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Both Night Wind and Pastor Wilson have continued to embiggen the conversation that I touched on here in abornormally normal. I call this sort of thing, “solving the world’s problems” and it is probably best done in a pub over a pint of ale. It is unlikely you will solve any of the world’s problems, but hey, at least you’ll be in a pub having a pint with some friends, so it’s all good.

Laughing here, but it need not be a pub either, a coffee shop, a talking place, the point simply being, time spent in the company of friends, time spent in relationship hashing things out, really is how you solve all the world’s problems.

So Night Wind wrote a follow up post called, ”Normals, New Normals, and the Sense of Direction.” and Wilson has gone and written ”The Revolt of the Normals part two.”

As for me, the other night someone in my neighborhood decided to disturb the peace by having an uncontrolled detonation of some pipe bombs. Prayers for everyone involved because the injuries are likely quite serious and there was a child impacted. Besides giving my house a good shaking, there were hours of sirens and helicopters. I just mention it because as I was meditating on solving the world’s problems I was thinking, we really better get on it, I seem to be living in a blasted war zone.

Or perhaps not?? Perhaps the existence of first responders and fire trucks are signs of civilization, evidence that the world has not yet descended into complete chaos? Mr. Rogers, regardless of any flaws he may have had, once said that in times of chaos to, “look for the helpers.” That is one reason why sitting down to solve the world’s problems is such important “work.” Somebody out there is drowning and desperately looking about for the world’s helpers. Does anybody in the world even care? Is anybody out there trying to make it better?

I use the word “work” somewhat facetiously since we are sitting around talking, but “work” in this sense could be writing a novel or raising kids or planting a church or building a marriage. Or pouring coffee. Or perhaps chasing down cold case files because no one should ever go missing and be forgotten. Everybody deserves a name.

Back to the uncontrolled detonation. This is a small town, everybody knows everybody, and this guy is not a terrorist or evil or whatever. Obviously he’s foolish and now suffering major consequences, but not evil. So social media doesn’t care anything at all about human relationships or even about the truth. Social media cares mostly about gossip and political causes, opinions and alleged social justice. It’s very important for us to be aware of the fact that the media, including social media, presents a very distorted representation of reality.

The moral standard, the normal, the evidence that we still have some shared values around right and wrong worth fighting for, comes from living them out, walking them out, and demonstrating that we are His disciples by our love for one another.

That is how you revolt, or rage against the dying of the night, or as our pastor likes to say, that is how you fight right.