For over six years now I’ve been trying to find an apartment to rent in an income-based senior apartment complex. I thought that search had finally ended about a month ago when I got a call from an income-based senior apartment complex in the area where I am currently living that had recently opened in 2017, and on my third try at trying to secure an apartment there, I was finally told there was an apartment available for me to rent. Wow. It’s been a very long time in coming.
I met with the assistant manager on April 21st and I filled out the application to rent the apartment and paid the application fee. I submitted all of the paperwork required on my income/finances, and I was told the apartment was available for me to rent on either May 8th or May 15th. I chose May 8th.
I was sent my new address for that apartment via email also on April 21st along with the information I needed to set up utilities and internet/cable in that apartment starting on May 8th, but I had not yet been given a lease to sign. So I didn’t call the utilities company or the cable/internet company yet as it was not “official” as I had not been given a lease to sign nor had I received keys to the apartment.
About a week before I was scheduled to move in I received a communication from the assistant manager that their compliance department requested me to submit complete monthly statements on the two assets I had listed on the application. I had submitted summary statements regarding these two assets at the time of my application, and I had been told that the summary statements would be fine. However, the compliance department requested to see the full monthly statements on both assets that consisted of 23 pages, so I submitted them to the assistant manager. This occurred one week before I was scheduled to move in.
I inquired on that Monday of the week I was scheduled to move in (just this past week) if everything was still in order for me to move in on May 8th. I still has not heard back from the assistant manager regarding when I would be signing the lease and receiving keys to the apartment. I had not yet even seen the apartment as I was told by the assistant manager it would not be ready for me to see until the maintenance staff had completed work in the apartment after the previous tenant vacated it on April 30th.
I should note that I had no furniture to move into the apartment as I lost all of my furniture 11 years ago when I lost a job in Texas and I had to move back to state I previously lived in a year earlier (Florida) where I had lived before accepting that job in Houston that only lasted seven months, and I could not afford to move my furniture back to Florida as I was unemployed, so I gave it away to a inner-city ministry in Houston.
With no furniture to move into this apartment that I was about to acquire, between April 21st when my application for that apartment was submitted, and leading up to the day I was scheduled to move into the apartment, I went looking for furniture to buy. However, I did not order any furniture during that time as I was still waiting to sign a lease.
Exactly one day before I was scheduled to move into this apartment I received an email from the assistant manager stating that after reviewing my 23 pages of documentation, the compliance department stated that I was no longer eligible to rent that apartment as the monthly income they determined me to have from those documents (and not the actual monthly income I live on and I proved to them that it was my only income) was more then I was allowed to have to rent that apartment. So, at the last minute I ended up losing that apartment.
For six years I’ve been looking for affordable senior housing in which I have been placed on several waiting lists in two different states, but I never heard back from any of them even when I called to inquire where I stood on their waiting lists. And now, when I am finally told an apartment has opened up that I can rent (as I mentioned above I’ve gone to that complex looking to rent an apartment three times since they opened in 2017), at the last minute it falls through.
To say the very least, a silver lining can be very hard to find in a situation like this one. However, being an eternal optimist, I’ve gone looking for one. My optimism is firmly planted in reality, too, as I do not believe in a “Pollyanna” or “pie in the sky” type of optimism as there are plenty of forces in our world that try to hold people back from moving forward, and history is replete with examples.
In an article published on April 3, 2014, titled, “For Christians, a silver lining to losing the culture war?” by Matt K. Lewis, a political writer and commentator, blogger, podcaster, and senior columnist for The Daily Beast, formerly with The Daily Caller, and contributor with The Week, he writes:
As I wrote last year, the culture war is over, and conservatives lost. For Christians, though, there might just be a silver lining.
Now, of course, it’s understandable why many of my fellow cultural conservatives mourn the decline of Christian values in the public arena, inasmuch as they had a powerful influence on the rise of western civilization. Historians like Rodney Stark and sociologists like Mary Eberstadt (and many others) have chronicled this phenomenon. It’s not simply about “losing power and market share,” but mourning the very real downstream effects of secular liberal policies on issues such as defending the unborn.
But there are reasons for Christian conservatives to be optimistic about these societal changes, too. For one thing, the good times weren’t always so good. The peak of “Christian America” was probably the 1950s, and while this era had a veneer of spirituality and perhaps the post-war evangelical movement was at its apogee (think Billy Graham), America was plagued by the ugly reality of racism, which goes against the gospel. In many ways, the 1950s was a gilded age. While a lot of Americans presented themselves as Ward Cleaver, they drank and philandered like Don Draper.
In the 1960s and beyond, the rejection of Christianity was a logical extension for young people rebelling against the culture’s sterility and their parent’s phoniness. This was an ironic turn of events for a faith that began as a very revolutionary, counter-cultural movement about sacrifice and (yes, sometimes) suffering. But at some point, rather than being a dangerous choice, Christianity became the perfunctory, convenient, de rigueur even, choice of lemmings—and the way to gain the approval of the phony establishment, not unlike joining the Elks Lodge upon moving to a new town.
Eventually, in many parts of the country, the church became an almost wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party, which pushed to return America to its Judeo-Christian heritage. This was a noble goal, but there might have been some unintended consequences. When religion enjoys the imprimatur of the state, it risks being corrupted and co-opted. Do Christians really want the state leading their children in prayer?
