Stained Glass Window, Collegiale Notre-Dame de Dinant (Collegiate Church of Our Lady of Dinant), Belgium: “Adam and Eve Driven from Paradise” (13th Century), Author Vassil (CC0 1.0 Universal PD Dedication)
The concept of original sin is a thorny one. Some believe in a Creator and the story of creation as told in the Book of Genesis. Others believe firmly in evolution. Some view men and women as basically good. Others fundamentally disagree.
Flawed
We can argue over terminology, dispute the innocence of babes, and debate the origins of the flaw in our nature. But most people would agree that mankind is – at least in a global sense – flawed.
Depending on your viewpoint, that may or may not be a statement on morality. It is without question a description of the human condition.
We are capable of creating paintings and sculptures of surpassing beauty. We have literature and poetry to our credit, along with philosophy, medicine, and science. We are not unfamiliar with altruism. Some sacrifice their very lives for the sake of others.
Rarely though has there been a generation without war, even to the point of genocide. Never has crime been absent from the human experience – rape and murder included. Add to that poverty and hunger.
Good and Evil
The dichotomy plagues us as a species, whether we choose to believe in God or not. We may prefer to avoid examining the moral dimension to this. A few may go so far as to argue for the benefits of selfishness or the evolutionary basis of infidelity.
We need not, however, worry about imposing “artificial” concepts of good and evil on a child who has been molested. S/he will attest that they exist without prompting. Human beings may not be able to identify the ultimate good. Generally, however, we can recognize evil when impacted by it.
The question of good and evil is as profound as any that exists on earth. Those who have suffered greatly may turn from God in grief or rage, viewing Him as the source of their pain. In the end, however, He offers them the greatest consolation. Read more…
We none of us want to fail. Failure is humiliating, discouraging, and painful. Surprisingly, however, there are blessings that flow from failure. God can even use failure to prepare us for greater things.
Strength
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73: 26).
Failure strips us of pride. It forces us to recognize the limits of our strength. But if we turn to God, in our distress, He will lend us His strength – strength which, unlike ours, is infinite.
Heavenly Reward
“ ‘Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake…for great is your reward in heaven…’ ” (Matt. 5: 11-12).
Failure teaches us that the world’s evaluation of us means nothing; and God’s evaluation, everything.
Photo of Abraham Lincoln by Matthew Brady (taken February 27, 1860, the day of Lincoln’s famous Cooper Union Speech), Library of Congress (PD)
When Abraham Lincoln took up politics the results were not entirely promising. He was defeated in his first try for the state legislature in 1832; defeated in his first attempt to be nominated by his party for Congress in 1843; defeated in his application to be Commissioner of the General Land Office in 1849; defeated as a potential nominee for the vice-presidency in 1856; and defeated in attempts to secure a seat in the U.S. Senate, both in 1854 and 1858 [1].
In 1841, Lincoln (who is known to have suffered from recurrent depression) wrote to a friend, “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth.”
During the Civil War, Lincoln was forced to deal with one staggering military defeat after another, all the while berated by the press and his political opponents. Lincoln was called a liar, a filthy storyteller, a braggart, an ignoramus, a tyrant, a despot, a usurper, a thief, a swindler, an old scoundrel, and a monster. Gen. George McClellan called him, “Nothing more than a well meaning baboon.”
But Lincoln somehow held the Union together. By then, he could say about criticism:
“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how – the very best I can. And I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”
Lincoln is today recognized as one of the greatest presidents in American history. Read more…
Children at the Salvation Army/Dewald Community Center pledge allegiance to the United States flag, Author Tech Sgt. Joseph Harwood, Source http://www.dvdshub.net/image/1655087 (PD-Federal govt.)
Greatly blessed as she is with natural resources, America’s greatest resources have been her people, her ideals, and her faith. We are at risk of losing all three.
