We have forgotten who we are. That is the real problem. There are many symptoms and many an argument on ways to mend them, but no one is talking about the real problem.
I recently have been working through a course on being spiritually centered and enjoying the day by James Cox (I highly recommend it). One of the key concepts is recognizing where our worth comes from. Too many of us (and I certainly have been guilty of this) base our worth on our performance. Our worth should be based not on what we do but who we are.
At our most basic inner core we are children of a loving God. If we truly recognized that about ourselves it would fill us with both humility and a sense of our true worth. Humility and self worth go together. It is a recognition that we all come from God and have great worth in His sight. None of us are elevated above another we are all His and deserve to know it and act accordingly. Pride on the other hand is the search for superiority. If there is superior that means there is inferior. Those who seek for superiority will always struggle with doubt and will struggle to prove that they are superior rather than its opposite.Those who struggle with their self-esteem are struggling with pride.
If we focused on our true identity and humility our performance would be an expression of our gratitude to Our Creator rather than a source for esteem. We would also see others as they really are and treat each other as we ought. Of course none of us would be perfect at it, life is about growth which means we learn from our mistakes. But, to have the knowledge of who we truly are as the base of our operations would make a tremendous difference.
As I was pondering what I was learning about my own individual worth my thoughts turned to the nation and how this same principle applies. At the founding of this nation there was a recognition of Divine Providence, that we are endowed by Our Creator with rights. There was a recognition that we are His, and have great worth in His sight. American Exceptionalism has been turned into a prideful statement about how amazing we are compared to everyone else. The reality is we are only exceptional because of Him. God is the one who is amazing, and as we humbly rely on Him and love and serve Him and each other He will continue to bless and strengthen us in our trials. The more we turn from Him the less exceptional we are. We are neither inferior or superior as individuals or as a nation, rather we are nearer or farther away from Our Creator.
There is in our society now a worship of the carnal, the body. We define and judge people not by the content of their character but rather their skin color, what they eat and drink and what they do for sex. It is degrading and symptomatic of the problem of not remembering who we really are.
The gods are political correctness as defined by some group of people whose desire is driven by greed for money and/or power. Those who stand and speak of traditional values are excoriated as not with the times and phobic. The reality is their, the Progressives, ideas are old, and the results are well documented. If we continue on this path this society/nation will one day end where it always has and always does, destruction and tyranny. We cease to be an exception when we follow the same path as everyone else who have turned to themselves and their supposed superiority rather than to God.
I recently heard that they are now trying to take the word Easter out of schools too, just as they are trying to do with Christmas. I immediately started wishing random people a Happy Easter. How is it that we have gotten to this place? Religion is treated as some sort of hateful thing that we must hide. When the First Amendment is discussed people focus on free speech. But freedom of religion is the first freedom discussed in the First Amendment. The founders made it so, knowing that a knowledge of who we are and where we came from was necessary for the maintenance of freedom. It is so much under attack and it is no wonder. If those who focus on their own superiority want to have power over whom they consider inferior than they must make us focus only on the temporal, they must take us from Our Creator and from our true selves.
There is much darkness in this world. But, I take comfort in knowing that the light always prevails. Wherever light is it rules over the darkness. We just need to shine it brighter. This is not an easy task but it is the most basic thing that we can focus on right now. Individually we must seek Our Creator and then as families, then as communities and on up from there.
This is a blessed country, but we must remember where those blessing have come from. We must remember who we are.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Darkness and Light
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
I think it is fascinating that light is a theme in the Holy Bible right from the beginning. God saw the light, that it was good, and then He divided the light from the dark.
We live in a world of increasing darkness. We live in a nation where 6 and 7 year old children have been massacred in their school. I thought about writing concerning the Sandy Hook massacre ever since it happened, but decided it would be best to get some perspective.
That day was horrific. It was a shock to all of our systems to see something that horrible happen to such young kids. I have 4 nephews that are in first grade. I held them all a little closer and a little longer when I saw them shortly after. They are so full of life and so little. As a counselor I’ve worked with parents who have lost children to tragedy. There is nothing that can really truly fill the void left behind. I’m grateful for the faith that I have that families can be reunited in the next life, that they are not truly lost. But, the separation is painful. I continue to pray for their families. I also mourn for the teachers and other faculty and staff who were lost that day. Their families are also in my prayers. I honor the heroic actions they took to save the children.
Our society has searched for blame, driven by a media bent on their own agenda. The ridiculousness is astounding to me. They keep talking about the government doing something, yes because one of these days they are going to finally figure out the magic law that every criminal is going to follow s/. How many laws did that maniac break? People keep looking to the government for answers when what we really need to do is look to ourselves and to God.
