Friday, March 22, 2013

Failure and Despair

  What has happened to us that we so often expect to fail? Cynicism has become the predominant attitude when we approach big problems. Deforestation, global warming, peace in the Middle East, reversing gun violence. We are cynical about our ability change things. When we expect failure, we open ourselves to a state of despair. Despair, like violence, is sin: it ignores the reality and power of the power of Christ, the Kingdom of God. Despair and violence both take matters into our own hands, as if we were our own God. But we are not God. Only God is God. 
We may be right about one thing in this-whenever we try to manage the big problems on our own  we will fail. However, the Gospel makes clear, we are not on our own. "I will be with you always you always . . . " God will not leave us comfortless. Even in the midst of our darkest attitudes, hope comes from God. We might lose everything, but in Christ nothing is lost. One day we will be lost to the world, gone from its midst, we and our whole intricate culture buried in the rubble of time as has been every great civilization. BUT the world will still be in Christ. One day, even the world will cease from its created existence. It is not eternal. It had a beginning and thus will have an end. But even in its ending, it will still be in Christ. 

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