Friday, August 31, 2018
...and another 3 years have gone by...
Poking my head up for air. Very quiet on this blog. I feel like I should tell a joke or do a dance or something.
Monday, December 21, 2015
6... almost 7 years later....
The world of Will is a much different place now. I started down a path in 2009 I never did finish. Today I am almost totally engrossed in my work and haven't had much time for serious reading or most of my spiritual endeavors.
Not a bad time things are going well... just busy.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Waking after a long sleep...
I was left a comment on my last post, which I note, was almost three years ago. Another blog user, EddieL invited me, as a comment to my previous posting, to exercise my discernment and analytical ability on what he's written on his Google site, Scripture and the Law. I have not had enough time to read all the information posted there, but I do intend to post either here or anywhere else desired, as my understanding grows.
On first glance, the site seems antagonistic... or better put, the Catholic Church becomes the antagonist towards Christianity, the document's protagonist. I was prepared for an assault on the typical grounds; papal infallibility, Catholics' general lack of Scriptural training/knowledge, idolization of the Saints as lesser gods, corruption of the priesthood, and/or general disposition or rank odor of particular Catholics encountered on any given Sunday provided as proof of the "evil-ness" of the Catholic Church...
However, the approach taken by the author is very different than I anticipated. The writer makes his case, in the most part through a series of Catechetical references contrasted with Scriptural passages, in a very detailed and well-thought out manner. It appears, from my inadequate and rapid first scan, to be a very methodical and rational discourse, as opposed to the all too typical controversial phrase firing and intent to "make people angry so I can ramp up the hits to my site" approach...
Part of my own hesitation at posting or participating in on-line "Scriptural groups" or "Religious discussions", over the last few years, is the tendency to rely on heresay and emotional rhetoric rather than intelligent discourse... Forums where the speaker is attacked and torn shreds instead of stated idea, belief or philosophy...
I am very excited to find an individual who has concern, writes well and has obviously done his homework in regards to the topic. Wheter I agree or disagree, it will be a pleasure to read and respond to the author's work... and I hope he will feel the same.
I must forewarn though, I am not gentle nor kind in analysis, though I always try to be fair. If I ever seem to be insulting or condescending in this post or any other it is my poor writing skill and not my intent. I am only seeking knowledge, and will often test my own convictions against others it is not out of pride or my own need to be right... it's simply the way I think... ask my long suffering wife and family members for detail which they will be happy to provide at length.
On first glance, the site seems antagonistic... or better put, the Catholic Church becomes the antagonist towards Christianity, the document's protagonist. I was prepared for an assault on the typical grounds; papal infallibility, Catholics' general lack of Scriptural training/knowledge, idolization of the Saints as lesser gods, corruption of the priesthood, and/or general disposition or rank odor of particular Catholics encountered on any given Sunday provided as proof of the "evil-ness" of the Catholic Church...
However, the approach taken by the author is very different than I anticipated. The writer makes his case, in the most part through a series of Catechetical references contrasted with Scriptural passages, in a very detailed and well-thought out manner. It appears, from my inadequate and rapid first scan, to be a very methodical and rational discourse, as opposed to the all too typical controversial phrase firing and intent to "make people angry so I can ramp up the hits to my site" approach...
Part of my own hesitation at posting or participating in on-line "Scriptural groups" or "Religious discussions", over the last few years, is the tendency to rely on heresay and emotional rhetoric rather than intelligent discourse... Forums where the speaker is attacked and torn shreds instead of stated idea, belief or philosophy...
I am very excited to find an individual who has concern, writes well and has obviously done his homework in regards to the topic. Wheter I agree or disagree, it will be a pleasure to read and respond to the author's work... and I hope he will feel the same.
I must forewarn though, I am not gentle nor kind in analysis, though I always try to be fair. If I ever seem to be insulting or condescending in this post or any other it is my poor writing skill and not my intent. I am only seeking knowledge, and will often test my own convictions against others it is not out of pride or my own need to be right... it's simply the way I think... ask my long suffering wife and family members for detail which they will be happy to provide at length.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
The Way of Discernment: Link and Unlike
One of the simplest, and most vital of the spiritual activities is Discernment... It is also the most misunderstood and over mystified. Discernment, simply put is learning what is like or unlike between two things.
If I was to Discern whether or not my vocation was like that of a priests, in or outside of an order, I must first learn about myself, and second about that vocation. I must then way the parts of that vocation that are like myself and unlike myself, and finally to decide whether or not the two are similar enough to be compatible.
Many people object to this understanding because they are looking for a pseudo-mystical experience out of the lives of the Saints. They want God to come down from heaven and tell them what to do. So they sit with their mind blank and wait for revelation. God, however, only reveals Himself since He, Himself, is Truth and not I, then one will most likely not receive answers from divine revelation about which way their own path should go. Further only a true contemplative can sit in real quiet, contemplate and move closer to God... It is a practiced thing and not an easy one for humans to even understand, much less master. All the contemplative monks and friars that we read about will all state that they only have the briefest hint of a glimpse at this state where the soul meets God, and all work for lifetimes to attain it... Even if only for a few seconds.
There are some saints whom God has seen fit to intervene with directly like St. Faustina and Blessed Mother Theresa. All the saints know, though how to discern. They know how to look into themselves, find the self that God created, take it out examine it and compare it to areas of the world... Not to hold that self on high as better then the world, but to find their place in it. Does the square peg think it's better then the round hole because it does not fit the mold? Or can it only truly be happy in a square hole?
