Crisis du Jour

In the hectic paced life I find myself in, there is always a crisis du jour.  At least once a day, often more, I find myself in a situation that is out of control, on the verge of imploding, and seemingly disastrous.  Bad things do not always come, yet the threat of the catastrophe is real enough that one must stop, consider, and do something to mitigate the risk.  In these moments, prayer, hope, and luck are good things to hold onto.
 
I am not alone.  Most of the people I travel with on the subway are wearing some kind of religious symbol.  The cross, beads, book, attire, or strings seem to bring hope that transcends anything that the item is.  Often you find the individual ready, reflecting, or praying; unabashed in his or her need to find solace, direction, or a sense of duty fulfilled.  In many ways the sight gives me hope; New York is not a city where God has been forgotten, belittled, or abandoned.  God is present in ways most never imagined.  God is visible even though most, the religious included, refuse to see.  God is active, even as the community struggles with the life’s realities.
 
Included in this muddle are the gods of our own creation.  Those holding onto these gods are treating them much in the same way I do my own.  It was as if we are each an artisan, following the same path, conserving and uses the materials at hand.  The observer captures our story; “he still has half left for a god, made to his personal design—a handy, convenient no-god to worship whenever so inclined.  Whenever the need strikes him he prays to it, ‘Save me.  You're my god.’”  (Isaiah 44.17) 
 
There is more to your life and mine than a crisis du jour and a god of our own making.  We have an offer of Hope from a God engaged in our lives.  We have the ability to participate in the work of Divinity.  We can change our world, touching lives around us.