Lately, the newspaper and the scripture readings seem to be interchangeable. When Jesus warns us* about wars and uprising, nations attacking one another, earthquakes, famines, and epidemics, I might as well be reading the front page of The Washington Post. War in Ukraine! Rising inflation! Political chaos! Police brutality! Racism! New strains of COVID! Half of Pakistan under water! Drought in Arizona, Colorado, and California! I know there is more, but I just cannot keep up with all the bad news from around the world, around the country, around my own city.
As if that were not enough, it seems like every time I open my email, text message, or voicemail, my personal prayer list gets longer and longer. Recently, every day or two I learn that someone I care about is in the hospital, a beloved relative of someone I am close to has a fatal diagnosis, a member of my community has died, or a friend confides in me about their child’s troubling behavior. Meanwhile, my spouse keeps travelling back and forth across the country to help out an ailing parent, and I am still recovering from my own recent surgery. I want to cry out, “It’s all too much, Jesus! I cannot handle any more bad news.”
And then, somehow, Jesus answers me, “Stand firm, and you will win life.” And it is enough. After all, the slanting sunlight of autumn casts purple shadows under a deep, blue sky, the tree in the front yard has become a collage of red and orange jewels, various friends and relatives are still in good health as they celebrate big birthdays, another friend has passed a full year after chemo with no sign of returning cancer, other friends regain the ability to walk after successful surgeries, yet other friends are being freed from the prison of addiction, my own children and grandchild are well and happy, and the sound of my spouse playing guitar while I write fills my heart with hope. There is still good news, if only I open my eyes to see and my ears to hear it.
What good news and bad news you carrying today? What brings you to tears of despair or joy? What brings you hope?
-Deborah Sokolove, Seekers Church