Discernment is simple, but not easy because, one has to learn at great cost about the self which God has created. Through prayer, scripture, reading and study of holy men, women and their writings we find out more about ourselves and how we have been made, then the loving, but completely incomprehensible God. We only understand what we do about God because as His creation He is reflected in us. Once we know the self that God has made, in His image, we are more ready and able to find him in the world.
Being able to discern not only helps us find the spots where we fit but also helps us to find spiritual gifts in others that enable us to work together in God's kingdom. Who is greater St. Francis or St. Dominic? Blessed Mother Theresa or Pope John Paul? St. Peter or St. Paul? Foolish debates each and everyone because as history proves those Saints work better together! Each has his or her own vocation. Knowing and understanding how to discern gives us great freedom from jealousy and envy. I, having great analytical ability only envy the athlete because I have been taught to do so by a system that prides itself on athletes. In the kingdom of God the athlete and the analytic stand together in God's glory.
If I was to Discern whether or not my vocation was like that of a priests, in or outside of an order, I must first learn about myself, and second about that vocation. I must then way the parts of that vocation that are like myself and unlike myself, and finally to decide whether or not the two are similar enough to be compatible.
Many people object to this understanding because they are looking for a pseudo-mystical experience out of the lives of the Saints. They want God to come down from heaven and tell them what to do. So they sit with their mind blank and wait for revelation. God, however, only reveals Himself since He, Himself, is Truth and not I, then one will most likely not receive answers from divine revelation about which way their own path should go. Further only a true contemplative can sit in real quiet, contemplate and move closer to God... It is a practiced thing and not an easy one for humans to even understand, much less master. All the contemplative monks and friars that we read about will all state that they only have the briefest hint of a glimpse at this state where the soul meets God, and all work for lifetimes to attain it... Even if only for a few seconds.
There are some saints whom God has seen fit to intervene with directly like St. Faustina and Blessed Mother Theresa. All the saints know, though how to discern. They know how to look into themselves, find the self that God created, take it out examine it and compare it to areas of the world... Not to hold that self on high as better then the world, but to find their place in it. Does the square peg think it's better then the round hole because it does not fit the mold? Or can it only truly be happy in a square hole?
Discernment is simple, but not easy because, one has to learn at great cost about the self which God has created. Through prayer, scripture, reading and study of holy men, women and their writings we find out more about ourselves and how we have been made, then the loving, but completely incomprehensible God. We only understand what we do about God because as His creation He is reflected in us. Once we know the self that God has made, in His image, we are more ready and able to find him in the world.
Being able to discern not only helps us find the spots where we fit but also helps us to find spiritual gifts in others that enable us to work together in God's kingdom. Who is greater St. Francis or St. Dominic? Blessed Mother Theresa or Pope John Paul? St. Peter or St. Paul? Foolish debates each and everyone because as history proves those Saints work better together! Each has his or her own vocation. Knowing and understanding how to discern gives us great freedom from jealousy and envy. I, having great analytical ability only envy the athlete because I have been taught to do so by a system that prides itself on athletes. In the kingdom of God the athlete and the analytic stand together in God's glory.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Favor vs. Retribution
Take any single event, let's start with a car's engine.
The engine may or may not start each time I try to start it. If it starts then God is merciful and I am in his favor, if it doesn't then the Devil is attacking me. Let's say the engine doesn't start and it causes me to miss some event I think of as important. If I see positive results come out of that missed meeting that I feel most certainly that I am under attack by the devil... Conversely if something bad happens at the meeting then I take that as evidence that God spared me. Finally there are those that, belief in God or no belief in God, say that it is just the way of the world and that these things happen...
So I contemplate all these things around this single instance... And this is what I feel.
God does not affect physical things, except by moving the hearts of man kind. Maybe God calls me to order and maintain my car, maybe he hardens my heart against it... Who is to say? But the opposing side desires us to attribute supernatural powers to everything so that anything can be believed as a sign of his power. For the reasoning follows that if there was a bad event that God saved me from then the badness must have been of the devil and God saw fit to save me from the evil terrible force. As if God is like the French underground in an World War II movie. Powerful but working in secret to thwart the mega powerful villain. This is not so.
God calls my heart to accept with patience and charity and event that occurs from losing a shoe to being martyred. It is my choice to conform to His will, and thus change the course of my life. He calls but we must hear and follow... God cares little, I feel about business meetings, timeliness, car engines, and so much more about how we behave and act as a result. He will give us strength and patience to overcome obstacles and the wisdom to see which hurdles we set for ourselves were unsafe or dangerous.
The opposing side wishes us to believe that God has so little faith and love for us that God, himself must directly interact with physical things to keep us from following what the opposing side wants us to believe is unyielding and unavoidable temptation. Partly because he wants us to defend against the physical things that we *judge* to be sinful so that we spend all our time effort and energy defending against physical things and spending no time placing barriers on the actual place of conflict and that is the spirit. The opposing side is so good at his job of twisting and bending truth that while a man on the exterior may be feeding the poor and conforming to chastity, but on the interior might be a slave to his own pride and vanity about the good works he is doing. He might be so much a slave to these things that he believes with every jesture and movement he is earning ( and sometimes already earned ) a place at the side of Christ.