God separated the light from the darkness, and the difference is becoming clearer every day. I’ve written before that times of great light and truth have often been preceded by great darkness. The Exodus led by Moses was preceded by the murder of children, the murder of children also was present around the birth of Jesus Christ. We live in a day of preparation for His Second Coming, and satan is throwing his usual temper tantrum.
The solution for the darkness that is so present now is to seek the light. We must do so individually and as families. There is a healing balm, there is peace, there is light and truth. Life is not going to be easy, we will face uncomfortable and even horrific things. When those things happen we have a choice of where we turn for truth and comfort and light. It breaks my heart that so many turn to man and government. The solution is not there, government screws up every time they try to intervene on our job of mercy. They have proven themselves to be incompetent and in many ways evil themselves (the lies and manipulation and immorality coming out of them is putrid). We must turn to God. We must speak again of His truths and the safety that is in keeping His commandments.
While there is much darkness, there is also much light. And remember that no matter how dark it gets the light always rules, sun, moon and stars. Where there is light it wins. Love and serve each other. There is so much goodness, I see it all around me. I have hope for a better world, and that it is possible because He has made it so.
It feels like it is winter in our society. But, spring is coming. Of that I have great faith
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
I think it is fascinating that light is a theme in the Holy Bible right from the beginning. God saw the light, that it was good, and then He divided the light from the dark.
We live in a world of increasing darkness. We live in a nation where 6 and 7 year old children have been massacred in their school. I thought about writing concerning the Sandy Hook massacre ever since it happened, but decided it would be best to get some perspective.
That day was horrific. It was a shock to all of our systems to see something that horrible happen to such young kids. I have 4 nephews that are in first grade. I held them all a little closer and a little longer when I saw them shortly after. They are so full of life and so little. As a counselor I’ve worked with parents who have lost children to tragedy. There is nothing that can really truly fill the void left behind. I’m grateful for the faith that I have that families can be reunited in the next life, that they are not truly lost. But, the separation is painful. I continue to pray for their families. I also mourn for the teachers and other faculty and staff who were lost that day. Their families are also in my prayers. I honor the heroic actions they took to save the children.
Our society has searched for blame, driven by a media bent on their own agenda. The ridiculousness is astounding to me. They keep talking about the government doing something, yes because one of these days they are going to finally figure out the magic law that every criminal is going to follow s/. How many laws did that maniac break? People keep looking to the government for answers when what we really need to do is look to ourselves and to God.
God separated the light from the darkness, and the difference is becoming clearer every day. I’ve written before that times of great light and truth have often been preceded by great darkness. The Exodus led by Moses was preceded by the murder of children, the murder of children also was present around the birth of Jesus Christ. We live in a day of preparation for His Second Coming, and satan is throwing his usual temper tantrum.
The solution for the darkness that is so present now is to seek the light. We must do so individually and as families. There is a healing balm, there is peace, there is light and truth. Life is not going to be easy, we will face uncomfortable and even horrific things. When those things happen we have a choice of where we turn for truth and comfort and light. It breaks my heart that so many turn to man and government. The solution is not there, government screws up every time they try to intervene on our job of mercy. They have proven themselves to be incompetent and in many ways evil themselves (the lies and manipulation and immorality coming out of them is putrid). We must turn to God. We must speak again of His truths and the safety that is in keeping His commandments.
While there is much darkness, there is also much light. And remember that no matter how dark it gets the light always rules, sun, moon and stars. Where there is light it wins. Love and serve each other. There is so much goodness, I see it all around me. I have hope for a better world, and that it is possible because He has made it so.
It feels like it is winter in our society. But, spring is coming. Of that I have great faith
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Change: Can We Become Exceptional Again?
Change. It is a difficult task. Much was promised about change in 2008, with the result that the only change we really saw was the speed and volume of the direction we were already heading towards. True Change is possible but it requires an intense commitment. I have seen it in some rather dramatic ways. I have done quite a bit of counseling work with alcoholics and drug addicts for instance. I have also done work with individuals in our prison systems. Changing from those circumstances is difficult and unfortunately lasting change is the exception. But, it does happen, which always gives hope that it can happen for each individual given enough clarity and conviction.
This past election did not turn out as many, including myself, had hoped. I’m not going to dwell too much on the candidates or even the specific results. It was interesting to watch history repeat itself, I refer to an earlier post about whether or not we are elephants or squirrels (alas that was answered). I would rather focus on the general outcome and what the results will likely be. I was praying and fasting about this past election. I did not ask for a result except that the country would have clarity and wisdom. I feel like the answer to that is still forthcoming. Things are going to be quite a bit more clear and hopefully the majority at least will find some wisdom.
