You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. – Ezekiel 2:7

Today's Scripture Reading (July 26, 2026): Ezekiel 2

Former astronaut Ed Lu, a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions and an extended stay on the International Space Station, argues that the risk of a collision between Earth and a city-destroying asteroid is much higher than previously thought. And part of the problem is the small size an asteroid would need to be to level a city. NASA currently monitors space for Earth-changing asteroids 0.65 miles (3,432 feet) in diameter or bigger, which could come into close contact with our planet. But it would only take an object with a diameter of 131 feet to level a city. The problem is that we have had no idea how to monitor space for such a small object, and space seems well populated with rocks of this size. Since we don't know how to find these objects, much less what to do with them when we do find them, why worry about them? Our attitude has been that we might as well ignore the possibility until we have found a solution to the problem.

Ed Lu is talking about these objects because he thinks he has a solution to the problem. However, now he needs public opinion to swing in his favor on detecting these smaller space rocks so he can finance his solution. Ed Lu's space rocks also reveal what seems to be a disturbing trend, at least to me, in the public statements we make. Politically, scientifically, and spiritually, there appears to be a trend to speak messages that are expedient rather than true. It seems that in all areas of life, we are ignoring the small rocks we don't know what to do with. In the area where I spend most of my time (the spiritual arena), it is revealed in a reluctance to talk about what is true because it is not the truth that the people around us really want to hear. We have become the Pied Pipers of our society, just telling people what we think they want to hear. After all, some wonder what we could do with the truth even if we did know it?

Yet, knowing the truth has consistently driven us toward imaginative solutions. Repeatedly throughout history, knowing the uncomfortable truth has forced us to move in the right direction. But if we don't know the truth, we can't develop the fix the problem requires.

God tells Ezekiel to give God's message to the people, even if they aren't listening. If the truth is hidden from the exiles, it won't be because they haven't been told; it will be because they were unwilling to listen. And we stand in a similar situation. The prophets of our society need to be willing to speak the uncomfortable truth, a truth that might surprise us from a God who loves us, all of us, dearly. But if we don't understand that, it must not be because we have never been told. It has to be because we were unwilling to listen.     

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 3