Oh Father. I see the state of the world as it is at present, roiling with fear at calamities that have come upon us. Many are blinded by fear, and those that should be able to see are yet asleep!

What then to say – what is coming upon us, what will happen? Will things become worse, or get better? What comes next? What is God doing?

With all due respect to the questions, which I totally understand, they are misdirected.

Here is a truth. All men die. Whether it be by virus, by flood, by fire or simple old age, the end always comes. What matters is in what state we die. And that is where the Church comes in.

What, I wonder, would it take these days before man would be willing to humble themselves and pray? I think I know the answer to that.

So as the Church we need to become the lighthouse to light the way for the remnant that will turn. And this again is my perennial focus – are we awake, can we see? Are we ready??

I fear, not the calamities, but the answer to that question. Kingdoms rise, and kingdoms fall. Houses of cards are built, and knocked down. The Tower of Babel never lasts.

There is only one Kingdom that will endure. One Kingdom that will outlast all of our mud towers. And at the end of the day, all that matters is – of which Kingdom are you a citizen? Did you build on Rock? Or on sand?

The purpose of the Church is to ask this question of the world, in the hope of rescuing some. But we can’t do that if we’re asleep, building sand castles in our dreams! Or if we are paralysed by the same fears capturing everyone else.

We have to be sober, alert and ready! And, God help us, we are mostly not. God is merciful, kind, and has granted us more and more grace. But, there is also justice. And a tipping point where the weight of evil crushes a civilisation.

We may not know the day or the hour, but we should be able to discern whether it is day or night, and react accordingly. Oh Lord, please wake us up, before it is too late!

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

2 Peter 3 v10