I was today years old when I learned about the Reticular Activating System.

I know that sounds pretty esoteric, but stick around. You’re about to have your eyes opened.

Actually, I had heard of the RAS – it’s just one of those random things that passes through my mind filter and keeps flowing. Maybe a piece or two of information gets trapped.

The reason I’m taking a look at the RAS today is because (drum roll!) I’m about to help you understand who you are and why you do and think the things you do.

Firstly, I am daily struck by how flat-out dumb some people seem to be. That’s my gut reaction. When I back down a bit, though, I wonder – what’s the origin of their beliefs? How can they, in the face of unbiased facts, cling to some bizarre, destructive belief?

Enter the RAS. This may not be as fascinating to you as it is to me. Fine. Go read someone else’s blog.

Still here?

Your RAS is sort of at the base of your brain. It acts as a filter against the data that is all around us.

Check it out. What sounds do you hear right now? I hear the clicking of my keyboard. A fan is whirring in the background. I have my Beats earphones in, and I’m listening to the soundtrack of “Encanto,” because, y’know, we don’t talk about Bruno.

I’m eating some Blue Diamond Smokehouse almonds. I can look out the window at a staggeringly blue sky. And there are all sorts of other colors, images, pictures all around me.

It’s said there can be 2,000,000 pieces of data hitting us at once. That’s a lot.

Since our finite brains can manage only so much, that RAS kicks in. Using that “filter” analogy, your RAS only lets certain things get processed.

And what is the RAS set point? It filters out everything except what it thinks is important.

How does it know what is important? This is huge.

It filters out everything except what you focus on most. Or, as Earl Nightingale said, “You are what you think about.”

Have you ever noticed:

• People who say “I’m always late” are always late?
• People who say, “I’m not very confident” aren’t very confident?
• People who say, “I can’t lose weight” can’t lose weight?
• And – people who say, “This is a dark and scary world” live in a dark and scary world?

Like I said, this RAS thing is huge.

Hey – have you ever said anything like:

• ”I’m really bad at this.”
• ”I always mess up.”
• ”I never have enough money.”
• ”I’m afraid of losing friends.”

What happens is that your RAS will show you things that those statements are true for you. Self-fulfilling prophecies, if you will.

To drill down even further, consider this: The more proof you see, the stronger your belief that it is true.

And where do you get your proof? More on that a bit later.

So – the stronger your belief is, the more likely you are to tell it to yourself … over and over. Self-talk leads to “proof” which leads to belief.

My concern – and it should be yours, too – is that proof can be subjective. That potentially problematic RAS keeps you from considering that where you get proof/facts is fallible. You come at beliefs with your mind made up (the RAS again), and it rejects anything contrary to what you believe.

Culturally, this could impact things like your thoughts about global warming, COVID (masks? No masks? Vaccines? No vax?), your politics, your religion (or lack of it), even who you perceive to be “The Enemy.” You restrict your input to like-minded people, your favorite news sources for the truth (like YouTube), etc.

Your RAS loves this. It doesn’t want things complicated.

This is all fixable. Here are three thoughts.

1. Set your RAS to look for the positives.
   1. I am great at this.
   2. I am always on time.
   3. I am confident.
   4. I listen to diverse voices.
   5. I embrace truth, even when it’s contrary to what I want to believe.
2. If you do this effectively, then your RAS will start showing you things that verify your new beliefs.
3. Change, and the world will change for you.

People talk about what an upside down world they live in. There is much said about “living in fear.” That’s not of God, of course, but what I’m noting in these days is that fear exists all across the spectrum. I think that you choose what you’re afraid of, and it all has to do with that RAS working.

As an example, you might say:

• ”I’m afraid of getting vaccinated. Who knows what’s in that stuff?”
• ”I’m afraid of not getting vaccinated. I don’t want to end up in the hospital.”
• ”I’m afraid of what’s going on in government. It’s awful.”
• ”I’m afraid that others aren’t taking comfort in the lessons of history. It’s been awful before.”

I could go on, but you catch my drift.

If, based on what you’ve read (and I’d encourage you to do a little research on your own – I love this stuff) and you can see that your RAS can take you places you don’t want to go, consider – your RAS can take you to where you need to be. 

Here’s the punch line, and it’s a good one if you’re looking to reprogram your RAS:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. – Philippians 4:8

Talk later!

Hope. Hope. I’m revisiting this blog from March, 2020, because it still feels timely. I’ve tweaked it a little.

Jehovah-Jireh. Here’s a Bible study and a little Hebrew lesson.

I’m sharing this because it grew out of my own quiet time and was beyond encouraging. I want you to benefit from it, too.

We could all use some encouragement. Because many of us are scared.

Jehovah-Jireh is Hebrew, and is translated “The Lord Will Provide.” Of course He will; but why do we so often behave like He won’t?

I’ve written plenty in recent weeks about COVID-19, and it has occupied our minds. It’s affected and will continue to affect everyone.

Odds are you wont get the coronavirus. And if you do, the odds are extraordinarily in your favor that you will get well. I’m not factoring in high risk folks – this is for everyone else.

What will impact us all are the financial ramifications. This isn’t about the politics or vaccine mandates or any of that. (Well, I guess it sorta is, but that’s not my point.)

This: You may have faced a job layoff during this unprecedented time. Someone you know or love might be in that place, even if you aren’t. I don’t know the stats, but I know many, many people live paycheck to paycheck. And now people can potentially lose their jobs if they refuse to be vaccinated. (This isn’t some political posturing on my part. I’m just stating a fact.) No one is immune. Ripple effect, right? Think that causes some folks to lose hope?

It’s almost 2022, and people are legitimately wondering how they’re to pay their rent, their mortgage, their car notes, their utility bills … all that.

Can you say stress?

Well, pilgrim, check this out:

Genesis 22:14 (ESV)

So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

The Lord will provide = Jehovah-Jireh.

You can read Genesis 22 for the whole story. It’s quite familiar. This is the tale of God telling the patriarch Abraham that he was to go up on the mountain and sacrifice his son Issac.

There’s plenty to unpack there – for instance, why would God ask for pagan human sacrifice? How could Abraham be so assured that God would provide a sacrifice? What about Abraham’s words to the others that had accompanied Issac and him – “I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you?”

Whew.

Truth is, God sent an angel to stay Abraham’s hand. Abraham recognized the timeless truth that the Lord will provide, and He did.

Don’t miss this. God is Jehovah-Jireh, then and now.

God is our only provider, He and He alone. And the command is to not be afraid. Don’t be afraid. 

Cling to this truth.

Not only does God provide, He is your provider.

I know what you’re thinking, because I’ve thought it, too: “Okay, Lord, I get that. But here’s my checkbook. What am I supposed to do now?”

I’d suggest that His provision doesn’t always come in a way we’d think or expect. We’re to be open-minded and open-hearted.

Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide. Our attitude should be that our hands are wide open to receive. This is beyond scary, sometimes. It’s because we can’t see the future, and what we do see looks dismal.

We’re at a place of choosing: Do we choose to believe He will take care of us?

Even beyond that, what about our emotions? Your rational mind may believe God is indeed Jehovah-Jireh, and that He will provide. Why, then, are you anxious, stressed, and an emotional wreck?

God can handle our emotions, too. If you’re scared, tell Him. Angry? He’ll take whatever you want to throw at Him. Just don’t stop there. Ask Him to heal your emotions with His perfect love. That will give you hope.

Since God is Jehovah-Jireh, as provider He is ready to give you all He knows you need.

He won’t leave you or forsake you. He’s promised. I’d wager that, if you look back, you can point to times in your past when He provided, in ways you didn’t anticipate. So, knowing that God doesn’t change, what are your expectations of Him now?

Jesus certainly understood that there would be times when we’d say, “Lord, I don’t have a clue as to how You’re gonna work this out.” And yet:

Matthew 6:25-27

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

See any loopholes or exceptions there? Me neither.

I think in these days we need to do a lot of listening and a lot of letting go. It’s releasing your worry to God and asking Him what He wants you to learn about Himself and you. He wants you to have real hope, not hope based on anything outside of Him.

One ancient story tells of the children of Israel who’d been set free from Egyptian bondage. They were wandering around in the wilderness, and they were hungry.

God feeds them manna.

Know what? This was a food they’d never seen before, so they didn’t know to ask for it. They didn’t even know what it was, and yet it was provided for them.

In these times of crazy uncertainty, we’re called on to trust in God, who has promised to provide what we need. Maybe it’ll be in a totally unexpected way.

Be still. Feel God’s presence. He sure does love you. He’s Jehovah-Jireh. He’ll provide for us all. He gives hope.

Note: There is an app available called “Abide” I heartily recommend. It’s guided prayer and meditation, and it is balm for the soul. Some of my thoughts today grew out of a prayer time from Abide a few days ago. 

So I’m sitting here in a local restaurant, Primos Cafe, waiting on Teresa to finish up physical therapy. She’s doing pretty well after her knee replacement a couple of weeks ago.

While sitting here, I’ve been perusing social media. Y’all, I’m telling you – while Covid cases are plummeting here in my neck of the woods, I’m struck with just how many people are angry, upset, scared, threatened – actually all of the above. Terms like socialism, communism, Nazism, are all thrown around so much that they’re meaningless. Folks are bemoaning the state of the country and of the world.

At the root of this, I believe, is simple fear. I won’t analyze what kind of fear, or how it manifests itself, but it seems to be a fear of chaos, of things horribly out of order, uncontrollable, and prevalent. No one seems immune.

Some time back I developed a workshop/course called Cruising Through Chaos. My intent was to equip folks with the proper emotional, mental, and spiritual tools to not only survive the chaos we find ourselves in, but to even thrive in the midst of it.

I wanted to call it to your attention again.

This is a paid program. It’s worth a nominal investment if you think you or a loved one can benefit.

You’ll find it on my course platform, Transformational Encouragement Academy.

Some questions about it always crop up. Let me address some of them:

Is this just another self-help rah-rah program?

That term, self-help, just doesn’t explain what I want to see in you. There are a couple of gazillion self-help programs out there on every topic imaginable. I’m not knocking them … I’ve been a fan of folks like Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, Michael Hyatt, and scores of others like them. What makes this different, methinks, is that it is grounded heavily in scripture, and the principles I share will bear that out. But if it motivates you, that is a good thing.

So is this workshop just for Christians?

It’s not intended to be. I’d like to think the principles I share are universal. But, if you want to onboard with me, you do need to understand the context I’m coming from. I won’t apologize or back down from that. I’m not trying to “proselyte.” I’m an absolute truth kind of guy – truth, by definition, is not relative. I intend to bombard you with truth as revealed in scripture, but in a very applicable, meaningful way.

Is this going to smack of anything political?

Not just NO but HECK no.

Can I anticipate and expect life change in five days?

You know I’d offer a resounding “YES” to that question. Here’s why: we are all products of decisions we’ve made, and often we make a decision in the space of 30 seconds that can totally alter the trajectory of our lives. By that same token, we can take steps right now that will do the same thing. Understand this – if you embrace the principles I share, and follow them to the bone, you will absolutely see change in five days. My disclaimer? Personal growth is a process. You’ll be hammering on that all the days of your life. My goal is to plant that seed, watch it germinate, and then see that little green plant peek its head above the soil. Water and fertilizer are your responsibility then, but the growth has already begun.

I’ve tried to “fix” myself in days past. It didn’t last. What would make this any different?

Glad you asked. You won’t like my answer, but you still gotta love me. If I don’t provide you with the proper tools and teach you the proper skill set, then I’ve failed. If I don’t give you the best I have, which has been prayed over and fretted over, then I’ve blown it. But if I give you the best I have and you don’t take advantage of it – say you work one or two lessons and bail, or slough through the workbook and journaling, I’m not the one who failed. It’s going to come down to the “D” word – discipline. My sense is that anyone can manage five days. That’s the reason I wanted to put those constraints on it. It’s not supposed to be a quick fix, but I did want you to see results quickly. I’m not beating up on you. I totally get it. If you blow it, just take a break and start over. Like Zig said, “Failure is an event, not a person.”

Can I share this with others?

Well, you should. I think there’s some potential for some small group study here. Iron sharpens iron, y’know, and that extra layer of accountability sure wouldn’t hurt.

If this is so helpful, why do I have to pay for it?

Fair enough. On my end, there were development costs, hosting costs, and all sorts of other intangibles. I want this to be more than an expensive hobby for me! There also is some significant sweat equity involved in putting this thing together. I’d like to make some profit. I’m just being frank. Finally, there is seldom, if ever, something for nothing. It’s often said “you get what you pay for.” I wanted for you to have more than you paid for. I priced it so you can just grab it and go. You’re welcome!

What makes you an expert?

Simple. My story is your story.

We all deal with challenges, do we not? Life is full of joy and heartache in equal measure. Everyone faces something.

Many people respond to life with despair, or at least a sense of hopelessness.

Well, I am here to stand before you and declare that hopelessness is not an option.

I’ve had life experiences that were killer, and by God’s grace, they’ve been overcome. I’ve added those experiences to this workshop.

I am here to tell you that what I have for you is FIRE.

Check it out. Be blessed.

Once more, here’s the link.

Maybe you aren’t suffering. Perhaps you have in the past. If not, you will in the future.

Suffering is part of the human condition. There’s no escaping it. It won’t go away.