America is certainly on a downward turn. There is all sorts of reasons for this turn, but I think one of the big reasons is that we have forgotten who we really are. America is supposed to be an exceptional nation, but we are trying to be like everyone else. Why? It does not take much research to realize that continuing in the same fiscal and moral trajectory will just end in well an end. We are following the path of so many others before us who have faced their own ends.
It feels almost as if we need to hit a rock bottom somewhere to wake the country up out of its apathy. It also feels like we are imprisoned and addicted. We are imprisoned by our debt, and we are imprisoning future generations with mountains more. We are addicted and even dependent on social programs. Mostly we are imprisoned by arrogance, apathy and ignorance. Do we really believe we can continue on this course? Do we even know how bad it is?
So, what is it that we really need to change? Ill tell you what made the biggest difference for the people I had the blessing of working with and seeing lasting change. Moral clarity and conviction to God and family. Most individuals who are incarcerated re-offend at some point, usually fairly quickly. Most people who are attempting to overcome addiction, especially on a first attempt, turn back to it. Being clean, being innocent of crime, is an exception, they are exceptional individuals.
In order for America to become an exceptional nation again, we must do what those exceptional people who have overcome do, humbly turn to God. We must repent and make amends with those we have harmed with our lack of morals and our apathy.
I believe in miracles. I have seen many. But, in order to have the miracle of being exceptional again we must put ourselves in a position for that. Humility, openness to the hard honest brutal truth of how bad it really is.
Perhaps the clarity will come when we hit some sort of rock bottom. Perhaps wisdom will be borne of suffering. But, I know this, I will continue to speak of and write about truth. I will seek Our God, and supplicate His grace on this nation still. I know I will not be alone in that. Gather together, be His people, love our families, love each other.
This past election did not turn out as many, including myself, had hoped. I’m not going to dwell too much on the candidates or even the specific results. It was interesting to watch history repeat itself, I refer to an earlier post about whether or not we are elephants or squirrels (alas that was answered). I would rather focus on the general outcome and what the results will likely be. I was praying and fasting about this past election. I did not ask for a result except that the country would have clarity and wisdom. I feel like the answer to that is still forthcoming. Things are going to be quite a bit more clear and hopefully the majority at least will find some wisdom.
America is certainly on a downward turn. There is all sorts of reasons for this turn, but I think one of the big reasons is that we have forgotten who we really are. America is supposed to be an exceptional nation, but we are trying to be like everyone else. Why? It does not take much research to realize that continuing in the same fiscal and moral trajectory will just end in well an end. We are following the path of so many others before us who have faced their own ends.
It feels almost as if we need to hit a rock bottom somewhere to wake the country up out of its apathy. It also feels like we are imprisoned and addicted. We are imprisoned by our debt, and we are imprisoning future generations with mountains more. We are addicted and even dependent on social programs. Mostly we are imprisoned by arrogance, apathy and ignorance. Do we really believe we can continue on this course? Do we even know how bad it is?
So, what is it that we really need to change? Ill tell you what made the biggest difference for the people I had the blessing of working with and seeing lasting change. Moral clarity and conviction to God and family. Most individuals who are incarcerated re-offend at some point, usually fairly quickly. Most people who are attempting to overcome addiction, especially on a first attempt, turn back to it. Being clean, being innocent of crime, is an exception, they are exceptional individuals.
In order for America to become an exceptional nation again, we must do what those exceptional people who have overcome do, humbly turn to God. We must repent and make amends with those we have harmed with our lack of morals and our apathy.
I believe in miracles. I have seen many. But, in order to have the miracle of being exceptional again we must put ourselves in a position for that. Humility, openness to the hard honest brutal truth of how bad it really is.
Perhaps the clarity will come when we hit some sort of rock bottom. Perhaps wisdom will be borne of suffering. But, I know this, I will continue to speak of and write about truth. I will seek Our God, and supplicate His grace on this nation still. I know I will not be alone in that. Gather together, be His people, love our families, love each other.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Looking Beyond
The political atmosphere is irritating. I could probably just end this blog post right there, but I’ve been trying to decide why I find that to be true. I started thinking about it when I again became irritated by the Republican party’s continual disrespect and disregarding of Sarah Palin. It is no secret that I’m a support of the Governor. I find her to be one of the few politicians who is genuine and congruent with her beliefs. That does not mean I agree with every single decision she has ever made, I don’t agree with any human being 100% of the time. But, I don’t know any other politician who has put up with as much as she has, and maintained a good attitude, perspective and a willingness to continue standing up for her beliefs and what she knows are the best principles for freedom in this country.
Why is it so beyond the majority of the Republican politicians to stand by Governor Palin, to support her and to echo her principles in a way that will resonate with Americans. I think they have just become so caught up in power that they have forgotten what is most important in life, not what we have but how we live and love and serve. They abandoned an ally who fought for them and for what? Supposed vestiges of power. We are filled by love, if what we love is power we find that it passes like a sieve and the collection of it is futile. Its not so much that they lose their souls in politics it is that their souls are empty. Watching their behavior is disheartening and enlightening all at once.
