War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction movie directed by Stephen Spielberg based on H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. It portrays the story of a divorced American dock worker trying to reunite his children and their mother while the earth is being invaded by extra-terrestrials with giant war machines. Strategically buried in various cities around the world these war machines lie dormant until commanded to surface and destroy everything in their path. Cruise successfully negotiates a cross country trip with his two children evading capture and imminent death continually risking his own life for their sakes. The earth is spared destruction due to the alien’s vulnerability to the countless microbes that inhabit the earth, causing their death. The narrator notes in closing the film that the microbes existed only because they were placed on the planet by “God in His wisdom”.

If one scans the news headlines of the day, it would be easy to conclude there is a non-fiction “War of the Worlds” now playing throughout the world. This war similarly is causing destruction all over the earth not by alien invaders, but by various earth-made factions. The only thing for certain about these invading forces is that they will not be stopped because of their vulnerability to microbes on the earth.

The forces invading our world today are not extra-terrestrial, but they are alien. Alien to those nations of the world that are governed by democratic principles and respect for the right to life for all individuals. The alien invaders of today are those authoritarian rulers that continue to exploit, destroy and manipulate the people of this earth for their own purposes. Pictured above is the rubble of an apartment building in the central city of Dnipro that was recently hit by a Russian strike killing 12 and wounding 64 innocent civilians, including a dozen children. A 9-year-old girl was critically wounded. Russia’s assault on the Ukraine has taken on a new strategy of focusing on civilian targets and critical infrastructure, disrupting heating, water and sanitation facilities as the coldest part of winter sets into the country. Speculation is Putin’s strategy is to focus on terrorizing Ukraine’s civilian population while building up his tactical reserve for a renewed attack in the spring to regain lost territory. As the U.S. leads the formulation of a material response from a coalition of European nations, the only thing certain is that this war will go on for an indetermate length of time. Meanwhile other alien forces are moving in other parts of the world.

Pictured above are security forces detaining a supporter of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro during a demonstration against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, outside Brazil’s National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, January 8, 2023. The demonstrators refused to recognize former president Jair Bolsonaro election defeat. They, like Bolsonaro himself, refused to recognize Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s victory even after the swearing in on January 1, 2023. For weeks, the insurrectionists had called on the military to stage a coup to keep Bolsonaro in power. Administration officials believe that the insurrectionist’s plan through the demonstration was to trigger a law that would have allowed the military to restore order in the capital. This is the equivalent to “martial law” in our country, which permits the president to activate the military to restore order during an emergency riot or coup.

Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed government buildings smashing windows and assaulting police in a striking echo of the pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Like Trump, Bolsonaro had spent months predicting mass fraud and then refused to concede defeat after losing his October election. It is no coincidence that Bolsonaro was in Mara Largo, Florida visiting Trump the same week of the insurrection.

Similar to Spielberg’s movie, an alien invasion requires a prepositioning of alien assets in order to take control and destroy life as previously known. The difference is that in our present experience the takeover is not initiated from buried war machines. It is from autocratic rulers openly planning their takeover in full view of a watching world.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in November elections as a result of a bloc of once-fringe, far-right partners. His government has embarked on legislative issues that critics say will destroy the nation’s systems of checks and balances among the three branches of government. The criticism goes on to state that these changes will embolden efforts for the expansion of Jewish West bank settlement and apply Jewish law to public institutions. In 2019, Netanyahu was indicted on multiple charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and is currently on trial in three cases of corruption. It is also believed these legislative changes will save the prime minister from prosecution in three separate corruption cases.

I am not a political analyst or an international lawyer. I have no knowledge concerning the prime minister’s charges of bribery or the ongoing corruption cases. But I am confident to say that when 80,0000 people are motivated to demonstrate against changes to their governance that something is wrong. The change proposed is either flawed or premature. In either case, the prime minister is not leading a nation but invading the status quo with his agenda. Leaders are elected to lead. Aliens invade. Here we have another type of alien invasion on going concurrently in our world in plain sight.

So, what do we do with this “war of the worlds”? What chance do we have against these alien invaders? Maybe we should ask Damar Hamlin, professional football player.

When circumstances are bleak, and the inevitable outcome seems darkest, that is the time to invite God into the circumstance. Pictured above was the response of the competing teams when Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during the game. While first responders worked to save Damar’s life opposing teams huddled mid-field on bended knees and committed the situation to God. It was an honest, sincere public act of faith by athletes who are unaccustomed to publicly demonstrating their faith on national TV. Traditionally, athletes gather after the contest on the field when the cameras have been turned off and the crowds have dissipated. In this moment their natural reaction was to invite the supernatural into the moment. There was no discussion of procedure or preference of faith. They just fell on bent knees and humbled themselves before their God of understanding for their friend, teammate and opponent.

I am not a theologian or a bible scholar. I am not even a licensed, ordained minister anymore. I am just an individual like you who has seen God faithfully work in situations like this many times. Maybe not in the manner and method that we prefer, but He always shows up and changes lives. In this case, Damar is doing well. He has been released from the hospital and has visited his teammates and that is wonderful. But I believe in God’s economy Damar was never the main point, he was just God’s vehicle for the moment. The real target was for all the people of faith in that stadium and watching on TV. We will never know on this side of eternity how many people watching that night had their faith renewed or maybe initiated in a new way. We will never know how many lives were changed. Over time Damar may hear about some of them, maybe not. How can I be so sure that God works that way? Because he tells us. “If My people … humble themselves …. and pray and seek My face … I will hear from heaven …. and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) When we humble ourselves and pray, God hears and acts.

Let’s get back to our alien invaders. We may not be in the Ukraine, Brazil or Israel but we can humble ourselves right where we are and pray. It is not the only thing we can do, but it is probably the best thing we can do. For God says the deal is that if we pray, He will heal our land. That is, if we pray for the Ukraine people or the nations of Brazil or Israel God will heal our land. So, if you are in the United States as I am, and we pray for those other nations God says He will take care of them and the United States as well. The United States surely needs help with our own alien invasion as well! So, let’s humble ourselves in prayer and invite God to heal all of our lands! Amen and amen.