Unprecedented
There was a great piece on CBS Sunday Morning today. Jim Gaffigan is a comedian who has been doing commentary bits for the show. It’s into week nine of the lockdown, and this morning Gaffigan’s bit was about the word, “unprecedented”. It’s worth a watch (click here to watch it).
Gaffigan’s faith is evident in such reflections. At least, if you know of his faith you can see it in these commentaries. I remember once Gaffigan was on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. There were multiple guests being interviewed together at the time and it wound up being quite a poignant consideration of faith and hope.
This morning Gaffigan’s bit included a call for unprecedented gratitude. He recalled the many blessings in his life and turned what is a time of fear for many into a reminder of goodness.
Matthew 7:24-27 (Words of Jesus)
Build Your House on the Rock
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
As Gaffigan shows, if you watch the news at all, it won’t take long to encounter the word, “unprecedented”. In many cases it is being used to describe how things have come apart in this time. Things that we took for granted have lost their certainty.
We are called once again to consider what it means that our certainty is in Christ alone. It’s not trite to say that. Certainty in Christ does not mean that “everything will be okay” if “everything will be okay” means that we will never face hardship or loss or illness. In Christ, “everything will be okay” is so much better than that. So ask it as a question in faith right now.
Dear God, What does it mean that “everything will be okay”? Dear Jesus, I turn to you amidst all of this uncertainty and thank you for your love. I want to know your love in the midst of unprecedented times. Show me what it means that you are all the certainty I need.
Habbakuk 3:17-19
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.
A piece from The Atlantic (yesterday) called, “Surrendering to Uncertainty”
