Growing up, I loved Americana puzzles where little communities were pictured bustling about with horse and carriages and iconic purposes. No matter the weather or the theme, each one stirred up comfort and peaceful simplicity in my soul. It’s right next door in my mind to the song Sleigh Ride where a visit to the neighbors was a glorious treat on a snowy day. It’s true that our modern life hasn’t been much like that for decades now, but we still look for that collective nostalgia of what (we imagine) life used to be like and, in some ways, might be again. Even though life is a lot different, in some ways we look at images or icons as a sort of foundation that the modern world has been built on. The Disney movie Cars is a tribute to what used to be on Route 66. Maybe for you it’s a classic movie or vintage Coca Cola decorations. As Americans, we have a host of historic events and messages that have functioned as a security fence around us. Especially as Christian Americans, many of us have felt exceptionally blessed and protected by this country because of the freedom we exercise in worshiping God. As we should.

The unfortunate reality, though, is that our foundation in this life has become infested with weakness and disease, as it were. While there are many neutral or even good things our society has been built on over the years, there’s quite a bit that is clearly starting to crumble, thus letting the world wash us away.

Foundation defined: 1) the lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground level.

2) an underlying basis or principle

By either definition, a foundation needs to be strong and permanent in order to support everything that comes after or is built upon it. I grew up in an age where it was socially common and acceptable to call your self a Christian. Which kind didn’t matter all that much and persecution didn’t exist beyond a funny look. Calling yourself a Christian was common, but was that the foundation for people’s lives? Is being a disciple of Christ the foundation of our lives today? I would be embarrassed to say no. Wouldn’t you? But as much of our society is shifting and falling to the wayside, have we started teetering? Has our foundation actually been things like American politics, social acceptance, sports, modern medicine, and Hollywood? I can tell you that our comfort as Americans has certainly hinged on these things, far more than we would like to admit.

I didn’t write a new year post (mostly because everybody in the world got sick), but this might be as close as I get. The past 2 years have been a mess, that we can agree on. What we likely won’t entirely agree on is who’s to blame, what needs fixing and where to go with this next year because for so many of us, our world has been flipped on its head and the weak and temporary foundations are crumbling on us. Our government/media/medical establishment is proving it has no business being a foundation for our lives. They are full of flawed humans that don’t get it right even half the time. Celebrities/athletes/influencers are still flawed humans who are likely to succumb to the world’s promises and reject God’s immovable truth. We have proven that the opinion of our peers holds a hefty amount of weight, often above the search for truth. Some of the realizations or public admissions that are starting to circle about the state of affairs we are in (masks, weakening viruses, natural immunity, general health principles) are showing the mistakes that were made. But did you know that there have been people all over the world arguing for these truths from the beginning? There was truth out there, but a good many of us weren’t really interested in truth as much as we wanted to be right in public opinion and sought protection in some other entity. And to be fair, all of this has been so heavy and so much that we’ve often just been walking around in shock over it all, haven’t we?

From the halls of education to the chaos of social media, our culture has handed the battle over to the devil. We just can’t assume that the doctor/teacher/politician - even mechanic! has our best interest and God’s truthful perspective anymore. I’m not saying there aren’t good people working for your good, I’m saying you cannot check your brain at the door and expect there to be no problems. If there is one thing I pray for all of us this year, it is this: I pray that we can muster the courage to clear away the rotting foundations that we’ve grown accustomed to and pour another pure one that is made of truth. Yes, that sounds like searching the scriptures daily, like the Bereans, but it also looks like taking concepts we hear and then investigating. Ask the doctor way more questions to see the limits of their understanding, invest time in that teacher to see if your worldviews match up, determine where the leaders biases are before accepting their premise. And when the truth doesn’t match the opinions of the host around us, I pray we have the courage to say so and make the changes necessary. Do what is best for your family, for your marriage, your health, for your child’s education, for your congregation’s spiritual growth, whatever it is, in light of God’s principles and truths. Build this life you have - this one life - on a foundation of truth instead of a foundation of cultural popularity, social tradition, or political bias.

As our family has stumbled into 2022, we’re seeing the good, but also taking stock of the neglected. Despite the disarray in our country, I’m excited about my marriage. We’re not perfect but we’re farther along than when we started! I’m excited about my kids education and the co-op they get to grow in. As we go into middle school years next year with my oldest, I am so thankful for positive peer pressure he’s already being exposed to. I turned 42 this month and I’m working on myself more than ever before. It’s hard, it’s not over, but its great at the same time. I’m excited about possibilities! But, if we were listening to the news, the mobs opinion, the social chatter, very little of this would be our life because they all scream against critical thinking and intentional living.

We were all caught sleeping with this shock of societal shifts when the virus came to town. But now that we’re awake, let’s reconsider what we should be putting our trust and faith in.