And, believer, you aren’t exempt from it. If anything, suffering is more common to Christians than not. That is typically not a part of a Christian evangelistic plea: “Acknowledge that you’re a sinner. Pray to receive Christ, believing He is Savior and Lord. Confess those sins and inherit eternal life. And suffer for the rest of your earthly days.”

Maybe you like to keep it real, just not that real.

These are tough days. I’m not going to rehash the challenges of the moment, other than acknowledging that things are in a mess. What intrigues me so is that it’s not just Tony challenges, or family challenges, or even national challenges. We are talking universal global challenges. My stars.

In spite of universal suffering, it’s still personal. Pain has come home to your private roost.

So here are the questions, and if you say you’ve never asked any of these, I’ll bet you’d lie about other things too. (That’s a joke. Sort of.)

• Why does God allow me to suffer?
• Why is this happening to me?
• Is God testing me?

These may be personal questions, or questions on behalf of your family, or even on a broader scale.

Suffering isn’t easy. It’s unwelcome and disruptive and unwelcome. It can be crushing.

Folks don’t ask those questions when things are going their way. Why should they? When life is good, when you’re being blessed, when every day is full of sunshine and smiles (and maybe even rainbows and unicorns), there’s no need to even consider suffering, now is there?”

And then – boom! Ka-POW! You find yourself to be a hurtin’ puppy. Then we ask those questions.

Listen – I was raised in a Christian home and in a wonderful, nurturing church. I don’t know if this was communicated to me overtly (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t) or if it was just part of the Christian journey that wasn’t explained to me. But, subconsciously, I just felt that if I was one of God’s children, if I was doing my best to live for Him, and if I was obedient to Him and His teachings, then things would be fine. No worries, mate.

That sounds wonderful. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get in on a deal like that? Freedom from pain and suffering? Cool. Break me off a piece of that.

Only thing is, it’s not biblical. I guess we’re afraid we’ll scare people away from the faith if we spoke this particular truth.

It’s not like Jesus didn’t give us a head’s up. He told the disciples over and over what they could expect, and they stood there with their fingers shoved up their noses to the second joint, saying, “Huh?”

Us too. We say we get it, but I’m not sure we do. Because suffering is, well, bad. And then we have a come-apart when it enters our lives because it’s not supposed to be that way. So we think.

So, in response to that “why?” thing, here are three reason why we suffer. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it does give us some pegs to hang some truths on.

1. We live in a fallen, broken world. With that comes struggles on every front – mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. No arena of our lives is exempt. We get anxious and depressed – mental. We feel like crying or are at the very least numb – emotions. We get sick with cancer or Covid or a cold – physically. And God seems like He’s light years away, because we can’t hear Him, or He’s not telling us what we want to hear – spiritual. Take it back to Eden – we live in a world where things are seriously screwed up. I know it, and you know it. Things are just wrong, and we’ll call it what it is – sin.
2. There is evil in the world – personal, invasive, and personal. It’s called sin, see, and it affects us and those around us acutely. Sin brings suffering. I tell folks (and myself!!) that there is enough grief in the world without voluntarily bringing it on ourselves. My counsel, then, is “don’t sin.” Duh.
3. God allows suffering, but one day all suffering will end. I’ll file this one under “blessed hope.” Your suffering will end when you are freed from this physical existence and then spend eternity with Christ. No more suffering, pain, tears, heartache … that’s quite the deal. Or, suffering will end when Jesus returns. Not a day goes by that I don’t murmur, “Come, Lord Jesus.” I don’t think that’s cowardly in the sense I’m trying to escape my own personal challenges. I’m just tired, y’know? – and ever mindful this world is not my home. It feels more alien and uncomfortable day by day.

So what can you do about suffering?

1. You rejoice. Talk about counterintuitive! How can you rejoice when you want to assume a fetal position in the corner and stuff yourself with Ding-Dongs? Short answer is that there is no short answer. What satisfies me is that when I share in Jesus’ sufferings then I also share in His glory. There’s no comparison between the two – ancient script in Romans 8:17-18 teaches this. Part of this, too, is knowing that suffering helps you persevere through the worst of times, and equips you for potentially worse times ahead. And it may just be that how you manage personal sufferings will help others with their own suffering.
2. When you suffer, it provides a platform for the message of God’s love and grace to be shared. So share it. I have sat through plenty of Bible studies that talked about God’s love, and I get that, because it is so sweet to be loved by Him. But that teaching about God’s love might take on a different meaning if I was a person laid up in an ICU on a ventilator gasping and gurgling for every breath. I want to experience God’s love always, because, selfishly, it makes me feel good. But if my life is escaping breath by agonizing breath, I don’t want to just experience it. I want it to be tangible enough that I can take hold of it.

C.S. Lewis, as always, is helpful here, and this is one of my favorite quotes:

We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Hey, world, God is shouting at us. Do we have ears to hear and the courage to act?

Accept the truth. Speak the truth. And embrace and walk through your suffering.

Talk later.

There’s part of me that tends to think of self-care as the activity of a wimp. That’s not true, of course.

The typical mandate for me, as a believer, has been in the acrostic J.O.Y. – Jesus, others, you. To me, it’s a noble thing to spend myself in the service of others. The betterment of mankind, if you will.

Self-care comes in third place in that schema. I’m wondering if that’s actually the most helpful methodology.

Follow me here. I have a bit of a testimony/confession to share.

I’m aware of having two clinical panic attacks, and possibly a third.

The first two happened while we were living in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. One time, Teresa and I were sitting in the stands during Jeremy’s peewee football practice. All was well.

Out of nowhere, I got short-winded. My heart felt like it was about to erupt from my chest. I broke out in the proverbial cold sweat. Then came the chest pains.

I was alarmed enough to ask Teresa to take me to the ER. Note: saying you have chest pains will get you to the front of the line.

After an EKG, tests for enzymes, blood oxygen, and other imponderables,  I was turned loose because, physically, there was nothing wrong.

It happened again a few weeks later. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

This time Teresa and I were on a date. We were at the movies. I don’t remember what we were watching.

What I do remember is that about fifteen minutes into the film, I had the same symptoms as I did earlier. I tried to talk myself out of it, breathe deeply, the whole drill. Nothing. So off to the ER we go.

Same diagnosis as before. Nada.

Afterwards, I confided in a friend who I thought would “get it.” It turned out that he had a history of panic attacks – I’d never have expected! – and he said what I was describing were textbook symptoms.

My argument then, as now, is that there was nothing wrong. Seriously, I wasn’t going through any kind of crisis or anxious ordeal. There just wasn’t any reason for it to happen. So I thought.

Since then, I’ve had my struggles with mental illness, which has been multiplied since my head injury three years ago or so. Being the anal researcher that I am, in trying to figure stuff out, I ran across articles about panic attacks. Understand that I’m not one to be anxious; depression is my thorn in the flesh.

What I found is that, true, there doesn’t have to be anything in particular to trigger a panic attack. A cause can be vague and ill-defined, and be due to the cumulative effect of a lot of little things. I love knowing the “why’s”  of a situation.