There is some hope. It is interesting to watch the process of the Republican Party Platform being formed. There is a greater distinction developing between the two parties, as the platform is going more Conservative. But, I’m realizing more and more the importance of looking beyond myself and beyond mortality.
How blessed we are to know the reality, that there is more to life than life. One day we will greet eternity and realize we’ve been in it all along. In that perspective history itself will fade away and our most important memories will be of who we loved and how we loved them, God, family, fellow man.
We catch glimpses of eternity here and there, in a baby’s first smile, in a warm embrace, in feeling the tender merciful forgiveness of God and in countless other ways.
I want to leave something better behind for the next generation, that’s about loving those who follow me. I do so with the hope that they too will greet eternity with hope and joy and a knowledge that their lives, that all our lives lead to something greater, beyond mortality. In life we should learn to love and serve on this earth, we seek to live it well and in congruence with what we know to be true. May we open the windows in our lives that release eternities view. May we cherish every opportunity to love and defend freedom and that which is right.
So, we carry on, learning from the past, preparing for our future and the future of generations to come. But, mostly we live with and eternal perspective and hope that guides our lives to greater service and love. We seek out like minded people, and seek leaders who have that perspective too. Look beyond today, that today may be greater for the perspective we keep.
Why is it so beyond the majority of the Republican politicians to stand by Governor Palin, to support her and to echo her principles in a way that will resonate with Americans. I think they have just become so caught up in power that they have forgotten what is most important in life, not what we have but how we live and love and serve. They abandoned an ally who fought for them and for what? Supposed vestiges of power. We are filled by love, if what we love is power we find that it passes like a sieve and the collection of it is futile. Its not so much that they lose their souls in politics it is that their souls are empty. Watching their behavior is disheartening and enlightening all at once.
There is some hope. It is interesting to watch the process of the Republican Party Platform being formed. There is a greater distinction developing between the two parties, as the platform is going more Conservative. But, I’m realizing more and more the importance of looking beyond myself and beyond mortality.
How blessed we are to know the reality, that there is more to life than life. One day we will greet eternity and realize we’ve been in it all along. In that perspective history itself will fade away and our most important memories will be of who we loved and how we loved them, God, family, fellow man.
We catch glimpses of eternity here and there, in a baby’s first smile, in a warm embrace, in feeling the tender merciful forgiveness of God and in countless other ways.
I want to leave something better behind for the next generation, that’s about loving those who follow me. I do so with the hope that they too will greet eternity with hope and joy and a knowledge that their lives, that all our lives lead to something greater, beyond mortality. In life we should learn to love and serve on this earth, we seek to live it well and in congruence with what we know to be true. May we open the windows in our lives that release eternities view. May we cherish every opportunity to love and defend freedom and that which is right.
So, we carry on, learning from the past, preparing for our future and the future of generations to come. But, mostly we live with and eternal perspective and hope that guides our lives to greater service and love. We seek out like minded people, and seek leaders who have that perspective too. Look beyond today, that today may be greater for the perspective we keep.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Thoughts and Prayers and Patterns
Several weeks removed now from a horrific tragedy in Colorado and I have some thoughts that I wanted to commit to writing. When these tragedies occur there is an outpouring of questions and usually an outpouring of prayer. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by such awfulness. That is a beautiful and appropriate sentiment, one that I certainly share. I continue to keep them in my prayers that they may be comforted and blessed.
But, all to soon the sentiment seems to fade. While those directly affected will carry the scars of the incident for long term, the country at large seems to move on to a slightly different normal, but not much different. It is an all too common pattern.
They are cries for us to "do something" to prevent such things from happening again, but those cries to tend to fade until another event brings them out again and we are reminded about just how many mass murders have occurred. It seems that the knowledge that there is little we can do to prevent all crazy intent murderers from committing their crimes sinks in at least a little and the cries cease for a time.
The cries of "do something" to me seem rather arrogant. Have we become so reliant upon our government that we look only to them for answers to our problems? The government continues to prove it is incompetent at anything that is really not their responsibility. Making more laws will not prevent criminals from committing crimes, but it somehow makes some people feel better that "something" is being done.
The answer for bettering society does not lie within government. It lies within us humbly turning back to God, acknowledging our weakness and our need and committing to living His standard. This cannot be enforced upon us, it has to individually decided. Compelling does not equal conversion. But, it must be freely said that we need Him.
Every tragedy that strikes affords us the reminder to return to God, and it is done for a time. However, the pattern indicates a short return marked with a lack of true and lasting conversion.
