This Crazy World!
The world is CRAZY! I mean just plum whacked out! I bet you didn't need me to break that bit of news now did you? Surely you see it too! Worse yet, you have likely experienced it in one form or another — perhaps even today! It truly doesn't take long for the world's "crazy making" machinery to shift into gear and create havoc for multiple someones all over this planet!
The fact that the world is crazy is just one of the reasons I write about Living in the Meantimes — both the "mean time" events that set into motion our tussles with the crazy world and the "time-between-times" as we learn to create and live within a new normal as a result of our encounters. My primary purpose is to promote powerful possibility living in the face of these crazy times!
As much fun as I have tackling this challenge, I must admit that the craziness really gets to me from time to time! I find myself shaking my head in disbelief — incredulous about the events in our world! Not even Calgon can take me away from it all! It seems to press in from all sides as well as the top and bottom! I feel trapped by its persistent pushing!
Help?
And help? Well, there are times when it seems that even God (if you believe in him – or her as some of my dear friends say – or some other deity) has trouble with this crazy world! Even the Creator has his (or her) hands so full of craziness that our small, seemingly insignificant lives appear lost in the fray.
Perhaps one of the best songs to come out in recent time that addresses these issues is the Brooks & Dunn Song, God Must Be Busy — nominated for a Grammy this year! The words go like this:
God Must Be Busy
That anchor man says they're fighting again
Somewhere in the Middle East
The world prays for peace
There's a single mom, just got laid off
Went and lost her job to some foreign hands
In some faraway land
Last night in Oklahoma
Some twister took thirteen
And they're praying that they find the missing three
God must be busy
That highway sign went from slow ahead
To traffic's dead, thought it couldn't get worse
Then that Amber alert
They say she's 4, Colorado plates
Heading out-of-state in a Chevy van
It's hard to understand
You can see it in the faces
Of all those highway strangers
They're praying that God keeps that girl from danger.
God must be busy
And I know in the big picture
I'm just a speck of sand
And God's got better things to do
Than look out for one man
I know He's heard my prayers
'Cause He hears everything
He just ain't answered back or He'd bring you back to me
God must be busy.
That evening news, ain't much changed
Pretty much the same since I left home
Yeah, that war's still on
They found that little girl
She was soaking wet, half scared to death
On the side of some road
Them prayers work ya know
And the bloods and crips are at it,
And there's a killer drought down south
And old folks can't afford the drugs they can't live with out
God must be busy.
And I know in the big picture
I'm just a speck of sand
And God's got better things to do
Than look out for one man
I know He's heard my prayers
'Cause He hears everything
He just ain't answered back or He'd bring you back to me
God must be busy.
That anchorman says the fighting's worse,
Cities burn in the Middle East
The world prays for peace
Songwriters: Daniels, Clint Allen; Heeney, Michael P;
Performed by Brooks & Dunn
And recorded on the album CowboyTown.
Let's Get Crazy Too!
The first time I heard the song, it brought tears to my eyes and I wasn't quite sure why. It took a while for me to discover the reason for the tears – then it hit me! The song stirred that part of me that resides in each of us — the part that wants to be recognized and valued — the part that believes there is more to life than craziness — the part that stands in defiance of the oncoming tank and draws a line that cannot be crossed!
I call that part "craziness!" Now don't go getting tied up in your own underwear! I mean "craziness" in a good sort of way! Without this particular brand of counter-craziness, the world would win! Perhaps you have heard the phrase that says, "All that is necessary for evil to overcome the world is for enough good men to do nothing!" Good men and women have to possess counter-craziness in order to run headlong into the oncoming behemoth of world craziness believing that they can make a difference!
I recently became aware of a battle tactic employed by the Knights Templar. Even though they were often outnumbered, they would dispense a small group of their number and send them charging ahead in a tight cluster on horseback with the express purpose of disrupting the opposition and dividing the enemy into two more manageable groups to fight. They were reckless; fearless; CRAZY as they rode into overwhelming odds. More often than not, the abandon with which they carried out their task caught the enemy so off guard that they were successful beyond belief! I guess for you football fans, they were the precursor to wedge blocking on kickoff returns! This is the kind of counter-craziness that takes the "mean times" of life and sets them on their heels!
What in the world would cause me to write about craziness in the midst of the Holidays — whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever other Holiday you observe? Well, during a time when the World's Craziness threatens to extinguish hope, you and I can tap the power of our Counter-Craziness, hold high the light of hope and make a difference against great odds!
I am crazy right now!
- Crazy enough to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel — regardless of how long or dark that tunnel might be!
- Crazy enough to believe that standing for the rights of others will make a difference!
- Crazy enough to believe that sincerely asking for restoration can indeed bring desperation to its knees!
- Crazy enough to believe that we are wise enough to know that even in hard times, love and peace abound when material goods do not!
- Crazy enough to believe that when light is shed on needs, we will respond from our hearts to meet those needs — even when we are tempted to turn our heads for fear of lack in our own lives.
- I . . . AM . . . CRAZY!
The Challenge
How crazy are YOU right now? Crazy enough to look around at this time of year and step into the fray on behalf of someone less able to do so? Crazy enough to honestly seek answers to personal problems that have hounded you for far too long? Crazy enough to give even though giving will stretch your resources? Crazy enough to step outside the box and give your God a hand — to ease some of the busyness?
During this Holiday Season when all manner of the world's craziness threatens to overwhelm our senses and lives, what would it hurt to participate in a little "counter-craziness" and make a life-altering difference?
Until next time . . . Peace . . . and Craziness!
Mark
Copyright 2008 Mark E. Hundley
