In Times of Trouble: Watch & Pray

It’s been an eventful week, and for many a deeply troubling one. But of course, ...

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It’s been an eventful week, and for many a deeply troubling one. But of course, no matter what end of the political spectrum you come from, weeks like this seem increasingly common. The hits just keep on coming, as do the feelings of loss and fear. So how are we as Christians to navigate such deeply troubled times? This week, David and Curtis dive into this question with some interesting thoughts from Rudyard Kipling, and some even more important (and eternal) wisdom from the Psalms.

Show Notes:

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  1. Avatar photo
    LeGrand Northcutt

    The Dispatch needs to sell "honk if you're a Burkean Progressive" bumper stickers! I would buy several.

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  2. Avatar photo
    Emilyasbenson

    Living in the capital city of a swing state, even within my own church there were people on the one hand so terrified they'd be required to get vaccinated that they had plans to flee, and on the other hand others wailing and gnashing teeth when Dobbs was decided. Discerning how to speak to both ends, how to turn hearts to peaceful confidence in Christ, is a constant challenge.
    I am increasingly concerned that people are talking themselves into revolutionary action. "It is that bad! We can't live with this system anymore, it's all corrupt!" Between a plot to kidnap the governor and people attacking a woman near the state capitol and throwing her car through the window of the Civil Rights office, both sides seem to be taking turns whipping themselves into an angry, fearful frenzy over faceless, de-personalized enemies and are becoming ever more willing to condone violence. I've had (theoretically mature!) elder Christians tell me darkly that we need another revolution--people who would have been shocked by such sentiment 10-15 years ago now hanker for an outbreak of violence. O Lord, grant us undeserved peace.

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  3. Bob McLaughlin

    Thank you for the Watch and Pray August 13th Episode. I found it helpful, thought provoking, and encouraging on both a community and personal level. And, today I got to visit a man at the hospital who had been in a very serious car accident. He is 89 and was away from home visiting friends. He went to Mass/catholic worship service and on his way home from the service got into a car accident. His car was totaled and he was hurt badly. When I got there with Communion he asked me why God would let this happen, especially since he had just been to Mass. I did not anticipate his question. I did not panic as I recalled yesterday's Good Faith Episode. I asked him if I could read something to him. He said yes. I read Psalm 46 which may have helped me more than him yet he said he felt better. I told him that I still didn't know why God allowed this to happen to him. I do know who is in charge and control. And He is with us now and He will help you recover and deal with this mess. Thank you David and Curtis for sharing your wisdom and insights. I am especially thankful today and so is, I think, my new friend who appreciated receiving Communion and hearing Psalm 46. Take extra good care.
    Bob McLaughlin

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      Curtis Chang

      Thanks so much for sharing that lovely story, Bob, and most of all thank you for your ministry to those hurting and scared. I am encouraged by hearing how you are serving the presence of Jesus to them in word, presence, and sacrament.

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  4. Richard Kennedy

    Practical execution of Ps 46 and If.
    In Bridge of Spies, Tom Hanks is a Soviet spy’s court appointed lawyer. When challenged often over his lack of concern, panic, and worry over his legal situation, the spy always answers, β€œWould it help?” and need I say, naively and calmly. It never does.

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      Pastorfbt

      Just rewatched that movie. Wonderful leads. Mark Rylance a treasure, regardless of whether Abel was really like that.

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      1. Richard Kennedy

        Yeah, a storybook character it might seem, but it is an ideal riposte to the demand for hysteria and also to possible skepticism.

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    Caleb T

    I'm generally on board with the thoughts on this podcast, but when Curtis says, "x is NOT the Biblical view, but y is" one should clearly understand his own eschatological view is clearly in play and he's exalting it against other biblical-eschatological views. The uninformed listener may take his word for it, but he could be wrong. In AJ Swoboda's book, After Doubt, while summarizing Eugene Peterson's view, AJ wrote, "All earthly theology is essentially preparing for embarrassment." I think our friend Curtis should approach all theology with a measure more humility as it is an open conversation, certain things are cleary, hence orthodoxy, and other things are in the realm of liberty. Just because some piece of eschatology is to be found in poetical writings, does not remove a tangible, indeed apocalyptic result. If God began this project with immense power and demonstration of such, it is too much to believe that He will sum it all up in similar fashion - in a fashion He moved "holy men of God" to write about? Eschatology matters, but none of us will be able to speak authoritatively to it until "we will see Him as He is for we will be like Him (1 John 3:2-3). Until then, brother Curtis, speak respectfully of the views of others who are orthodox in faith and when you say "the Biblical view is" in discussions where there is great diversity of thought among incredibly intelligent and learned people, say "my view is." To the point of the podcast, there is a way to look for His appearing and doing the effective work of the Kingdom on the earth; one eye on the horizon and one eye on the field.

