“He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3: 11).
My mother and I stood on line at the pharmacy counter, in the back of an aging drugstore. An attempt had been made to modernize the cramped space by adding plastic privacy screens. These were positioned so close to one another any hope of privacy was immediately eliminated.
The heat was palpable. An overhead fluorescent fixture buzzed like an irritated insect. I glanced up and noticed a forlorn effort to embellish the area, by way of a basket of faded plastic flowers. The arrangement had clearly been intended as a table topper, but was instead suspended precariously from an exposed pipe. The entire display was coated with a heavy layer of dust, and tilted awkwardly askew.
I touched my mother’s sleeve, and pointed to the arrangement. She looked up and exclaimed, without irony, “Beautiful!” Read more…
Roman slave shackle found at Hampshire, England, Photo by portableantiquities, Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/finds/7549071576/in/set-72157630526828120 (CC Attribution 2.0 Gen)
A rally was held in Nigeria earlier this week to protest that government’s inaction against the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram (translated “Western Education Is Sinful”). The group recently kidnapped some 230 school girls, and is selling them into slavery for as little as $12 or “marrying” them to their captors [1].
Though estimates vary, there are as many as 30 million men, women, and children entrapped in slavery, as I write this.
Included among these are forced laborers recruited under threat of violence, by governments and political parties; chattel slaves abducted from their homes – bought, sold, inherited, and given as gifts; bonded laborers whose loans – impossible of repayment – can be passed from generation to generation; child soldiers; child brides in forced marriages; children engaged in toil destructive of their health and well-being; and sexually exploited women and children, now a basis for sex tourism.
If any of this sounds familiar to Americans, it should. The impact of slavery on our country has been immense. It is a lasting scar the extent of which cannot be summed up in a few neat words.
But slavery has not been confined to a single race or nation. Slavery is referenced as far back as the Code of Hammurabi and the Bible [2]. Slavery existed in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; in Ireland, Poland, and elsewhere across the globe. It existed among Christians and Muslims. Slave labor camps in the form of gulags were utilized as a political tool by Russia until 1960. They persist in China (under the name “laogai”) and North Korea today.
By focusing exclusively on grievances of the past – albeit, legitimate grievances – we may overlook the chance we have as Americans of every stripe to make a difference in the present.
The evils (and insidious after-effects) of slavery should, if anything, make America the nation foremost in seeking an end worldwide to that institution, once and for all. Instead, we remain a house divided, consumed by our own pain. Read more…
Favela de Cantagalo, Rio de Janeiro, Photo by Hmaglione10 (CC ASA, 3.0 Unported)
“And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went from year to year on a circuit…But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there” (1 Samuel 7: 15-17).
Earlier this month heavily armed Brazilian troops stormed another favela in Rio de Janeiro. These armed attacks on Rio’s slums are being billed as attempts to improve security, in preparation for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. The less articulated goal is to take over the territory currently ruled by gangs, and turn existing, high elevation, urban poverty into enviable, upscale, real estate.
This is gentrification at the point of a gun.
Promises of better education, health, and social programs have been made to slum residents. While the pledged improvements have stemmed any large scale protest, they have yet to materialize.
How often have the powerless been displaced from land to which they had longstanding ties? The Israelites were, themselves, expelled by the Romans from Judea (renamed Palestine) in 70 AD. The history of Native Americans provides additional examples. Treaty after treaty with them was broken, once it appeared that there was an advantage to be gained.
If the prophet Samuel judged America as he did ancient Israel, would we pass muster? How then are we to approach problems like Brazil’s use of the military to redefine the social contract with its impoverished citizens?
What if instead of self-interest we used God’s standard of justice to govern our actions, personal and political? Does the treatment of our own citizens — especially the most needy — meet that standard? Read more…
Depiction of Jesus Christ from “Resurrection” by Germain Pilon (c. 1572), Louvre Museum, Photo by Jastrow (Public Domain)
“Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!’ ” (Luke 24: 1-6).
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
https://avoicereclaimed.com
“The Procession in the Streets of Jerusalem” by James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum of Art (PD-ArtlPD-Age-100)
“The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:
‘Hosanna!
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!”
The King of Israel!’ ” (John 12: 12-13).
In the ancient world palm branches were used to signify triumph, eternal life, and peace. Successful Greek athletes were awarded a palm branch. The Roman goddess of victory carried a palm frond.
The ecstatic crowd gathered for Passover welcomed Christ to Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday by waving palm branches and quoting from Psalm 118. The psalm, also, contains the line, “Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.”
As Christians, we know that Christ was the sacrifice who five days later would willingly take our sins upon Himself and give His life for ours…no cords required except those of love.
Five hundred years earlier, Isaiah had described the Lord as saying, “ ‘See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands…’ ” (Isaiah 49: 16).
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
https://avoicereclaimed.com
Protest against school desegregation (Little Rock, 1959), Photo by John Bledsoe of US News & World Report, Source Library of Congress (Donated to the public without restrictions)
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
– Evelyn Beatrice Hall, summarizing Voltaire’s view
“…[F]alse brethren… came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage…[But] we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you” (Galatians 2: 4-5).
