“25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matt 6:25-34 ESV)
Two-mindedness, duality, already and not yet. Man’s destiny is Already writ in stone and on the front page. Man’s destiny is Not Yet fully stepped into. Some exclamation point—McLuhan the sociologist and technologist (of Roman faith) called nuclear bombs the exclamation point that terminated world war—some exclamation point freeze-frames that Hour when we first not only Believed (which is possible prior to judgment day) but were Transmogrified into celestial beings. All have died. Some have seen the flickering Progression of Time, continue so that what was died to on spiritual terms, is now died to in reality.
Our freeze-frame is the start of a conflict wherein we in that frozen moment salvage So Much innate goodness and Hopefulness. It freezes there to mark the end of an era, an era of cities and communities motoring along, humming along with promise of opportunity if you’re willing to work, and of judgment day when your defense will be heard and taken into account. It freezes, because in Wartime suddenly “all have died”. All are facing annihilation. All are ending the reliable prospects.
Fidelity to a cause, this means some elegant Dance with prospects. With the prospectus of life Tomorrow. A sad sliding scale wherein some are in dastardly Opposition to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some are already corrupt; we ourselves warm up and start to feel Saintly around here… some are incapable of taking the nose plunge into Repentance leading unto Life.
Why does this matter? There are more avenues for future thought than one might imagine. Weird new humanity, A.I., robotic limbs… do we honor the human body as sacrosanct, as a blueprint of time-tested, eons of logic and reason and survival of the fittest? Or do we forget the lessons of Scripture just like we forget the lessons of its first book, the Creationism therein?
Our freeze-frame is a poetic Comment upon the “Job well done!” as heard by those faintly, of new life, recently passed and on to Eternity. Our freeze-frame is an invite to make ready the table (can you hear all of a sudden the music resumes, the frames flicker on in the dim cinematic light?). To make ready the table because Each One gave their all, and more, their plus one, their salinity and sanguinity.
To be shriven, it is not unlike learning just how and with what devices we can approach the Father. We learn the hard way, He doesn’t indulge cute factors and juvenile appeals. He hears us as children, but He expects us to Serve and Dutifully Decide all on our own. He cannot have His hand forced, like we do to a parent in this world, by our complaints or logical reasons for appealing. Mom and dad, they might have heard us whimper “it isn’t fair!” and half the time had their heart melted and duty call to Reward the faith of the child, their Appeal, their Testament to Reason and Logic. But the Father Above, He is for our Mature State of Affairs. He leaves us with Live Ammo. He has a seat already designed for us, way beyond anything we could envision or imagine ourselves worthy for. But then the culprit, the inimical spirit, raises ruckus, makes a tantrum, about their “duly deserved” audience with the Most High. “You can’t handle the truth…”, we might respond.
Because He is Master of Arms, and the Servant-Minded leader of that Freeze Frame, fully knowledgeable as to the intel around what the enemy possesses, and determined to fight wars on known quantities: His plan, His life experience, His regular outlay, is as Victor-In-Chief. We are therefore Victors, who believe in Him. Because we saw the Enemy lay down weapons and Engage, in the cinematic light, in the meeting room tolerated, in the summit attended, on Spiritual Terms. We saw Prayer… no one wants War, yet all are capable of the lunge or thrust, that can ID evil or can ID friendly fire. We lunge, we thrust, but our caprice or our capacity for error, is measured out and meted out in Service to the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who is all-things Peace and Feng Shui.
It is no accident God gave us limbs and minds, smiles and frowns, Readiness in the freeze-frame Hour, to Engage with Tomorrow in reckless abandon. To engage in determined Purpose. To engage because the escape valve… the life compromised yet still moments of Mirth, of Joy, of Gratitude, of Repentance-Leading-Unto-Life, are ours to own.