underlying trend and movement in all of these crises, a spiritual menace that's making itself known. It's easy to assume that this is the world we live in and we just need to live as well as we can in it and pray for things to get better. For some reason, I cannot say why, but I do say with confidence and conviction, I believe there is an underlying spiritual wave and that it is important to recognize it as we try and live well in this world and pray for God's goodness in it.

That being said, I see there is a lot to pray about in this world, and if anyone is reading this, I want to encourage them first and foremost to pray, and pray hard. Pray, because the times are evil, as the scriptures say. There is hope for this world and we need to cling to it and have faith and be salt and light, as Jesus taught us.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

jake - i have had the same feelings! for me it's been all the school shootings - there were three in one week, just a few weeks ago, across the country. but also, the worldwide events.

Jake said...

Jeannine, that's crazy. I can't even explain why I've felt about it the way I have, but everything I've been hearing just strikes me in a certain way that makes me think it's important. That's really interesting.