The why’s aren’t evident. Enter self-care.

I share all that because this past Sunday I had a low-level panic attack. I don’t think anyone knew. I recognized what was happening and was able to deal with it. It took the rest of the day, but I emerged just fine.

As before, there wasn’t anything to cause it, at least superficially. There were, however, some stuff happening.

I’ve noted on these pages my tendency to try to fix everything and everyone. That’s a type of codependency, they say. I’m aware of that and recognize it.

I’ve been taking stock of the state of the world in recent days. It ain’t pretty.

Just when you thought the pandemic was in the rear-view mirror, the delta variant has come roaring back with a vengeance. You are wise not to ignore it. Actually, you can’t ignore it. We are bombarded with questionable information, and trying to sort through it is nightmarish. Folks are flat-out scared – they are scared of dying from Covid, or scared of losing their freedoms, or any number of fears in between.

What I’ve tried to do in the midst of all that is to be the voice of reason. When I’ve posted my thoughts on Facebook or wherever, I’ve learned that people tend to get really upset with you when you try to be reasonable. I’m like, dude, do your own objective research, vette your sources, and remember: My experts can beat up your experts.

That’s Covid. You can’t escape its impact. I thought about this earlier … the virus, were it a sentient thing, doesn’t care about any of the discussions we’re having. It lives to infect, and if one route of infection isn’t successful, it figures out a different way to go about its task of living and reproducing. I hate Covid because of what it’s doing to you, me, us. I wish there were a test for the mental and emotional effects of it, just like there’s a test for the virus itself. We’d see just how sick we collectively are.

That’s just for starters.

Let’s throw Afghanistan in the mix. How about earthquakes and tropical storms? How about just general all-around meanness and hostility? And the most divided United States since 1861!

Lovely.

Being an empath, I tend to absorb all this even when I’m not aware of it. Then I face “compassion fatigue.” I want to reach out to others, but before I know it, I got ‘nuthin. I just retreat silently into solitude, for as long as it takes for me to recharge. Sometimes it takes longer than others. (This week has been a case in point.)

That’s where the self-care thing comes in.

That’s not being selfish and self-centered. It’s simply recognizing your personal needs and taking steps to meet them, or have them met. Is that weakness? I think not.

It’s self-evident. You can’t water others from an empty well.

As a believer, I tap into that living water source. In this particular blog, I won’t go into specifics. I’d like for us to talk more, though, about how to get nourishment without being a glutton. And how to keep self-care from mutating to a place where you think the world exists to meet your needs.

Addendum: Last year I wrote an online course/workshop called Cruising Through Chaos. I’ve gone back and taken my own study. Doggoned if it didn’t help me, and I’m the dude that developed it. That falls in the category of “physician, heal thyself.” Or, “practice what you preach.”

You can check it out HERE. I recommend it if you’re in a bad headspace. Or, if you’re doing fine, share it with someone who isn’t doing as well as you.

Talk soon.

“It’s mandatory.” Just that phrase makes me cringe.

“Mandatory” is very much a loaded word these days. You know where I’m going with this.

The word “mandatory,” of late, has been followed by either “masks” or “vaccinations.” That’s some dumpster fire stuff right there. And divisive? Ho-lee cow.

I’ll be back to this in a minute.

I’m thinking back over my lifetime, which is a challenge for someone who has trouble remembering his own name. Has there been a time when we as Americans were genuinely united?

There have been a couple of times I can recall. In 1969, we were all so collectively proud of our moon landing. I was actually in Venice, Italy, when the “giant leap for mankind” took place. St. Mark’s Square was dotted with televisions all over the historic plaza, with groups of people crowded in close. Occasionally, a cheer would go up – from Americans, no doubt. That was an event we got behind.

More recently – although to many this is ancient history – was the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Can it be 20 years? Wow. If you’re of a certain age, you remember just exactly where you were when the first tower was hit. I was pulling up in the parking lot of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board when one of my coworkers walked up as I was getting out of the car. “Have you heard?” he asked, and went on to share what had happened. I hustled up to my office, found a livestream, and sat transfixed.

For a little while, at least, we were united against a common foe. That unity didn’t last long.

Then along came COVID-19.

I won’t rehash the last year-and-a-half. I’ll just bet you thought we were done with this scourge back in the spring. Businesses were reopening, we were shedding our masks, and vaccinations were available. Social distancing became less prevalent. Those were good, hopeful days.

Look at us now.

I thought with the advent of COVID-19, we could unite against a common foe. No one has been untouched by this blight.

My bad. “United” is not a term I’d come close to using. What a shame. It didn’t have to be this way.

It’s pretty bad out there, and I’m not just talking about the virus. I’m talking about the mental and emotional toll it’s taking, and in some ways, it feels even worse than last year.

I’m more concerned about what the virus is doing to our heads than what it’s doing to our lungs.

Coming back around to my thesis, the phrase “it’s mandatory” has the ability to throw people into an absolute tizzy. I hear about loss of liberties and the upcoming demise of the Republic.

So, in full disclosure, I don’t agree with mandatory vaccines or mandatory masks, at least on the governmental level. I’ve had Covid, I’ve been vaccinated, and I’m at total peace about my choices. But I won’t cast you in my autobiography.

It comes back to that uniquely American sense of “You can’t tell me what to do!” I get that. I have enough redneck blood in me to bristle at being dictated to.

However, in some places it’s mandatory to get vaccinated because it’s a condition of employment. A privately owned business has the right to set their own hiring policies, within the boundaries of pre-existing laws.  Here in Mississippi, for instance, an employer can fire a hireling and not have to justify why, in most cases.

So here’s a little thought-provoking verse from ancient script. You’ll find it in Judges 17:6:

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

That second sentence, though.

If we say “It’s mandatory” about most anything, that counteracts doing what is right in our own eyes. There’s an “outsider” dictating our choices and behavior.

Of course, we don’t live in a monarchy. There is no king in the United States (and I’m sure there are some politicians who are disappointed with that.)

But in our culture here, there are some things that are mandatory.

Paying taxes comes to mind. You don’t have to pay your mandatory taxes, for instance, but there are consequences. You’ve done what was right in your own eyes, but there may be some repercussions from your choices. I could cite some more things that are mandatory, but you catch my drift.

Without some things being mandatory, then, chaos would rule. I guess we could talk about whether something is actually mandatory, but that’s some deep weeds to get into. Especially in these polarized, troubled times.

If you are a believer, though, don’t forget that obedience to God is mandatory. That doesn’t mean you can’t still make unwise decisions, because we all sin, and have to deal with the consequences. What it does mean, though, is that we should go to extraordinary lengths to do the wise thing.

Because – we DO have a king. He’s not an earthly ruler. And we’d best obey Him rather than doing what’s right in our own eyes.

