Surviving An Insane World

Our world seems increasingly insane.  We are entering a Presidential election year with two aged candidates.  Each one accuses the other of senility! One is in court on trial for criminal acts. Neither party has met to nominate a candidate, but there are no other options in sight.

 All wars are insane, but the wars in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza seem especially so.  Islamic terrorists have turned to attacks on Russia with the U.S. and the West still in their sights. 

Transgender women are wanting to compete in women’s sports. Caitlin Jenner, who won the Olympic decathlon when she was Bruce, has come out against trans women competing in women’s sports while Dawn Staley, coach of NCAA women’s champion basketball team, defends it.

We live our lives under a canopy of satellite communications that determine much of our daily lives.  Artificial Intelligence is at the door, threatening to distort perceptions of reality and, perhaps, take over!

Of course, the world has always had its insanity. Wars with their atrocities that leave innocent victims in their wake have always been with us.  Ancient Greece and Rome were no less conflicted about gender identity and sexuality than we are.  One needs only read the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire to document the insanity of that day. While the digital world is new, efforts to confuse and distort perceptions of the truth are not. Pilate, while judging Jesus, asked the same question that is being asked today, “What is truth?”

 Interestingly, the Apostle Paul was accused of being insane when he was imprisoned at Caesarea.  After Paul told Festus and King Agrippa that he was a persecutor of Christians until Jesus himself appeared to him, Festus interrupted and said, “You are out of your mind Paul! Your great learning has driven you insane!"  To which Paul responded, “I am not insane. What I am saying is true and reasonable,” (Acts 26).

If we wish to preserve our sanity in an insane world, we need to choose Paul’s “insanity.” Faith in Jesus Christ leads to the discovery that God loves us.  “This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins,” (1 John 4:10).

`Having experienced God’s love, we are free to love one another, as Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another,” (John 13:34). And again, “I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  …  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” (Matthew 5:43-48).

Paul defined love in this way. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails,” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

 However insane the world may seem, this always remains true and reasonable, to know God’s love and to love others, especially those who differ from us in appearance and opinion.