Broken Humanity

For most of us, it feels like we’re living in uncertain times. Whether you believe in God or not, the world around us is the same for all. The cost of living is difficult for many. Our air, water, and lands are polluted. Crime is high and cybercrimes are increasing exponentially as I write.

These are uncertain times. But, I have to ask, has anything ever been certain in this world?

In the beginning, God created a perfect world. No crime, no financial problems, no pollution, no worries about anything. I’m sure everyone knows the story, but it bears mentioning, two people set this wrecking ball in motion.

The story of the fall of mankind set the stage for all interactions with human beings.

It is not uncommon to have smoke from forest fires in California affect the air quality in other states. Everything circulates, from contaminates in ground water to the skin cells that drift away when you scratch an itch. We are breathing air that has been polluted multiple ways, and the food we eat is contaminated by chemicals that have leeched into the soil through rain and watering.

Unless you process all of your foods at home, every can, bag, and box of food in your pantry, despite the best quality control efforts, may have contaminates such as skin cells, insect particles, or common dust. Most food processing facilities have extremely rigid cleanliness requirements. But just today I watched a video of a cottage cheese plant; the workers wore gloves and face masks, but I noticed the man bending over a processing vat wore short sleeves leaving the space between his sleeve and glove exposing skin and hair.

Words circulate in the same way as environmental effects. For instance, when a child attends a new school for the first time, what other students say to that child sets the stage for her future in that school and even beyond. Let’s look further.

Tina, (fictitious character) a second grader, lived in a small town in the south with a substandard education system. Her family moves to a large city in another state where the education standards are much higher. Academically Tina is behind the other students at her new school and has to repeat. Classmates call her inappropriate names related to her inferior educational history. Now Tina feels ostracized and inept in every area of her life. She turns to food for comfort and begins to gain wait. This leads to further bullying by her schoolmates. By the time Tina reaches full maturity, she is obese. Now she marries a man who also struggles with food addiction and they have children together. Because food brings them comfort, they constantly indulge their children with high calorie sweet and salty foods. Now we have an obese family because Tina was bullied.

We are all affected by our physical and emotional environments. And to some extent, we are all damaged. Humanity was broken the moment Satan said, “did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” In that instant, Eve began to doubt and her next action condemned humanity.

What brought you to Clinging to the Cross today? Are you hurting, looking for comfort? Are you angry, looking for peace? Are you depressed, looking for hope? Whatever it is, you’re not here by mistake.

The cross Jesus hung from to pay the penalty for our addiction to sin has rescued us from condemnation. No matter how broken we are, or whatever storms we face, we cling to the cross because we know the only answer is Jesus.

The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

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