Facebook, so safe and secure, has become a haven of hate. It's safe to post whatever we want about whatever we want and when we do it we are often toxic and caustic and say things we would never say face to face.
Most people will assume I am referring to the political season we are in, clearly the ugliest and most cruel season the United States has yet experienced. I have to admit, I myself have been sucked into being caustic at times, in spite of the fact that when I see people face to face, I try not to be that way.
But in all honesty, this necromancer has reared his hateful head long before we started debates about who would be our next national leader.
There's something like schizophrenia that seems to happen when we get our fingers on a keyboard and, from the safety of our homes, spew out ugly words feeling certain we are not going to suffer any or very many consequences. And we may not suffer personal consequences; but there are consequences and those may even be on a national level.
Will we be able to repair the damage we are doing to ourselves?
Even as dark as the cloud that hovers over our country is, I think there is still hope.
As I walked this morning in the beautiful rain, I began to think of something J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in The Land of Shadow, from The Return of the King:
"….(Sam) crawled from the hiding-place and looked out. The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or of foot. Far above the Ephel Dúath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach…"
Almighty God cannot be defeated, no matter who tries. Jesus is still King of all kings, and Lord of all lords; and is even Lord over our president no matter who that person turns out to be, whether that person believes in God or not.
I think back on all the darkest times of history and I see one thing that happens: those who are in power – whether for good or evil – are only in power for a short time. They cannot last.
The Bible, God's inerrant Word, is still with us and will be with us. No one can destroy it, even though, down through the ages, plenty of people have tried.
So, the next time you see the stars, high and far and beautiful, always remember, the darkness cannot win.