For Wilshire Baptist Church
“In a world full of unending destruction . . .” That’s what I thought I heard Wilshire’s Katie Murray say at the beginning of the Prayers of the People on Sunday morning. A millisecond later I realized she said “unending distractions,” but now I can’t separate the two phrases. They’re welded together in my mind because I’m distracted from destruction.
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say we’re living in a time of unending destruction. The pictures from Ukraine and Gaza are gut-wrenching. Thousands are dead and injured, and once vibrant cities have been reduced to piles of broken concrete and twisted steel. Imagine waking up one day and seeing downtown Dallas – or any place you call home – in ruins. It’s unimaginable, and yet it is happening in those cities “over there.”
And then there’s the constant parade of violence in our own streets, neighborhoods, shopping centers, schools, even churches. And let’s not forget the natural disasters: wildfires, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes. The destruction really is unending — and not just physical destruction but the destruction of lives, hopes and dreams that come as a result.
But Katie did say “unending distractions,” and we definitely have plenty of those too. And maybe the worst part of that, for me at least, is the distractions keep me from giving proper attention to the destruction near us and around the globe. My distractions certainly can keep the destruction safely away from me and “over there,” whether that’s in another zip code, city, state or country.
Unless something is happening directly to me, I’m mostly insulated from the destruction by my distractions, and they are many: sports and entertainment, recreation and exercise, shopping, social events, church. There also are weightier things to busy me such as writing projects, house chores, family matters, doctor appointments. One of the biggest distractions for us recently – and the closest we’ve come to any type of destruction in our own life – was the four weeks a contractor for the gas company was digging up our street and part of our lawn in search of a gas leak. I was out checking on it daily as if it was the biggest event on the planet, when real destruction was happening “over there” in Gaza, Ukraine and the Texas Hill Country. I monitored those events, of course, but I was more interested in the noise outside our house.
Finding a balance between tending to our distractions and caring about the destruction in the world is difficult, but shouldn’t we try? There are different ways we can do that. We can write letters to those who make policy and direct money. We can support with our money and time legitimate, vetted disaster relief, refugee and immigration services such as Texans on Mission, Gateway of Grace and Light of Hope. We can support with our funds and prayers field personnel deployed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, such as Wilshire’s Christine Browder who has been working in the Middle East but is being reassigned because of the dangerous destruction in that region.
The needs locally are as unending as the destruction and distractions. After Wilshire pal George Gagliardi passed away in November, I had his mail forwarded to me, and lately I’ve been sending notes to the many nonprofits seeking donations and asking them to remove George from their mailing lists. Meanwhile, we get plenty of these solicitations too. They’re relentless, but they’re well-meaning and provide a daily reminder of how much need there is in the world.
It can be overwhelming, but I think Katie offered a good starting point for coping when she prayed these words:
“In a world filled with unending distractions, and in our lives filled with unending expectations, and in our days filled with unending choices for our time and talents, may we stop now and choose you. Quiet the noise that distracts us so we may with clarity feel your presence . . . . Still our bodies enough that we can in this very moment know that you are God.”