Would a person of such decency respond to the atrocities in Gaza by declaring that the Lord is coming soon? Of course not! It’s insensitive as well as biblically flawed. We should be deeply concerned about the murders of thousands of Palestinian civilians. We should not exploit these horrors as an opportunity to declare that Jesus is on his way.
In the religious world, clergy folk work with what writers, psychologists and philosophers call “meta-narratives.” This is to say we speak of a large, eternal story in which our smaller, personal story resides.
All the experiences we have come to classify as mental health disorders are real. However, despite their being real, I sometimes question the emphasis that ought to be placed on them.
February is known as the “love” month, with Valentine’s Day right in the middle of it, and I’ve been thinking how I can tie that in with just how much God loves humankind. I found one of the best pictures of God’s love and care for his followers is in Psalm 23, which compares God to the “good shepherd” and those who follow him as his “sheep.”