Bo Wagner is pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, NC, a widely traveled evangelist, and the author of several books. His books are available on Amazon and at www.wordofhismouth.com

It has been four months since I last rounded up my mental squirrels. Further, the news of the last few weeks has added a few bunnies, gerbils, and perhaps a weasel or two to them, so I need to get all of them corralled.

I present to you, therefore, volume (Edition? Episode? How does one properly label these?) of my Random Access Musings.

One, two different people who, as far as I know, do not even know each other, recently ripped me online because they read part of a post but not all of it. Both of them, within twenty-four hours, realized their error and apologized. I was not sure integrity like that still existed; to find it in two different men makes me feel like humanity may not be quite so far gone as I often fear.

Two, the New York Knicks just won the NBA championship. Per CBSnews.com, “A crowd celebrating the New York Knicks’ NBA championship in Times Square turned violent overnight, as some lit a school bus on fire and smashed windshields. The NYPD said numerous arrests were made in the hours after the Knicks defeated the Spurs and the crowd of rowdy fans stopped being peaceful, forcing officers in riot gear to move in. Police said dozens of people climbed onto a row of school buses parked in Times Square after shuttling fans to the World Cup in New Jersey, then ripped off hoods and smashed windshields before igniting one of the buses.”

Whoever those hooligans were, they could have greatly benefitted from having a mama in their formative years pull off a flip-flop and wear their tails out, or even a daddy whip a belt out of every loop in one smooth movement and set their posteriors on fire. In Solomon’s words from Proverbs 22:15, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

Three, the world was watching as the Karmelo Anthony trial concluded this past week. The young man was found guilty of murder for stabbing Austin Metcalf in the heart, and will spend at least seventeen years behind bars for his crime. Adding to the tension of a young life cut short in such heinous fashion, there was the racial component; Metcalf was white, Anthony was black.

Predictably, there have been heated and even vile exchanges since that point. Some have edited photos to make themselves appear to be urinating on the slain young man’s grave. One protester went viral for shouting, “The only good cracker is a dead cracker.”

And yet, there have also been unexpected voices of reason. Among them, kudos go to ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, who said, “I would give anything to be able to say something definitively in Karmelo Anthony’s defense. If there was a shred of innocence to the incident itself, I would say so. I don’t want to see another black young man going to jail. [But] I don’t give an (expletive) about what your race or ethnicity is. Just because you’re white and young doesn’t mean you deserve to be murdered. Just because you’re black and young doesn’t give you a license to murder someone. That’s what happened.”

Mr. Smith, you don’t know me. But this small town pastor sends you thanks for fulfilling the words of Jesus in John 7:24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

Four, the Trump administration just announced a deal to end the war in Iran. I wish I could say that I was encouraged or even hopeful in this, but I am not. I want the best for our country and our leaders, but I just don’t see any reason to believe that a regime that slaughtered more than 40,000 of its own people to quell their protests is honorable enough to be trusted.

Five, Elon Musk just became the world’s first trillionaire, and everyone has an opinion. Everyone who has those opinions, though, whether for or against, also has either the exact same amount of money they had before he became a trillionaire, or far more, in the case of the employees of SpaceX. Not a single human being on the planet woke up to find that they somehow had less than they did the day before. That being the case, that pesky tenth commandment, “Thou shalt not covet,” might be a good reminder here.

Six, Saturday night, I tossed and turned and got little sleep. I was dreaming that I was preaching to thousands of people and realized that, as I hid behind the pulpit, I was in my boxer shorts. This, apparently, is a dream all public speakers eventually deal with. Additionally, I often dream that I cannot find my sermon notes, or worse still, I cannot even find the book of the Bible I am trying to turn to.

I kind of miss the days of childhood when my dreams were about monsters; the monsters were way less terrifying.

Seven, we have chickens now. Just three of them. After having them for a few weeks, we had to move them to a different location on our property, and you would think we had just burned down the entire universe; nothing can sound as indignant as a chicken whose world has been slightly altered.

Pastor Wagner can be contacted by email at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org, and his books are available by clicking the Store link above.

Feature photo by Pastor Bo Wagner