We live one nanosecond at a time with little awareness one after another nanoseconds pass by and add into minutes that become the present. But how hard is it to really live in that present moment? We are surrounded by devices that pull us forward beyond this nanosecond and memories and consequences of other nanoseconds that pull us backward. Living in the present moment is not as easy as it sounds even though we live one moment at a time.

“To live in the past and future is easy. To live in the present is like threading a needle.”

Walker Percy

God created time when He created the universe, hung the sun, moon, and stars in place while also mystifying us by telling us his name, I AM. His name reminding us of his presence continuously with us. Finite minds can give assent and yet not fully grasp the reality. We, his creation with finite minds, live within the confines of time. And often we war with it, wanting it to slow down or move faster and being incapable of adjusting its course.

I wonder if that is what feeds our desire to know what will happen next in this life as well as the next. The passage of time reminds us that we are not in control of nearly as many things as we might wish while yet given choice about how we spend it.

Add to this that we live in two worlds at once, the seen and the unseen. The unseen creates curiosity as well as anxiety because we accept it is there while not knowing a great deal about it. The unseen spiritual world is the big picture in which the material world is set, the canvas upon which God chooses to tell us about himself and us. And what a canvas it is!

“Our existence is framed in matter. Nothing in the gospel is presented apart from the physical, nor can it be understood or received apart from the physical. That is not to say that there is nothing but matter, for that would deny most of what living by faith asserts. But it does mean that nothing can be experienced apart from matter. The great invisibles, God and the soul, are incomprehensible apart from the great visible, heaven and earth. “

Eugene Peterson in Reversed Thunder

Because we are matter and live in the confines of physical space, time, and matter, it can be easy for us to lose track of the unseen world we live in as well and scripture reminds us not to lose sight of the difference or importance of the unseen world.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

Paul challenges the believers in Corinth and us that where the big things are really happening is in the unseen world where God is working and as we tune our ears and eyes to become more alert, we get glimpses of what is doing in his workplace – creation, heaven, and earth. That’s where the biggest headlines are being written as we watch the material world teetering and decaying.

All these things can get us caught up in trying to know more about what lays ahead and we can get lost in books that try to forecast when the end of all things will come and what it will look like. Some try to excise every word and line in the Revelation trying to decipher the messages in the visions and the significance in the numbers and miss the big picture that the book is John outlining what he heard from Jesus and telling us one last time who He is, who God is, and inviting us to where we are meant to be – worshipping Him. Scripture teaches us that He is the beginning and the end, and I don’t think his desire is for us to get lost in the details.

“When Jesus promised his return, he did not intend to scare us out of our wits, or license a guild of prophets who would earn a comfortable living by making book on the time. He placed himself firmly ahead of us, as end, just as he had established himself at the beginning…If we cannot join our beginning to our end, we will live scattered and incoherent lives. The expectation of Jesus’ coming provides a goal that shapes and unifies life in accordance with its origins in Christ, in patterns that are consonant with its completion in Christ. This urgency is liberating, for it compels us to stay awake, deeply and earnestly aware of who we are and what we are doing, keeping us free from trivia, that, like the threads of the Lilliputians, can make prisoners of us effectively as any ball and chain.”

Eugene Peterson in Reversed Thunder

It is key to remember that two words are used for time in scripture and John in the Revelation uses both of them – chronos that we know well and is measured by clocks and calendars and kairos which connotes the unseen faith, the anticipation that is not limited by clocks and calendars.

The risk we face is that our senses of Him working in the unseen world become dull as time (as we know it) moves forward. It is that which will muffle the sound of his voice and dim the things He would have us see each day. God first created light because He would not have us walk in the darkness and perhaps to also remind us that his light, Christ’s light, conquered and is and will conquer darkness.

It’s that time of the year when many are looking for a good novel to enjoy over the summer (whether on our own patio or a vacation). As the pandemic eases in some places and surges in others, we come into this season a bit differently than the usual summer. We each have been changed by the pandemic because of what happened in our lives and how we responded to it.

