OK, so, I just got this email from a dear friend, somewhat younger than me, whose children range in age from 13 years down to 2 months. He often sends things like this about stuff that concerns him; I won’t go into the details of this particular message, but suffice it to say the report, if true, did indeed contain genuinely disturbing news about a corporation’s dangerous and harmful practices. My friend ended his memo by saying he didn’t know whether things are actually getting worse, or he’s just more aware now.
The thing is, I can totally relate to my friend’s quandary; I used to be fairly lighthearted and blasé about things that caused the world at large, especially my parents, grave concern, most of which were deemed ridiculously trivial by my indubitably omniscient and omnipotent teenaged self. These issues ranged from the ability to cover rising costs of feeding, clothing, and educating children, (Hello, money does, in fact, grow on trees- hadn’t anyone informed them of this?) the perceived imminent death of said children by means of various and sundry enormously amusing activities, otherwise categorized as youthful stupidity by my oh-so overly protective and boring parents, (And again, hello, everyone knows that humans are indestructable up until reaching old age, sometime around 30 or so!) to some mumbo jumbo circulating about the remote possibility of the end of the world as we knew it, namely by means of nuclear war and/or wholesale poisoning of the human race by the disposal of the byproducts of such an unlikely event. You know, just little things like that.
But now, some umptysquat odd years later, after growing up just a bit, and having produced my own little gaggle of omniscient and omnipotent people, I too have been known to fret and worry, or, as these young, upstart whipersnappers dare to say, obsess, over all things dangerous, harmful or even potentially unpleasant. So, like my friend, I’m asking myself, “Is it really getting worse or am I just more aware, informed, and perhaps a tiny tidbit more sensitive to this kind of information, which floats incessantly around on the information superhighway?”
Well, after much contemplation by my much olde… ahem,…. I mean, more mature and much wiser self, I believe it isn’t that there’s more bad news to be found- it’s just that once ones brain is no longer half-baked, one has had time to come to their senses, and most importantly, after becoming a parent, ones radar becomes far more developed, highly sophisticated, and precision tuned to pick up on things that used to fly right by the tower, producing nary a blip on the screen. I’m thinking it must be human nature that, it’s one thing when we, ourselves, are in the crosshairs; we tend to think we’re perfectly capable of handling whatever comes. But, let us perceive that our loved ones, especially our kids, are in jeopardy- well, we tend to go into full blown combat mode- at uber-warp speed!! And, as much as I hate to admit it, I’ve most definitely inherited a particularly virulent strain of the recently discovered overly protective parenting gene from my parents!
So, how does one, so afflicted, deal? Ironically, studying and teaching the book of Revelation has helped me come to terms with all of this hyp…, I mean highly developed sensitivity to negative news. Although I certainly don’t have a complete handle on all of this, I am at least prepared so that I’m just not so shocked when I’m presented with evidence of the incredible coldness and hardness of some men’s hearts toward fellow men- and that’s what’s really at the core of it, what this all boils down to. Those in charge at the company in question are not stupid, they’re just evil. I have little doubt that they are fully aware of what they are doing; it’s just that, for whatever reason, this practice must be best for their bottom line- which is, ultimately, self, in the form of money.
Now, for the good news / bad news part- in Matt 24.5-14, the Bible tells us this kind of thing will happe, as we approach the end of this age, shortly (that’s obviously a relative term) before the Lord returns. It could still be decades or centuries away- who knows except the Father- but as strange as it sounds, it comforts me to know that God is not unaware of these things- He knows/knew this would happen and apparently, although I don’t especially enjoy or understand it, this is a part of bringing this plane down to the ground, bumpy as the landing is obviously going to be. Fortunately, though, we now know the Pilot of this bird, and no matter what it looks like to us, Ro 8.28-29 and 2 Peter 3.9 tell us He’s absolutely in control, and everything He does or allows is ultimately for our good, because He absolutely loves us with a kind of love only He is capable of.
(I liken this kind of thing to a parent taking a child in for any kind of painful medical treatment- i.e., immunizations, antibiotics injections, stitches, etc. The child simply cannot understand why the parent, who they love and trust so, would allow such a thing, which seems so horrific from the child’s limited perspective. However, as painful as it is for a parent to see the child in pain, knowing he is incredibly hurt and angry, the responsible parent must, nevertheless, allow it because he knows better than the child, and simply must rise above immediate circumstances and focus on the big picture-and so that which is ultimately best for the child.)
Of course all of this is not to say that we shouldn’t do what we can to combat things like my friend’s issue- it just helps me to deal with it all because I know the Truth, and I can rest, knowing that this life is not all there is, as I once thought; the reality is that it’s just the prologue, and there’s so much more, that’s going to be so much better!
Consequently, I’ve tried and made some progress in becoming more focused on that part, and less on the stuff I used to worry so much more about. Unfortunately, it’s really hard to fight genetics, and anyone who knows me well would tell you that I’m still in very hot competition in the “Extreme World’s Most Paranoid and Protective Parent” contest, and my kids are all hoping they’ll just declare me the winner soon, and get it over with! I shudder to think what I would be like if I didn’t know Who was in control- I’d most definitely need to order a straightjacket with a side of padded cell!!
As a result of all of this processing, the verse I have come to embrace- my very own personal sanity saver- is 2 Tim 1.12; For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
So, there is a Light at the end of the tunnel, and I know it’s not a train coming!! 🙂
Joyfully Awaiting His Arrival,
Abby