I heard something this morning that bothered me. I know that most of the time, I make every attempt I can to keep our visits “light” and positive. I figure there are enough troubling things out there that you don’t need me to add to that list. However, when I see storm clouds on the horizon, I feel the need to tell someone to grab an umbrella. So, get ready to grab an umbrella.
What I heard was that a neighboring community has decided it would be wise to do away with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) program in the school. I guess this is being done with the whole “It’s wrong to have anything ‘Christian’ in our society because that might make people uncomfortable,” mindset. It seems as if anything “good” is suddenly “bad,” and anything “bad” must be embraced. Could it be that those folks who are doing “bad” things don’t want to be reminded of anything “good” because it highlights that what they are doing is “bad?”
There was a professional football player recently who spoke at a Christian school, and he had the audacity to suggest that some women are happy raising a family and being a mom. The easily predicted reaction from some was that he should be ridden out of town on a rail (probably after the tar and feathers). Then you have another professional football player who intentionally insults fans by “kneeling” during the National Anthem and insulting police officers, and it is almost demanded that everyone treat him as some kind of “hero.”
Somewhere along the line, we have to teach young people right from wrong. Not everything you feel like doing is the right thing to do. Programs like the FCA help teach those important lessons. I’m being honest when I tell you that it breaks my heart a bit whenever I see a familiar name of a young person on the jail report. If we abandon programs like the FCA because we don’t want to encourage morality, then how many more young people am I going to have to talk about on the jail report?
I used to think that, here in rural North Florida, we were somehow immune to that kind of craziness. I have a friend who moved here from Washington State and she was shocked when she went to a football game and there was actually a student-lead prayer before a game. “That would never happen in Washington,” she said. My response was, “Welcome to North Florida, where we still do that kind of thing.” I am beginning to think we may not be quite so “safe” from the craziness. We must all be diligent in demanding programs like the FCA continue to be supported and encouraged.
There are occasional clouds, even here on the Sunny Side. Hopefully we can grab an umbrella and rise out the storm that’s coming.