As I eagerly looked forward to new book releases in March, I was delighted to discover that nearly every favorite novelist was releasing a new book. The one I just finished reading is Surviving Savannah by best-selling author, Patti Callahan, that some of you got to know better from her wonderful book, Becoming Mrs. Lewis. Little did I realize how this book fit so perfectly into this season we have all experienced because of the unexpected pandemic. In March of 2020 we were all going about our “normal” lives when life threw us a curve ball, a change in lifestyle, and potentially a fight for our lives. Maybe one thing it taught us is that is what life can be like. Surviving Savannah written skillfully by Patti Callahan gives each of her readers a chance to reflect on that again.

“The sudden and unforeseen changes in our lives usually come in the middle of what we think is a normal day.”

Patti Callahan

This historical story invites the reader to come aboard the steamship, Pulaski, that sailed from Savannah, Georgia, on June 13, 1838, bound for Baltimore and only one night at sea. Those who boarded the ship were seeking to escape the sweltering heat, insects, and possible malaria of the hot summer ahead. They included passengers known as the “flowers of the South” who were well known in the city as well as some of the slaves who attended them whose names were never really noted. They expected a smooth sail and traveled with all the things they would want for the summer including their china, silver candlesticks, and more. But what we expect and hope for is not always what we get and after a brief overnight in Charleston, as the Pulaski heads north toward Baltimore disaster strikes.

These are the facts supported by the discovery of the wreckage of the ship while the author was researching the story to write this book. That discovery adds true and fascinating detail as she seeks to also tell the stories of those who boarded the ship that summer day in 1838. Using the ship’s manifest and what she learned about those who survived the tragic explosion on the ship and those who did not, Patti Callahan gives us an intimate sense of what it would have been like to be aboard the ship.

“I know this: we’re made of stories, legends and myths just as we are made of water, atoms, and flesh. Once you know it, you can’t unknow it; you can’t pretend that everything that happened before you were born doesn’t have something to do with who you are today. Still, everything can change in an instant, a flash, a blink of an eye. A story can shift completely with the screech of a car tire, the flash of fire or the words of someone you love.”

Patti Callahan

Patti Callahan writes a dual-timeline novel about Everly Winthrop, a modern-day Savannah museum curator, who has suffered a great loss, along with two historical women who boarded the Pulaski with their families on that June 1838 morning. As Everly seeks to research the history of the Pulaski we come to know the depth of her own loss and how it pushes her to discover the losses of those on the Pulaski.

“We fight to live. I’ve done more research than you can imagine on the way people react to calamity. We are our truest selves when life and death walk hand in hand. When crisis comes, and tragedy explodes, our true character comes to the fore.”

Patti Callahan

Each moment of our lives is precious and helps shape who we become a bit more. You will see that in Everly and the passengers you meet on the ship: Lamar, Augusta, Charles, Lilly, Priscilla, and more. You will see how each responds to the unexpected as well as learn what happens with those who live with the nightmare of that voyage.

“…anyone who is engaged in life at all is brave. It’s so much easier to stay in the dream, in the hallucination, in the wishing.”

Patti Callahan

You won’t want to miss this insightful griping story and what it can show us about ourselves and how we respond to the unexpected things that can happen in a moment on a “normal” day. The story lines will pull you along while also nudging you to reflect as you consider putting yourself in the story of Everly’s loss as well as the lives of the passengers aboard the Pulaski. You will be faced with many choices and how you would handle what each character faces.

“Do we have a destiny? How do we survive surviving? What happens to us after we live through tragedy both great and small? Is there such a thing as fate? Who do we become and why? Can we ignore our past if we are ashamed of it?”

Patti Callahan

What does Patti Callahan help us see in this incredible story?