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      CynthiaW

      "Biblical" is a much-misused word outside of contexts where it means simply "of or related to the Bible," such as "Biblical languages."

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    WKDawson

    I was affected by both Dobbs and the reaction to the search warrant on Trump, due to the rash move to introduce rather cruel "laws" without even the remotest sense of love and learning that we have an irresponsible blabbermouth having harbored the nation's most sensitive documents in his home ... and charlatans and demagogues stoking the worst behavior on both matters.

    Watch and pray. Very good advice at this time. We need to turn our eyes upon Jesus.
    π‘‡β„Žπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘’ 𝑀𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘›π‘œπ‘‘ π‘“π‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿ π‘‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Ž 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 π‘€π‘Žπ‘¦, π‘‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘šπ‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘Žπ‘–π‘›π‘  𝑏𝑒 π‘šπ‘œπ‘£π‘’π‘‘ π‘–π‘›π‘‘π‘œ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ β„Žπ‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘‘ π‘œπ‘“ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘ π‘’π‘Ž, π‘‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž 𝑖𝑑𝑠 π‘€π‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘  π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘Žπ‘Ÿ π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘“π‘œπ‘Žπ‘š, π‘‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘šπ‘œπ‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘Žπ‘–π‘›π‘  π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘šπ‘π‘™π‘’ π‘Žπ‘‘ 𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑠𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔.
    ...
    β€œπ΅π‘’ 𝑠𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑙, π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘˜π‘›π‘œπ‘€ π‘‘β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ 𝐼 π‘Žπ‘š πΊπ‘œπ‘‘. 𝐼 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑒π‘₯π‘Žπ‘™π‘‘π‘’π‘‘ π‘Žπ‘šπ‘œπ‘›π‘” π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘›π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘œπ‘›π‘ , 𝐼 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑒π‘₯π‘Žπ‘™π‘‘π‘’π‘‘ 𝑖𝑛 π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘‘β„Ž!”

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      Pastorfbt

      Extra points if you recall the scene in the movie Zulu which invokes this Psalm.πŸ˜‰

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    Ben Connelly

    β€œIf” is one of my favorite poems. Memorized it a few years ago and it’s still a classic. I like to think of it as in a similar vein to the Aristotelian idea of virtue being the mean between the extremes.

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  8. Adam Shields

    I think the Civil Rights movement is a good example but in different ways.

    There were many that were ideologically committed to non-violence. But I think most were strategically committed. They did it because it worked not because they were entirely committed to non-violence as a theological or ideological reality. I just finished a biography of Rosa Parks. She respected King and others that were committed to non-violence. But she was not herself committed. She was a radical who also was strategic about what was possible and at the time, non-violence was a means of shaming those that upheld white superiority through the law.

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      Kmregan7

      Non-violence worked.....but it took major training. It's HARD to not hit back when someone is hitting you. It's difficult to just sit and take abuse, harassment, violence, people throwing things at you, dogs, hoses, etc. Difficult seems an understatement. But it worked and that would probably help commit those who were skeptical. There were probably plenty of people who believed as Parks did - strategic about what was possible/what worked.

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      1. Adam Shields

        I think it is more accurate to say that it worked for some things in the Civil Rights Era.

        Even before King's assassination, there was significant conflict within the movement because many believed that non-violence worked to get some things, but did not work for other things. The major movements were in response to violence against civil rights workers and while I think that is an example of the non-violence movement working, I think that the slow progress of the main Civil Rights Era from 1954 until 1968 shows that while non-violence can be effective, it is also very slow.

        My mother is a couple weeks younger than Ruby Bridges and the school where my mom was in school at the time did not integrate until the school year I was born (72/73). That is nearly 20 years after Brown and not by any means the last school district to integrate.

        My kids go to a school today that is 90% racial minorities (about 80% Black and Hispanic) and 70% low income. One by road and about a half mile as the crow flies is the next closest school, in the same district. That school is 11% Black or Hispanic and 7% low-income.

        So there is not a law preventing integration, but schools continue to in-practice segregate by both class and race, not universally, but in real practice.

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  9. Avatar photo
    Silvertide

    For those who enjoy music.

    James and the Shame --Believe Me
    https://youtu.be/pNLFPkc69OI

    Ben Caplan-- Truth Doesn't live in a book
    https://youtu.be/sfcaaKnl7T4

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    Ken Spell

    For poetic response on what attitude to take:
    On the world's loom,
    The Norns weave Doom.
    Nor may they guide it, nor change. ----Richard Wagner, Siegfried, Ring of the Nibelung.

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