“I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that. I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.” 1 Corinthians 7:26-31

School Shooting Number 13:

Police say they were called out to the school for reports of a large fight and gunshots being fired in the parking lot. When police responded, they found several casings outside. Police say a 32-year-old man was shot twice in the leg and was taken to Nazareth Hospital. He was later pronounced dead. The school was on lockdown for just over two hours. No arrests have been made.

The school released this statement following the incident:

“The Lincoln High School leadership called the Philadelphia Police Department immediately upon learning of gunfire.  The school went into lockdown, which was lifted at 5:32 p.m.  No students or staff were injured. School District Police are fully cooperating with the Philadelphia Police Department as this matter is investigated. The safety of our students and staff is our top priority and as a precaution extra School Police and Philadelphia Police officers will be in place at the school tomorrow morning and during the day. In addition, communication was sent to families Wednesday evening about this incident and there will be additional communication to them on Thursday.”

Paul says the “present form of this world is passing away.” One could wonder today if the present form of this world that is passing away is the safety and security of our country, our cities, and our homes. I believe it is. Of course that is always true – for change is always happening. None of us is the same today as we were yesterday, and as we were ten years ago. And none of us will be the same tomorrow. Every day something happens to us that changes us – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse – sometimes it keeps us on an even keel, sometimes it threatens to upset the boat. But the one thing that will never change is G-d’s love for us.

When anyone, but especially our children, experience a shooting like we have witnessed in the last few years, they often report that nothing is the same – that there is no more “normal” in their lives. It is a hard lesson to learn at such a young age. I say lesson because the longer I have lived, the lesson I have learned that there is really no normal. Or, what we come to learn is that change is the actual normal – that the fact that everything is passing away is the normal of this life.

If everything was the same, I would be living the “Ground Hog Day” experience. In the movie “Ground Hog Day”, one man lives the exact same day for many days – over and over and over again. The same conversations, the same events, the same music, the same weather – over and over again. What changes the pattern is the change in his heart – is his recognition that lives are not lived in repeat – especially when it comes to our interactions with others. When we learn to live for others, to not live only for our own gratification, and to trust G-d, then no matter how our lives change, we can meet the challenges the future brings us – the good and the bad.

Pastor Dave