Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen.

Cold War

Growing up in the 90’s, I heard many stories influenced by the recent Cold War. For decades, people had been faced with the possibility of themselves and whole world being destroyed. Every night, they knew, one of the countries could snap, push that button… And no amount of duck-and-cover would save them.

Some stories told of the possibility that a few people survived the bombs. They had built a bomb shelter for themselves. They waited out the bombs and the radiation, only to emerge the only living things on the planet. Everyone they knew, everything they had loved in their ordinary life, had been destroyed in a mass and mutual demonstration of hatred.

My current fears reminded me of these stories. In California, we are under a “Safe at Home” order. Most people I know are safe, sheltered in the comfort of their own homes, so it’s not actual destruction I’m afraid of. It’s as if everyone had a bomb shelter. My fear is of the future, of that moment when we are allowed to go back to normal life.

The earth, the buildings, the people will all be there. But how will life be different? The longer we stay in our shelters, the more the economy deteriorates.

I have no concept of what it will be like. Maybe it will be fine! But the fear of it is harming my ability to thank God for the good of safety.

Glory Be!

In the prayer above, we join the heavens, angels and Saints, in praising the Trinity. It is a simple but profound prayer that sees right to the heart of the matter. In times when I fear the future, I should look towards this prayer. I know the Lord was given glory in the past. I know I should praise Him in the present.

This prayer, however, asserts that He will ever receive glory. The future is assured in one way: He will always be praised for it. So it won’t be bad, no matter how it feels right now.

In the meantime, let’s look to the beauty of nature. This isn’t a Cold War, and spring is promised. Life will continue.