Christ has told us that he has already prepared a place for us... We just have to go there. He laid out the roadmap, and leaves us to our own to follow that roadmap. He cheers on our every spiritual growth no matter how small, and jumps for joy when that growth flows into the physical and mental world... But our physical success or failure means little. We will always sometimes succeed and sometimes fail and through every chance Christ is standing with us and will help us learn and grow from either outcome. The opposing side however is there too telling us that Christ has already spoken to us in the outcome of the situation and there is no need for further consultation because the evidence is plainly visible in the material world.
The engine may or may not start each time I try to start it. If it starts then God is merciful and I am in his favor, if it doesn't then the Devil is attacking me. Let's say the engine doesn't start and it causes me to miss some event I think of as important. If I see positive results come out of that missed meeting that I feel most certainly that I am under attack by the devil... Conversely if something bad happens at the meeting then I take that as evidence that God spared me. Finally there are those that, belief in God or no belief in God, say that it is just the way of the world and that these things happen...
So I contemplate all these things around this single instance... And this is what I feel.
God does not affect physical things, except by moving the hearts of man kind. Maybe God calls me to order and maintain my car, maybe he hardens my heart against it... Who is to say? But the opposing side desires us to attribute supernatural powers to everything so that anything can be believed as a sign of his power. For the reasoning follows that if there was a bad event that God saved me from then the badness must have been of the devil and God saw fit to save me from the evil terrible force. As if God is like the French underground in an World War II movie. Powerful but working in secret to thwart the mega powerful villain. This is not so.
God calls my heart to accept with patience and charity and event that occurs from losing a shoe to being martyred. It is my choice to conform to His will, and thus change the course of my life. He calls but we must hear and follow... God cares little, I feel about business meetings, timeliness, car engines, and so much more about how we behave and act as a result. He will give us strength and patience to overcome obstacles and the wisdom to see which hurdles we set for ourselves were unsafe or dangerous.
The opposing side wishes us to believe that God has so little faith and love for us that God, himself must directly interact with physical things to keep us from following what the opposing side wants us to believe is unyielding and unavoidable temptation. Partly because he wants us to defend against the physical things that we *judge* to be sinful so that we spend all our time effort and energy defending against physical things and spending no time placing barriers on the actual place of conflict and that is the spirit. The opposing side is so good at his job of twisting and bending truth that while a man on the exterior may be feeding the poor and conforming to chastity, but on the interior might be a slave to his own pride and vanity about the good works he is doing. He might be so much a slave to these things that he believes with every jesture and movement he is earning ( and sometimes already earned ) a place at the side of Christ.
Christ has told us that he has already prepared a place for us... We just have to go there. He laid out the roadmap, and leaves us to our own to follow that roadmap. He cheers on our every spiritual growth no matter how small, and jumps for joy when that growth flows into the physical and mental world... But our physical success or failure means little. We will always sometimes succeed and sometimes fail and through every chance Christ is standing with us and will help us learn and grow from either outcome. The opposing side however is there too telling us that Christ has already spoken to us in the outcome of the situation and there is no need for further consultation because the evidence is plainly visible in the material world.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Absolutes, Devotion, and the Eucharist...
I am a Catholic and I am devoted to God;
If I press that devotion to an absolute, then the very first thing I must do is love God above all. If I love God with all my heart then I am already doing what, I as a Catholic believe to be the greatest commandment. I believe it from two sources, in the first case Christ, whom I believe to be God and Man in a union we *best* describe as this Son of God, states it is first. I believe it also rationally, if I believe in a God and that God is the source and creator of all then my love with a thankful heart should flow back to him.
The second thing that I must do is love my neighbor as myself. There is a lot of semantic games people play with this basic concept but we all know what is meant here. We all desire to be loved and accepted so that is what we must do... Even a nonconformist such as myself wants to be accepted and not persecuted because I do things differently. Christ states this law as second to that first and again it is rationally verifiable.
If we do not do these things first and do *both* of these things first, how can we approach the Eucharist? It is meaningless to try to approach Christ as a brother unseen if we cannot love those brothers we see. God's mercy is infinite as well as his love, but if we cannot find him in the obvious places of this earth ( namely each other ) then what hope have we of finding him once we become separated from this life and existence.
Further if there is a religion, any religion, like mine, that has a concept of God ( for how can the mind of a man contain the total infinite God ) and that God is the creator of *all* then how can anyone justify damaging or hating *any* part of what that God has created. God may destroy anything that he has created, this is not in dispute, but he does not hate any of it.
How can he? If God "hated" anything would it not simply cease to be? How can the will of God form anything imperfectly? So if anything God "hates" never existed, then one must logically deduce that everything left is loved by him... Because we have free will we can choose away from him and he can become displeased... But every parent is disappointed and hurt by a child from time to time but an one say that a loving parent can ever hate their child?
So then how can anyone justify hate? How can someone hate in the name of God?
If I press that devotion to an absolute, then the very first thing I must do is love God above all. If I love God with all my heart then I am already doing what, I as a Catholic believe to be the greatest commandment. I believe it from two sources, in the first case Christ, whom I believe to be God and Man in a union we *best* describe as this Son of God, states it is first. I believe it also rationally, if I believe in a God and that God is the source and creator of all then my love with a thankful heart should flow back to him.
The second thing that I must do is love my neighbor as myself. There is a lot of semantic games people play with this basic concept but we all know what is meant here. We all desire to be loved and accepted so that is what we must do... Even a nonconformist such as myself wants to be accepted and not persecuted because I do things differently. Christ states this law as second to that first and again it is rationally verifiable.
