Maybe you’ve noticed it, but this summer has been a wee bit dark and disturbing.
Consider just a few of the highlights:
Not only was there the senseless and tragic killing of 9 innocent, African Americans in a South Carolina church, deadly police and civilian behavior, perplexing proposals by state leaders to remove statutes and dig up graves of Confederate soldiers in an effort to ease racial tensions, and the Supreme Court’s imposition of an unorthodox definition of marriage on states that value a Judeo-Christian one, but most recently, it’s become clear our present administration believes Planned Parenthood should get away with unlawfully selling fully intact baby body parts to the highest bidder because, hey, some people really like abortions.
And the idea of meaningfully responding in writing to such a tsunami of problems has, frankly, just felt overwhelming. After all, how or where does one even begin to analyze a deeply-rooted social wrong before being side-swiped by the next?
Perhaps a better strategy in times like these—where darkness appears to be waging a form of spiritual blitzkrieg—is to simply recall three principled reminders that will help us endure and persevere through it all.
First, Take Cover
Christians are generally called to put their spiritual boots on the ground, moving the world closer toward, not farther from, the love of Jesus Christ. As moral relativism and amoral secularism bombards us from the top down, however, it is easy to become unhinged from this goal. We could easily find ourselves acting in ways that lower our call and align with our human frailties, egos, or ambitions. To gird our response in our heavenly promises, we must therefore first gird our hearts by taking cover in the Word of God. We must consistently reaffirm our commitment to God through scripture, prayer, and the celebration of the Eucharist, knowing that God will provide the grace to react in ways He finds suitable.
Second, Find and Fulfill
In 2 Timothy 4: 3-5, Saint Paul affirms for us that “…the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers: and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside by fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
In other words, the darkness is to be expected; it’s part of the human story. For some it serves as a test of faith to make them stronger. For some it awakens them to the light of Christ. And unfortunately for some, it leads to more deception. But faithful Christians aren’t called to sit back, give up, or reject the truth we’ve always known. Instead, we are called to find where we can serve God in its midst. If the present state of affairs in society shows anything, it shows that there are many people who either don’t understand or who haven’t experienced the love of Christ—which means there is great work to do. We may be called to public or private ministries within our churches, our families, our schools, our communities, or our governments, but wherever it is, we must commit to finding and fulfilling it if we seek change.
Finally, Trust
When turbulence hits, it is easy to feel lost or hopeless–or even question matters of faith. We might even imagine some problems as ones God Himself never envisioned. Scripture teaches us, however, that no turbulence exists that can actually shake the foundation of Christ. The truth is “…the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)
Simply put, there is nothing in today’s world—nothing—that will ever be beyond the knowledge of God. Rather than losing hope or wringing our hands, we can therefore have peace in knowing the light of Christ always offers the solution to the darkness.
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