“What do one-hundred-and eighty-year-old artifacts have to tell us about the lives of the passengers? So very much. They hint at what the passengers valued; how they lived their daily lives; what they took with them on the journey; what belongings mattered the most to them. Of course this all changed with the fiery explosion. And that is what I meant to portray: how the very things we value ultimately change when our lives are shattered and the course of our days is utterly altered.”

Patti Callahan

The uncertainty of the time we seem to be living in can create a great deal of concern for us at times. We wonder what the future holds and sometimes worry about it as well. Wanting to pull back the curtain to see what lies ahead from the beginning of recorded history has long fascinated us. People sought out seers and prophets to that end. Many still look to astrologers and others who practice the occult to get answers for what may lay ahead. I wonder if we do so because of anxiety or because somehow if we find out we will steel ourselves for whatever it is and feel a bit more in control.

Whether we like to admit it or not, when things appear to be totally out of control, we can start to shake a bit. Perhaps that is based on the faulty premise that we might be able to change something to alter what is ahead if it is not to our liking. I suggest it is faulty because the very worst things that may happen to us often appear to happen randomly even though we can potentially impact small things like what we eat, how much we exercise, where we live, and how much we spend.

Does the Lord really want to keep us in suspense, so we have no way of preparing for the future? It might be tempting to think so and there are some things He has clearly said will not be revealed to us such as the date and time of His reappearing. But even then, He has given us clues and information we can read and reflect upon regarding that. Additionally, He has filled the Bible with a huge chunk written by prophets and too often we skip over those books or get bogged down in trying to sort out Daniel’s visions or John’s unusual images in Revelation. Sometimes we also try reading those books without any context or attempt to study what excellent commentators reveal or to lean into the Holy Spirit to guide and open our hearts to see.

Have you considered Isaiah? I know you likely know the passages we hear and associate with Christmas, but there is so much more in the book of the Bible that bears his name. My pastor taught through the entire book and he has noted how often Jesus quotes Isaiah in His words in the gospels. My pastor’s admonition? “Know Isaiah. It will settle your heart. So far, everything he has said has come true so far.”

Reading carefully shows us Isaiah’s words encompass at least four kings and we see how his prophetic messages have come to pass regarding these kings and their kingdoms. But there is more to learn because some of his words extend beyond his time into our present time and speak to what will yet be. Some of them align with things John writes in Revelation. His job as a prophet was to challenge the people and speak the words of God, to warn and call the people back to God.

Perhaps you wonder about what lies ahead in heaven or hell. No, we don’t have a video of either one, but the Bible speaks clearly about both destinations. It seems He wants us to know, and I don’t think He wants us to fear death as believers but rather to see it as a transition and change of address. He tells us about both places because He wants us to choose heaven and the way to get there.

Yes, bad times will come and always be with us in this life. Yes, we will not escape disappointments and wounds. BUT that does not mean He is absent! He also promises that His righteousness will prevail, and judgment will fall upon evil and those who have rejected Him. Would you like to see an example of His faithfulness to His chosen people?

Look at portions of Isaiah 14: 24-27 (ESV) to discover God’s faithfulness. I will not quote all the verses, but here are a few phrases to whet your appetite: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand…. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who shall annul it?”

God is looking at how Assyria has besieged His people and through Isaiah tells them in essence, “Rest easy. I’ve got this.”

How do I know I can apply that to our current day? Because the writer of Hebrews says:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)

So, when you are tempted to worry about the future, consider reading Isaiah 14: 24-27 and remember…God’s got this!!

We grow up loving the stories of heroic tales where a rescue is involved. We first hear such stories in the fairy tales popular for hundreds of years that may soon be forgotten in this high-tech world unless we keep telling and reading them. We have an innate desire to see good triumph over evil so when the villain is defeated, we cheer. That was likely the appeal of the westerns that populated TV screens in the 50’s and 60’s.

