I know it is real because there is not a day that goes by that I do not hear it or read it--see it or sense it in the ‘edginess’ of human experience and interaction. Embedded deeply within each of us is an innate sense of what is right and wrong. Ecclesiates states that we have been created with eternity entrenched firmly within us (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We want justice, fairness and what’s right for everyone all the time in all places. As a result we become uncomfortable, anxious, disillusioned and angry--pushed even to the limits of outright violence when the measures, systems and institutions put into place to address these inequities fail to function in the way that we envisioned, intended and know that they should. It’s maddening! We want things made right and often feel compelled to take the necessary extreme measures to see that it is.

       A couple months ago I was reading the remarks of a 20-something man that dovetailed perfectly with what we all feel about this. He stated that all he had experienced in his young life had finally convinced him that everything in America was totally and completely wrong. His list of complaints was long. He spoke of a people lacking in values, who were greedy, cruel, insensitive and utterly uncaring along with an economic system that encouraged the exploitation of the poor and a government with priorities totally at odds with the best interests of it’s citizens. His remarks oozed with a deep resentment, bitterness and cynicism. To him, America represented everything that was wrong in the world--totally against everything that was good and wholesome--all that he wanted for himself and his family. He had tried everything he could think of to make things better, but had failed!

       And he was enraged and sick to death of it all, so much so that he had already begun to implement a drastic decision--one that he felt certain would solve most, if not all of his problems. He had decided to flee this horribly evil and corrupt place for another country that (in his mind) would put-him in a much better place. Who knows, he may be right--his decision may very well solve all the problems that he has experienced--perhaps. On the other hand, it may be that his primary problem is not so much with America, as it is with himself and his whole outlook on life--his own mindset.

       No one who has any common sense can deny that America is a horrible place to live. Fact is, if we were to be brutally honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that the whole world is a horrible place to live! This may have been one of the points the Apostle John was making when he said; "The world lieth in wickedness" (I John 5:19 [KJV]). So what are our options? I suspect the truism is true: "You can run, but you cannot hide." It is an apt description for the dilemma facing every single one of us.

        Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill which mired a large section of coastline in Alaska, huge numbers of animals native to the area were rescued, cleaned from the oily mire and returned to their habitat. Among them were two seals. Extreme amounts of time, effort and money (thousands upon thousands of dollars) were expended to clean, treat and prepare them for release. The day finally came that they were to be returned to their natural environment and a large group of excited workers and well-wishers assembled on the beach to witness and celebrate this momentous occasion. The two seals were set free to frolic in the water surrounding the rocks along the shore.  In short order they cast out into deeper waters and to the utter shock and chagrin of the assembled crowd, their protégés were promptly attacked and consumed by a killer whale. The extreme efforts of these people were literally devoured before their very eyes within a matter of moments.

       Every single day we hear about campaigns or drives to ‘save’ this or that--to ‘save’ our rainforests, to ‘save’ the seals or the polar bears or our environment or ‘save’ the world from global warming. We want to set everything right! Truth be known, however, most of our efforts to save this, that or the other prove to be more or less marginal! In the end, we cannot ‘save’ ourselves let alone the planet! The sooner we learn that generally speaking, our successes will be extremely limited even with all the effort, attention and funds we may throw at various causes as noble as they may be, the better we will be able to cope with reality as it is and not as we want it to be.

       In light of all that we experience, it is very true that life as it is has a way of sucking the very life out of us. Just when we feel we are digging ourselves out of a hole or finally doing something of great value for ourselves or for others, life comes along dealing us a ‘sucker punch’ to the gut that literally knocks the wind out of us as we writhe on the side of the road trying to catch our breath. What are we to do with the disappointment and frustration and anger that wells up inside? What shall we do with the bitterness that begins to seep into our hearts or the cynicism that threatens to taint every good motive or thought that we struggle to protect and maintain? I believe it is so very easy to become just as victimized as the twenty-something man that I mentioned above.

