We live in the digital information age. There is more information now available on our smart phones than in many of the college libraries of a generation ago. Yet we are in a desperate race against forgetfulness. Each day a bit more of our brain space is captured by the distractions of video screens. Every hour the temptations to escape into pixels and fantasies beckon us to escape the current reality and to pay no mind to the past. What is true of this brave new world or any such utopian fancy is always this: the nature of the human has not changed. We want the same things that people wanted in ancient Egypt or Rome or Medieval times. We are the same concoction of dust and spirit of imagination and horror. What is missing is the memory of how to find our way out of darkness and into the light.
The goal of a missionary to America must now be just this: to bear witness to the Light. To call to remembrance the ancient truths that never change, the pathway that is ever narrow, the dream of liberty and love, of justice and peace of eternal life that begins in the present. As lofty as this mission sounds, it is lived out in daily random acts of kindness. It is driving the speed limit (not below it) and using a blinker, especially on the freeway. It is saying “thank you” and “you are welcome” (not “no problem”). It is leaving a decent tip at the local diner in respect for people who offer their service. Itis giving when the basket is passed. It is taking a moment in this Christmas season to think about that starry night in Bethlehem and remember the price the Creator paid to bring us back to Himself.
“In Him was life and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4)