None of this, of course, is appealing to romantic young people who want to be boldly called to something larger than their own self interest. For this reason, we have seen the decline of mainline churches in America coincide with the rise of Christianity in other (less welcoming) parts of the world. And for this reason, I suspect, we have seen more and more young Christians checking out of politics.
That’s why the loss of the culture war is an opportunity rather than a crisis. It is in times like these—when there is a stark cleavage between the world and believers—that Christianity typically grows and rediscovers its purpose.
Just as political parties wrestle with whether or not it’s better to be a big tent, or (to paraphrase Reagan) to fly “a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors,” there is an argument that “nominal” Christians cause more problems than solutions. In politics, numbers matter, of course, and Christians who are still looking for a political savior may view this trend as bad news. But for Christians focused on something more transcendent—saving souls and winning real converts—there is a silver lining to losing the culture.
Consider this Christian Post article, citing Dr. Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission:
While Americans have traditionally viewed church participation as necessary for acceptance in their communities, Moore believes that will no longer be the case. This means that there will be fewer “nominal Christians,” or those who call themselves Christian but are not committed to the faith. With this “reverse rapture” of nominal Christians leaving the Church, Moore sees an opportunity for the Church to rediscover its true mission. [Christian Post]
The problem of “nominal” Christianity seems to have observable societal consequences, too. In his latest column for the New York Times, Ross Douthat hints at it, observing that “the social goods associated with faith flow almost exclusively from religious participation, not from affiliation or nominal belief.”
Another possible silver lining: As Christianity recedes as the dominant cultural paradigm, it might also have the ironic affect of sparking a renewed interest and curiosity about spirituality. Absence, I suppose, can make the heart grow fonder. With Noah triumphing at the box office, and a new show called Resurrection on ABC (a show filled with biblical allusions), it would be easy to conclude that a disenchanted and dispirited nation—having given up hope that salvation will come in the form of traditional American institutions—is yearning for some sort of spiritual fulfillment.
Christ promised that genuine Christianity would be met with opposition. And the entire book of 1 Peter was written for this purpose: How do we live as a faithful minority? I don’t think anyone should be rooting for persecution, of course, but I do think there may be some very positive developments to come from a nation that no longer pretends to be Christian. It’s hard to be a rebel when you’re The Man. (Quote source here.)
I do realize that this article does not specifically relate to my six-plus-years failed housing search, but then maybe again it does. Let’s continue on with that train of thought started by Matt K. Lewis above.
In an articled published on March 29, 2020, titled, “The silver lining: Finding an upside in today’s crisis,” by Dave Edgren, pastor and author, he writes:
I don’t believe God sends calamities. God didn’t send the coronavirus.
What I do believe is this: The Holy Spirit is busy insulating clouds with silver linings.
In the first hundred years or so after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Church went viral. It grew exponentially. The Great Commission was infiltrating families, towns, countries and continents.
Jesus’ disciples grew in number daily.
And they did it in homes.
That’s right. Every church was a house church. The church spread like wildfire because the church was liquid. Then our ancestors turned the church into a solid. They built walls around it—both theological and physical walls. They set it in stone. They bricked God in. Sure, they put in doors and stained-glass windows, but cathedral doors are often locked and theological stained-glass windows are always closed. The church of the Middle Ages restricted access to God.
Then the reformation decentralized the church, allowing denominational divisions to thrive. Now, the world hosts over 30,000 distinct Christian denominations!
And yet, Jesus said to His Father, “May they be one as we are one.” Paul riffed on this prayer of Jesus, saying: “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”
So, here we are in 2020. Governments in dozens of countries have restricted mass gatherings due to the rapidly spreading COVID-19. Sporting teams played games to empty stadiums attended only by TV cameras, but now most codes have cancelled their seasons altogether. Pop stars cancelled concerts. Places of worship have been closed. Mosques. Temples. Synagogues. Churches. The clouds hang low, blanketing the world in fear. The 30,000 Christian denominations that meet in some 15 million church buildings around the globe have nowhere to go.
Or do they?
The Holy Spirit is unrestricted and goes wherever He wishes, like wind through trees.
Have you ever flown through a cloud? We are in one now. Can you see the silver lining?
Millions of Christians headed home. Not to do church but to be the church. Christianity, for a month or two, is going back to its roots. People meeting in homes. Families worshiping together in sincerity. No sound systems. No professionals professing. The body of Christ is returning to the lounge room. Just people. At home. Snuggled into fluffed up couches, holding steaming drinks. And sharing their hearts.
God didn’t send the COVID-19. But when the “corona cloud” enveloped us, God said, “I’ll take it!” And He sent His Spirit with silver paint and a message: “Where two or three are gathered, God is with you.” (Quote source here.)
“Liquid” –as in fluid and not static or confined. “Unrestricted–like wind through trees.” I like that thought. Sans any furniture of my own, or a year-long lease that I would have had a legal obligation to keep for the next year had I been able to rent that apartment, I am still very much “fluid and unrestricted.” I’m not tied down to any particular place for any set period of time. And where I am currently staying I pay rent by the week, and it came furnished, too. And that means more options are open to me then are closed to me. And that is a very big silver lining.
James 4:13-17 states, Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
I’ll end this post with words from Paul found in Philippians 4:6-7 —Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding…
Will guard your hearts . . .
And your minds . . .
In Christ Jesus. . . .
YouTube Video: “Freedom” by Jesus Culture:
Sara's Musings 
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