       The writer of proverbs gave a solemn charge; "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life [‘‘that’s where life starts’’-MSG]" (Proverbs 4:23 [NIV]). How do we keep our hearts from bitterness and cynicism when the constant experiences of life inexorably and inevitably threaten to drag us there? We are hammered daily by the harsh realities of life and it is nigh impossible to keep ourselves from becoming hard, obstinate and cold. How may we avoid this?

        I am convinced that the single most crucial way to prevent the calloused cynical (read, shriveled) heart is to grasp the understanding (and cling to it with all our might) that there is something going on behind what we have always thought was going on. There are powers and forces beyond our understanding and capacity to manage, operating in this world. Refusing to come to grips with this reality guarantees that our attempts to effectively cope with everything life throws at us will eventually fail. We simply cannot afford to ignore this.

Because we want so much for everything to be set right and because we find ourselves single-handedly so inept at doing anything about it, often we desperately place our faith in others to do it for us--others like parents or friends or spouses or church leaders or government. We want them to step in to make things fair and equal and right for everyone. But the exercise of extreme effort at fairness, equality or rightness [righteousness] both individually or collectively is a human impossibility! Fairness demands power, and the kind of power in human hands or institutions that fairness must have, guarantees tyranny! Have you ever seen parents trying to get their little children to ‘play fair’? Inevitably it is an exercise in futility. In order to make everything fair for everyone involved, the parents soon become enmeshed in an impossible situation where no one is happy and nothing is fair. No matter how hard we try, it is just as true in the world of grown-ups. ‘Fairness’ is a human impossibility.

        We are so tired of all the unfairness and injustice we see every day all around us, and just as tired and frustrated and angry at our total inability to make almost anything right. But we are not alone! Paul makes it clear:

      

The whole created order continually shares in the same frustrations that we feel and experience. It groans and yearns along with us for the time when the things that are wrong (completely wrong) will at last be set right. However, unlike us, it eagerly anticipates and patiently awaits for God to bring us to the moment when we will "come into our own" as God’s fully redeemed children. In our impatience it feels like an eternity--in fact, people have lived their entire lives and not experienced that instant when the created universe is freed from the "shackles of mortality" along with us. I have never seen it in my lifetime and suspect that I won’t. How then can I be so certain that we ever will?

       The Psalmist confidently declared; "God’s business is putting things right; he loves getting the lines straight, setting us straight. Once we’re standing tall, we can look him straight in the eye" (Psalm 11:7 [MSG]). Despite all the injustices that I see occurring daily (and I see many), I have come to trust that our eternal God will be able to set everything right in its time, and so I walk by faith in anticipation of that strong hope. How ever will He succeed considering humanity’s total and utter failure at accomplishing this? Honestly, I do not know--I haven’t a clue! All I know is that He will! And that is primarily one of the reasons He is God and I am not!

        Early on in His ministry, people became impatient with Jesus. It was becoming obvious to them that Jesus had not fulfilled their long held Messianic expectations and probably never would. As a result, many of His followers became disillusioned and began to drop out one by one.  It got so bad that He finally turned to His twelve disciples with this question: "Do you also want t leave?" Peter, laying it out in a succinct and plain manner, immediately answered; "Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life" (John 6:65-68 [MSG]).

        If Jesus is not the Lord of life then there is really no hope for any of us. It is a bitter pill for us to swallow, but wisdom demands that we eventually come to understand that successfully negotiat-ing the pitfalls that life lays in front of us is really a human impossibility--"it is not in man to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23). We are totally without help or hope in this world and inevitably we will find our hearts becoming more and more embittered with the anger, rage and cynicism that we have tried so hard to avoid. In the end, this bitterness will contaminate
and consume anything and everything that we have ever valued in life.

        I am not suggesting that we spend all of our lives blithely sitting on our ‘bums’ while we wait for God to come to our rescue--to set everything right or take us out of this horrible existence. However, I am suggesting that we do with all our might what our "hands find to do" with the full understanding that ultimately it is not us that is going to make the difference in our lives or in our world. It is not us, but it is God who walks us safely through life and will eventually change everything and make all things new!

        I understand this is a very politically incorrect statement, but: We need God--We need God--We need God!!!