Wednesday; October 22
Sixty-three years ago, the whole world was holding its
collective breath! For almost two weeks
in October, 1962; two international superpowers – the United States and the
Soviet Union – stood toe to toe in a conflict over the presence of missiles in
Cuba. There was a lot of back and forth that
included threats, responses and reactions; but for a period of a couple of
weeks the world waited for the other shoe to drop – and feared that the drop
wouldn’t be another one of Khrushchev's shoes but a nuclear bomb. Since we are here to report the history, it
is evident that things had a positive outcome, but for those who lived through
those days, things were scary!
The reason I bring this up is to encourage us to stop and
breathe for a little bit. Sure, there
are some things that aren’t going well in our world, nation and society now;
but this is nothing new. What we face
today may be challenging, but let’s not fall into the “now is the worst time
ever” fear. Let’s work to make things
better, but let’s not become disheartened by the challenges we face. Will things get worse – maybe, but we have
endured difficulties in the past and overcame them. I believe true hope comes from a relationship
with God, but I also believe that when people work together, we can do good
things. Let’s be honest about where our
world it – yes, it can be better; but don’t let the naysayers suck our life and
our hope out of us!