The times they are a-changin'

A small group of pastors was talking the other day about how many significant and stressful trends and events are in the news now that affect us more or less directly. Here are some of the things we discussed, plus a few more:

- very high gas prices, and still rising
- home foreclosures
- high and increasing costs for health care and insurance, and shrinking coverage
- the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan along with the needs of returning GIs
- food shortages around the world and in U.S. food banks
- repeated attempts to legalize gay marriage
- the quiet but persistent infiltration of Islam in Western societies
- the growing role played by China and India in the world economy
- earthquakes in China and Japan, floods in Iowa (and this is just in the last couple of weeks)

Other items could be added to this list of things that are reshaping the world in which we live.

One person observed that these are all conditions which we sense we cannot control to any great degree. The accumulation of all these pressures might have a paralyzing effect.

How are we as the community of Christians to understand the times in which we live? Let's converse (civilly!) about it in the days to come. The challenge will be to not repeat stock answers we have heard others express, but to think carefully while seeking the mind of Christ...