Photo by Chris Wasey, Source http://www.truropeople.co.uk/pictures/Homeless-worthless-protest-County-Hall-Truro/pictures-10696884-detail/pictures.html
“ ‘If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you’ ” (John 13: 14).
For many Christians, a re-enactment of Jesus’ washing of His Apostles’ feet at the Last Supper is part of their Holy Week liturgy. There is a growing trend to re-enact that event by ministering to the feet of the homeless.
Men and women, without a roof over their heads the other 364 days of the year, have their feet soaked and scrubbed clean by volunteers from local churches. They may, also, be offered a free meal, a haircut, a shower, clean socks, and a pair of shoes. Physicians may be available to treat calluses, fungus, and open wounds.
The Miami Herald, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and JS Online were a few of the publications reporting on this Easter ritual in 2012. Clearly, the re-enactment is of interest to non-believers. Most are astounded that Christians would humble themselves, in this way.
That is as it should be. We are to be light to the world (Matt. 5: 14). But a ritual by itself is not enough, even one so meaningful. To follow in His footsteps, Christians must do more on those 364 other days.
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Recently, I was asked to rank a number of issues facing our nation, in order of their importance to me. The final result surprised and disturbed me.
Coincidentally, our elected representatives are in process of an identical analysis, as they wrestle with one another to arrive at a budget. What surprises they may have in store for the rest of us, we will have to wait and see.
Poverty
I would have expected poverty and ethics to top my list, as these are issues about which I feel deeply.
More importantly, they are vital concerns in God’s eyes. “He is…a God of truth, and without injustice…” (Deut. 32: 4). “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes…” (1 Sam. 2: 8).
Poverty and ethics did make my list. But poverty has multiple components. So a place on the list had to be found not only for public assistance in its various forms, but jobs, tax equity, and education. I ranked these topics jointly as 4th, 5th, and 6th (though I do not believe government should be the employer of last resort, absent dire straits).
Social Justice
Healthcare – another major issue – was ranked 3rd because it so heavily impacts the quality (not to mention the length) of life, raising social justice questions.
How do we as a nation care for those unable to care for themselves? Can we agree that this is a governmental responsibility, at least in a regulatory sense? If not, what are the viable alternatives?
Or do we plan to abandon the weak by the wayside? Is it not written, “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength” (Is. 40: 29)? Read more…
” ‘Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?…Who determined its measurements? Surely you know!…Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?’ ” (Job 38: 4-7).
Physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research or CERN today announced that they have discovered a critical but elusive subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson. The data was actually generated last year by the Large Hadron Collider, an atom smasher near Geneva, Switzerland.
The Higgs boson is considered so fundamental to an understanding of the way the material universe works that it is often called the “God” particle. The particle is named after one of the six physicists who first proposed its existence.
This is a remarkable achievement, worthy of acknowledgement. Man has struggled to understand his world since time immemorial.
God, however, it outside time and space. He cannot be found under a microscope, quantified or dissected. No mere material discovery can rule Him into or out of existence. But when our eyes are opened by the gift of faith (Ps. 119: 18; Acts 26: 16), we can see evidence of Him everywhere.
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Censer for the burning of incense, Roekelseskar Photo by Nina Aldin Thune (“Nina-no”), (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported – Distribution Creative Commons, Kunsthistorie.com, Farmasihistorie)
Spikenard is a flowering plant grown in China, India, and Nepal. The plant was known in ancient times, distilled into oil, and shipped as a luxury item to Rome, Egypt, and the Near East.
Spikenard was one of the eleven spices comprising incense for the First and Second Jewish Temples. Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, coals from the altar were taken into the Holy of Holies, along with two handfuls of incense. There the incense was used to make smoke before the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, the place where God dwelt.
Six days before the last Passover of His life, Jesus had supper at the home of His friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (whom Jesus had raised from the dead). Mary lovingly anointed Jesus’ feet with spikenard. Read more…
Today we Christians celebrate the language of Micah and Isaiah. At least a half century of prophetic silence, however, followed these men. Zephaniah was among those who finally broke that silence.
Zephaniah’s theme involved God’s intervention in history to bring punishment for the wicked and peace to the righteous. Describing the state of affairs in Jerusalem, Zephaniah spoke of judges like “evening wolves” (Zeph. 3: 3), treacherous prophets, and violence done to the law. Addressing Judah at large, Zephaniah warned of the coming “day of the Lord” (Zeph. 1: 7). Zephaniah can, thus, be read to predict the ultimate return of Christ at world’s end.