America is a “big tent” nation. We welcome those from all backgrounds and all faiths, with all points of view.
The Founding Fathers felt so strongly about freedom of speech that they enshrined it in the First Amendment. But the right to express our political and religious views has limitations. Lawyers make a comfortable living litigating obscenity, slander and libel, copyright, and sedition cases.
That last is particularly relevant. Sedition is conduct which tends to subvert authority and/or incite insurrection whether by ethnic and racial hatred or other means. Read more…
White Horse Temple Doorway, Luoyang, Photo by kevinmcgill of Den Bosch, Netherlands (CC ASA 2.0 Gen)
Over the past year or more, my mother has been so often hospitalized we have lost track. One hospital room looks much like another. One ambulance trip, one emergency room visit blends into the next.
As it turns out, the valley of the shadow of death is frequently linoleum tiled. Acrid medicinal odors, cries of pain, and calls for help define its borders. Silent prayers rise from its depths like incense. Angels wearing scrubs hover nearby.
This journey we call life takes us places we do not wish to go. Read more…
“We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning to value the culture of work, so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.”
– Rep. Paul Ryan“ ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work…’ ” (Ex. 20: 9).
Rep. Paul Ryan is being criticized for his statement that generational poverty is the result of a Welfare-dependent way of life which does not value work.
Many have interpreted this as a derogatory comment on black culture, with the term “inner cities” serving as a coded reference. The remark is, also, considered racist because of the implication that black men are shiftless riffraff, a stereotype dating back to the days of slavery.
The reality, of course, is that the wealth of the Antebellum South was generated from the labor of slaves, while slave masters convinced themselves they were doing the work of the Almighty by giving slaves something useful to occupy their time. Most of us know that.
A Need to Work
But Rep. Ryan gets it right in one respect. Human beings must be taught to value work. We are not born with that knowledge.
What we are born with is a need to work, in other words, to do something useful with our lives. This encompasses the need to put bread on the table, but is greater even than that. This need is tied to our sense of identity, to our self-respect, and to our independence.
With purposeful work – the work for which we were designed by God – we can conquer the world. Without it we are chaff, subject to the winds of fortune.
When work is chronically unavailable, the need within us goes unmet. Whatever the color of our skin, we grow restless, then angry, and finally despondent. We take up other activities – lawful or not – in an attempt to fill the void. We lash out randomly at whatever or whoever is within reach. Attempt to numb the pain with sex, drugs or alcohol. Deep down, however, the wound still festers.
This is what we see in our inner cities: young people searching for something they cannot find. Hopes dashed, dreams shattered. And all against a background of poverty. Read more…
Michelangelo’s “Rebellious Slave” (Louvre), Photo by Yair Haklai (PD)
Those of you familiar with the perfection of Michelangelo’s “David” or “Pieta” may not know that he created a series of sculptures loosely referred to as the slaves, prisoners or captives.
Art critics argue over the merit of these – the central issue being whether Michelangelo intended them as finished works of art or not. Details on these statues are vague, chisel marks still clearly visible.
The figures though are striking. Incomplete, they struggle not only to free themselves from their chains, but from the very stone in which they are encased.
The Figure Within
Michelangelo’s entire approach to sculpture was to envision the figure within. He saw his role as first identifying that figure, then removing unnecessary elements to reveal the image present all along.
God works in much the same way with us. Like a sculptor, He shapes us to an image only He can see. Bit by bit, He removes unnecessary elements, always aware of the ultimate outcome. Read more…
Homeless veteran on the streets of Boston, MA (2008), Photo by Matthew Woitunski (CCA – 3.0 Unported)
There was an old pop hit titled We Built This City which contained the line, “We built this city. We built this city on rock and roll.” An appealing lyric, if not entirely accurate.
Nehemiah was a man concerned with building – or more precisely rebuilding – a city. With the population of Judah forcibly deported during the Babylonian Captivity in the 6th Century BC, Jerusalem fell into ruin. When Persia, in turn, conquered Babylon, Jewish captives were permitted to return to Jerusalem. They did so in three waves. Nehemiah led the third such wave, and began rebuilding the defensive wall around the city.
Though Nehemiah was not a builder, he was an exceptional leader and a man of faith. The Book of Nehemiah is effectively a manual on godly leadership. It is believed to contain prayers from Nehemiah’s own journals, the language is so personal.
“Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt” (Neh. 7: 4-5).
Father, great and awesome God, hear the prayers of Your children now, as You heard the prayer of Nehemiah on behalf of Your people. Keep Your promise of mercy toward those who love You and observe Your commandments.
Our cities are in ruins, Lord. Poverty, drugs, and crime have decimated them, as they have decimated the lives of the people living in them.
We cry out to You, Father. The task before us is enormous. We cannot accomplish it without You.
Restore us, Father. Revive us. And help us rebuild once more.
Amen
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
https://avoicereclaimed.com
A Lawyer's Prayers 