Here, in these days, are some things that are mandatory for me:

• I listen before I speak.
• I view everything with the cross as its background.
• I accept that I may be wrong about some things, even things I prefer to believe.
• I must be willing to change.
• No matter what someone says, they may have a point.
• I can’t do just what is right in my own eyes – I have to be mindful of the needs of others.
• Regarding that last point: It’s Jesus, Others, You (me.)
• I will be an encourager, even when my empathy tank is just about dry.
• I will protect myself from unwanted negativity.
• I will strive to be around people who make me proud to call them friends because they are lightbringers.
• I will not judge unbelievers. God will judge them.
• When there’s someone I assume is an idiot, I’ll check myself and remember – I don’t know their story. They are behaving in a fashion that is consistent with who they are. They are precious and of worth.
• I will remember to ask myself, “In light of my past experiences, present circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what’s the wise thing for me to do?” (Sort of an Andy Stanley paraphrase.)

Believer, it’s mandatory that you follow Jesus. Do that, and life will take care of itself. You’ll know what to do.

Be blessed.

Survival of the fittest. Boy, am I gonna annoy some folks with this one.

I don’t intend for You Can Have Hope to be anything but encouraging, and on the surface this one won’t be. But I have lots on my mind, and there is a silver lining in what I’m about to share.

Survival of the fittest is a component of Darwin’s theory of evolution (theory being a key word.) Do NOT count me among a devotee of Darwin; it’s actually a complex issue in my mind. But basically, survival of the fittest  is about certain organisms (and people, perhaps) that are more able to adapt to changing environments, and can produce offspring that carry on those survival traits. Okay, fine – I know after living in south central Florida it took me a while to get used to colder weather when we moved back up this way. And if you’ve been in high altitudes, and struggled to get a good breath, you’ll note that folks who live up there don’t have the same issues. You adapt to it, in other words.

Set that aside for now. I need to tell you a little story.

The second car I ever owned was a 1974 Gran Torino Elite. Here it is (not actually mine, but this model and color.):

Ford only produced this model for three years. It came along in the heyday of the “personal luxury cars,” vehicles like Grand Prixes, Monte Carlos, that genre. This car reminded me of a Thunderbird. It was a graduation gift, but truth be told, I think Daddy wanted it worse than I did.

One interesting feature of this car was the seat belt. Check this out – unless you had your seat belt extended, it wouldn’t start.

You can imagine how well-received that item was. If there was a problem with the system, you had to open the trunk, push a little red button, and supposedly it would start. That never happened to me.

The workaround was that you could pull the seat belt out of the retractor and hook it over the interior door handle. You’d effectively circumvented this “safety feature.”

It never was a real issue for me, since even as a high schooler I routinely wore my seat belt.

But – and this is a big but – I still sort of resented being protected from myself. It’s like when I see a “keep off the grass” sign. My first impulse is to go boogie on that grass.

Ford was actually forcing you to wear that seat belt – at lest, that was the intent.

Still with me?

I don’t think anyone should be forced to be vaccinated. Did y’all hear me in the back?

Believe me, I don’t want to bring up COVID. It’s intregal to what I want to communicate, though.

As I’m banging this out, Los Angeles County is bringing back a mask mandate whether you’ve been vaccinated or not. They aren’t closing businesses and restaurant … yet. O spare me.

But it got me to thinking – at what point, if any, do you simply invoke the “survival of the fittest” concept and go about life?

I’m not judging anyone here about their health choices. Really, I’m not. In my never-ceasing quest to be open-minded (except in the areas I’m beyond rigid on!), I’m asking myself some questions. I’ll let you in on my musings.

One option I thought of is that we do nothing. Anyone over the age of 12 can get vaccinated. And if someone chooses not to get vaccinated, that’s absolutely fine. There are all sorts of reasons not to – some based on personal health, some on personal conviction, some on simple mistrust, and I’m thinking a goodly chunk of folks are simply afraid of what might happen to them.

(Incidentally, I can’t find any history of any vaccine showing effects years after the shot. Adverse reactions typically happen within a couple of weeks.)

One companion thought to this is that there is a minuscule handful of folks with compromised immune systems who can’t be vaccinated and are at risk while COVID spreads in their area. So it’s not just the “guilty” getting sick.

Thought Number Two: we could roll back society to where it was back in the spring of 2020.

As a former COVID patient and a fully vaccinated individual, I say not just “no” but “heck no.”

Third thought: We could mandate that vaccinated people carry vaccine passports, and thereby avoid anything that would be included in Number Two. 

I wondered if that a passport might be a “get out of jail” card.

Show proof of vaccination and you can go to concerts, games, theaters, restaurants, and yes, theme parks. Show proof of vaccination and you can get on a plane to wherever you want. But if you choose not to get vaccinated, then it’s back to the “stay at home” order for you.

No clubs, restaurants, arenas, theaters, or theme parks for you. Go to the grocery or pharmacy only during special hours when everyone is required to wear masks and practice distancing. No shopping at the mall or eating out.

I got over that option pretty quick. But, for context, I remember the first time I traveled abroad when I was 13. I went to Europe, not some third-world places. I had to get a smallpox booster along with other vaccines. I had to show proof I’d been vaccinated. I don’t remember it being a big deal.

I don’t think that’s gonna work. It’s a different world than it was in 1969 when I visited Europe. I won’t get into the differences.

Which gets me back to “survival of the fittest.”

My bottom line will always be “what would Jesus do?”

See, selfish people never want to take responsibility for anything. It’s always ‘those other folks” – and these days, it’s those other folks who wear masks still, don’t wear masks, get vaccinated, don’t get vaccinated, ad infinitum. And to rally their supporters, or to feel better about themselves, they demean and devalue others who don’t see it the same way they do, post funny/not funny memes, and generally position themselves at the center of their little worlds.

It’s still survival of the fittest – what must you do as a believer to survive and not get sucked into a cesspool of unkindness?

Tony’s take?

No compassionate Christian person wants to take the risk of allowing even more deadly COVID variants to evolve while thousands more Americans die unnecessarily.

We can do better than “survival of the fittest.”

Do the right thing.

Be blessed.

No doubt that phrase, “Our finest hour,” resonated with you – assuming, of course, you’re familiar with famous historical quotes. That’s the way we remember it – but that’s not really what was said.

That’s from Sir Winston Churchill. Here’s your refresher.

The Allies during this period of WWII were in dire straits. In his speech, Churchill was to express his feelings towards the countries of France and Germany. France was just defeated by Germany. He spoke because he believed that Britain should continue fighting to defeat the evil that Hitler was.

The entire speech is readily available for context. If you really want to do a deep dive and feel just a little thrill, you can listen to it.  Indulge me – I want to share the last few lines.

