World

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Your World May Not Be As Colourful As Usual

My part of the world is not as clear as it normally is and there is nothing I can do about it.

your world may not be as colourful as usual

I’ve heard people talk about having cataracts. They say that everything looks a little cloudy or muted, that colours are not as vibrant. 

I find that to be true when I wear sunglasses. If I’ve worn them for a while while driving, sometimes I need to pull them down to see what things really look like, if conditions have changed since I put my sunglasses on. I may not have noticed that the sun is no longer as glaring as it had been.

In some ways you miss out when you are wearing sunglasses. You don’t see the world in all its explosive glory.

I get that we need to protect our eyes from the rays of the sun and, frankly, sometimes the sun is just too bright.

I remember when I worked for a delivery company years ago. There was one day a week that I began my day at 7:30 am, travelling east on the 401 to Oshawa. In the summer months, at that time the sun was rising above the horizon. 

Traveling on the highway was dangerous without sunglasses. 

First there was the intense, yellow ball of fire that was shining straight in your face like one giant high beam headlight. It was so intense you could barely look at it. 

It was blinding.

But then there was its glare on everything else – other vehicles, the road, any flat surface. 

It was hard to see the lines on the road. It was easy to mistake where the cars around you were. 

I had to be so careful during those trips. I remember that on those days, I couldn’t afford to forget my sunglasses. 

But that is not the case right now in my area.

For the last week or so, the world famous sunsets at Sauble Beach have been rather mediocre.

Usually you never go a day or two without seeing some kind of spectacular sunset over Lake Huron. 

When I scroll through the photos I’ve taken over the years, there are large portions with bright, rich, jaw-dropping sequences of colour that flash by as I scroll.

They are my sunset photos and I have a ton of them … because almost every night I can snap some pics of a sunset I’ve never seen before. 

Now, however, there have been some fires in Northern Ontario. Though we don’t notice much in the daytime, at night, around sunset, the sun is not as bright. 

It’s like the sky has cataracts and its colours are muted – like in the 80’s when pastels were in. 

The rich oranges, pinks, blues and purples have been replaced with softer versions that kind of fade as the sun goes down. 

They are not transforming the sky like they normally do.

Here’s the thing: Our world has been muted over the last year or so. It has not been the same. We all feel like it’s temporary, this muted world of ours. We don’t know when it will end, nor does it seem to be coming to a close really soon. There doesn’t seem to be much we can do. There is one thing, however, and that is to turn to the Bible. The Bible can clear away the particles in our world that keep it muted. God’s word can give you a clear picture of what is to come and how to prepare. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What part of your life seems muted to you right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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We Need More Insiders In Our World

Insiders can really make a difference in explaining things that the general population doesn’t know or understand very well.

This past week I watched an NFL game on TV; the colour commentator was Tony Romo.

For those who don’t have a clue who Romo is, he just retired as quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. You could definitely consider him an insider to the game of football.

For most of his life he’s lived and breathed football. Most of his waking hours found him playing or thinking about the game.

It was his job.

Now it’s his job to give insight to the viewers into what’s happening on the field.

Romo is amazing at it! He gives insights into what the offence and coaches are thinking and going to do next. He provides information – almost like a guru – on how a defence needs to react to the play that’s being called.

And he lets you in on what is going through the head of the quarterback as he calls plays and stands behind the center, ready to receive the ball.

He is amazing at his job! – did I say that already?

I found myself totally into the game he was calling, watching for what he was predicting was going to take place. The game I watched was such a blowout, however, that in the fourth quarter the network switched the telecast to another game.

I was more disappointed to miss Tony Romo’s insider information than I was to see the end of the game.

Football is not the only place we have insiders, though. It seems like there are insiders in every walk of life, speaking to almost everything that takes place.

Sometimes those insiders only give us gossip that may or may not be true … but it sure seems like it’s correct when they are telling us.

There are also insiders who speak about things even though they don’t seem to fit the insider model … like when a movie star gives his or her political, moral or religious view about something.

For some reason they come across as insiders even on topics that aren’t their field of expertise.

For someone to be a real insider, he or she needs to have some kind of experience or learning, or even better – both.

Like Tony Romo – he immersed himself in football from a young age and continued to learn and play the game through high school, college and at the professional level.

When you hear him call a game, you know he didn’t just play a position; he has studied the game and knows it inside out.

He’s an expert … That’s what an insider really is – someone who has so thoroughly immersed him or herself in something that he or she gives amazing insights.

Romo is a good reminder to me to be particular about who I consider an insider: someone I want to take commentary from and believe it to be the truth.

Here’s the thing: If you have faith in Jesus Christ, you are an insider because you have experienced something that changed your life. You know something that many people don’t know about and have not experienced. But you will only show yourself to be an insider if you immerse yourself in your faith. You have to be a student of God’s. Learn God’s word, read it, study it, memorize verses. Then when the game is on, you can give insights that will truly enlighten, amaze, and help.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you an insider to? Leave your comments below.

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The World Is Taking Notice Of Canada

The world has taken notice of Canada … again. Though Team Canada beat the USA in the World Hockey Championships preliminary round the other day, that’s not what the world has its eyes on.

fort-mcmurray-fire

We have a fire raging in and around Fort McMurray and 80,000 people have been evacuated from that city. The pictures and videos are horrifying and spectacular all at the same time.

Scenes of cars driving on highways with 50-foot flames raging all around – unbelievable!

They’re like video clips from a disaster movie. I don’t particularly like disaster movies, and this fire is certainly something no one wants to see have a long run.

There are some who are concerned for all Canadians, however, these people don’t really have a good grasp of our nation’s geography.

The runaway fire is in one small region of the province of Alberta. Fort McMurray is about 2800 kilometres from Kingston, where I live… but that’s a straight distance; driving distance is over 4000 kilometres. I could almost drive to Miami, Florida and back again covering that distance.

So, for most of Canada, this fire isn’t lapping at its door. It is for the people of Fort Mac and its severity has people all over the world watching.

What they really should be interested in – what the world needs to focus on – is how the people of Alberta have rallied to support and help those who are fleeing their homes and city.

My former church, Beulah Alliance, has opened its doors and arms to those who have sought refuge in Edmonton, providing shelter, food, and basic needs. But that’s just one church.

Albertans everywhere are reaching out to their fellow citizens in an amazingly, generous fashion. I heard one company owner is even providing work in Edmonton for one of his Fort McMurray employees who has been evacuated there. That’s over 500 km’s from where he regularly works!

Story after story of acts of kindness keep being reported. As amazing as the images of this fire have been, it’s nowhere near as amazing as the tales people are telling of how good others have been to them.

The citizens of Fort Mac won’t forget this catastrophe, but they also won’t forget how they have been treated either.

I just hope the world sees more than the fire pictures. I hope they get to see the giving and the thankfulness as well. It’s the “we can help” attitude that I think is so inspiring. You don’t see that every day.

I guess it takes something like this disaster to bring out the best in people. And the world is seeing Canada at its best, even in the midst of the tragedy of an out-of-control forest fire.

By the way, Team Canada plays Belarus next. I wonder if the world is watching?

Here’s the thing: When tragedy strikes, what we look for is help. We are desperate for help; we are more readily accepting of help. Sure, our neighbours can lend a hand and our family and friends will be there with support. But there is no greater help available to us than that which God can provide. It makes sense to seek His help, to seek His presence in our dire straights. It even makes sense to seek Him when there is no tragedy, no disaster. He is always waiting to give us the support we need.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What could you do to help someone today? Leave your comment below.