Today’s wilderness is not only one created by God in nature but also discovered and organized by humans such as the ‘wilderness’ of the internet and Artificial Intelligence both of which are so vast and fast changing it is hard to keep up with their impact on our usual ways of communicating and sharing of what’s happening in our lives.
It is easy to be confused when dealing with the fast pace of change.
Everyday we experience changes going in the shape and size of our communities and prices of food in stores, but also with the intense requirements being made just to stay current with ordinary things – like news about what’s happening in Quincy, and Massachusetts and the rest of the world.
Behavior Science studies human behavior and what factors determine what we do and the results we can theoretically expect from our behavior as individuals and as a society.
We arrive on earth with human feet (all different-just like the rest of us) which may be prone to wander – in healthy ways and not so good ways. And individual minds – again each one alittle different from all others. None of us are perfect which becomes more evident as we grow – making choices every day about how to apply our limited energy and resources to the challenges that we face.
In the wilderness in nature: (especially if there is no internet reception therefore no GPS) it becomes essential to have a compass that will tell us where true North is. It is not fun to be lost in mountains (or at sea) or in a forest and become disoriented.
Even in our ordinary surroundings it is dangerous when ones life is in “freefall” with nothing to save us from falling.
Bad news seems to travel much faster than good news – sometimes they seem to go together.
In this world we are impacted both by some things that are corporate (like national or state legislation), and also by those things that happen to us as individuals.
The terrible attack which destroyed the Twin Towers in New York City took thousands of American lives. It also resulted in many dedicated responses seeking to save lives and rescue those trapped or stranded. Tragic results for many families but also times when strangers stepped forward to help even at great cost to themselves.
“God so Loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting Life. God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world. But that the world through Him might be saved.”
God’s Love for us and all God’s creation never wavers and it can be experienced anytime any day by each of us – sometimes without our even asking for God’s help.
Susan and I are part of the Congregational Church family in Hanson. We just finished putting together a short Lenten Devotional Booklet. It is the sharing of a ‘Lesson from God’ experience in the lives of over 40 members and friends of the Hanson Church past and present.
A cheerful older lady who sits across the aisle at church on Sundays shared the following experience of God in her life:
“John, my husband of 56 years, and I loved traveling on his motorcycle. We rode across this beautiful country three times!
On October 16, 2016 we went for a ride with our son, Andy and a friend, Paul. It was a beautiful fall day. We were in Lakeville by Tamarack Park, when a driver came around the corner two feet over the line and hit us head-on.
I know God was with me! I don’t remember anything about the accident, but within minutes a firefighter, who was taking his son to a soccer game, stopped. A nurse also came to our aid. They put a tourniquet on my leg and stabilized me to be airlifted to Rhode Island Hospital. When I arrived, I heard someone say “The driver did not make it!”
Bad dream? Sadly no. Andy had run into the debris but his injuries were limited to a torn hamstring. My husband Paul had been able to stop and was uninjured.
Almost every bone in my body was either fractured or broken, but my head was fine. I lost my right leg above the knee and had casts my right leg and both arms covering my hands. Thank you, God, for saving my right leg so I can drive.
I was in the ICU for two weeks until my family could find a nursing home that could take me, as I was unable to feed myself. Life Care of Scituate was my home for three months. They were wonderful to me.
My family and friends gave me such amazing support through my recovery…. I would also like to thank everyone for their continuous prayers for me.
As long as we have memories, yesterday remains.
As long as we have hope, tomorrow awaits.
As long as we have love, today is beautiful.
As long as we have God, anything and everything is possible.
Dear God thank you for all You do and for giving us the
Strength to carry on. Amen”
Lorriane Edwards
Lorriane’s halo is not visible but as she greets everyone with a smile and cheerful word it’s easy to be encouraged and to believe and trust in the loving God who is her strength and companion.
God’s wisdom is complete. God knows each of us better than we know ourselves. There are no secrets hidden from God yet while we are yet sinners God sent His Son to stand in our place and take the punishment we deserved to restore the broken relationship and open the door for us to return to right relationship with our good good Heavenly Father.
In the often confusing ‘wilderness’ of our current society let me highlight a recent example broadcast by mainstream media that demonstrates that our culture even today has not totally forgotten its roots in the God shown us in Jesus Christ.
Damar Hamlin, (24) suffered cardiac arrest after a tackle on a Monday Night Football Conference game with a sold-out stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. His heart was revived on the field by CPR and resuscitated by a defibrillator before being air lifted to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He had a second resuscitation before being connected to a ventilator.
Meanwhile the game had completely stopped. The whole Buffalo Bills football team gathered around him on the field, some kneeling in prayer, some standing and looking up to heaven. Then the members of the Cincinnati Bangels emptied its bench and came out on the field and knelt or stood and joined them in prayer.
The entire stadium had gone deathly silent as people rose, in respectful prayer for the life of this one player. Then the sports caster was heard praying over the entire crowd. This was prime time professional sports broadcasting America praying for the life of one football player suddenly cut short on the field.
The entire game was postponed – later cancelled by the NFL.
In this sometimes ‘Wild Wilderness’ of society around us, God has many more people like you and like me who have feet of clay but also still have a heart for God. God’s ways on earth are still enfolding, sometimes through circumstances, sometimes through persons with clay feet like you and me. Yet we can also be instruments of God’s joy and inner peace, like with Lorraine.
There are many unexpected ways to show God’s Love kindness and actions that we can take to show it quietly and humbly. We receive God’s Love which helps open our minds, our eyes, and hearts day by day.
When we think good thoughts, seek the spark of God in other people, and are moved to do random acts of kindness, your action may be just what God uses to lift a burden dragging someone down. We can be a light in their discouragement or despair.
“Love isn’t Love til you give it away.” And God’s Love is unlimited.
“When God’s Spirit dwells among His people
The power of Love can never be denied.”
God’s light shines through Jesus perfectly, and through each of us when we rejoice in the Lord of life. God knows us all together and still loves us and always seeks our best.
“Therefore we do not loose heart
But though our outer body is decaying,
yet our inner (spiritual) spirit is being renewed day by day…
2 Cor.4:16
Therefore let us not look at the things that are seen
But at the things that are not seen
For the things that we see are temporary- they will pass away
But the things that are not seen are eternal
They shall never pass away. 2 Cor. 4:18
[Jesus came and showed us the Way through every wilderness,
is the Truth and the Life everlasting.]
The shepherd’s prayer the end of Psalm 139 is (vs. 23-24)
“Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,……
And lead me in the way everlasting.”
Amen!