Fickle Headlines

I am not a big news-watcher. I have been fussed at for not watching the news. In truth, I think that most of the things I see on TV, news or not, is a big waste of my life. Ken and I have done our share of guilt-ridden binge-watching...where it comes to the end of a series and I realize, "I could've been reading." Or talking to a real human. Or sitting on my porch pondering the Christ of the universe. Either way, when I saw my first news blip about the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, I froze. I recalled a day, 20 years ago, when our extended family and friends were enjoying our annual beach trip, where we all rented cabins and our kids frolicked in the water and played together for days. On this day, my Mama burst into our cabin and said, "Turn on the news. A plane just crashed into a big building in New York City." That moment melted into one of the worst disasters of our lives, followed by financial instability and brokenness. 

So when I heard the words Taliban, Afghanistan, Middle East...I instantly turned to fear, as many of us are experiencing even as I write this. My brain always drifts out to the worst possible scenario...it's a problem I have. Our family is right now in the middle of a terrible loss: our youngest son and his wife just lost their dear baby. She was 18 weeks pregnant when unborn Theodore Slate Norton died in utero. We've all been in a mute state of grief, feeling like we are moving in slow motion underwater. The exhaustion of mourning is indescribable. Somehow you have to get up and get going, but why? I spent a couple of days with them, where I was useless except for a few loads of dishes and laundry. My daughter and her husband gave me a ride back home last night. This morning I woke up feeling like a boulder had been rolled over onto me as I slept. 

These are the days of our lives.

The author of Ecclesiastes talks about the seasons of our days. They include the whole gamut of emotions, from giddy joy to deepest grief. What is certain is that life is uncertain. Our default is to want things to always be pleasant and for us to always land on our feet. On this side of heaven, however, there are no guarantees. We live in a cracked paradise, where only God knows the outcome. 

This misty, drippy morning, "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help com? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore." Psalm 121 

As I read these promises, I realize that these are eternal truths for His people, not temporal ones. Forevermore is a lot wider and deeper than today's headlines. My heart is at rest...

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