The Bug Man Cometh

July 16, 2024
Beloved:
           All I said was the bug man will be here sometime this morning before my toddler grandgirl lost her everloving mind and climbed me like a kitten wailing, “Noooo, pleeease.  I don’t like the bug man!”  I don’t know who or what she imagined, but my bug man is a perfect gentleman.  He stops by every summer to make sure I have no termites.  He also came by last spring to see the one termite I found crawling on my sleeve as I sat on my couch.  He was deemed a loner, probably hitched a ride inside on the dog.  Fruit flies are my only pests these days, and I’ve about got them under control.*

           I never learned of what E. was so afraid.  She actually likes most bugs, but I reckon the name BugMan sounds pretty villainous to her ears.**  And she’s hardly alone in her terror of things that sound true.  I can barely read the news these days, for the anxiety churned in me.  The mendacity and violence terrorizing our culture are difficult to reject in favor of the life of hope and peace and service offered by our faith.  Giving in to the paralysis of fear is just easier sometimes, and it’s always a choice, of course.  But never a solution, especially for we who claim our being in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14).

           When the news sends us into panic, just like the toddler with her grandmother, we can cling to the promises and presence of God, whose kingdom never fails.  Our primary citizenship is in this kingdom where power’s purpose is service to the least among us and liberty reigns for everyone all the time.  In this kingdom all the faith and hope and courage we will ever need is stockpiled, not so that we won’t be afraid, no, so we can help.  So that when we read the news, we read it with the lament appropriate to a world coming undone, with the faith that our lives are secure in the will of God for humanity, with the hope of a future not determined by the fickle politics and powers of this world and with the courage of people who have nothing in this world to fear.

           We are victims of nothing or nobody this side of heaven, friends.  We have everything we need to work for the good and right and decent way of life God intends for all creation, humanity most of all.  The way this world is need not be the way this world continues.  Not if people with the heart and mind of Christ can take hold of ourselves and the faith we already claim.  I pray this week is kind to you and you find opportunities to love your neighbor, hugely.
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~ peace & prayers, 
pastor annette

​*My current favorite fly trap (fruit flies, houseflies, stink bugs, lady bugs) is this one.  It is the stickiest thing you’ve ever touched.  Comes in packs of 2 for about $12.  Works as well as vinegar or dish soap but with way less mess.  Lasts a really long time.  I set it on my counter near the sink.

**Turns out BugMan is Michelangelo’s favorite comic book superhero on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.