We should well remember our Founding Fathers and Mothers whose reliance on God was paramount to their victorious revelation and then the creation of a free nation. When I think of George Washington who added into the oath of the office of presidency "so help me God" I marvel at his reliance on Divinity. The phrase "so help me God" strengthens the oath and makes a person more accountable not just to man but to Him. It also seems to be a plea, "help me God" a recognition that the task requires guidance and strength beyond human capacity.
We should also remember how a reliance on God is what brought about the end of slavery in this country and elsewhere. A true conversion to Christianity brought people to the commitment to fight to end it. I will reiterate again Abraham Lincolns quote, "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!
It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."
We are in the same place, we've forgotten God. Do we have national sins? To be sure. We have allowed a debt to accrue that will enslave generations. We have allowed men and women (Republican, Democrat, Independents) of deplorable character to be our representatives. As a society we continue to devolve to a place where statements supporting God and His commandments are considered hateful.
Do we recognize that the simple answers for solving so many of societies problems are found clearly and simply in His commandments?
We need a lasting conversion, a return to God. He is the true source of freedom. Without Him we will be a mass of people with little guidance searching for any leader who will be bold enough to lead in any direction he/she pleases. History has borne that out to be true.
My prayers are that we will take the opportunities presented to us, to return to Him humbly and fully and freely.
Update: At the time that I wrote this I was unaware of yet another mass shooting that occurred in Wisconsin at a place of worship. It was certainly saddening to learn of this horrific incident, and thoughts and prayers go out to those affected. As with the shooting in Colorado I hope also that people will choose to look to God and to follow His patterns in order to find healing.
But, all to soon the sentiment seems to fade. While those directly affected will carry the scars of the incident for long term, the country at large seems to move on to a slightly different normal, but not much different. It is an all too common pattern.
They are cries for us to "do something" to prevent such things from happening again, but those cries to tend to fade until another event brings them out again and we are reminded about just how many mass murders have occurred. It seems that the knowledge that there is little we can do to prevent all crazy intent murderers from committing their crimes sinks in at least a little and the cries cease for a time.
The cries of "do something" to me seem rather arrogant. Have we become so reliant upon our government that we look only to them for answers to our problems? The government continues to prove it is incompetent at anything that is really not their responsibility. Making more laws will not prevent criminals from committing crimes, but it somehow makes some people feel better that "something" is being done.
The answer for bettering society does not lie within government. It lies within us humbly turning back to God, acknowledging our weakness and our need and committing to living His standard. This cannot be enforced upon us, it has to individually decided. Compelling does not equal conversion. But, it must be freely said that we need Him.
Every tragedy that strikes affords us the reminder to return to God, and it is done for a time. However, the pattern indicates a short return marked with a lack of true and lasting conversion.
We should well remember our Founding Fathers and Mothers whose reliance on God was paramount to their victorious revelation and then the creation of a free nation. When I think of George Washington who added into the oath of the office of presidency "so help me God" I marvel at his reliance on Divinity. The phrase "so help me God" strengthens the oath and makes a person more accountable not just to man but to Him. It also seems to be a plea, "help me God" a recognition that the task requires guidance and strength beyond human capacity.
We should also remember how a reliance on God is what brought about the end of slavery in this country and elsewhere. A true conversion to Christianity brought people to the commitment to fight to end it. I will reiterate again Abraham Lincolns quote, "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!
It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."
We are in the same place, we've forgotten God. Do we have national sins? To be sure. We have allowed a debt to accrue that will enslave generations. We have allowed men and women (Republican, Democrat, Independents) of deplorable character to be our representatives. As a society we continue to devolve to a place where statements supporting God and His commandments are considered hateful.
Do we recognize that the simple answers for solving so many of societies problems are found clearly and simply in His commandments?
We need a lasting conversion, a return to God. He is the true source of freedom. Without Him we will be a mass of people with little guidance searching for any leader who will be bold enough to lead in any direction he/she pleases. History has borne that out to be true.
My prayers are that we will take the opportunities presented to us, to return to Him humbly and fully and freely.
Update: At the time that I wrote this I was unaware of yet another mass shooting that occurred in Wisconsin at a place of worship. It was certainly saddening to learn of this horrific incident, and thoughts and prayers go out to those affected. As with the shooting in Colorado I hope also that people will choose to look to God and to follow His patterns in order to find healing.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Dismantling the Castle
Ever since the announcement by the Supreme Court that their decision was to uphold Obamacare I had one thought that has been recurring in my mind its a simple phrase and it goes like this, " you are not the boss of me!"
For far too long we have allowed the government to act like they are the bosses of us when in fact we are the bosses of them. They work for us not the other way around. In a very real sense and in a very real way this is our fault. It's time we took the responsibility back. We the people must stand, must speak the truth and must be heard.
