Thoughts for Troubled Times

Is Mother Nature throwing a fit? So wonders the Pope. Is God out to get us? Wonder common folks. Should I worry about fishy, fish sticks? Wonder the intellectuals.
Some points to put this into perspective.
1. Contrary to popular opinion, we are not the first humans in the history of humanity to face problems. 102 years ago the Spanish Flu swept the world and killed 50 to 100 million people on top of the carnage wrought by World War 1. Sorry to disillusion people who look fondly to the good old days, but records show that 1918 was not a particularly fun time. In the slang of the day…”yo, this sucks, dudes.”
2. Mother Nature is a free spirit, she’ll do what she wants, just like she has always done. What does this mean? It means that some things just happen. Things erupt. Floods come. Fires burn. Just like they have for thousands of years…
Recently, I was studying the memories of early settlers in the Canadian prairie. They all recalled the prairie being aflame as far as the eye could see. This was a regular thing for them. Which is why it was common in those days to build firebreaks around their settlements.
I won’t even go into the measles epidemics, the polio scourge, the plague of mumps, and on and on. You know, people in those days may have been right when they said…”yo, this sucks, dudes.”
3. Is God out to get us? Normal processes of nature and life show us that nature is harsh and life is hard. The current situation shows us that these natural processes can be made far worse by the incompetence and selfishness of human beings.
Many people are picking this side or that…but honestly, there is plenty of blame to go around. No need to fight over it….share and share alike!
Is this a reflection on God or on human nature? I would suggest that COVID-19 has revealed the darkness of human beings more than anything else.
Under pressure, people are often revealed to be what they always were…
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I would suggest that the following questions are more constructive.
1. Under pressure people are revealed to be what they always were…what is it revealing about us?
2. Will having you sitting and worrying change anything? If the answer is no, why carry on with it?
3. If I cannot change my situation, what can I learn by going through it?
4. Mother Nature and her marvelous mood swings…ah yes, good old Mamma N, what a moody woman. Ahem. Instead of sitting around and speculating about whether the dirt beneath our feet or the air around us is angry at us for existing…consider whether the human beings in your life could use some more attention.
5. Instead of yelling, “God, why don’t you do something?” Consider whether God has already done something that can help with the troubles that the world around us is facing. He created you.
6. What would God have me do during this time of challenge? Since it is said that, “God is love.” You could also ask, “What does love require of me?”
7. Will I let my problems beat me down? Or, will I push through the dirt to bloom in the light of the sun?