“The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails…” (Zeph. 3: 5).
Ours is a wicked world, Father. We see corruption on every hand, and evil increasingly mistaken for good.
Like Judah, we await judgment. Send instead revival, Father. For our nation and our world, we beg mercy, in the name of Your Son, Jesus.
Let Your justice shine forth.
Amen
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![Spring's_slender_hold_beneath_winter's_grip,_Halligarth_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1727122[1]](https://alawyersprayers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/springs_slender_hold_beneath_winters_grip_halligarth_-_geograph-org-uk_-_17271221.jpg)
“Spring’s Slender Hold Beneath Winter’s Grip”, Photo by Mike Pennington, Source Geograph Project geograph.org.uk (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)
Each spring Arctic caribou migrate north to their traditional calving grounds. The journey north then back again south in the fall runs them approximately 800 miles.
By twos and threes, by tens and thousands, they gather. Steadily heading in a direction unseen, the caribou cross icy streams and tractless wastes. Ever watchful for predators, the animals search for tender shoots beneath the snow.
At last they arrive at their destination…as generations have done before them. And newborn calves (protected in their mothers’ wombs all through the cold winter months) finally meet the world.
Who provides directions to these animals? Who supplies their nourishment? Who designed their bodies for this climate and this endeavor? Who engineered their instincts so that calves are born en masse, giving each the best chance for survival?
There is a single answer to all these questions. And the same God who watches over these creatures with such care watches over us. Read more…
Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, Author Gregory Maxwell (GFDL 1.2 only)
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 1865
We celebrate America’s birthday each year. But parades and fireworks are not enough. Democracy must be implemented on a daily basis — something our legislators appear to have forgotten.
This land we love is far from perfect. Children still grow up in poverty. Money, fame, and the color of a man’s skin still shape events. As Americans, lawyers, and most especially Christians, our job is to fight for justice and equality despite these challenges.
The battle is hardly theoretical. Lives hang in the balance. Read more…
“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you’” (Gen. 12: 1).
There has been much talk lately about immigration reform. With Hispanics a steadily growing segment of the American population, there is political capital at stake. That has made for histrionic rhetoric. Xenophobia – often thinly disguised racism, as much as fear – has further enflamed the discourse.
Some argue in favor of a new path to citizenship for those already resident in the United State, but illegally so. The conditions floated for this new path include payment of a fine, repayment of taxes owed (assuming that taxes on years of “off the books” employment can even be calculated), and mandatory fluency in English.
Clearly, these conditions have little basis in reality. They are intended to mollify those demanding red meat in the form of immediate deportation of all illegal aliens (by whatever means necessary, at whatever cost, and regardless of hardship). Read more…
Torah and Jad (Pointer), Big Synagogue Museum, Wlodawa, Poland (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported, BY 2.5 Generic, GFDL 1.2 or later)
Anyone familiar with the Book of Leviticus knows that the Mosaic law applied to all areas of life, from diet and business practices to the symbolic cleansing of healed lepers.
Altogether, there were 613 commandments in the Torah or first five books of the Bible. Included were some 81 dealing with the court and judicial procedure, injuries and damages, property rights, criminal law, punishment and restitution. Penalties included decapitation, strangulation, burning, and stoning.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart…” (Ps. 19: 7-8).
Lord Jesus, we know You came not to destroy the law, but fulfill it. We stand before You aware of our many imperfections, yet assured of our salvation through You. Assured of our salvation though the law would condemn us.
You have drawn us to the legal profession for reasons as varied and individual as each of us is unique. Whatever our reasons, keep us on the path You have determined for our lives. Let us not be swayed by power or gain. Let Your law be on our lips and in our hearts.
Above all, let Your love be demonstrated by our actions. We ask this in Your holy Name.
Amen
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“The Sacrifice of Isaac” by Pedro de Orrente (PD-ArtlPD-old-100)
Most of us have dealt with medical issues at one time or another. We have weighed the risks, and made the choice of whether to take a given medication, have a certain procedure or not.
That choice becomes far more difficult when it involves instead someone we love. We labor over the decision, attempt to assess every possible consequence, all the while wishing fervently we could assure the outcome. We hope and pray; plead and promise; rage at the lack of control, then pray again.
Abraham must have felt something similar when God instructed him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. This was, after all, the son Abraham he had waited for, longed for. This was the son whose birth would have been celebrated with feasting, whose every step Abraham would have watched over with care.
Now a death sentence had been handed down. Read more…
A Lawyer's Prayers 