“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” — James 1:16-17
Do you feel it? Does it feel like nothing is true, or maybe everything is? Do you feel like you’re in charge of deciding what is? Do you feel like it’s your job to make what you thought true as true as you decided it was? Who do you believe? Who do you listen to? Who can you trust? Can you trust yourself?
Brother James feels it
Just like us, James, the New Testament letter writer, knows what it is like to try to stand on shifting shadows. James (a lot of people think this was actually Jesus’ brother) lived in a time when the rulers lied and there wasn’t enough information to know what was really going on. Sounds familiar, right? Things have gotten even more complex and that overwhelming feeling seems pretty normal for most people I know. Do you feel it?
Kendrick Lamar feels it, too
That’s why I love Kendrick Lamar, who some have called America’s best living public theologian. He puts all those doubts to a delicious beat and punctuating hook that has your existential crisis feeling like it might just be all right. But it’s not all right. I was telling the Seniors at Collingswood High School’s Baccalaureate this week that the world they are entering into is, indeed, as jacked up as Kendrick rhymes it to be.
On “Pray for Me,” which is not on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Damn but on the Black Panther Soundtrack (#wakandaforever), with help from The Weeknd, Lamar wonders if he has what it takes to save the world. Because that’s what they’re telling us we’ll have to do. You better make the right decision, figure it out, succeed, no mistakes, it’s all life or death, make the world a better place. It’s all on you. Spill your blood. (Yo, listen to this song!)
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” — James 1:16-17
It’s a lie! You are not the one who needs to spill blood. You are not the one who must save. Though it really does feel like that sometimes, I know. I offered this truth from Brother James to the Collingswood Seniors. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of heavenly lights. All that light is shining down on you, even as you stand in the midst of shadowy lies and just straight up wickedness (I used “wicked” more this week than in a while).
Receive the Good
We need to actually feel God to counteract the wickedness. If you feel overwhelmed it’s not easy to just stop feeling that. We need to feel something else, and God offers us love as an antidote. Say “no” to the lies and then say “yes” to the good gifts God is giving. Don’t ignore the bad, bump some Kendrick, or better yet write your own resistance song. Receive the good so you can feel that love from God and be ready to face down the next lie.
-Ben White