Proper Perspective
I just finished reading a great book about the aftermath of World War One. It’s based on fact and written from the perspective of a young British woman and her brother-in-law as they travel throughout the battlefields of northern France trying to find proof that indeed her husband (his brother) is among the dead. Twenty to twenty-two million soldiers and civilians died in that war; almost two million of those in France alone.
They travel from one destroyed village to another; on and on, following clues from letters and photographs. Some villages are filled with skeletons of buildings, some with nothing but piles of stone and brick and twisted barbed wire left behind by the advancing soldiers. But other villages are less than piles of rubble. The only remains are mounds of earth with an occasional brick or chunk of masonry protruding between weeds. I can only imagine the horrors that the citizens of these villages experienced at the moment they realized they had to flee. Some had time to pack belongings. Others left everything behind in order to escape with just their families. Many never escaped.
Why would I choose at this point in my life to read something so horrific? For perspective. That’s why.
Many years ago my husband and I moved with our toddler from an old fixer-upper house with about 2000 square feet to our tiny rental house of little more than 700 square feet. Soon after moving, I gave birth to our second son. I was delighted with our little family but I was not at all happy with our living conditions! I whined and fussed and lived in self-imposed misery. We had bought this tiny house to be used only as a rental house. I didn’t like it when we bought it and I never dreamed that we would ever live there.
Then I read Corrie ten Boom’s book, The Hiding Place. It changed everything! It’s a true account of her life during World War II. She, her father and her sister decided to help the Jews of Haarlem, a town in the Netherlands. The Nazis had overtaken Haarlem in 1940 forcing the Jews to hide or be rounded up and shipped off to concentration camps in Eastern Europe. The ten Boom family was eventually found out and sent to a Dutch prison. When news of the approaching allies reaches them, Corrie and her sister were sent to a concentration camp in Germany, where her sister died. Corrie remained there in horrific conditions until her release years later.
After reading that book I was ashamed of my whiney attitude. My eyes were opened to the blessings all around me every day of my life. My tiny little house turned from a hated abode to a treasured sanctuary. I could go to bed every night without the fear of bombs or enemy soldiers knocking at our door, barging in and arresting us. I could live without the fear of being separated from my husband or from our babies.
That historical perspective changed my life!
Today we are called to observe lockdown orders all over this country because of the rapid spread of Covid 19; social distancing, the closing of non-essential businesses, staying home unless we need to be out. Many grocery items are out of stock. Many people are losing their jobs and can’t pay rent or buy the things their families need. And add to that, the fear that this disease may strike home. Without a doubt, these are hard times for most of us.
But, perspective…. For most of us, this is Disneyland compared to what people have suffered throughout history.
We are still in our homes with our families. We still have food. We can go to bed at night without the fear of bombs or soldiers barging our doors down and hauling us off to prison. We have the freedom to worship, to pray, to read our Bibles, to talk freely about our faith. We have clean running water. We have electricity. We have the ability to communicate with our socially distant friends and family. On and on this list goes.
I love one of Corrie ten Boom’s quotes; “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”
The light at the end of the tunnel can be seen. Trust. Be still in God’s Presence. Be a blessing to those around you. Be a blessing on social media.
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalms 46:10,11)
