Like a fresh tattoo, our minds are still stinging from the images of this week’s events in the US. The ink may fade in time but isn’t likely to ever disappear.

It’s difficult not to dwell on what happened Wednesday, to retrace how we got here, to ask what’s next.

Thinking about current events in the company of God — that is, choosing in our thinking to be aware of God’s presence and open to the Holy Spirit — can lead us into prayer and repentance, and hopefully into acceptance (for what we can’t change) and courage (for what we can).

But apart from God, the repetitive intake of news and what-ifs can become a god in itself. Even now I feel the pull to check what’s going on… though I know full well it would distract me from my work of putting together this little newsletter for you.

When I feel shaken by circumstances, I sometimes recite a phrase from Psalm 27: ​“Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.” It’s a staggering statement, really. Imagine David, with the war cry of enemies rising all around, settled of soul and unafraid.

How’s that possible?

It’s not that David was out of touch with reality; he was in touch with it.

It’s not that he suppressed his feelings; no one in Scripture was more raw and honest. Certainly at times he was afraid and angry and sad, and he told God as much.

It’s that David understood magnification. He knew that what we dwell upon becomes large in our spiritual field of vision. And David dwelled upon God: ​“Magnify the Lord with me” (Ps. 34:3).

Recently on the Renovaré Podcast, Nathan talked with Eric Peterson — pastor, author, and son of the late Eugene Peterson — about a topic that is surprisingly relevant to all this: baptism. In an article and in the podcast conversation, Eric helps us see baptism as a lifestyle into which we’re immersed, one where we dwell on and imitate the Master Artist.

So as we continue to take in all that’s happening in the world may we continually, right in the middle of it all, dwell on and imitate our Master Jesus, who showed us how — despite political and religious turmoil — to be fully present to God and to the person in front of him.