- According to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, 83 welfare-related programs (excluding Medicare and Social Security) together in 2011 constituted the single largest item in the federal budget [1]. In total, federal spending on these programs was approximately $726 billion [2A]. State spending (primarily on Medicaid and CHIP) constituted an additional $283 billion [2B].
- By 2014, overall federal expenditures amounted to $3.5 trillion [3]. But fourteen cents of every dollar had to be borrowed [4].
Despite this, the gap between rich and poor is widening, millions are working longer hours for less pay, and the middle class is disappearing [5].
What does this tell us? Most will answer that question from their own frame of reference. Those well-off view the nation as well-off; those struggling view the nation as struggling.
Perhaps though the answer to our question is not to be found in figures alone – no matter how finely we may slice and dice them.
If a full third of the national budget (or any fraction approaching that) must be dedicated to welfare-related programs, we are a nation in serious trouble, a nation that is not using its resources wisely. And budget cuts are not the remedy. Read more…
Bone marrow biopsy by Dr. Hans Janovich, Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC (PD-Federal govt.)
This needs little introduction, except the reminder that Pete — Peter Hileman, Esq. — is the Executive Director of Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia. You can find more information on Christian legal aid under that heading (above). By the way, I don’t agree that Pete’s faith was ever weak or shallow.
“In November 2012, as I was transitioning from my law practice to full time work with the legal clinic ministry, a…tumor burst my appendix, spilling cancer cells into my abdomen. I was treated by a team of cancer surgeons…who explained the gravity of my diagnosis: those cells had a 75% chance of growing into new tumors and available treatments were either ineffective or very risky.
The median life expectancy of someone with this rare appendix cancer is 7 years …
I decided to undergo a high risk surgery known as HIPEC, at a specialty surgery center… During a 6 hour procedure, heated chemo-therapy was poured into my open abdomen, in the hopes of killing the cancer cells before they could grow. Several small cancer seeds were removed during the surgery.
Not fully recovered from the surgery, I underwent 12 chemo-therapy sessions over a 6 month period, which ended in December 2013. Over that year, I endured 3 lengthy hospitalizations, 2 surgeries, 9 CT scans, and countless IVs and blood tests. It’s been over a year since my last treatment and I am feeling well again. But more importantly I’m changed.
We get old, we get sick, and we die. And there isn’t anything we can do about it. After being so healthy all of my life, I had lived in denial about these truths. My faith was weak and shallow, as I had never been forced to truly trust Jesus, or anyone else for that matter. I was able to get by just trusting myself. However facing the reality of sickness and death put my faith to the test.
I have always insisted on being strong, capable, on never being weak or needy. That made it hard for me to receive love from others. This battle with cancer made me so sick and weak that I couldn’t take care of myself.
“In sickness or in health, till death do you part” took on new meaning as [my wife] Wendy took care of me. Marriage seems to be going out of style in our culture, but when you are suffering, you need someone to lean on. Wendy was with me every step of the way, from my first stomach pain to the last chemo treatment.
I shared my trials with many people and it was very comforting to know that so many friends were praying for me. I’ve learned that a lot of people care about me. Friends brought meals and neighbors mowed my lawn. My heart was often overwhelmed, and I was often moved to tears of appreciation for the love and support that was shown to me.” Read more…
Transformers Optimus Prime (Hasbro booth at 2011 Comic-Con), Author Doug Kline – Pop Culture Geek Network, Source Flickr (CC BY-SA 2. 0 Generic)
TRANSFORMERS, all associated names, terms, phrases, and slogans are Copyright 2003 Hasbro. All related characters and toys are registered trademarks of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. All rights reserved.
NOTE: Hasbro and Takara Tomy have no relation to this blog or the posts it contains.
I sat in a darkened theater with a wonderful little boy whose father is not present in his life, and thought about fathers everywhere.
We were at another in the series of TRANSFORMERS ® movies. For those who may not be familiar with them, the Transformers are a race of giant robots from a distant galaxy. They engage in a war of good against evil, some of which takes place on earth.
