Our Future is Bright

 

This must be a new addition to the neighborhood, for how could I have missed something so interesting sitting atop an eight foot privacy fence along my regular route? From a distance it appeared to be something alien, or at the very least a drone, resting from a mission. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it to be a weather station. I must admit, I would have preferred something alien, but a weather station is still pretty cool.

The owner of this home clearly pays attention to the weather. My guess is that they keep track of wind speed and temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. Perhaps they use the information to develop their own forecasts, comparing them to the daily reports on the local news. I wonder if this has been a longtime passion or a new interest of the owner. I wonder if gathering all this information is useful, or does it go unused.

We live in a time when there is no shortage of information available to us. I have a friend who, every time a question to which neither person knows the answer arises in conversation, asks, “What if we had at our finger tips a device that offers all the information in the world?” Then he takes out his phone. Funny, but true. We are drowning in information, some accurate, some erroneous. The real issue is to both seek information and, in discerning ways, use that information for good - both our own good and for the good of others.

In the Book of Proverbs we read these words, “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

It takes work to find the truth. It takes real commitment to understand and apply what we learn. We may not be able to forecast our future with accuracy; life does not work that way and there is no spiritual weather station compiling data for us. But we know a God who is love and who offers us knowledge and the wisdom to put that knowledge to use. So, in spite of the storms that may come, our future is bright in the love of God.

Peace.