Signs Of The Times

Wouldn’t it be nice to have signs at every intersection of life? “Go here.” “Don’t go there.” “Stay away.” “Good choice.” Wouldn’t life be easier, safer? Not really. I knew a kid once whose source of fun was to go around changing signs, redirecting, getting a laugh when someone drove down the wrong road because he had intentionally shifted the signs. He called it a prank. That’s not what the coroner called it when the cars were untangled. How about these signs that dot the landscape all around the world: human life redefined by climate shifts, or the stunning increase in the number of mass shootings each year, or the way the earth is redefining itself in light of human abuse? “Signs of the times” we call them with a shrug and a sigh. Some would say the signs are getting bigger and bolder. Cold metal signs lack something called conscience, the measure of moral values. There was a living, breathing, human sign in the world once. A person who offered to be a signpost at just about every life intersection you can imagine: economics, politics, relationships…nothing went unnoticed by this man. That’s right, the “man-sign” who spoke about justice and life’s value and how to get along with your neighbor. Anybody can paint a piece of metal with an arrow on it but only the Source of Life could show us how to live it. The only problem associated with this better way is that you have to engage mind, heart and a commitment to truth. Seems like that’s asking a lot of folks these days. Bigger numbers on Speed Limit signs don’t mean you’ll get there faster, especially if the arrow is pointed in the wrong way.