Thursday, February 5, 2015

Note to Self: Breathe!

Friday, February 6, 2015

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.   Philippians 4:6-8 (NKJV)

One of the apps on my cell phone is a daily morning briefing of the five things I need to know today, taken from the news headlines of the New York Times[2]
This morning I was greeted with:
·        Several stories on fighting in the Ukraine and how the US is involved
·        A data breach at Anthem Health Insurance
·        The Trans Asia air crash that killed 31
·        Wall Street is soaring while Greek stocks are heading towards the cesspool
·        College freshmen are more overwhelmed and depressed than ever
·        President Obama will speak at the National Prayer Breakfast today
Sometimes I have to remind myself to breathe!
Sometimes (almost every day) I want to remove the app from my phone.
But I also know those issues won’t disappear if I try to pretend they’re not there.  Now, that’s an appalling conundrum for someone my age; I can hardly imagine the pressure on those who are growing up in a culture that is such a cauldron of boiling possibilities, the results of which only promise images of mayhem and destruction.
By contrast, when I think of my childhood – 1950-ish dirt roads, Andy Griffith, General Stores and baseball, the words that come to mind are:  we’ve come a long way, baby!
To be sure there was the Cold War and the possibility of the big bomb dropping from the sky while you were at school.  (I still don’t understand how getting under your little wooden desk protected against nuclear blasts that could obliterate continents.) 
But the big difference in the change between my “Mayberry-upbringing” and today’s culture is there was little chance of my seeing on my iPhone™ an embedded newscaster with a military unit attacking Osama bin Laden.  Or watching live on my iPad or tablet some terrorist torturing and beheading a journalist.  
We live in a tough world.
But it’s always been that way.  It’s just different-tough now.
Note to self – breathe; God has this too!
I don’t make light of what people are going through.  As a pastor, I hear about the darkness and depression just about every day.
The good news is still good – God has not abandoned us; just the opposite is true. 
In a time such as this it is evident that we have little holding us up other than God!

For You Today

If you have to – breathe deeply.  Then offer your prayer to God, with thanksgiving. 
He’s promised peace for your heart – a peace that passes all understanding.



[1] Title image:  By Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Antoine Themistocleous (Official website of the US Navy), via Wikimedia Commons
[2] Mobile.nytimes.com, February 5, 2015

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