Don’t Be Deceived By Appearances
“Look! Don’t be deceived by appearances — men and things are not what they seem. All who are not on the rock are in the sea!” ~ William Booth
Over the past week, there have been several people who have asked me, “What do you think all that is going on means? Do you think God is angry with us? Do you think the end is coming? Do you think what’s happening is a sign?”
I have to tell them, “I don’t know.” I don’t. I don’t have the foggiest. I don’t have a clue. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know if it’s a sign. I don’t know if it’s the harbinger of the end of time. While I don’t know those things, I can also tell you what I believe. I believe that none of those fears are true. I do not believe that this is the end of time. (If it is, I will be totally surprised and you can say “I told you so” for eternity.) I do not believe it is because God is angry with us (though He certainly has lots of reasons to be).
What I think is that this time is an opportunity for us to search for God in the midst of the chaos so that we may respond appropriately to Him. Our readings this weekend would seem to agree with me. In the first reading, God sent Samuel to go and anoint a king. Samuel looked at many brothers in a family thinking that each of them looked like “king material”. God told Samuel not to judge by appearances. Samuel ultimately anointed David.
In the second reading, the Ephesians were reminded that once they were in darkness and then they were in the light. They were reminded to view everything through the light of Christ. If they did so, they would be able to stay on the path that leads to the Kingdom.
We might not know what is happening with the virus pandemic. We may not know how it will all turn out. But, we do know that God is present to us. We just need to take our time and look for Him. Once we find Him, we need to follow Him unreservedly. He will steer us clear.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God to give you the grace of discernment so that you may know how to respond to Him today.