H,
We already know that panic helps no one. That is usually said by people
who are not emotionally involved in the same crisis we face. In normal times, you
are told to calm down when you scream or to tone down when you are angry. These
same rules no longer apply. We are all in crisis. Anyone can get it. There is
no objective safety. And panic, is still no help. We must have quiet hearts in
truly loud times.
What does this mean though? It is not the absence of fear or anxiety or
the premonition of incoming terrors. All of that will occur. It is par for the
present course. It is what you believe and how you act that counts now. Fear can
make us inert or irrational. Faith can make us bold and sacrificial. The second
strain of things is what the world needs now. A calm heart is one that makes its
home in the things that will always matter.
So, when we feel that urge to panic or we are angry or afraid, we must
take a breath or two. This is a time for prayer. It is a time to look up. It is
a time to remember we do not believe in the random but in the build up of history
to a crucial point and then the wind down into love. We knew these things would
come. We are not changed by them. We wake up daily to spread a little light and
speak to the truth of all things. We need no signs or portents to put our heart
in what we have always known: The Lord is coming.