If we do not do these things first and do *both* of these things first, how can we approach the Eucharist? It is meaningless to try to approach Christ as a brother unseen if we cannot love those brothers we see. God's mercy is infinite as well as his love, but if we cannot find him in the obvious places of this earth ( namely each other ) then what hope have we of finding him once we become separated from this life and existence.
Further if there is a religion, any religion, like mine, that has a concept of God ( for how can the mind of a man contain the total infinite God ) and that God is the creator of *all* then how can anyone justify damaging or hating *any* part of what that God has created. God may destroy anything that he has created, this is not in dispute, but he does not hate any of it.
How can he? If God "hated" anything would it not simply cease to be? How can the will of God form anything imperfectly? So if anything God "hates" never existed, then one must logically deduce that everything left is loved by him... Because we have free will we can choose away from him and he can become displeased... But every parent is disappointed and hurt by a child from time to time but an one say that a loving parent can ever hate their child?
So then how can anyone justify hate? How can someone hate in the name of God?
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Focus and Fear
Do we make it to God and Heaven because of the things we do?
Or might we make it there in spite of all that we do because God is merciful?
What can one do in this world that will win heaven?
What finite act or finite number of finite acts can win an infinite Heaven?
The good book reads all is vainity, and it is true.
What can one man do, accept what he allows God to do through him?
If it is God working through him then how can anyone boast of a good work that he has done?
How can any man set himself up as better then another or more holy then another?
We are not dispicable, or filthy... we were made by God.
We are not without value... we were made by God.
We simply lack any comprehensive ability of Him...
...we believe in our secret hearts that we are really in control
...and if we believe in God in any degree...
...we believe that we control God...
...like a TV with a remote control...
...but He bears it and still loves us...
...not as a lofty king on high but as the artist loves his art...
...His art is a part of Him, and He a part of it...
When you look around you see both how far away we are from Him...
...but also how far we have come.
We are good and imperfect at the same time...
So the trick is not to focus on a glorious task that will "win" us heavenly reward... The vocation is to focus on the "heart" He gave us and do what is asked with out reward... To respond as the paintbrush, paint and canvas respond... quiet simple compliance.
Help me be paint to the painter.
Or might we make it there in spite of all that we do because God is merciful?
What can one do in this world that will win heaven?
What finite act or finite number of finite acts can win an infinite Heaven?
The good book reads all is vainity, and it is true.
What can one man do, accept what he allows God to do through him?
If it is God working through him then how can anyone boast of a good work that he has done?
How can any man set himself up as better then another or more holy then another?
We are not dispicable, or filthy... we were made by God.
We are not without value... we were made by God.
We simply lack any comprehensive ability of Him...
...we believe in our secret hearts that we are really in control
...and if we believe in God in any degree...
...we believe that we control God...
...like a TV with a remote control...
...but He bears it and still loves us...
...not as a lofty king on high but as the artist loves his art...
...His art is a part of Him, and He a part of it...
When you look around you see both how far away we are from Him...
...but also how far we have come.
We are good and imperfect at the same time...
So the trick is not to focus on a glorious task that will "win" us heavenly reward... The vocation is to focus on the "heart" He gave us and do what is asked with out reward... To respond as the paintbrush, paint and canvas respond... quiet simple compliance.
Help me be paint to the painter.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Another thought.
Oh what a troublesome creature is man,
Who sets cites to burn, he built with his hand.
All the time talking about honor and right,
While intimidating children with military might.
He wars for Family, and God high above,
missing His obvious message of love.
Oh God forgive us, we know not what we do!
Who sets cites to burn, he built with his hand.
All the time talking about honor and right,
While intimidating children with military might.
He wars for Family, and God high above,
missing His obvious message of love.
Oh God forgive us, we know not what we do!
Which God?
At the pinacle of all doctrine and law, for my as Catholic, are the two greatest commandments. Love God above all and your neighbor as yourself. The God of my heart, that calls me to work his will, gives me directions that fit this ideal. The voice that calls me to fear, to guard against, to isolate from, is not of God. God calls us to unity, period. This is demonstrable at every level of society from two friends on the phone to the United Nations.
I may not agree with everyone on the planet, but I do attempt to understand their point of view... This doesn't mean I write a script in my head to portray them however I feel like. I observe, think, and attempt to see the world as others see it. I fail, as anyone will becuase we cannot forget our own experience, but making the attempt is important.
Everything that is happening in the world today stems from an inability of people trying to see others views. That and everyone has to be "right" or "righteous". The only way in the world I can be truly "right" is for now one else to exist in this world, or be able to experience the world as God does.
Before we try to figure out which world religion has the right set of doctrine or beliefs why don't we try to realize those first to commandments... since most religons can agree to them.
I may not agree with everyone on the planet, but I do attempt to understand their point of view... This doesn't mean I write a script in my head to portray them however I feel like. I observe, think, and attempt to see the world as others see it. I fail, as anyone will becuase we cannot forget our own experience, but making the attempt is important.
Everything that is happening in the world today stems from an inability of people trying to see others views. That and everyone has to be "right" or "righteous". The only way in the world I can be truly "right" is for now one else to exist in this world, or be able to experience the world as God does.
Before we try to figure out which world religion has the right set of doctrine or beliefs why don't we try to realize those first to commandments... since most religons can agree to them.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
All is vanity...