Not long ago I was asked by a friend of what I would do to restore principles of freedom in this country. I told her it would take a very long time. We have to be willing to stay on message and to stay on purpose for at least 100 years. That's how long the Progressives have been doing their work of fundamentally transforming this nation.
For a 100 years the Progressives have been trying to convince the citizens of this nation that we are a Democracy rather than a Republic. One of the messages that I hope people take away from the Obamacare ruling is that our government is not treating it like a Democracy. In the polling done on Obamacare there has never been one time that the majority of the population has supported this outlandish law. I would hope that the population is now disabused of the notion that we are a Democracy. I would hope that the population would realize that our government officials are treating our country as if it is an Oligarchy, and they are the privileged elite few who rule over us. We must disabuse our government officials of this notion.
So how do we do all of this? It will require patience, persistence and a continuing focus on our foundational principles and documents. As I wrote before we must be willing to work for 100 years.
A simple analogy has helped me understand how best to go about our work of restoring this country. We have a Constitution and it is firm and steady. However, the leftists Progressive have built a castle of cards over the top of our Constitution. Not only that but they have surrounded the castle with a moat, an ideology. This moat stinks like nobody's business. The Progressives have steadily worked on two things. First, building the castle. Card by card they have taken responsibilities and ownership of things that belong to the people. Second, they have tried to convince the population that the moat doesn't stink. There is another notion that we must disabuse ourselves of. It is the idea that man can perfect man. The reality is this is not possible. History teaches us this very simple lesson: Man is imperfect, we therefore are incapable of perfecting each other. That reality stares is in the face and in every country in which it has been tried it has failed. It doesn't matter what you name it, socialism, communism, progressivism etc. It always fails because man can not perfect man.
There are two things that we must do in order to restore the principles of freedom in this country. First, we must dismantle the castle. This has to be done systematically, carefully and with tremendous patience and persistence. We start at the top and we take it down card by card. Take down Obamacare, repeal and for right now forget about replace. Repealing Obamacare is an important and necessary first goal. Then we can start on the other stuff. Regulatory commissions must be pared down. It would be unwise to get rid of all of the regulatory commissions at once. I know it requires patience but it must be systematic and careful. This change is going to be painful, the citizenry has grown accustomed to the way our government operates to the regulations they have imposed upon us. I did not describe it as a house of cards because that does not generate a significant enough image. It is massive. Eventually if we are patient and persistent we will be able to take down the cards of Medicare and even Social Security. Its going to take a while and in the meantime we should be taking seriously plans like Paul Ryan's which address these issues systematically and with more immediacy.
The second thing that we must do in order to restore principles of freedom is to with constancy re-teach the citizenry that the moat does in fact stink. Our country was founded with the belief that we the people are agents unto ourselves. We are free to determine the direction of our lives and to enjoy the consequences of our own decisions. This truth must be restored to the minds of the population. It must be repeated often and loudly.
The Obamacare ruling could certainly be disheartening. However, I believe it can solidify in our minds and hearts our responsibilities as citizens of this great nation.
There is one other thing that we must do. We must put ourselves again in the position to have firm reliance on Divine Providence. Again and again God has given us the chance to return to Him. We as individuals, and I include myself, must repent of our pride and our wrongdoings. We as a nation must as Abraham Lincolns said in his time of crisis, " humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." Our crisis is great as is our need. We must recognize that our crisis is a consequence of faulty ideology, of Oligarchic tactics from our government and a steep decline in morality and in reliance on God.
We can heal. Things can be made right. But, as I wrote previously we must be patient and persistent in this important fight. The castle is going to fall, that time is fast approaching, unless with careful and steady deliberation we remove the cards one by one, remembering all the while that the ideology from which these cards sprang is faulty and historically damaging. And of course we must return to Great God Our King.
For far too long we have allowed the government to act like they are the bosses of us when in fact we are the bosses of them. They work for us not the other way around. In a very real sense and in a very real way this is our fault. It's time we took the responsibility back. We the people must stand, must speak the truth and must be heard.
Not long ago I was asked by a friend of what I would do to restore principles of freedom in this country. I told her it would take a very long time. We have to be willing to stay on message and to stay on purpose for at least 100 years. That's how long the Progressives have been doing their work of fundamentally transforming this nation.
For a 100 years the Progressives have been trying to convince the citizens of this nation that we are a Democracy rather than a Republic. One of the messages that I hope people take away from the Obamacare ruling is that our government is not treating it like a Democracy. In the polling done on Obamacare there has never been one time that the majority of the population has supported this outlandish law. I would hope that the population is now disabused of the notion that we are a Democracy. I would hope that the population would realize that our government officials are treating our country as if it is an Oligarchy, and they are the privileged elite few who rule over us. We must disabuse our government officials of this notion.
