Uncertain Times
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. ”
We are in challenging times. The most glaring concern at the moment is the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. With the Delta variant attacking the unvaccinated and other, even more-aggressive, variants possible, it remains frightening. Yet, coming out of the pandemic is an even more-insidious revelation. Nearly fifty percent of the American population has chosen not to be vaccinated. In large part, the decision to remain unvaccinated is due to a larger social, political, and economic fracturing that has left the nation at odds with itself.
Graeme Wood, in The Atlantic, wrote an influential article entitled “The Next Decade Could Be Even Worse.” Unfortunately, I do not have the room in a short devotion to share all that Wood offers in the article. But, briefly, I will say that Wood shares the findings of Russian scientist Peter Turchin to illustrate the point that life will continue to get more painful rather than easier.
Turchin points out the increasing disparity between the elite in this country and the rest of the citizenry. In 2010, Turchin “predicted that the unrest would get serious around 2020, and it wouldn’t let up until those social and political trends reversed.” Even those critics who scoffed at Turchin in 2010 have reversed their views ten years later.
Turchin continues, “The fundamental problems are a dark triad of social maladies: a bloated elite class, with too few elite jobs to go around; declining living standards among the general population; and a government that can’t cover its financial positions.” If Turchin continues to evaluate our short-term future as traumatic, we will need to get our emotional and spiritual lives in order if he continues to be correct. Today, pray for the strength to endure challenges. Seek the Spirit’s assistance in helping us see that we are valued, not by how much money we possess, but by the God we share a relationship with and honor. We may not control our world’s direction, but we can control our response with God’s help.
