“13 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Signs of the End of the Age 3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mark 13:1-13 ESV)

News stories fly high and circle the globe, but our Rock is never shifted by such tradewinds.  The servant-minded amongst us; whose duty is it to get “that thing” done around here? Is it Michael’s or Robert’s, Amy’s or Rebecca’s? We would individually be Happy as clams if the lot fell on us, together-minded as to the Needful exorcisms and enactments, things “done” that nary a soldier can quite explain back at home, except that they saw War.

These things are the risky Peace gestures, the checkpoint Manned and the soup spoonfed to the babe in arms. Our cadence, our Posture, is reckoning on strong legs, firm positioning, ghostly Presence as though something surreal were underway. To some, we are that strange passing vision of a Person of Interest, we are Surprise and Mesmerizing for This Day’s decisions made and duties undertaken. We are There: in the field, watching the temptation to boast or go rogue, the temptation in the crowd, rather, in the high-up offices of presidents and politicians, to cut with a knife, thinking it somehow Okay if it is like a hot knife through butter.

Such was Christ’s own crucifixion, a knife carelessly brandished by the Jews who shouted Crucify. It was a little too easy, perhaps, and that being because those Jews following Him, the chosen Twelve, the chosen Five Hundred, the chosen Three Thousand, it was a rare honeymoon or fancy cruise of the Spirit, to have had these borrowed hours with the Christ. It was butter cut through with a hot knife, that began the two millennia of difficulties and persecutions, as that Name was lifted high—sometimes innocently and other times as the speaker’s own Cross to bear.

News stories fly high and we are Centered by the Rock. We are learning on the go, standing on a young fawn’s hesitant new legs, somehow Persevering in what is Delicate, notwithstanding the attempts to do all things with gusto and bravery. Our ghosts, the War we saw firsthand and those “Things” we got done, our part of the unthanked ballast brung home. But not weighed down, we recollect only that we saw into the eyes of those doomed to die. We saw things that quickly made men of us, made women of us, and murmured a bit of demuring when the children asked what it was like. Some things, a good little story is called for but we… we brought the Gaze home with us, and in any case Today is already the next war to win.

The news stories are more Real and Present than we might, in our little corner of the world, realize. We will soon be Tested, by being that rich nation and people group, the first world, the “West” to some, and a pan-cultural Wealth to others, East meets West included, of people who Decide and Vote and Clamor for one turn of events or another: we Decide who and when to invade, where to intervene, how to ameliorate the situations so dastardly but seen in the news. And our hope… is that our readiness, not from long fastings or holiness of life per se, but from some Encounter that we do well somehow, prayerfully, not to lose sight of… some Encounter is our Invite to thrive and make the judicious Call. Notwithstanding that tough us is rather meek and quite around the campfire. Tough us is rather bravely upholding the Truth of a gentler side to things. Tough us is Youthful, barely eighteen perhaps, and eager from some tutor to Learn, but also already Certain her or his experience with grace is a one-off shot, prepped and primed by the gracious Teaching for the hour, uniquely Called to Decide and to Act, to Fight and to Pray.