On Edge
Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous
1 Peter 3:8
with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love
Ephesians 4:2
There have been a number of memes and cartoons about 2020 floating around—my favorite one thus far was a response to a weather station’s announcement about a Saharan Dust Model that showed the dust making its way into North Carolina over the weekend, and that if the trend persisted, the dust would be substantial enough to dim the incoming sunlight. The response: “Awesome! I always wondered what it was like to live during the times of the Civil War, Spanish Flu, Great Depression, Civil Rights Movement, Watergate, and the Dust Bowl. Not all at once mind you, but ya know, “beggars/choosers” and all.”
2020 sure has been quite a year, hmm?
The pandemic has changed the landscape of our everyday lives—whereas before when we would leave the house to go to a public place and check our pockets or purses to ensure we had our keys, wallet, and phone, we now add face mask to that list of things we cannot leave the home without, if we even go out. Many of us are working from home instead of going to the office. Virtual happy hours on video conferencing have replaced real-life ones. Telemedicine has supplanted routine doctor’s appointments, and as we have recently experienced, the livestreaming of church worship services has taken the place of in-person worship.
Some of us have adapted relatively well; others are struggling a bit.
To add proverbial insult to injury, in social media and in mainstream media, there seems to be a staggering amount of conflicting information lately about everything—pros and cons of wearing a mask (side note—just wear the mask already); praise on one hand for Governor Abbot’s leadership and critique on the other; political views and statements about protesting, race relations, voting, cancel culture, defund versus defend the police; and the list goes on. There is an overwhelming amount of information and misinformation, on both sides of the political aisle, and through those people whose politics align with their respective party.
Add to that fear and concern over the increasing number of local COVID-19 cases, impacts from unemployment, and in some cases, a firm enforcement of stay-at-home orders. All of this is added on top of the normal challenges that life on this planet produces.
I felt compelled to write about this topic after a good friend of mine, when talking about a mutual friend whose actions caused a bit of concern, said “everybody’s on edge.” And it seems that he is right about that.
It can be too much at times, even for the resilient ones. We all react in different ways—some of us push all of the pain and uncertainty down, gruffly refusing to acknowledge it; others search for an escape in a bottle or pillbox, while others seek healthy ways of dealing with their emotions through counseling. Because each of us handles stress differently, we may not recognize that our brother- or sister-in-Christ is struggling. Heck—they might not even realize that they are struggling to the degree that they are. But my ask is that we seek to find out how each other is doing, because we are all children of the living God. It’s not a duty or requirement of only the formal (Pastors Wayne and Ray) and informal leaders (Session members) of the church to reach out to the congregation and body of Christ—it’s bigger than that. It takes each of us and all of us caring for each other and building each other up—building up the body of Christ. May we be sensitive to the unspoken needs of our fellow brother or sister in Christ, open to the leading of the Holy Spirit to bring kindness and grace to one another, and overflowing in the love that we have for each other. Together, solidified by His love and guidance, we can make it so that folks are no longer “on edge.”
Prayer Requests
· For our nation to return to the Lord
· For the victims of COVID-19 and their family members
· For pastors and church leaders who must navigate in unchartered waters, balancing the safety of those in their flock while acknowledging that there are people who want to worship in person
· For our nation’s leaders, regardless of whether you agree with their politics or not
· For us to shine and share Jesus to this broken world
I’d be remiss if I failed to remind my fellow brothers and sisters that it is perfectly acceptable to ask for help as well. It is not a sign of weakness; it is nothing to be ashamed of. I am 100% confident that you will not get shut down or laughed at if you reached out and asked anyone in this church for help or to at least pray for you.
Quotes
“If you want God to close and open doors, let go of the doorknob.”
“Don’t let the noise of the world keep you from hearing the voice of the Lord.”