So how do we do all of this? It will require patience, persistence and a continuing focus on our foundational principles and documents. As I wrote before we must be willing to work for 100 years.
A simple analogy has helped me understand how best to go about our work of restoring this country. We have a Constitution and it is firm and steady. However, the leftists Progressive have built a castle of cards over the top of our Constitution. Not only that but they have surrounded the castle with a moat, an ideology. This moat stinks like nobody's business. The Progressives have steadily worked on two things. First, building the castle. Card by card they have taken responsibilities and ownership of things that belong to the people. Second, they have tried to convince the population that the moat doesn't stink. There is another notion that we must disabuse ourselves of. It is the idea that man can perfect man. The reality is this is not possible. History teaches us this very simple lesson: Man is imperfect, we therefore are incapable of perfecting each other. That reality stares is in the face and in every country in which it has been tried it has failed. It doesn't matter what you name it, socialism, communism, progressivism etc. It always fails because man can not perfect man.
There are two things that we must do in order to restore the principles of freedom in this country. First, we must dismantle the castle. This has to be done systematically, carefully and with tremendous patience and persistence. We start at the top and we take it down card by card. Take down Obamacare, repeal and for right now forget about replace. Repealing Obamacare is an important and necessary first goal. Then we can start on the other stuff. Regulatory commissions must be pared down. It would be unwise to get rid of all of the regulatory commissions at once. I know it requires patience but it must be systematic and careful. This change is going to be painful, the citizenry has grown accustomed to the way our government operates to the regulations they have imposed upon us. I did not describe it as a house of cards because that does not generate a significant enough image. It is massive. Eventually if we are patient and persistent we will be able to take down the cards of Medicare and even Social Security. Its going to take a while and in the meantime we should be taking seriously plans like Paul Ryan's which address these issues systematically and with more immediacy.
The second thing that we must do in order to restore principles of freedom is to with constancy re-teach the citizenry that the moat does in fact stink. Our country was founded with the belief that we the people are agents unto ourselves. We are free to determine the direction of our lives and to enjoy the consequences of our own decisions. This truth must be restored to the minds of the population. It must be repeated often and loudly.
The Obamacare ruling could certainly be disheartening. However, I believe it can solidify in our minds and hearts our responsibilities as citizens of this great nation.
There is one other thing that we must do. We must put ourselves again in the position to have firm reliance on Divine Providence. Again and again God has given us the chance to return to Him. We as individuals, and I include myself, must repent of our pride and our wrongdoings. We as a nation must as Abraham Lincolns said in his time of crisis, " humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." Our crisis is great as is our need. We must recognize that our crisis is a consequence of faulty ideology, of Oligarchic tactics from our government and a steep decline in morality and in reliance on God.
We can heal. Things can be made right. But, as I wrote previously we must be patient and persistent in this important fight. The castle is going to fall, that time is fast approaching, unless with careful and steady deliberation we remove the cards one by one, remembering all the while that the ideology from which these cards sprang is faulty and historically damaging. And of course we must return to Great God Our King.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Bond Part 2
I had the wonderful opportunity again to attend RAD camp which is all about helping families that are struggling with attachment begin to heal. It was a very moving experience for me as I felt I was literally watching the hand of the Lord work in these families lives. The parents are wonderfully loving and dedicated to doing anything they can to help their suffering kids.
I reflected again on the aha moment I'd had while watching Rabbi Daniel Lapin discuss the worship of ba'al. I discussed it with several other staff members at the camp and we came to the conclusion that while certainly mental/emotional aspects play a significant role in attachment issues, it actually comes down to a spiritual battle.
So, many of the kids I'm blessed to work with have had great evil perpetrated upon them at a very young age, including in utero. Is it any wonder that they struggle with the idea of trusting when that trust has been so horrifically broken in the past. As I point out in my earlier "Bond" post the conditions of these kids is remarkably similar to the conditions of the societies worshipping ba'al.
Here's a brief re-cap of some of those conditions.
-Defecation
-Smearing of Excrement
-Vulgarity
-Violence
-Loss of honor and self-respect
-Demeaning and Destructive towards women
-Warring against faith
-Sexual Depravity/Deviancy
-Animalistic
-Filth
-Hopelessness
I list those, because I see all of them in my work. These kids are suffering. I know they go into these conditions because of dark experiences and dark feelings they have. I also know that life can get better as the learn to trust their true family, the ones who love and really take care of their needs and do all they can to help these children grow up to be amazing adults.