Sometimes beaten and broken, abandoned and uncared for, these robots can assume different shapes, as the need arises. Though not immortal – some perish – the Transformers personify heroism while the human beings in the plot often fail or fall short, at times even betraying individual Transformers whose desire is to help them.
What the little boy with me could not see, but I did, was that the Transformers were as much pictures of real human beings as the human characters in the story were.
It is a thrilling story, this war of good against evil. And we all play a role, whichever side we choose to take. At times, we struggle against impossible odds, unbeatable foes – the challenges of heart disease or breast cancer, grief and loss. We stagger forward under loads no one should have to bear – the burdens of single motherhood, the daily toil of a thankless job to which we remain faithful for the sake of our children.
In the process, we are transformed. Oh, our parts may rust, become worn and broken. But our hearts become something else, something shining. Read more…
Women washing clothes in a ditch along the main road, Mumbai, India, Source Agencia Brasil, Author Hajor at en.wikipedia (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0-Brazil License)
One million people live in the Dharavi slum of Mombai memorialized in Slum Dog Millionaire [1]. As the film indicated, only one percent of the houses here have their own toilets. Whole families live in bare concrete rooms, only a few miles from the palatial homes of Bollywood stars.
Yet, there are over 20,000 micro-businesses, in this congested area. And recycling is the single biggest industry – employing 50,000 people in plastics, alone. Salaries, however, are slim; hours, long; the work, arduous and sometimes dangerous.
India is not the only third world country with a garbage problem. Garbage removal in impoverished countries is unsystematic, at best.
Garbage may be discarded alongside the nearest road, or in random lots. Some garbage may be burned by those disposing of it. More often than not, garbage accumulates wherever it is discarded and left undisturbed. The result can be both noxious and harmful to health.
Now, however, garbage is holding out new hope to some distressed communities. Non-profits like ChildFund are setting up “garbage banks”, a variation on the recycling businesses in Mombai. Read more…
Coventry Cross of Nails, National Cathedral, Washington DC, Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/23165290@N00/6623015469/, Author Tim Evanson (Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matt. 7: 15-16).
The Southern Poverty Law Center currently lists over 750 active hate groups in the United States. These include Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi, white nationalist, white power skinhead, and neo-Confederate groups. They, also, include what are termed “Christian Identity” groups.
This should be of great concern to us.
Despite adopting the label, Christian Identity groups are actually anti-Semitic racists – not Christians. Loosely affiliated by a twisted theology of their own making, Christian Identity groups are usually hostile to fundamentalist and evangelical Christians because of the belief by such Christians that the return of Jews to Israel is integral to the fulfillment of end-time prophecy.
The names adopted by Christian Identity groups are innocuous enough: Faith Baptist Church and Ministry, Watchmen Bible Study Group, Kinsman Redeemer Ministries. But they spew a hate-filled venom combining distorted Bible verses and outright lies.
You will remember that, when Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness, the adversary likewise misconstrued Scripture (Matt. 4: 1-11).
The challenge for genuine Christians is to distinguish themselves from these hate groups. Christ, Himself, said, “ ‘By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’ ”(John 13: 35). The Apostle John added, “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother” (1 John 3: 10).
Scripture makes our task very clear. We are to love others. Not sneer at them, pontificate over them, or turn our backs on them.
If we truly believe that love is stronger than hate, we have to be prepared to live it. Those who believe the opposite are.
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
https://avoicereclaimed.com
“Christ Washing the Apostles’ Feet” by Dirck van Baburen (c. 1616), Gemaldegalerie, Berlin, Source Web Gallery of Art (Public Domain-Art, Age-100)
We are constantly being urged to compare ourselves to others.
If we fear there may be something lacking on our part, we are exhorted to rectify the perceived deficiency at once with newer cars, larger pools, faster boats, and more expensive homes. Better yet with miracle nostrums, cosmetic surgery, hair plugs, and younger wives.
