It Is The Best of Times and the Worst of Times...

Some people write better than they live; others live better than they write. Jeremiah, writing or living, was the same Jeremiah. This is important to know because Jeremiah is the prophet of choice for many when we find ourselves having to live through difficult times and want some trustworthy help in knowing what to think, how to pray, how to carry on. Jeremiah's troubled life spanned one of the most troublesome periods of in Hebrew History, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And Jeremiah was in the middle of all of it, sticking it out, praying and preaching, suffering and striving, writing and believing.
-Eugene Peterson 'Intro to Jeremiah from The Message'


Desperation does strange things to people. All around us, it seems we are surrounded by utter desperation that manifests itself in so many different ways. Pain and suffering from hurts so deep, that only a quick snort, sniff or puff will bring a release from -if only for a short little while. Pretty heavy stuff, but when you've experienced abuse, death, murder, rape, assault -does it make sense? And why does it consume us the way it does, I'm not totally certain. You could ask, how could it not? I often wonder why I've been called to this work when so often I feel so ill-equipped to do anything about it. Why does such evil exist in this world?

Lately these days, I've been feeling less a loving compassionate person, than a police guard.
Yes, we need to be vigilant in the line of work we do, we can't just let those that would, do as they please -freely dealing and ingesting as much drugs as they please, on our watch no less?

Does this mean we are in the right place at the right time? That without these things, suffering, hopelessness and despair, that God could not show us his Glory -our faith, responsibility to love the unloved, to feed the needy and hungry, to show compassion and care to the orphans and widows -perhaps it shouldn't grieve us so to know that we are in the heart of a battle that we know we have victory in and that was never in doubt.

I used to be such a normal, easy going and light-hearted guy.
I think I still am :)