For Wilshire Baptist Church
I was checking a driving route with Apple Maps on my desktop computer and noticed the current satellite image of our neighborhood was captured on a sunny autumn day. Many of the trees have turned gold and auburn, and you can almost sense a refreshing coolness in the air. It’s a nice view, a beautiful view in fact, and it makes me wonder what God sees looking down on us. Yes, I still hold on to the childish perspective of God peering down on us through the clouds when it satisfies my need for wonder.
The satellite image is not current, however, because we don’t have any autumn colors yet. I started manipulating the view around the neighborhood and noticed that at Central Park a few blocks away, the dog park and the new playground that opened in 2020 are missing. That means the satellite images are at least three years old. A lot has happened since then, especially the rise and decline of the pandemic, so the God’s-eye view I’m imagining is actually frozen in time. I don’t know anything about how God sees us, but I’m pretty sure the perspective isn’t static. God’s creation is dynamic, always changing, and we’re changing with it.
Or are we? Are we changing in our compassion and empathy for one another? We do pretty good when it comes to campaigns for specific needs. The final tally from the recent North Texas Giving Day sponsored by the Communities Foundation of Texas was $62.6 million benefitting the missions of 3,210 nonprofits. That’s a praise-worthy total considering the financial impact on donors of the pandemic and now inflation and a potential recession. And there is good movement nationally on relief efforts in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Ian. But what about the daily, ongoing, chronic issues that plague our communities?
I’m reminded of the song “From a Distance,” written by Julie Gold and recorded by various artists, with these words:
“From a distance we all have enough,
And no one is in need.
There are no guns, no bombs, no diseases,
No hungry mouths to feed.
From a distance we are instruments
Marching in a common band.
Playing songs of hope,
Playing songs of peace,
They’re the songs of every man.”
It’s a beautiful sentiment right up there with John Lennon’s “Imagine,” but then comes these stark words in the bridge:
“God is watching us.
God is watching us.
God is watching us, from a distance.”
I don’t know if those words are good theology or bad, but they are convicting nonetheless. They say what I think we all instinctively know: It’s really up to us. God has given us the tools and the resources to make things right.
Away from the static satellite images and down here in the real world, the beautiful colors of autumn are coming. Soon after will come the cold and the freezing temperatures and all the potential hardships that can bring to some of our neighbors. Time to step away from the computer and get busy.