For many years I pushed and pushed hard, doing everything there was to be done. One doctor has surmised that between years of exhaustion and oxygen deprivation (asthma/COPD and sleep apnea) it is no surprise that I am now sick. Whether he's right or wrong doesn't change how I manage myself now.
But I watch people, especially newshounds. I watch them and their demeanor and their level of anxiety. I can spot anxiety in people that think they have no anxiety. Most people can't even wrap their heads around what it is to be at Peace. Most people don't know what true Peace looks like. No, that's not a typo, I capitalized that on purpose.
And today, I watch my fellow Christians. There is so much noise out there and it is tearing them apart. Does it matter who is president? Sure. Does it matter if there is a plan in place to gradually get us used to less and less freedoms? I guess. Does it matter if masks are uncomfortable? A little I suppose. I don't like wearing them either. The most comfortable mask I have and the only one that doesn't require frequent adjusting to keep it over my nose and mouth is a pain to put on and take off because it ties. I get it.
I have always considered myself a conservative. Someone that I thought knew me fairly well recently told me they thought I leaned liberal. For a while I found that odd. The truth is though, that that person and I are surrounded by folks that range from strongly conservative to ultra-conservative. And I suspect that person leans toward ultra-conservative, so it might just be a perspective issue. But then again, myabe I'm not conservative or liberal either. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I am more led by faith than I am conservative or liberal values. To liberlas, that probably looks conservative and to strong conservatives, that probably looks a little liberal.
Gun control, a major hot button issue of 2019 has been overshadowed by masks and vaccines. And, here in the midst of the information age, I suspect we actually know less than we did before the internet. Why do I say that? It's too easy to put anything on the internet. Anybody with a tiny amount of skill (more than me) can put together a believable story that's easy to believe complete with videos and photographs. And we can find article after article that point to the validity of our opinion. But as I read studies and articles on the internet, I keep seeing holes. I keep wondering, does this person really know the subject matter? Are their studies based on the correct questions and complete in the data that's relevant, not just the data that proves their point? I don't know the last time I read an article that didn't reek of propoganda whether it was from a no-name independent or a major news corporation.
What does this have to do with anything? So many of us are caught up in the noise of the day. So many of us don't even know that we are motivated by fear, distracted by fear.
Where your heart is, there will your treasue be. (Matt 6:21 and Luke 12:34. Is your heart on being a witness to those that ARE fearful? Is your heart on caring for others? (Yeah, I know you can use the internet to prove that masks don't work, but you can also use the internet to prove that they do. So do we REALLY know?) And we are called to be a witness. What do we witness, love or care for our rights?
When we talk abou tthose that believe differently than us, how do we talk about them? Do we get self righteous because THEY are wrong or THEY are evil or THEY are part of some plot? Do we talk in love or do we talk from a place of anger?
I don't talk about my political viewpoints often at all. Because my political viewpoints don't matter. Showing love matters.
Sure, who our president is matters. Whether our voting system works or not matters. Riots and violence in our streets matter. But at the end of the day, I voted, I pray. And I do my best to touch one heart at a time.
I dare say, if we didn't allow ourselves to be distracted by noise, then how much more time and energy would we have for expanding the kingdom through the love we are called to show?