crt (dun, dun, dun)
Anyone else absolutely bewildered by CRT (critical race theory)? Me too. People are up in arms about this topic and honestly, it’s a hot mess of accusations and name-calling.
When it comes to these really hot-button topics I have a few personal policies to keep myself grounded.
red flag, green flag
I once heard a sermon where the pastor (who was agriculturally savvy) put a photo of an enormous, stunning tree on the screen behind him. He told us the name, gave us specific details about its environment, and described the root structure. And at the end of his sermon, he revealed that he had been lying to us for the entire half-hour. {insert appropriate gasp here} Everything he had taught us about the tree was completely false.
I remember being shocked. He had totally hooked me and I had believed him without question. His point was that we should do a little fact-checking every now and then, even from people we trusted.
This puts us in a spot, though, doesn’t it? In a hyper-connected world where you can turn on a podcast, read a blog, watch YouTube from ANYONE, how can we decide who to trust? Especially about the Bible?
between the rains
It’s so hard to wait to see the product of a seed! The ground doesn’t change when a seed begins to germinate and take root. For all we know, nothing is going on beneath the surface, appearing identical to the empty soil next to it. The time from when you plant a seed to the time you see the first growth peeking up ... oh, that’s so long, isn’t it?
So … quiet.
You begin to wonder ... did I even plant anything there? Did the seed die? Is there something I can do to make it grow faster? Should I somehow check on it?
wisdom is a symphony
And as the wisdom beat of Proverbs plays, a guitar starts to strum the book of Job. What was once a simple cadence now has complexity. The chords tell the story of a man who perfectly followed the path of wisdom outlined in Proverbs but is now squarely stuck in disaster. Job insists he was following the beat, and his friends are equally sure that if he had followed the beat, he wouldn't be in this predicament.