Scrolling through the newspaper this morning I found, as I expected, that the top article was about Russia, and its supposed pullback in Ukraine. Western officials remain cautiously optimistic at this point, although they have not seen any signs of the pullback beginning. Putin’s behavior remains suspect.
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Each week as we gather prayer requests for our life together, there are a lot of concerns raised. One I am seeing with more frequency is prayer to heal the divisions between people in families, in our communities, our nation and all around the world. We are divided over a public health emergency that one would think would bring us together. The news today is full of developments in the increasing tensions in Europe, Russia, and Ukraine. Will war erupt at any moment? In the depths of the winter cold, a short trip to Savannah, Georgia, was just what I needed as a jump start for spring and the assurance that it will one day be warm in Ankeny again. We stayed in the historical district of Savannah with its many parks and lavish greenery. The people of Savannah are also experiencing the Covid surge so with a high incidence of Covid and the warm weather, my husband and I opted to have dinner served outside. It was common to have tour groups pass as they heard descriptions of the history of the area and its hauntings. But this Friday night there was another group that first walked past us on the sidewalk where our table was located, but then about a half hour later returned. They were laughing and chatting with each other. It was a group of about seven young women. One had a wedding veil on her head. They were scanning the array of people dining and chose to approach our table. One of the young women announced to us that their friend Anna was getting married in one month and tonight they were seeking wisdom from married couples that could help Anna and her husband as they enter married life. I have a lizard brain. So do you. The most basic, instinctive, least complicated part of the human brain owes its origins to the connection we have with lizards. The limbic brain, with its flight or fight software, is right at the stem of our brain. The mammalian brain and the frontal lobe are evolutionary advances toward greater complexity of thought and processing. (Yes, a Christian pastor can – and I believe should – see evolution as a marvelous manifestation of divine providence and creation). Before we learned to learn tasks and do algebra, we reacted. Raw emotion rules. If I had a crystal ball, this is what I’d see… DATELINE – March 2025 – DES MOINES, IOWA. The Iowa Department of Public Health today confirmed that Iowa is in the grip of a strong surge in Coronavirus cases due to the rapid spread of the Beta Omega variant of the disease. This makes Iowa the latest of the midwestern states that are watching as hospitals fill and cases rise by as much as 40 percent. “Based on the data from Belgium where the Beta Omega variant first appeared, we are in for a six-to-eight-week storm of new cases and rising numbers of deaths,” says Dr. Joy Uber Angst, PhD, epidemiologist at the University of Iowa. As 2021 sputters it’s way to a disappointing end in most categories, I think it’s safe to say that we all hope 2022 turns in some new directions. I’m hoping for some sort of pandemic progress (I’m past wishing for a resolution). I’m hoping that people somehow stop being divisive, silly, and just plain mean. These are beyond my control, of course. There are traditions to observe, however. “Good-luck foods” like pork, black-eyed peas with greens, cornbread, grapes, and pickled herring, should then be on the table New Year’s Eve. Good luck is sure to follow! For me, one of the most moving songs about the Nativity of Our Lord was popularized in 1955 when Mahalia Jackson recorded a song by Robert MacGimsey called Sweet Little Jesus Boy. Sweet little Jesus Boy -- They made you be born in a manger. Sweet little Holy Child -- Didn’t know who You was. Didn’t know You’d come to save us, Lord; To take our sins away. Our eyes was blind, we couldn’t see, We didn’t know who you was. The church became very real to me when I was about nine years old. My mom had cancer and was in and out of the hospital, often for long periods, for the better part of a couple of years. During that time, my dad had three young sons to take care of (I was the oldest) while he worked a demanding job. The church became real in the faces of people who picked us up on weekends so my dad could be with mom. The church became real in meals dropped off at the house. The church became real in the way we were all embraced and supported by people who cared for us. The body of Christ was alive and moving in our lives. The beloved community was active and sharing God’s love with us. The mayor has lit the city Christmas tree. Black Friday and Christmas sales are beginning. All of this before some folks have gotten the Jack-O-Lanterns off the stoop and before I know what we’re cooking for Thanksgiving. It is forty-five days until Christmas Day, and I do understand the necessity of planning – we are already busy with preparing for Christmas Eve and beyond. Yet I can’t help wondering what we will miss as we zoom through the next seven weeks straining ahead to a day not yet here. The Glasgow Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, is off and running. There are speakers who are experts in climate change science with data on how we are doing as a world community in controlling climate change. National leaders are present as the goals and action plan continue to be addressed and decisions made. Youth of the world remind us of the urgency of halting climate change and even reversing it in situations where it is not too late |
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