David McElroy

When a major earthquake is coming, there are often many small earthquakes that hit before the big one arrives. They’re like little warnings about what’s coming. That’s what is going on in the United States right now.

Big social and political changes start with tiny events. This latest upheaval started with the murder of a black man by a white police officer in Minneapolis. That launched riots and looting and destruction, first in Minneapolis and increasingly in other cities across the country.

This is another warning about what’s coming to this country. If you choose to ignore it and assume politicians will eventually fix things, you are placing yourself and your family at great risk. This is a serious warning sign — and it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to escape.

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I got the news Thursday afternoon that someone I knew had died in his sleep a couple of nights ago. His death left me thinking about how the people around me take care of themselves — or don’t take care of themselves. And it left me thinking about myself and what this tendency toward “slow suicide” says about all of us.

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When I was in high school, I surprised everyone — including myself — by deciding that I was going to become a pastor.

Until then, my career choices had all been conventional. Various types of engineering. Law. Politics. Business. But one Sunday night, I decided — without any prior thought — that God was calling me to ministry. I didn’t know why. It just felt right.

As well-meaning adults in ministry tried to direct me over the next few years, I found out that I was nothing like them. There were square hole and there were round holes in church ministry. I was a hexagonal peg that didn’t fit into any of the holes.

During my last year of college, I served on a church staff as youth minister. Each Sunday and Wednesday, I drove about 40 miles from Tuscaloosa to Carrollton Baptist Church. I taught classes to students and I preached for the congregation at times when the pastor was out of town.

The last time I preached there — at the pulpit you see above — seemed to make clear that I just wasn’t cut out for this job.

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