The Lord says "Do not judge", and I try, humbly, to obey.
The Lord says "Do not condemn", and I try, humbly, to obey.
The Lord says "Love your enemy and do good to those who hurt you",
and I try, humbly, to obey.
The wisdom of men is folly and the folly of God is wise. This I hear and understand.
Things do not happen according to my will but to God's and in this I am glad.
...but I am human and not good enough to not be hurt by those who judge and condemn me.
...I am human and not good enough not to be hurt when my supposed enemy, calls me friend but continues to disregard me.
How can they continue to be mislead by the true enemy when I see you standing so clearly before them?
How can they choose to dwell in bitterness and deal in venom when so much love is trying to get free?
God grant me the strength to do your will, and if not the ability to control my emotions, then at least help me not be controlled by them.
For when my heart is set aflame with indignation it is no longer open to your spirit.
When me eyes are filled with tears, I cannot see your light.
When my ears are deafened by complaint and protest I cannot hear your word.
I am weak and foolish, so easily led astray... help me to be as strong as you require.
Renew your tired servant so that he might continue to stumble along the path you have set for him.
The Lord says "Do not condemn", and I try, humbly, to obey.
The Lord says "Love your enemy and do good to those who hurt you",
and I try, humbly, to obey.
The wisdom of men is folly and the folly of God is wise. This I hear and understand.
Things do not happen according to my will but to God's and in this I am glad.
...but I am human and not good enough to not be hurt by those who judge and condemn me.
...I am human and not good enough not to be hurt when my supposed enemy, calls me friend but continues to disregard me.
How can they continue to be mislead by the true enemy when I see you standing so clearly before them?
How can they choose to dwell in bitterness and deal in venom when so much love is trying to get free?
God grant me the strength to do your will, and if not the ability to control my emotions, then at least help me not be controlled by them.
For when my heart is set aflame with indignation it is no longer open to your spirit.
When me eyes are filled with tears, I cannot see your light.
When my ears are deafened by complaint and protest I cannot hear your word.
I am weak and foolish, so easily led astray... help me to be as strong as you require.
Renew your tired servant so that he might continue to stumble along the path you have set for him.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Clemency for the Wicked
Jas 5:1-6 - Ps 49:14-15ab, 15cd-16, 17-18, 19-20 - Mk 9:41-50
God is very specific and very harsh. When it comes to transgression against Himself, God seems to be more lenient then He is with those who causes the weak to stray and the persecutes the defenseless. Beware though, today the Trinity warns against storing up treasure on Earth. For those who see themselves as weak, must be careful when they see those who were enemies made to suffer.
Suffering in the context of Earth is an Earthly treasure! Who is it that makes your enemies to suffer? Not the loving and merciful Lord of Hosts who gives all men and women every opportunity in this life to repent of their ways. It is the work of the enemy that makes people to suffer for remember always that we are all Christ's on this Earth. After this life there is room to be separate, but while here it cannot be so.
The work of the enemy is always apparent in suffering with one exception. When God wills to work a conversion of heart, and the once wicked truly sees the works they have wrought it does hurt. It is the hurt of healing... It is the pain of cleansing an infection... Not the wailing of despair.
So be weary those who are persecuted! As Christ says better to pluck out your eye and be blind rather then be tempted to revel in seeing the misery of another. Better to be deaf then to hear the wailing of your earthly enemies in suffer and become pridefull that God has justified you. God justifies by love and compassion... Not fire and death. God heals the heart of the earthly enemies so that that might be called in union together with Him.
Pray for your enemies and do good to those who hurt you... Especially if you see that they are getting what you feel they deserve. Lighten their burdens... Console them through their pain... And then maybe God will see you poor in spirit, and maybe then might we begin to earn. Even in the tiniest degree all that the Father has allotted to us.
God is very specific and very harsh. When it comes to transgression against Himself, God seems to be more lenient then He is with those who causes the weak to stray and the persecutes the defenseless. Beware though, today the Trinity warns against storing up treasure on Earth. For those who see themselves as weak, must be careful when they see those who were enemies made to suffer.
Suffering in the context of Earth is an Earthly treasure! Who is it that makes your enemies to suffer? Not the loving and merciful Lord of Hosts who gives all men and women every opportunity in this life to repent of their ways. It is the work of the enemy that makes people to suffer for remember always that we are all Christ's on this Earth. After this life there is room to be separate, but while here it cannot be so.
The work of the enemy is always apparent in suffering with one exception. When God wills to work a conversion of heart, and the once wicked truly sees the works they have wrought it does hurt. It is the hurt of healing... It is the pain of cleansing an infection... Not the wailing of despair.
So be weary those who are persecuted! As Christ says better to pluck out your eye and be blind rather then be tempted to revel in seeing the misery of another. Better to be deaf then to hear the wailing of your earthly enemies in suffer and become pridefull that God has justified you. God justifies by love and compassion... Not fire and death. God heals the heart of the earthly enemies so that that might be called in union together with Him.
Pray for your enemies and do good to those who hurt you... Especially if you see that they are getting what you feel they deserve. Lighten their burdens... Console them through their pain... And then maybe God will see you poor in spirit, and maybe then might we begin to earn. Even in the tiniest degree all that the Father has allotted to us.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Poverty
What is poverty? Moreover what is the poverty with which God is concerned? I believe he is concerned with our physical well being only so far as it does not distract us in one direction or the other... Meaning that we do not devote our lives to providing for the physical but also not being so hungry that we can no longer recognize God because our very minds don't have the fuel to make the connection. However rich or poor God is indifferent to the amount of material we collect, but is highly interested in what we do with that material.