We rarely take as much time to consider the cost to the rescuer or their families when such a risk is taken. We may pause when there is a reminder of military lives lost or fire fighters whose lives are snuffed out trying to save persons and property and yet we pass these people and their workplaces almost daily with not much thought about that. Those who seek to protect us are the unsung heroes of the day. They come when we call whether we are in a predicament of our own making or that of someone else or nature. Too often our own focus tempts us to look at how long they took, whether they did it the way we thought they should, and more. In hindsight we can be tempted to be judgmental and fail to put ourselves in their shoes while knowing our own frailty in one area or another.

And it’s not just in all those professions and jobs we have come to mind that reveals how shallow our understanding might be.

Salvation was the biggest and most costly rescue ever provided. It was the action of God to save fallen humanity from a poor choice in Eden that opened us all to a life far different than He planned or wanted for us. Even if we have known the rescue and knew we needed it, have we understood all the dimensions of it? Eugene Peterson reminded me of that while reading Reversed Thunder.

“…salvation is the action of God. It is always more than we think it is, far more than we are experiencing at any one time. We are forever stopping short and defining it in terms that we understand right now. But such understandings are always premature, and therefore reduce this large action that we have so much more to learn in, so much more, by God’s grace, to get in on.”

Eugene Peterson in Reversed Thunder

We are regularly reminded of the cross. It is a symbol found in our places of worship and even jewelry we may wear around our necks. Every time we participate in the eucharistic meal we are reminded of the death of the One who came to rescue us but look a bit deeper.

“Salvation is the intimacies and festivities of marriage; salvation is aggressive battle and the defeat of evil. Salvation is neither of these things by itself. It is the two energies, the embrace of love and the assault on evil, in polar tension, each defined by the other, each feeding on the other.”

Eugene Peterson in Reversed Thunder

It can slip from our reflections that what is not seen in those Easter dramas we know or movies about the horrors of the cross that a great war was going on unseen behind all these pivotal events we know and recall. We can forget that salvation came for the children of Israel when Moses led them into battle against the Amalekites. We can forget that Joshua led the children of those same children into battle against the Philistines. Repeatedly the biblical story depicts feasts and celebrations and great battles. And the story tells us of a final great battle where all the territory lost to the invasion of evil upon the earth will be won.

The apostle Paul reminds his readers often of the battle for our minds, souls, and hearts and how we are to stand and war against those things that would seek to defeat us in the greater battles, the unseen ones that have the power to take more than our earthly lives.

^3″ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)

The scenes in the Narnia movie of in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe where Aslan teaches Lucy, Peter, Susan, and Edmund give us a powerful example of what the war for the salvation of Narnia looks like when Aslan presents himself at the stone table to give up his life so the endless winter and evil that has taken over Narnia can be defeated. We see a metaphor of the cross and beyond that to the battle ahead that will free the entire world of the cost of sin. Aslan reminds us all (as he did the children) that we are called to be warriors.

You may protest and declare that you are not a warrior, and you fear the idea of battle. It is beyond your imagination to see yourself taking such a risk as riding into battle. During the eucharist meal there is not much awareness of what you are called to.

“The meal is leisured and joyful. The war is strenuous and determined. The meal deals with the ordinary, the war with the extraordinary. Salvation is both. We cannot choose one over the other. If we are going to be with our saving Lord, we must regularly and often sup with him; and we must be ready, at a moment’s notice, to enter the fight with him.”

Eugene Peterson in Reversed Thunder

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get yourself turned around before you even realize it? That can happen to me easily when I am trying to follow a map on a trek somewhere. Yes, I am grateful for those apps that now tell me where to go and hope they know where I am going. But even with those apps there can be times they must be lost. A week ago, I was following them to a bakery I had never visited and when I arrived at the site there was nothing there but an intersection and fields on every corner.

Life seems to easily get us turned around and sometimes upside down as well. It should be obvious to us when that happens and yet it is noteworthy that it can sometimes happen so slowly that we aren’t even aware of becoming disoriented.

