The Events of 2018...

Isn’t it amazing how current events are tabbed as significant to world history, but in the long run are not? Take the year 1809. The international scene was tumultuous. Napoleon was sweeping through Austria; blood was flowing freely. Nobody cared much for babies being born, but the world was overlooking some very significant births.

For example, William Gladstone was born that year. He was destined to become one of England’s finest statesmen. That same year, Alfred Tennyson was born to an obscure minister and his wife. The child would one day greatly affect the literary world in a marked manner. On the American continent Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Not far away in Boston, Edgar Allen Poe began his eventful, albeit tragic life. It was also that same year that a physician named Darwin and his wife named their child, Charles Robert.

That same year produced the cries of a newborn infant in a rugged log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. The child’s name? Abraham Lincoln.

If there had been news broadcasts at that time, I’m certain these words would have been heard: “The destiny of the world in being shaped on an Austrian battlefield today.” But history was actually being shaped in the cradles of England and America. Similarly, everyone thought Roman taxation was the big news – when Jesus was born. But a young Jewish woman cradled the biggest news of all: the birth of the Savior.

In this new year, we may have a tendency to let the current events color our perception of history. As the people mentioned above wielded great influence upon the world they lived in, so do each of us have that wonderful opportunity. They override the seemingly “major” events happening daily. Every day we have is a gift from God. Once it’s gone – it’s gone. The old Latin term: “Carpe diem” means to “seize the day.” The Bible aptly says it this way – “Make the most of your opportunities.” What would happen if all of us decided to make the most of every opportunity that comes our way? The answer is obvious - a changed world.

Carpe Diem,

Pastor Cliff