For example, the widow who gave the last of her money, Christ was not moved to provide for her but yet allowed her to voluntarily give all of her material resources to God. I believe this was because he was well aware of the strength of her spirit, she was rich in the spirit of God. Yet, Christ lavished vast amounts of compassion and time on the tax collectors who were very rich in material but very poor in the spirit of God.
So I ask now who is the poor in America? Most of the material poor I have met are rich with reserves in spirit for they understand, in heart, the phrase there but for the grace of God go I. Even if they do not attend regular services or prescribe to a particular belief system, I have seen a poor family take in an even poorer individual without hesitation. Yet in my dealings with parishes I have met many who are willing to give from their surplus to charity and devote surplus time to goals they believe to be worth while, but will walk past in judgment one of God's children who is poor in some way, much like the Judge or Priest in the story of the good
Samaritan.
I believe that there is a poverty among the well to do in our society. I believe that there is a great emptiness in the spiritual stomach of a large portion of Americans. Why else do they spend so much time in pursuit of extremes? What people claim as addiction, and make no mistake I understand the implications of chemical and physical addiction, is an attempt to fill the void in the soul. Of course it turns into habit and later serious addiction, but it starts with a "wanting to feel alive." At least that is what I hear from most of the people I have dealt with in addictions. The rest come from an attempt to find solace from one kind of a pain or another. In both cases I submit that they are really seeking God. Why then do they turn to some physical thing instead of to scripture?
It is because of those who in the day of Christ would be the Pharisees and Elders, Christ warned of. It is because of the hypocrites and the falsely pious, that these poor rich people lose their way. These morally righteous, when they teach the supposed law of God, start with the belief in their own superiority, thier own righteousness and call it god. They find some extreme sense of false devotion and call it belief. They take a personal crusade and call it righteousness. It is no wonder that good, and intelligent people can no longer find God, because His holy name has been used in vain to persecute those who sin.
These morally righteous, these pious charlatans, claim that God is the answer to all things. God is the answer to all things, but what they mean is "devotion to God, as I am devoted to Him, is the answer... the goodness I exude because I am so totally devoted to God is the answer." They do not believe in the God of Abraham, the Spirit, the Father and the Son. They believe in their own image of a god, which if it could be seen would look strangely like them. They believe in a god that can be cajoled, whose favor can be won from and his will, subverted to their own.
God, the true God, is not this. The will of the God of all cannot be controlled or stopped. It is unrelenting and ever moving toward His kingdom. We can either move with it or against it.
These self-righteous are truly the least in God's kingdom, and therefore most deserving of our love and compassion. We must learn to love the self-righteous and fill the shallow. We must help them both to know the God of all, the God of love.
We can only do this by following God's law and keeping His commandments. We must treat them as gently and lovingly as we ourselves would want to be treated if we became lost and blind, at all times keeping God first and foremost in our minds. This is what the phrase "God is the answer means." This is what the answer entails. If we do this, no matter how hard it gets then we will find all that we seek. For if we, with the help and grace of God, solve the spiritual poverty problem, then the material poverty will simply cease to be.
For example, the widow who gave the last of her money, Christ was not moved to provide for her but yet allowed her to voluntarily give all of her material resources to God. I believe this was because he was well aware of the strength of her spirit, she was rich in the spirit of God. Yet, Christ lavished vast amounts of compassion and time on the tax collectors who were very rich in material but very poor in the spirit of God.
So I ask now who is the poor in America? Most of the material poor I have met are rich with reserves in spirit for they understand, in heart, the phrase there but for the grace of God go I. Even if they do not attend regular services or prescribe to a particular belief system, I have seen a poor family take in an even poorer individual without hesitation. Yet in my dealings with parishes I have met many who are willing to give from their surplus to charity and devote surplus time to goals they believe to be worth while, but will walk past in judgment one of God's children who is poor in some way, much like the Judge or Priest in the story of the good
Samaritan.
I believe that there is a poverty among the well to do in our society. I believe that there is a great emptiness in the spiritual stomach of a large portion of Americans. Why else do they spend so much time in pursuit of extremes? What people claim as addiction, and make no mistake I understand the implications of chemical and physical addiction, is an attempt to fill the void in the soul. Of course it turns into habit and later serious addiction, but it starts with a "wanting to feel alive." At least that is what I hear from most of the people I have dealt with in addictions. The rest come from an attempt to find solace from one kind of a pain or another. In both cases I submit that they are really seeking God. Why then do they turn to some physical thing instead of to scripture?
It is because of those who in the day of Christ would be the Pharisees and Elders, Christ warned of. It is because of the hypocrites and the falsely pious, that these poor rich people lose their way. These morally righteous, when they teach the supposed law of God, start with the belief in their own superiority, thier own righteousness and call it god. They find some extreme sense of false devotion and call it belief. They take a personal crusade and call it righteousness. It is no wonder that good, and intelligent people can no longer find God, because His holy name has been used in vain to persecute those who sin.
These morally righteous, these pious charlatans, claim that God is the answer to all things. God is the answer to all things, but what they mean is "devotion to God, as I am devoted to Him, is the answer... the goodness I exude because I am so totally devoted to God is the answer." They do not believe in the God of Abraham, the Spirit, the Father and the Son. They believe in their own image of a god, which if it could be seen would look strangely like them. They believe in a god that can be cajoled, whose favor can be won from and his will, subverted to their own.