We need to be more aware like Topsy in the 2018 film, Mary Poppins Returns, wonderfully depicted by Meryl Streep. She knew that every second Wednesday things would be upside down in her world and it would be “turning turtle” and those days she needed to not try to do certain things that required her precise skills of fixing broken things. If we had her self-awareness, we would know which days we should not be following directions to a new location or making a recipe where it would be easy to make a mistake between salt and sugar or baking powder and baking soda.

But recipes and directions are not the only places where things get turned around. Our thoughts and understanding are fertile fields for that to happen before we even become aware of it. We are influenced by input from untold numbers of directions and sources over time that begin to become so much a part of us that we believe them as truth instead of evaluating them to determine their source, value, and truth. And if we don’t do that evaluation, we start making decisions and choices based on incomplete or erroneous information that is value loaded with values and information that do not line up with what we believe about ourselves, others, the world, and God. I wonder if you have noticed that too.

Amid the best of times or the worst of times, times when we are on top of the world or times when we feel the world is on top of us, we forget that life is never static but rather ever-changing.

“Life, I have realized, ebbs and flows like the tide outside my old bedroom window. Some days the wind is too strong, and sometimes you are carried along on a gentle breeze. The hurricanes come; the landscapes change. Any expert seaman will tell you that, in the roughest seas, it’s best not to fight the tide.”

Kristy Woodson Harvey in Under the Southern Sky

The key in the quote is to remember it is an expert seaman who understands how to respond in the seas, whatever their condition. That seaman has learned to know the sea and all its moods and how to navigate each one. I think the disciples knew just such a seaman. Even though some were expert fishermen, Jesus was the one who understood where to find the best fish and how to tame a storm. Their life with Him was designed to teach them to discern more completely what they could not have known without Him. And that is true for us today as well if we are truly listening and tuning into the voice and heartbeat He offers us as his children.

Our challenge is to keep in mind He will not scream at us as so many other influences can be prone to do. That is the often-tricky part for us because it is the loudest voices that can turn us around and taint our understanding of Him. The enemy gets his enthusiasm in knowing this is an area he excels in. He likes to twist our thinking about ourselves, others, and God. If we are honest, we know that he sometimes succeeds.

Other voices and influences want to remind us that in this world our hearts will still get broken (even as his followers) but fail to remind us that even so, light will ultimately overcome the darkness of this world and all the evil that can abound. These other voices and influences will want to haunt us by reminding us of every failure, mistake, and sin we ever committed to convince us that is still who we are and there is no escape. But Jesus wants us to hear his whisper that what we are now is what is important, not what we were (no matter how good or bad that may have been). He wants us to remember that none of us is more worthy than the other, better, or more valuable than the other, He needed to die for each one of us because none of us was or is perfect.

We can believe that God responds to what we do, but miss what Paul is pointing to in Romans 3 about who initiates the pace. I love the way Eugene Peterson translates a portion of two verses:

“What we have learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. We’ve finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.”

Romans 3:27-28 (MSG)

If we tune into his voice. we will be clearer on the truth that his purposes for each one of us are not random, not hit or miss or dependent on what we do or don’t do but rather dependent on his decision and purpose. Understanding that will help to remind us we are not supposed to adjust to the other voices and influences or to the culture that would seek to shape us. It is we who are to influence the culture. We must not get that backwards for his purposes to be fulfilled.

To allow that to permeate every aspect of our thinking means we will pursue listening to the stories of others more than insisting our own be heard. Listening to each other’s stories will be how we connect and learn that even though we may look different, be different, come from a different place, have a different income, or speak a different language, there are threads that we have in common.

And we can discover them if we listen instead of shout and demand we be heard.

“People always think being loved will change them. But that’s not true. It’s really, truly loving – with the kind of love you couldn’t take away even if you wanted to – that turns you inside out.”

Kristy Woodson Harvey in Under the Southern Sky