What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”

Here’s what I want you to note: We remember this as Churchill saying “our finest hour,” when in reality he said “their finest hour.” In other words, he was looking at the crisis they were in from some point in the future, with the assurance the British Empire and the Allied forces would prevail.

We did.

We are are seeing an event global in scope. It literally impacts all mankind. We tend to think about disasters happing somewhere else. Even here in the South, where we routinely deal with tornadoes and hurricanes, we think earthquakes don’t happen here, because they typically don’t. Wildfires, floods, all those other cataclysmic events are “out there.”

I’ve wondered what World War III might look like. Is this it?

I’ll add this to the mix, with apologies to my international readers: This whole election process has been a dumpster fire. I won’t get into details, or even my personal beliefs and takeaways from what I’ve witnessed. All I’ll say is that January 6, which I’ve blogged about, was a real gut check for me. We’ve all been affected in some fashion, and we’ve learned a lot about ourselves in the process – personally and corporately.

Guess what? We’re all in this one together.

The people of the world have had the opportunity to unite against a common foe. The wonder of this is that every one of us can take part. This isn’t the job of some elite or specialized group. For sure, the government can do the wise thing. There are health care workers and first responders. Truckers are the cavalry, the knights of the road. Grocery store workers, convenience store managers, aren’t exactly working from home. They all have special roles.

But you have a special role. You can literally be an agent of change. You, you, you.

In an absurd sort of way, I find that exciting.

As a believer, I know this is all part of The Plan. I don’t want to wade into a theological discussion here. But could God have stopped the onset and continued spread of COVID-19? Of course He could. Of course He can. He’s God.

C. H. Spurgeon said:

All the hounds of affliction are muzzled until God sets them free.

You can ponder that. The one indisputable fact is that the pandemic is still with us. What do we do?

My question – will future generations say “this was their finest hour?” Or, more timely, “Is this our finest hour?” – right now?

Here’s my observation, and it really doesn’t center on the actual physical health issues.

If I’m discerning, I see that people under stress tend to reveal the conditions of their hearts. Many folks post some really funny memes, only to find that others are offended. Some people try to couch everything in political terms. Others feverishly look for somewhere, anywhere, to place blame – as if that were to make any difference in what has already happened.

So – what have you learned about your heart in these days? Who are you really? Are you self-aware enough to take stock in yourself?

Mercy. I sure have taken stock in me.

God knows the condition of your heart. I can’t help but wonder if part of His plan in these days is for we who are believers to discover who we really are. Does He want us to confront the condition of our own hearts?

It grieves me when Christians act like the lost world. We aren’t part of that.

How we respond to crisis (Do we worry out loud? Do we whine and complain? Are we embracing into the negativity of others? Do we encourage, and affirm, and comfort them?)  tells us who we are.

Discovering who you are is not a bad thing. What’s even more important is that we see ourselves as God sees us.

It may just be as you ask yourself those hard questions you’ll see the need for personal change and redemption. That’s what’s happening to me, for sure.

Don’t waste this moment. You may never have a better chance to be who God created you to be.

Our finest hour? Hey, maybe this can be your finest hour.

Think on these things, and take care of yourself.

“We all eat untruths when our hearts are hungry.”

I got that line from The Old Try. Check out what these Mississippi expats are up to. I love their work.

Ever since I read that line, it has haunted me.

There is a leanness inherent in the human soul. We come into the world missing a crucial component of our lives. A void, if you will.

From birth forward, your life is a pilgrimage, a quest to fill that void. Or, to quote the great philosophers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” The path of least resistance dictates that we find the easy answers to challenges. No one wants to stress themselves out looking for the truth, now do they?

When our hearts are hungry, then, we flail around, trying to fill the void.

If there’s any lessons I’ve learned from the last few months, it’s that people are hurting and searching. They want answers.

Sometimes, though, the answers based in truth are contrary to the beliefs they’ve held.

I think about this. I mean, if you’re wrong, wouldn’t you want to know that? Wouldn’t you want to correct yourself and abide in truth?

My conclusion is that some people willfully choose to live in ignorance, even when the truth is readily apparent to anyone with just a shred of critical thinking skills.

When our hearts are hungry, it’s because we’ve sought nourishment that is either wrong or inadequate. If someone is starving, and they only drink some water, they aren’t going to have their needs met. Water is necessary for life, of course, but by itself it isn’t sufficient.

To torture this analogy a bit more … you have to stay hydrated to live. So drink your 64 oz. a day, or whatever the current recommendation is.

And at the same time, don’t eat any solid food. Your rationale is, “I don’t want to eat solid food. I don’t believe it has any value. It’s a hard pass for me.”

Eventually you’ll die from that belief. You believed it was true. But your subjective truth doesn’t stand up to reality. And if you starved, I just bet you wouldn’t get much sympathy. Some folks with a mean streak might say, “Well, you had it coming.”

The solution would be just to put on your big boy/girl pants, admit you were wrong about solid food, and order pizza.

I could go really deep in the weeds with this, but let me try to wrap it up.

You have been bombarded with conflicting worldviews recently. You can’t escape it, unless you’re isolated from the rest of the world and have no outside input of any sort. That’s not true, of course; you’re reading this.

It’s possible that what you’ve wanted to believe hasn’t held up to scrutiny. You’ve justified, rationalized, and have still found yourself frustrated and defensive. Because what you’ve wanted to be true simply isn’t.

In other words, you’ve been eating untruths because your heart was hungry, and it’s still not satisfied. You’ve settled for water – which is a good, essential thing – but that’s as far as your taking care of yourself has gone. You just haven’t mustered up the courage to say to yourself and to others those horrible three words:

I was wrong.

Want to get right? Here’s the simple solution – but note I said simple, not easy.

Fill your heart with Jesus. Believer, take heed.

You can not, must not believe your untruths. Jesus is truth. There’s no gray. I’d admit that, with our frail and feeble human eyes, it’s dang hard to put aside the worldly stuff, simply because it’s tangible and palpable and you can watch it on TV. That’s a temporal reality, and not the ultimate truth. So we have to see things through His eyes and not through our faulty, biased, and corrupted eyes.

I went into this in some detail in my last blog about January 6. I won’t rehash it here.

My admonition to all of us is to simply be able to admit that if we have been wrong, we’ve been wrong. There’s no shame there. You are no less a person. You have lost no value. It just means that you have had trouble letting go of what you want to believe, and now it’s time to embrace the Who you need to believe.

It’s called having the mind of Christ.

There is hope for both you and me. Our hope is built on truth, and to the extent that we reject truth, we are just that much closer to being hopeless.

I’ve been struck on social media by what is coming from believers. They are talking like lost pagan sinners, and God seems to have no place in their thinking. I’m not so high and mighty as to say I’ve never been there, but I am striving to be honest with all, beginning with myself.

If it’s true, then, that we eat untruths when our hearts are hungry, then we need to nourish our hearts with the Bread of Life. That’s good groceries right there.