God, the true God, is not this. The will of the God of all cannot be controlled or stopped. It is unrelenting and ever moving toward His kingdom. We can either move with it or against it.
These self-righteous are truly the least in God's kingdom, and therefore most deserving of our love and compassion. We must learn to love the self-righteous and fill the shallow. We must help them both to know the God of all, the God of love.
We can only do this by following God's law and keeping His commandments. We must treat them as gently and lovingly as we ourselves would want to be treated if we became lost and blind, at all times keeping God first and foremost in our minds. This is what the phrase "God is the answer means." This is what the answer entails. If we do this, no matter how hard it gets then we will find all that we seek. For if we, with the help and grace of God, solve the spiritual poverty problem, then the material poverty will simply cease to be.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Reflections on the Devil and Time
[ Please note that these are just ramblings of an uneducated man and should not in any way be taken to represent official teachings of the Catholic Church. These are merely my reflections. ]
It is, I believe, the voice of the counter influence that tried to tempt Christ away from His path in Gethsemanie, as he had tried in the desert. It was at that point, the point of the anticipation, before Christ's own betrayal, pain, humiliation and death that the case of the opposing side could make it's strongest case to the human God. We believe that Christ was fully human and fully God and both have the ability to choose, yet it is His human side that can be given to fear or taken by passion, or can agonize in a Garden.
The other side of light is cunning, the antithesis not of God but of perhaps the strongest of the angels, Michael to make the metaphor. He has the knowledge and abilities of the angels at his command, just as the archangel "commands" the "armies" of Heaven on God's behalf. He, the darkened angel, lacks however the ultimate knowledge of God, which does not make him as stupid or obvious as he would have us believe.
The "war" has been fought and is already over, in one sense... God won, Christ died. The "gates" of heaven are opened and His "kingdom" is being realized. The moves have been made the board is set, what is undetermined is who fights on what side... Since time "unfolds" we must play out the game and choose up sides. I am not speaking of choosing a religion, there is either movement towards God's will or against it. If we are voluntarily conformed to God's will then we fit and we can "find" our "way" to Gods "kingdom", because "shaped" in the way God's will is "shaped" it is like us and we are like it.
Consider for a moment the goal of the other side... Their goal is a mystery to me. We have to assume that seeing the "face" of God they have some comprehension of God's might, how could they conceivably hope to stand against it. Obviously they could not. If, however, the "dispute" was over God becoming man, and on one side were those who believed in God's will, which includes love of man and those opposed to the idea of God lowering himself and thereby being opposed to God's will then one starts to get a picture of perhaps a purpose...
Suppose time is like a sheet of paper, running from one side to the other. Now suppose you place a dot in the exact center of the paper and fold the paper ( like a flower holding the dot in the center ). All points on the page would now be seen to run towards that one point. Consider too that both factions are not literally, or should I say, linearly bound to time itself. Say that focal point was Christ then all sides would work at the paper as a whole. Then the ideology of the opposing side starts to make sense, the less man conforms to God's will, universally speaking, the harder it becomes on Christ to make it through Gethsemanie. Assuming that Christ had even a glimpse of what the future would hold, he knowingly makes the decision each time the course of events is played out... Say if the multiple universes theory was true and that every decision that could be played out was in all dimensions except that in that one moment Christ in all the universes never once turns aside. Such an event, even if it were only a nanosecond long would be a "hitch" in all things, it would quite literally be the focal point of the universe... And given the relative nature of time what if there is other life and all the other planets are visited by Christ in one form or another at that same relative time, then all histories would be shaped by that same event.
God must pass the trial as material form every time, taking on all the burdens of all the weaknesses of all creation and each of the million billion times, because God must be unchanging, must make the sacrifice each time willingly knowing the shape of history of the rest of the universe, one might conceive that an angel or two might actually believe enough that out of one of those times Christ could be swayed from the ultimate act of altruism that His death was. Especially considering because of God's infinite nature, all of space time itself, would be available to use against Christ in the garden, and the knowledge that He must endure it not once, but on every world in every reality. Then the moral philosophy of the Devil makes some sense. I think about that idea, and the phrase as was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, and I think, what if Christ is in the garden of Gethsemanie for all of existence ( and of course outside of it because He is God eternal as well ).
Of course it is entirely possible that I am too science fiction fantasy minded to really make interesting theological argument.
It is, I believe, the voice of the counter influence that tried to tempt Christ away from His path in Gethsemanie, as he had tried in the desert. It was at that point, the point of the anticipation, before Christ's own betrayal, pain, humiliation and death that the case of the opposing side could make it's strongest case to the human God. We believe that Christ was fully human and fully God and both have the ability to choose, yet it is His human side that can be given to fear or taken by passion, or can agonize in a Garden.
The other side of light is cunning, the antithesis not of God but of perhaps the strongest of the angels, Michael to make the metaphor. He has the knowledge and abilities of the angels at his command, just as the archangel "commands" the "armies" of Heaven on God's behalf. He, the darkened angel, lacks however the ultimate knowledge of God, which does not make him as stupid or obvious as he would have us believe.
