“The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
A Day Late: While prepping for last weekend’s Mother’s Day sermon (here), I stumbled across Nobody Loves You Like Your Mama Does, a Garrison Keillor article from twenty years ago. While not profound, it is fun. And during a pandemic we need fun.
Temperatures are Rising: You’ve likely noticed the rise of pandemic-related tensions. I can chart them by the spike in surly emails I am receiving—to say nothing of those that I compose in response but do not send! As Christ-followers, we must leverage this Kairos moment to become more like Christ. This requires prayer, patience, wisdom, the Spirit’s direction, and a commitment to not believe everything we hear. In fact, it even requires a commitment to not believe everything we think or feel.
Two Related Thoughts about Rising Tensions: 1) As you pray for yourself, pray for our local, state, national, and global leaders. They are under much pressure and scrutiny; 2) Monks have a name for people who make their life difficult. Brother Curtis Almquist of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Boston writes, “In many circumstances of life, we end up sharing life with people we would not have chosen, some of whom we inevitably find quite challenging. The monastic tradition has a name for these sometimes-quite-difficult people: ‘teachers.’ They teach us about ourselves; they expose us to what otherwise we may not see in ourselves or show to others.”
COVID-19 Related: It is now suggested that the coronavirus is called COVID-19 because that is how many pounds we are gaining while quarantined.
Changes Ahead: The first suggestion that work-from-home is here to stay is the ever-climbing stock valuation of Zoom Video Communications. If you were looking for a second suggestion, there is this: in a recent survey of CFOs, 23 percent said they plan to “reduce their real estate(i.e. office) footprint” because of “new work arrangements.”
Make a Joyful Noise? Germany is allowing churches to reopen, but not to sing. Hearing this reminded me of how much I miss it. I believe Christ Church’s worship and tech teams have done amazing things with online worship. But watching at home versus joining my voice with hundreds of others is like the difference between looking at an amazing picture of a bonfire and sitting next to one.
This Week’s Rorschach Test: Two videos went viral last week: the first showed yet another unthinkable murder of a young African American male; the second is an extended trailer for Plandemic, which suggests Big Pharma, Fauci, and others are behind COVID. Given how much has been written about both, there is no reason for me to say anything. But I will ask you to reflect for a moment. Which video impacted you the most and what does that say about you? (OK, I will add one other point. An old college roommate, who spent a lot of time with the Plandemic video, suggested that I should recommend this piece, which he found helpful and civil).
Can Science Explain Everything? I had a chance to interview Dr. John Lennox earlier this week. Lennox, a celebrated scientist with earned PhDs from Oxford and Cambridge, has not only published numerous scholarly works in the field of math but has written about the intersection of science and faith and debated many more vocal atheists, such as Hitchens, Dawkins, and Singer. The video of our discussion will be posted soon. In the meantime, I heartily recommend his website and his book Can Science Explain Everything?
Without Comment:
- The spread of infectious diseases recently surpassed terrorism as our primary concern. Other items on the list include the spread of nuclear weapons, cyber-attacks from other countries, China’s power and influence, global climate change, the economy, and migrating populations.
- Apparently, Asian “murder hornets” are fairly common in Asia, especially Japan, where they regularly kill 0.00001 percent of the population.
Quotes Worth Requoting: “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are Easter people and Hallelujah is our song.” Pope John Paul II
Closing Prayer: O Lord my God, most merciful, most secret, most present, most constant, yet changing all things, never new, and never old, always in action, yet always quiet; creating, upholding, and perfecting all, who has anything but what you have given? Or what can any man say when he speaks about you? Yet have mercy on us, O Lord, that we may speak to you, and praise your Name. Amen (Augustin)