HERE AT MY DESK in the darkness of this early morning, I’m staring at a blank screen. Everything I write starts that way. It’s just that I’m distracted. I want everything to be as it was before the pandemic surprised the world. It isn't possible, I know. There are no replays and time cannot be stopped and started over by anyone. Over two years have passed so swiftly, like a puff of hot breath on a freezing day. I yearn for meaning. What IS this all about? I know that question has been asked many times in every language.
But I want to know.
I’ve listened closely to the medical experts, and some who aren't but want us to think they are. It appears their judgements and decisions are clouded by political alliances and aspirations. I listened carefully to high profile political figures around the globe, though focused on officials and pundits here in America. But I heard no wisdom.
In the United States, a large number of politicians, maybe all of them, are desperate for our votes and will speak ambiguously and perform meaningless procedures to insinuate they work hard on our behalf. Unfortunately, special interest consortiums and associations that are willing to pay handsome monetary donations in exchange for laws that give them special privileges demand of them continuously. Deception. Smoke. Chasing after the wind.
I stopped listening to the news media reports altogether, as they have apparently sold their birthright for a bowl of pretense—which they freely purvey without shame. Arrogance. Can they not see that misinformation or malinformation will harm them and their families too?
I searched for facts on death counts for flu and COVID worldwide—as far back as the pandemic of 1918. But the information continues to be incomplete. A few countries do not wish to report that sort of information, some are known to lie, and others hide potentially sensitive data by concocting clever ways to “interpret the numbers.” Frustrated by the games, I looked elsewhere, though I was discouraged. How is it that no one could give an honest answer? Can no one speak the plain truth?
What about deaths in World War II, I wondered? I was astonished at the numbers directly related to combat, and other data, such as deaths from war-related famine, etc. But looking at death numbers is only a tiny portion of what has been going on the last hundred years. And, again I was troubled by the persistent question, "Where is the meaning?" We can’t seem to learn from mistakes. We fail to anticipate, even though we talk about it a lot.
And that is when I began to see what The Qoheleth of Ecclesiastes so hoped to teach us: How should we use the precious time our Creator gave us? In everything we utter we use the breath God loaned to us. We, all of mankind, are always in the presence of God. He sees everything. He misses nothing. Yet we behave badly at times. We overlook unacceptable wrongs. We don’t ask for God's help enough. It’s as though we don’t know He’s constantly watching. As the psalmist said, "Wherever I go, you are there."
Though God knits our bodies together inside our mother’s womb and blows his breath into us as we are born, we do not begin life with all our pieces intact. Just as we cannot see all the pieces of what this life is about, we also must discover the person we are to be. We had a beginning as a human, and our human bodies will eventually pass away.
The only meaning our lives will have will come from the hand of our eternal and unchanging Creator. It would be futile for us to attempt to assemble all the pieces of the grand puzzle. How ridiculous to pretend we can figure it all out. Only God can do that. But we must each learn to follow God’s requirements. It is our duty.
We must learn to act as though God is standing right next to us at all times. Because he is. Our daily job is to be glad that the Lord has allowed us to participate in His work on earth. Gladness is contagious! With it, we fulfill our destinies. And then do everything He personally asks of us. God promised to bring his loved ones home.
He will supply all the perfect pieces we need, now and forever. We may not fix one single problem on this planet, but we can participate in making things better. Be thankful, be kind, be generous, and be glad. Life is so much fun when all the right pieces start coming together.
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