What does the future hold?

I had to go through a brief examination for a passport and as I did, the examiner realized that I had lived in a variety of places in our country. I told him that I was a pastor and that I had moved in my work with various churches. He kind of smiled and then said that his next question had nothing to do with the process. He was just wanted to know my opinion and he asked whether I thought we were in the “end times.” I said, “No,” and he responded with real surprise. His head snapped up and he smiled as he asked, “Really? With all the craziness out there?” I said, “I was told that no one knew and that we’d hear people saying, ‘It’s happening here’ or ‘It’s happening there,’ and that I shouldn’t believe that.” And he responded, “Well, I’m hoping that we aren’t as well, but…” And he just let it fade there, although he did approve me for the examination. There is a lot of craziness out there, isn’t there? We can get caught up in it all sorts of ways. One of the ways is to try to control it by the choices we make, trying to make ourselves secure. We can also try to figure everything out, to make ourselves feel like we know more than we can know. We can also just give into a fear of being in the “end times” and just hunker down and take care of ourselves and our loved ones. We can choose all sorts of things that separate us from other people, but that’s not what we’re are called to do or be. We’re called, regardless of the season of the world, to plant, to water, to grow, to harvest. We’re called to be involved in life and making life happen all around us. So, we can relax because no matter what happens or when it happens, we will always be in God’s hands, held and loved. Blessings, Geoff