Day after day we process searing new images of global conflicts and atrocities. My insides bleed when I look out over Gaza, Ukraine, the US-Mexico border, Haiti, and the spike of violent crimes across America and other nations. It seems we all live with a movie of horrors running in our brains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The damage cuts deeper into our hearts than we may realize. Nietzsche warned plainly, \u201cIf you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n No wonder anger, fear, depression, addiction, and suicide roar through so many places and people. It\u2019s like a forest fire that burns our sanity into a curled crisp. But the larger issue is, can we find a way to live rationally amidst unrelenting war? How do we\u2014as mates, parents, siblings, and friends\u2014navigate such bloody times? <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1939 C. S. Lewis delivered a sermon, Learning in Wartime<\/em>, at Oxford University just as World War 2 flashed across Europe. Lewis knew those seated before him\u2014students of military service age\u2014were caught in the grip of war and death. Wise man that he was, when he saw that door of responsibility open to him, he walked through it and dropped a truckload of truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n First, he told them war \u201ccreates no absolutely new situation; it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice.\u201d[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, how do we carve out a life, a family, a legacy up on that cliff? Perhaps we start by recognizing that the earth is a dangerous place. Always has been. <\/p>\n\n\n\n War, conflict, and pandemics are as much a part of life on earth as dirt, gravity, and rainbows. The beautiful balance of the earth\u2019s ecosystem requires that we live with killers. From the micro to the macro, scientists know the earth is wild and perilous. Water, wind, tectonic plates, viruses and bacteria\u2014all things we cannot live without\u2014can bring death as quickly as they give life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, our planet has not tumbled from its orbit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lewis also warned his Oxford audience, \u201cDo not let your nerves and emotions lead you into thinking your predicament more abnormal than it really is.\u201d Perfect counsel for anyone caught in the fog of war\u2014Distrust emotions. Refuse illusions. Reject urgency. <\/em>Don\u2019t let hysteria stampede your heart. Calm your spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Look straight ahead. If we fix our prayerful gaze on any threat or tragedy, the illusions will slowly fade, and then we will see the Prince of Peace standing in the midst of its churning smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 84:5-6 gives a strange but beautiful view of people whose hearts become highways to the Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n …Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs…[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know what that means. But have you ever known someone who seemed to radiate the Presence of God? Might their hearts become a highway to Him? When Joanne and I lost our son, friends who had walked through the Valley of Weeping appeared before us. Their eyes told us all we needed to know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They brought no holy books, guitars, or grief manuals; they carried love. But through their strength in their God, they lifted us to higher ground. From there, we could see that the bridge to our future had not washed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone carries loss and pain. Some are wounded, others suffer PTSD, and all carry the dust, grime, and odors from the road through the Valley of Weeping. They need to know His embrace. They all need to find oases of refreshment and replenishment for the rest of the journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Where are they? You\u2019ll find them in hospitals, bars, ball parks, Starbucks, jails, homeless shelters, and many other places. They\u2019re the ones with hungry or haunted eyes. They don\u2019t need much; a smile, a laugh, a touch can help most live through another day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Letting God turn your heart into a highway for them gives a way to live in harsh times. It may also give you traction through the Valley of Weeping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Friedrich Nietzsche,\u00a0Beyond Good and Evil<\/em>\u00a0(New York: Penguin Classics, 2003)<\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/sup><\/a> C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory <\/em>(New York: HarperOne, 1976)<\/p>\n\n\n\nLiving on the Edge of a Precipice <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Through the Valley of Weeping<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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