And second, because we’ve taken that step, we will be able to identify, call out, and banish untruths. We will be at peace regardless of dumpster fires. In Christ, not only will we be fine … we will prevail.

Be blessed.

IT IS TAKING ITS TOLL ON US. I can tell by the nature of social media posts that folks are on edge, angry, scared, frustrated, you name it.

My intent was for that particular course to have a limited shelf life, because the pandemic was going to be over sooner than later, right?

At any rate, this is not about the actual virus. It’s about what the virus causes among “healthy” people – people who aren’t infected with COVID, but are dealing with the “collateral damage” from it.

If you are one of those blessed few individuals who is temperamentally able to just roll with it, you are fortunate indeed. If you are one of those who has been able to remain physically healthy but are experiencing some real emotional and mental stress because of it, join the club.

Well, pilgrim, if you think mask shaming is a thing, just wait until we all experience vaccine shaming. That’s coming. You can bank on it. It’ll be divisive like masks never was.

How you gonna handle that?

Let me explain my rationale … and my vaccine.

1. The course itself addresses much more than just COVID. While COVID is what got me started thinking, I wanted to make sure that the principles I taught went beyond the virus. I’m deeply concerned about what the pandemic is doing to so many of us.
2. I wanted to produce a product with “legs” – something that would be of value long after the pandemic is over. Because – there are other crises ahead of you and me. I want us to be able to rise above the storms that will come.
3. My desire was to provide practical content – it’s a distillation of what I’ve learned and am learning about having hope when hopelessness is all around.
4. Finally, if you are persuaded this is not anything you can benefit from, fair enough. However, I’ll just bet you know people – friends, family, others – who would greatly benefit from this. Or, it might just be you can equip yourself to be that lightbringer to someone else, sharing what you’ve learned.

To that end, I’ve re-released the course. It’s on a different platform than I originally released it on (and that’s more of an in-house thing for me than anything else.) You’ll find it very accessible and user-friendly.

Here, then, are my action points:

I don’t know what more I can do to reveal my heart. I’m just so so grieved as I watch people virtually crumble before me, descending into meanness and judgement. Look at how we’re treating people who don’t see things as we do.

How to live in fear. That’s counterintuitive, isn’t it? Who wants to live in fear? Who wants to be scared all the time?

Not me.

You’ve seen lists of what people are most afraid of. Things like public speaking, spiders, ladders, flying, and so forth.

I don’t do well with heights. It’s not a phobia – at least I don’t think it is. But if I’m on a ledge of a mountain or building, and there’s no railing … if there’s nothing between me and the ground but air … sweaty palms, man.

Here’s what is generally accepted to be the biggest fear of all:

The fear of dying.

Want to live in fear? Many people are simply terrified of dying. Scared to death of it. (See what I did there?)

Think about this. I don’t know many people who enjoy thinking about death. The thought of dying, of embracing mortality, is shoved way back into the recesses of their minds.

Our culture tries to make sure we don’t live in fear of dying. There are all sorts of distractions out there to help us avoid the reality of mortality. There are whole industries designed to make us look and feel younger.

Nostalgia helps. Think about the oldies stations on the radio. Look at the success of television shows that recapture a period in our mind and hearts.

And meds? They’re available. Pharmaceutical companies provide pills to relieve pain, improve our well-being, and even keep anxiety and depression at bay.

Living in fear is obviously unhealthy. And here’s why, at least when to comes to what my grandmother quaintly (and accurately) called “the approaching shade.”

It’s like death is the last taboo. You just aren’t supposed to talk about it. You may be wondering why you’re even reading this right now.

Back in the day, death was interwoven with life itself. If someone died, they’d lie in state at their homes. Wakes were part of the whole experience.

Now, we have hospitals and hospice for the dying. That’s not bad; I came to love and appreciate hospice services for my mama. I like having drugs available that can ease pain and mitigate symptoms.

However, once you combine modern medicine, technology, and the ease by which we can distance ourselves from death, death is almost an alien experience. It’s never welcome, but now, it’s in a sealed-off, isolated room.

It’s like people think they’re immortal, y’know? Kids – teenagers – have always conducted themselves as though nothing can hurt them. Sometimes that carries over into adulthood when people take unnecessary, unreasonable risks.

That immortality thing? It’s almost as though if you don’t think about dying, it just won’t happen. Maybe it does to others. Maybe it does to really old people. Or, perhaps, it’s not even a thing to give a thought to – ever.

Well, pilgrim, unless Jesus tarries His return, you and I are going to die. That death angel will come knocking, and off we go.

Depressed yet?

Don’t be. I’ll encourage you in just a bit. Let me go just a little further into the dark. I don’t want you to live in fear.

If our society is one that avoids death, what happens when we all collectively have to deal with death and dying?

COVID-19 has given us that opportunity.

Yeah, I know the statistics, and they are encouraging. Chances are you wont get it, and chances are absolutely minuscule that if you get it, you’ll die from it.

I tested positive for COVID a couple of weeks ago. I was spared the nastiness. No fever except early on, no breathing issues. I was really achy at first, and had a cough and runny nose, but no big deal. The fatigue was what’s been killer. I’ve never felt as tired as I do even now. No fun. And other than an irrational five minutes or so right after the diagnosis, I haven’t worried. I don’t live in fear.

But people do die from this thing. You can’t escape it. The numbers are paraded in front of us in real-time.

Because of that, even the staunchest of us has had our worldview changed. While the physical threat is really minimal, the psychological threat is a whole other thing. It is real, and present, and pervasive.

If you haven’t thought about death, I’ll bet you have now.

Because of that, Americans have been paralyzed. There has been, in my mind, a clear and definite division in the populace. I’d contend that this is worse than the physical aspects of the pandemic. I’ve kind of obliquely wondered from time to time how we as a people would respond to a pandemic. Now I know.

Those two groups show definite behavior patterns:

Group One has retreated entirely from their normal lives. They hunker down in their homes. They sleep in their masks. They wash their hands until bone shows.

Group Two lives their lives pretty much as always. They get out and about. They are prudent, they take reasonable precautions, and they tend to wear masks when asked to. They aren’t rebellious, and except for some outliers, they understand that it’s just a virus. There’s not some insidious plot working against them. They’re cute in their tinfoil hats.

The biggest difference in the two groups is that Group Two refuses to be overcome by fear.

Group One tends to identify those in Group Two as deniers, and there may be an element of truth in that. They’d say that the Group Two folks are abandoning reason and science.

Know what, though? Those folks in Group Two? They’re trying to live their lives as usual because they’re NOT in denial. They recognize their mortality, and, at the risk of sounding flippant, they know they will die of something one day. They don’t invite COVID – like I noted, they are following protocol, at least for the most part – but they simply want to make the most of an awful situation.

In other words, they do not live in fear.

