Finding Stability In Uncertain Times
Some Things That Hold Firm When Everything Seems To Be Falling Apart
Ronald Higdon
Energion Publications
Gonzalez, FL
2020
Copyright © 2020, Ronald Higdon
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education & the National Council of the Churches of Christ.
Scripture quotations marked BARCLAY are taken from The New Testament by William Barclay, copyright 1999 by Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NNT are taken from A New New Testament, copyright 2013 by Mariner Books, Boston.
Scripture quotations marked CEV are taken from the Holy Bible, Contemporary English Version, copyright 1995 by the American Bible Society, New York.
Cover Design: Henry Neufeld
Cover Image: Adobe Stock #329333231
ISBN: 978-1-63199-466-1
eISBN: 978-1-63199-467-8
Energion Publications
P. O. Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
850-525-3916
energion.com
Acknowledgment
My deep appreciation to Dr. John Lloyd who took the time to review the manuscript and make helpful notes and invaluable suggestions. I only wish I could have incorporated all of his “just a thought” observations into the text. They will certainly go into my file for future use. Many thanks to John for his deep insights, but most of all for his friendship.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the many teachers, mentors, and friends who through the years have contributed to my thinking, re-thinking, exploring, deliberation, and shaping of the many ongoing conclusions that undergird my life and faith.
Table Of Contents
Introduction
“The Sea Is so Great, and My Boat Is so Small” 13
1 Frequently, Instead of an Answer, We Find a Way. 19
4 Our Humanity May Not Be Such A Bad Thing After All 43
5 Almost any Philosophy Will Do When the Sun Is Shining 51
6 You Can Take It With You. 57
7 We Will Never Really Get It All Together. 63
8 Forgiveness Is The Word That Sets Us Free 71
9 We Have To Work Hard Not To Be Captured By The Culture 77
10 Unbelief, Doubt And Discouragement Continue To Be A Part Of Faith 83
11 It Is All About Relationships. 89
12 Anger And Fear Continue To Be The Great Manipulators. 95
13 There Is No Shangri-La. 103
14 Anything Can Happen To Anybody. 109
16 True Self-Knowledge Is Difficult. 123
17 It’s Been Grace All The Way. 129
19 Intention And Action Are Not The Same. 145
20 In Many Situations, “Awaiting Further Light” Is Not A Bad Response 151
Conclusion: Is This As Good As It Gets? 157
Bibliography Of Quoted Sources 163
Preface
The time does seem to be out of joint.
Hamlet is certainly not the only one ever to call the time out of joint, to cry that the intended order of things was not running true to course. The recent appearance of books decrying the possible collapse of so much that we have taken for granted must mean there is an audience of those who feel the same way.
Perhaps it is time to reissue Paul Tillich’s classic work from the ‘70s, The Shaking of the Foundations. Many confess that is an apt description of our current situation which Tillich found over half a century ago in Psalm 82. Verse five declares: They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
The questions are obvious: Is there some knowledge, is there a place of partial understanding, is there at least a glimmer of light to provide some stability and security in such a threatening world? That is what this book seeks to provide.
This is not a book of shocking revelations.
If you want to get market attention, one way to do it is to write the most outrageous book one can imagine. After over sixty years of pastoral ministry, mine would be titled: Why I No Longer Believe What I Have Been Preaching and Teaching All My Life. This is not what this book is about. It is not about a loss of faith or an attack on what is wrong with so much in and outside the world of faith. One of the things I have learned (through years of practice) is that after the ranting and the raving something else must follow. This book represents for me that something else.
That something else is rooted in my biblical and religious heritage that always provided some clear markers. Not so much destination markers as direction markers like God’s word to Abraham, “Go in this direction.” Directional markers are not the same as “answer” posts, many of which I found to be detours in my faith journey. This is the reason for my underlying complaint: too many in too many fields of endeavor want to have things nailed down with the hammer blow of conviction that proclaims: “This is a settled issue.” My chief complaint in the religious world is that too often those who have things nailed down will nail you down if you don’t come to the same finalities they have reached. Whatever happened to the biblical reminder in 1 Corinthians