This is deception on a grand scale. If we buy into it, we will never be satisfied with our lives, our relationships, or ourselves. Our priorities will be confined to our own ends, our energies directed to self-aggrandizement, and our time here wasted.
As Christians, we may consider ourselves above such things, immune to cultural influences. That, however, is a form of pride.
We compare gifts of the Spirit as if we had earned them. Those who speak in tongues criticize those who do not, and vice versa. Virtue is measured by readership, and merit by congregation size.
Paul cautioned, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord” (1 Cor.. 12: 4-5). This verse makes clear that gifts of the Spirit are entrusted to us for service to others. The full passage instructs us to view all gifts as of equal value.
We are not to seek praise for such gifts, and not to be discouraged because our gifts seem less “important” than those of someone else.
“For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise…But ‘he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’ For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends” (2 Cor. 10: 12, 17-18).
I am reminded of the scene where the mother of the Apostles James and John asked that her sons be seated at Jesus’ right and left hand, in the next world. You will remember what the Lord said to His disciples:
“‘…[W]hoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many‘” (Matt. 20: 26-28).
Lord Jesus, forgive us our vanity. We are so easily tempted to focus on ourselves, rather than on serving others.
Help us to recognize this failing, and to resist the influences of a worldly culture. Shift our attention from the temporal to the eternal that we may use our time and our talents for Your glory and the good of others, as You intended.
Help us to realize our sufficiency is in You.
Amen
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
US Army 82nd Airborne Division, advancing in a snowstorm, Battle of the Bulge, WWII (PD-US federal govt.)
It is once again Memorial Day, a day honoring the men and women who gave their lives for this nation. We can and should give speeches in their memory, plant flags on their graves.
But the patriots who froze at Valley Forge, who landed on the beaches of Normandy, the heroes who lost an eye at Khe Sanh or a leg in Mosul, who gave their lives at Pork Chop Hill were not fighting for empty words.
They were fighting for their wives and children, for their brothers-in-arms. They were fighting for the American Dream – a colorblind dream of freedom and equality, a fair wage, sweat equity in a three-bedroom colonial or ranch, and the chance for their children to rise in the world.
That is a dream worth dying for. The rest of us will be the ones to decide whether or not it has become a pipedream.
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance” (Ps. 33: 12).
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
https://avoicereclaimed.com
“Joan of Arc” by Jules Bastien-Lepage (1879), Metropolitan Museum of Art (PD-Art, PD-Old)
We live at a time when terrorists (foreign and domestic) pride themselves on taking the lives of innocent men, women, and children then style themselves “martyrs” engaged in a holy war.
It may be worth recalling what devotion meant in the day and age of a real martyr.
During the Hundred Years War, an untutored peasant girl led a small French force to victory against a larger English army, lifting the siege of Orleans. It was from this battle that Joan of Arc derived her title as the Maid of Orleans.
Captured by the English in 1430, Joan was placed on trial for heresy and witchcraft. Questioned by church officials, Joan responded with amazing insight and unfailing faith. Despite that, she was burned at the stake at the age of nineteen.
Her testimony, however, was preserved. Here are a few excerpts:
A: I was thirteen when I had a Voice from God for my help and guidance. The first time that I heard this Voice, I was very much frightened; it was mid-day, in the summer, in my father’s garden…
Q: This Voice that speaks to you, it is that of an Angel, or of a Saint, or from God direct?
A: It is the Voice of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret. Their faces are adorned with beautiful crowns, very rich and precious…
Q: What was the first Voice that came to you when you were about thirteen?
A: It was Saint Michael; I saw him before my eyes; he was not alone, but quite surrounded by the Angels of Heaven…
Q: Do you know if you are in the Grace of God?
A: If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? I would that everyone could hear the Voice as I hear it… Read more…
A Lawyer's Prayers 