Worm

Yesterday afternoon when I got home from the office, I turned on the tv, which is my habit. What a bad habit. Even worse is that my first instinct upon turning on the tv is to cruise by the 24-hour news channels to see what's up in the world. Truly, I've got to stop.

I was greeted by Wolf Blitzer (what a great name) in "The Situation Room" on CNN www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/situation.room/. "The Situation Room" is without a doubt, hands-down, THE most scary news program I have ever seen. I can almost imagine the programming meeting at CNN when they sat around the table to discuss ways to pump up the ratings. The demographic studies in our post-9/11 world must show that nothing, and I mean nothing, can draw a crowd like some good old fashioned fear-mongering. I guess CNN decided that if they can't be the loudest, the most righteous, or the hippest, they can at least be the scariest. They're doing an awesome job.

Wolf Blitzer has really been working on his end-of-the-world, imminent-doom, massive-destruction-is-coming-to-your-neighborhood, news anchorman voice. Do you know the feeling you get in your stomach when you hear the "breaking news update" music interrupt your favorite evening tv show? For me, especially since 9/11, there is a moment when adrenaline and foreboding rush together right before the talking head delivers the story, whatever it may be. Somehow, the folks at CNN have managed to stretch that moment from 3 minutes to the entire 3 hours of Wolf's new show.

Yesterday's life-threatening emergency of the day was "the worm" called zotob http://news.ft.com/cms/s/112bcc04-0f0d-11da-8b31-00000e2511c8.html. Where had I been? I hadn't heard anything about this "worm" that was ravaging computers around the world. Already, Blitzer reported, computers at CNN, in the very room where he stood, were shutting down and refusing to operate. The worm was spreading from server to server, computer to computer. If someone didn't stop the madness soon, clearly, all would be lost! "A technological catastrophe of this magnitude could costs hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity and damaged equipment," we were told.

With great speed and intensity, CNN cut to the panel of experts they had gathered. "Microsoft says this is a 'low impact' threat," one man dared to say. Undaunted, Blitzer continued to whip up the frenzy. But then, another expert added, "This worm should only have potential to impact computers running Windows 2000, which is only 15% or so of all PC's out there." "And," he continued, "microsoft has already posted a security patch, and people can go download it right now." Blitzer remained grim, determined not to be softened by this unexpected outbreak of good news. "Still," he said, "we're talking about millions of computers that could be destroyed." I could take it no longer. What operating system did we run in the office? XP, I was sure....but still...it wouldn't hurt to do what I could to stop the menace. I got up, went back to work, and made sure our computers were safe for The Kingdom.

Fear really is a powerful motivator. Not much could have put me back in my car, heading back to the office once I was home with my family, but The Wolf and The Worm managed to do it. I went to microsoft.com and followed their instructions for locking SOTH's computers safely away from zotob. Before downloading the security patch, you're instructed to search all the files on your computer, to make sure that zotob isn't already lurking. With a few clicks, I was able to rest assured that all was well. A few more, and we were safely protected from the threat, even though we probably weren't at any risk from this particular worm in the first place. Even so, I could now go home in peace, at least for the moment.

TV news isn't the only place where fear is used to get ratings, response and reaction. Lots of churches and Christians fall prey to using it in the very same way. Fear of hell, fear of failure, fear of condemnation, fear of God...all of these are used to get people out of the doors and into the pews. Even worse, some people let fear become the primary foundation of their relationship with God. The problem, of course, is that you can't really have much of a relationship with someone (or some God) when you're convinced that they're just looking for all the ways you don't measure up, so that they can smash you, burn you up, or otherwise throw you out into eternity's landfill.

So what does a positive experience of Christian faith in God look like? Maybe it looks more like a microsoft security patch than a doom-and-gloom news anchor. What I mean is --- maybe a little piece of God's love is already out there, just waiting to be downloaded. Maybe the worms of jealousy, low self-worth, hatred, bigotry, dishonesty and greed really can be stopped before they infect us all. It will take more than a few mouse clicks of work before we begin to see the results of God's healing in our lives, but it really can happen. Growth, healing and maturity happen moment by moment, day by day, as we become disciples of the one who loves us completely.

If you haven't done it yet today, take a moment to pray. If you've had a moment to read this article, maybe there's another moment to tell God where you hurt, to name the battles you're facing, to ask forgiveness for the times that pain and confusion have caused you to hurt other people. Maybe there's just a moment to find some scripture, and to listen closely for the strength and wisdom it seeks to give. Bill Gates is great and all, but God's security patch is even better.

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love." 1 John 4:18
http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=1+John+4&vnum=yes&version=nrsvae

USEFUL STUFF:

From time to time, I hope that we can share ideas and tools that are helpful for developing our walk with Christ. If you happen to have that "moment" I talked about to spend a little time in prayer, give this site a try -- www.sacredspace.ie/.

This is a prayer site run by Irish Jesuits, and uses an age-old method of devotion called Lectio Divina, a process of thoughtful reflection on scripture. You can follow the prompts and go at your own pace. It's something that I've found helpful in my own life, and I thought you might find it useful too. The site changes every day and it's a great way to read more scripture.

Do you have sites, tools or methods that help your faith grow stronger? Send me an e-mail and let me know if you've got something you want to share. I'll put everything together and post it for next week.

LIFE AT SOTH:

Don't forget, we'll have our first big Wednesday night dinner on August 31, 6:30 pm. No agenda, except to have a great time together. More specifics to come next week.

Also, don't forget God Is Closer Than You Think, the book study that we'll begin on Wednesday night, September 14. Sign-up will begin this Sunday at church, and we'll take orders for the book.

See you this Sunday --- Adam