June 23, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Tuesday, June 23.
I used to go to the movies a lot. I still watch films, but my trips to the movie theater have grown few and far between. But last week I went and saw the new picture by Steven Spielberg, “Disclosure Day”. When I bought my ticket, the attendant told me I had to choose a seat number. That was new. And then I felt silly searching for “my” seat in the hundred-seat auditorium that had about twelve people in it! The movie was entertaining, the third in a trilogy of Spielberg alien films, along with “E.T.” and “Close Encounters”. But, surprisingly, it also raised an interesting religious question, a question about the testing of faith.
In the story the news is broadcast to the world that aliens actually exist. Sorry if that was a spoiler, but if you’ve been interested in the movie at all, you’ve seen the trailers that make that premise pretty clear. But there’s a secondary, underlying theme of how that “disclosure” would challenge the beliefs of believers. The idea is that, for many, the revelation that humans are not the only created beings, would be a faith shattering concept. It’s an interesting subject to consider.
I don’t personally believe that aliens are real. I’ve never seen any irrefutable proof. I remember, years ago, a UFO guy on TV saying the reason that there wasn’t photographic proof was because, in everyday life, people didn’t walk around with cameras. Well now, everyone with a phone, which is just about everyone, walks around with a camera, and there still isn’t proof.
But this devotion isn’t meant to be about UFOs or aliens. It’s about faith. What would it take for you to lose your faith? Sometimes we see those who have been through great tragedy, who have faced crushing loss, begin to question God. Sometimes we see young people, as they grow up and leave their parent’s home, begin to doubt their childhood beliefs. Our Heavenly Father understands all this, and gives us many Bible characters who had moments when they doubted God - men like Job, Jonah, Jeremiah, Elijah, Moses, David, Thomas, and Peter. Christ, himself, was at his most human when he wept in the Garden and cried out,” My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. When we, as believers, encounter a crisis of faith, we’re in good company. And like these people of the Bible, we can find reassurance and renewal - we can find our faith - through the comfort, wisdom, and grace of God.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