As a believer, I’d like to be counted as part of Group Two. But I am not gonna hate on those in Group One.

Pay attention.

You know yourself. You know your situation and circumstances. And because of that, you have the absolute liberty (within the law) to do what’s best for you and yours.

If you’re going to be with others during the holidays, ask yourself: Will you be with anyone who’d be considered at risk? Someone who is experiencing chemo, or anything else that would compromise their immune system?

Here’s what to do. Do what you and your family need to do, being extraordinarily cautious even if it infringes on your “freedom,” and be respectful of others and the decisions they have to make.

In other words, this maskers vs. anti -maskers nonsense needs to stop. If you’re part of all that, I’m thoroughly ashamed of you. And, yes, I’ve personally been a party to some of that, and I’m ashamed of myself.

Don’t judge others because they are handling all this differently than you. They might live in fear, right or wrong.

But you don’t know their reasoning.

You don’t know what’s going on in their lives that leads them to the decisions they’re having to make.

I’ll just bet the answers they’ve come up with didn’t come easily.

Can I say this again? Don’t judge.

Take care of yourself and yours. It may frustrate you, but you aren’t going to change anyone else – at least if you consciously try to change them.

Do what you need to do personally, being wise and measured. Don’t wall yourself off from other opinions. That’s what “snowflakes” do, and running away from things you don’t want to hear, or that you disagree with, isn’t healthy at all.

In other words, don’t live in fear. We are literally all in this together. Do what you need to to protect yourself and stay healthy, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And simply don’t worry about others who may not see things as you do.

Be well. Be safe. There is an end date to all this. O be joyful.

EDIT:  I almost forgot. Unless there’s some compelling, rational reason for doing otherwise – wear your mask. Do it for your Uncle Tony and others like me who got sick. What could it hurt?

What is truth? What a classic question, and one worth asking.

This is the foundation of the question, from ancient script. John 18:37-38:

³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

³⁸ “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.

As a nod to pop culture, and another classic found in the movie A Few Good Men:

Jessup: I’ll answer the question. You want answers?

Kaffee: I think I’m entitled!

Jessup: You want answers?!

Kaffee: I want the truth!

Jessup: You can’t handle the truth!

In trying to determine what is truth, I begin with the (correct) assumption that there is Absolute Truth.

God either says yes, no, or wait. He never says “It depends.”

What got me thinking about this question is an observation of The Way Things Currently Stand.

There’s COVID-19. As I’m writing this, I’m still quarantined. I’m waiting to turn that corner people keep talking about.

Specifically, it’s the mask thing. I can’t even.

Should you wear a mask or not?

What would Jesus do? Would He say “it depends?”

Beats me. He hasn’t let me in on His counsel on that one. Personally, I wore a mask and got COVID-19 anyway, which gives some folks an excuse to say “see?” Well, pilgrim, if wearing a mask before I tested positive kept someone else from getting it, then I have problems making that a bad move on my part. So there.

Building on that, then, I’d have to say there IS a truth about how the virus spreads, where it came from, how it can be treated, all that. God created the virus, and if you start going on about how it emerged from a Chinese lab, okay, but God still allowed it. Man can’t create life, but it seems that he can manipulate it. That’s all I got to say about that.

Another thought about truth – and I abhor bringing this up, just because it devalues my spirit – we’ve had this election in the United States recently, right? You probably heard about it. I hope you participated in it.

What is truth? Specifically, who is the president gonna be?

Here we go: we can discuss and debate if there was fraud, and to what extent. I just bet your mind is already made up.

Buried beneath all the hype and hyperbole and anger and frustration there is a truth out there: someone has been elected president, and God knew who that was to be before the foundation of the world was laid. So we/they just need to get at the truth – there is a truth out there – and then we all collectively abide by that even if it’s something we don’t want to hear. We can’t handle the truth … sometimes.

That’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it? We say we want the truth, but then we say “What is truth?” When we learn the truth, and we don’t like it, we might just go somewhere else to hear the truth we want.

Oh, y’all. That’s not the way it works. Don’t be that way.

I’ll illustrate.

I won’t go into the dynamics of why all these platforms have been on a meteoric rise. It’s a definite thing, though.

And I am not, not, not bashing any of these, nor the folks that have embraced them. That is absolutely fine and commendable.

What has brought these platforms to the forefront is that many, many people have looked around themselves, become disgusted at what they’ve seen as bias, and gone somewhere else with others of like mind.

The danger for some people (SOME, not all) is that they’ve gone looking for “a truth” that suits them, that confirms what they’ve already come to believe.

Chuck Swindoll obliquely addresses this tendency in a different context:

We refuse to become the “rabbit-hole Christians” John Stott speaks of, popping out of our holes and racing from our insulated caves to all-Christian gatherings only to rush back again. For salt to be tasted and for light to be seen, we must make contact. We are personally responsible.

That’s a lot of background for me to set up my thesis statement. Ready?

Truth is truth, no matter where you find it. And we should never fear the truth.

All truth is ultimately God’s truth. 

Now, Satan is a liar, and the father of lies. He’s really, really good at wrapping his lies in the mantle of truth, and even we believers can get suckered, big time.

Paraphrasing ancient script:

You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you mad.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. It’ll set you free.

Look, pilgrim, I get it. I want to have my beliefs confirmed independently. There’s that carnal streak in me that sometimes lives to say “told ya so!”

But if I’m going to honestly ask, “What is truth?”, then I need to be willing to make peace with that.

Even if it means my guy isn’t elected.

Even if it means that there was something to COVID-19 all along, and there are ways of curtailing its spread that we haven’t done.

And even if it means my little word is rocked in other ways and cherished beliefs are turned on their collective heads.

I don’t want to make things harder on myself than I need to. Here’s God, offering His truths (and remember, truth is absolute from His vantage point), and I build this social or society-driven wall that protects me from what I don’t want to hear.

I spend all my time with like-minded people and automatically assume other folks are delusional at best and evil at worst.

That makes it hard for me to be salt and light.

What’s the answer to “What is truth?”

To the extent that we can, we need to:

• Check our hearts and emotions. There is a place for righteous anger, but I’m guessing you know when you’re righteously angry and just plain mad. There is a difference.
• Hold up what we see in society against the backdrop of scripture. And if God “reveals” something to you in scripture that doesn’t hold up to orthodoxy or 2000-plus years of scholarship, you’re about to mess up.
• God is not going to reveal something to you and something else to another that is contradictory.
• We can factor in differences of opinion, but we can’t make truth unique to ourselves, and we shouldn’t detest others who don’t see things the same way as we do.
• Most of us were born with an open mind. Let God pry that open if you’ve allowed it to slam shut.
• It’s all going to be okay because God is sovereign.

“What is truth?” It’s not what you say it is. It’s what God says it is.

Be well. Comments are, as always, welcome.