The Gospels tell the story of a desperate dad who brought his demonized son to Jesus for deliverance. While Jesus was up on the mountain, the man came looking for him. Failing to find him, he prevailed upon the remaining disciples for help. Their efforts came to nothing, and as Jesus came down the mountain, the man met him with his desperate plea.
For the past year governments around the world have been trying to control a public health emergency by curtailing liberties most of us would never have thought we would have to give up.
In an authoritarian state like China, the government simply imposes what measures it wants and people have to submit. In democratic nations, it’s a little harder than that. You have to persuade people to go along.
Pressure reveals the person.
It’s always when things are tough and the stress piles on that what’s underneath emerges.
When all our kids were young and I was running a church office out of my home, the phone often rang right in the middle of some kind of family pandemonium. Our daughter Anna used to yell “Quiet!” at the top of her lungs, then in the ensuing moment of silence would pick the phone up with an ultra-competent voice saying, “Campbell’s. How can I help you?” No one ever knew what had been going on a split second before.
