No, not that biblical one but a poem of William Butler Yeats published in 1920. Part of this poem appears below and seems to describe our day:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Pick almost any generation and this could describe the time. It is a time of disequilibrium. In our gospel reading this Sunday, Luke 16.1-9, we encounter the parable of the dishonest steward. His life is in crisis. Jesus’ parables were his preferred method of teaching and this odd, disquieting story is meant to shock and reveal something about each of us. In crisis situations, like this unjust steward finds himself in, we must come face to face with ourselves, our choices and consequences as well as with who or what we worship. We all go through these times. It’s called a time of upheaval, disquieting, disequilibrium.

At times like these we can feel like we are under water not knowing what is next or how to survive. People in 12 step programs know this. We wrestle with who we are, what we believe about God, if we believe there is a God, and we don’t know what is next. You and I have all gone through these times. We never know how long they will last. We find ourselves in situations that may or may not be our fault. But, we have to come to grips with basic existential questions about ourselves and God. Claudia and I just returned from walking the Camino de Santiago with the Blanchats and two other couples. We walked 100 miles in 9 days. Each step we realized how we had to persevere, be patient, live in the moment, trust God. Whether we choose something arduous or are surprised by life’s curveballs and crises, we are faced with challenges that call for transformation and hope.

This Sunday I am going to draw this out not only from this parable and our lives, but our culture and country. We have been rocked by that assassination/murder of a committed Christian speaker and apologist, Charlie Kirk. He died with a microphone in his hand- not a gun or a knife or a grenade. Free speech interrupted by a bullet, not a reasoned debate. Bishop Robert Barron makes the point that what resonates so powerfully about this murder is not just that Kirk was brutally murdered in his prime or left behind a wife and children or that no one deserves to die that way. In addition to all of that is that he, like so many others before him such as Martin Luther King Jr. or St. John Paul II were shot at or killed while practicing a time honored public dialogue with many who disagreed.  The underlying foundation of this practice is to value the dignity of every individual and appeal to objective truths. Fundamentally, these considerations are predicted upon the existence of God.

When these fail, we resort to guns, violence and hate filled speech. What we will look at Sunday is not only reflecting on our own journeys but where we are as a country and how the gospel of Christ speaks to that individually and corporately. In bringing up some of the names in my life time, we know we are all flawed and people can feel with our words. But as Christians in our baptismal covenant we promise to uphold the dignity of every human being. The Christian faith has a way forward if we practice it. Times of disequilibrium can result in new faith experiences that God is calling us to personally and as His church.