A LOT TO REMEMBER

The world is a mess.

“Tis all in pieces, all coherence gone.” John Donne in 1611

Could have been written in 2024.

From last weekend’s shooting at a Trump rally to debilitating polarization to the inability to curb humanitarian crises around the world, things are dire.

I just read that the UN’s $2.6 billion Humanitarian Response Plan aims to assist 8.7 million people in the DRC, which now has the highest number of people in need of humanitarian aid in the entire world.*

$2.6 billion is small by today’s standards. (Our Secret Service’s budget alone is nearly $3.1 billion.) The stunner is that nearly 10% of the world’s people are in extreme poverty, but we’re too inwardly-focused to talk much about that.

I think inward focus is okay for a time to make sure our house is in order, but we can’t forget that the world needs us. “To whom much is given, much is required.” And we can’t forget that dire circumstances could be a set-up for a great political “savior.” There are false Christs out there, people who make great promises but are full of deceit. And we can’t forget to look within. As Screwtape told Wormwood in The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis), “Make sure to keep the patient in a constant state of angst, frustration, and general disdain toward the rest of the human race in order to avoid any kind of charity or inner peace from further developing.”

So that’s a lot to remember. Compassion. Discernment. Humility. But apparently God thinks we can handle it. You know, multi-task. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Come to think of it, maybe there’s not so much to remember. We just need to remember what we need to remember in the voting booth.

*www.voanews.com July 13, 2024