Acts 17: Uproar – Part II
Monday, May 15, 2023
Unhealthy competition brings about a kind of chaos in the sound; it becomes impossible to find inner peace and community serenity. How then, can we see God’s presence in the work of Paul, a former persecutor of Jesus’ followers? How then do we understand the kind of uproar that Jesus’ life and words so often engender?
Each time we stand up for the marginalized, we bring about God’s uproar. When bridges are built over chaos and disarray, when wounds are healed, when differences reconciled, we enter in God’s uproar. Once we look carefully at the tumult around us, we begin to realize that there is a fine difference the chaos of darkness with its attendant prejudices, the transformation of God’s uproar.
When we become doers of the word and not hearers only, as St. James tells us in his letter, we call people out of their comfort zones. We cause God’s uproar.
When we ask questions about our own treasure trove, as Matthew and Peter suggest we do, we also ask others to think about the value of the wealth they have amassed. We cause God’s uproar.
When we meet and overcome our own fears and do what others are afraid to do, we cause God’s uproar.
When we live in true charity with one another to pray for our enemies, when we refuse to conform to corruption, we cause God’s uproar.
When we insist on being open to possibilities without giving in to abuse, we cause God’s uproar.
When we tell of the marvels that God has wrought in our own lives, when we insist on reminding ourselves and others of Christ’s good news, we cause God’s uproar.
Like Paul, when we enter a town and begin to tell the marvelous news that we do not have to retain the chains that imprison our bodies, minds and souls, we can expect pandemonium. It is up to us to examine the din and the tumult to discover its origin, and if the upheaval is God’s we only need persevere and hold tightly to our hope. Sometimes, like Paul, we will move on to the next town or to the next situation; but always – even through the devastation of earthquakes and the violence of storms – we will be accompanied by Christ’s light . . . we will know that we have entered into God’s uproar, and that all will be well.
Consider God’s uproar and read the NY Times review of Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life by O.E. Wilson, biologist. Wilson is professor emeritus at Harvard and the winner of two Pulitzer prizes. Or consider the Audubon Society’s perspective at: https://www.audubon.org/magazine/september-october-2015/eo-wilson-wants-us-leave-half-earth
Visit the EO Wilson Foundation, click on the images above for more information, or watch a PBS episode on Wilson’s bold proposal at: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/how-to-save-life-on-earth-according-to-e-o-wilson/
Images from: https://theoutsidernews.com/articles/2016/03/28/finally-benchmark-preserving-biodiversity-%E2%80%93-half-earth and http://eowilsonfoundation.org/guest-blog-eo-wilsons-vision-for-protected-and-interconnected-wild-landscapes/
Adapted from a favorite written in September 28, 2009.
The Noontimes 