As I was pondering the spiritual I thought of a couple of Scriptures that refer to family. First off I think it is interesting to look at the 10 commandments given to Moses and to note that one of them has a promised blessing associated with keeping it,
Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Well how about that? It seems that having an appropriate parent/child relationship will make life healthier, living longer. Of course thats not a guarentee that we all live to be 100, but I do think it makes life more fulfilling happy and yes healthier. I also believe there are eternal connotations as well, inheriting the earth and all that.
There are sometimes if we are listening that we receive spiritual instruction and the next Scripture came into my mind more like instruction then anything I could have come up with on my own.
Malachi 4:5-6 Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Elijah. This is the last verses on the Old Testament. The Old Testament is about covenant relationship between God and His people. I thought of the Scripture and I asked myself, why Elijah? and what is this turning all about?
So, I jogged my memory with a quick search about the prophet and the answer was an even bigger aha then the one I had for my first "Bond" post. Elijah is the most famous prophet to go up against the priests of ba'al. The story if found in 1 Kings 18. Elijah challenges the priest of ba'al to call down fire, all 400 of them try to do so but fail. He then has buckets and buckets of water poured over an alter and calls upon the Lord to light a fire, which He does. This proved to the people where the real power lies and the people responded.
I find it fascinating that this champion against ba'al would then be in charge of turning our hearts to each other in families. There it is, the best way to win the spiritual battle is as a family hearken to the Lord, keep His commandments, trust in His blessings, be good parents and be good kids.
This country needs God, the Founders knew it, and so many Americans know it today. We also need to make sure we are focusing our attention on the most fundemental unit of our society, the family. We cannot abdicate our roles as family members to government or teachers or whoever else. The kids are work with are extreme examples but I believe we are seeing the distrust and lack of attachment prevelant in our society as a whole. We must turn to each other and to God.
The spirit of Elijah is alive and well, we can keep it growing.
I reflected again on the aha moment I'd had while watching Rabbi Daniel Lapin discuss the worship of ba'al. I discussed it with several other staff members at the camp and we came to the conclusion that while certainly mental/emotional aspects play a significant role in attachment issues, it actually comes down to a spiritual battle.
So, many of the kids I'm blessed to work with have had great evil perpetrated upon them at a very young age, including in utero. Is it any wonder that they struggle with the idea of trusting when that trust has been so horrifically broken in the past. As I point out in my earlier "Bond" post the conditions of these kids is remarkably similar to the conditions of the societies worshipping ba'al.
Here's a brief re-cap of some of those conditions.
-Defecation
-Smearing of Excrement
-Vulgarity
-Violence
-Loss of honor and self-respect
-Demeaning and Destructive towards women
-Warring against faith
-Sexual Depravity/Deviancy
-Animalistic
-Filth
-Hopelessness
I list those, because I see all of them in my work. These kids are suffering. I know they go into these conditions because of dark experiences and dark feelings they have. I also know that life can get better as the learn to trust their true family, the ones who love and really take care of their needs and do all they can to help these children grow up to be amazing adults.
As I was pondering the spiritual I thought of a couple of Scriptures that refer to family. First off I think it is interesting to look at the 10 commandments given to Moses and to note that one of them has a promised blessing associated with keeping it,
Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Well how about that? It seems that having an appropriate parent/child relationship will make life healthier, living longer. Of course thats not a guarentee that we all live to be 100, but I do think it makes life more fulfilling happy and yes healthier. I also believe there are eternal connotations as well, inheriting the earth and all that.
There are sometimes if we are listening that we receive spiritual instruction and the next Scripture came into my mind more like instruction then anything I could have come up with on my own.
Malachi 4:5-6 Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Elijah. This is the last verses on the Old Testament. The Old Testament is about covenant relationship between God and His people. I thought of the Scripture and I asked myself, why Elijah? and what is this turning all about?
So, I jogged my memory with a quick search about the prophet and the answer was an even bigger aha then the one I had for my first "Bond" post. Elijah is the most famous prophet to go up against the priests of ba'al. The story if found in 1 Kings 18. Elijah challenges the priest of ba'al to call down fire, all 400 of them try to do so but fail. He then has buckets and buckets of water poured over an alter and calls upon the Lord to light a fire, which He does. This proved to the people where the real power lies and the people responded.
I find it fascinating that this champion against ba'al would then be in charge of turning our hearts to each other in families. There it is, the best way to win the spiritual battle is as a family hearken to the Lord, keep His commandments, trust in His blessings, be good parents and be good kids.
This country needs God, the Founders knew it, and so many Americans know it today. We also need to make sure we are focusing our attention on the most fundemental unit of our society, the family. We cannot abdicate our roles as family members to government or teachers or whoever else. The kids are work with are extreme examples but I believe we are seeing the distrust and lack of attachment prevelant in our society as a whole. We must turn to each other and to God.
The spirit of Elijah is alive and well, we can keep it growing.
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