The "war" has been fought and is already over, in one sense... God won, Christ died. The "gates" of heaven are opened and His "kingdom" is being realized. The moves have been made the board is set, what is undetermined is who fights on what side... Since time "unfolds" we must play out the game and choose up sides. I am not speaking of choosing a religion, there is either movement towards God's will or against it. If we are voluntarily conformed to God's will then we fit and we can "find" our "way" to Gods "kingdom", because "shaped" in the way God's will is "shaped" it is like us and we are like it.
Consider for a moment the goal of the other side... Their goal is a mystery to me. We have to assume that seeing the "face" of God they have some comprehension of God's might, how could they conceivably hope to stand against it. Obviously they could not. If, however, the "dispute" was over God becoming man, and on one side were those who believed in God's will, which includes love of man and those opposed to the idea of God lowering himself and thereby being opposed to God's will then one starts to get a picture of perhaps a purpose...
Suppose time is like a sheet of paper, running from one side to the other. Now suppose you place a dot in the exact center of the paper and fold the paper ( like a flower holding the dot in the center ). All points on the page would now be seen to run towards that one point. Consider too that both factions are not literally, or should I say, linearly bound to time itself. Say that focal point was Christ then all sides would work at the paper as a whole. Then the ideology of the opposing side starts to make sense, the less man conforms to God's will, universally speaking, the harder it becomes on Christ to make it through Gethsemanie. Assuming that Christ had even a glimpse of what the future would hold, he knowingly makes the decision each time the course of events is played out... Say if the multiple universes theory was true and that every decision that could be played out was in all dimensions except that in that one moment Christ in all the universes never once turns aside. Such an event, even if it were only a nanosecond long would be a "hitch" in all things, it would quite literally be the focal point of the universe... And given the relative nature of time what if there is other life and all the other planets are visited by Christ in one form or another at that same relative time, then all histories would be shaped by that same event.
God must pass the trial as material form every time, taking on all the burdens of all the weaknesses of all creation and each of the million billion times, because God must be unchanging, must make the sacrifice each time willingly knowing the shape of history of the rest of the universe, one might conceive that an angel or two might actually believe enough that out of one of those times Christ could be swayed from the ultimate act of altruism that His death was. Especially considering because of God's infinite nature, all of space time itself, would be available to use against Christ in the garden, and the knowledge that He must endure it not once, but on every world in every reality. Then the moral philosophy of the Devil makes some sense. I think about that idea, and the phrase as was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, and I think, what if Christ is in the garden of Gethsemanie for all of existence ( and of course outside of it because He is God eternal as well ).
Of course it is entirely possible that I am too science fiction fantasy minded to really make interesting theological argument.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Reflective Quote
"[The cause of the deciever] is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do [God's] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."
-- Screwtape Letters, Letter 8, C.S. Lewis
I submit this quote, and suggest it to your memory. This is not a quote of hope or joy, but of determination. The standard it sets is not one of "what God can do for me" but "how can I continue to serve even when all is silent and unyeilding."
It is important not just to read the quotes that give glory and joy to God, but also that acknowledge the sturggle of human existance... and once acknowledged continues to call towards goodness, even when all seems dark and corrupt.
-- Screwtape Letters, Letter 8, C.S. Lewis
I submit this quote, and suggest it to your memory. This is not a quote of hope or joy, but of determination. The standard it sets is not one of "what God can do for me" but "how can I continue to serve even when all is silent and unyeilding."
It is important not just to read the quotes that give glory and joy to God, but also that acknowledge the sturggle of human existance... and once acknowledged continues to call towards goodness, even when all seems dark and corrupt.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Depth
1 Kgs 10:1-10 - Ps 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40 - Mk 7:14-23
It is not the wealth of the world that defiles, but greed. It is not pornography that defiles, but lust. Yet, we rarely hold ourselves accountable... as if all the alcohol, porn, drugs, guns and money vanished tomorrow sin and vice would go right along with them. We must reclaim our own chastity, our own conformity to Christ and stop crusading. We must learn to love and then maybe we might learn wisdom and peace...
It is not the wealth of the world that defiles, but greed. It is not pornography that defiles, but lust. Yet, we rarely hold ourselves accountable... as if all the alcohol, porn, drugs, guns and money vanished tomorrow sin and vice would go right along with them. We must reclaim our own chastity, our own conformity to Christ and stop crusading. We must learn to love and then maybe we might learn wisdom and peace...
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
The Blindness of Pride
1 Kgs 8:22-23, 27-30 - Ps 84:3, 4, 5 and 10, 11 - Mk 7:1-13
Today I have achieved perfect sympathy with the Pharisees. It is entirely possible to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. It is entirely possible to strengthen the tendancy of devotional action while all the time straying further from God.
How often do we try to help people in the direction we want them to go instead of the direction God has set for them. We claim it is out of love and compassion for them and believe it, but it is really gratification of ourselves and justification of our own actions we seek. If I did this to find God and I make someone else follow them same path then obviously I was right to do what I did.
A common theme among theologians is that there is no one path to God or His will and that each person must encounter God of their own accord.
Yet, we persist in thinking ourown way is the best. I am no less.
Today I have achieved perfect sympathy with the Pharisees. It is entirely possible to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. It is entirely possible to strengthen the tendancy of devotional action while all the time straying further from God.
How often do we try to help people in the direction we want them to go instead of the direction God has set for them. We claim it is out of love and compassion for them and believe it, but it is really gratification of ourselves and justification of our own actions we seek. If I did this to find God and I make someone else follow them same path then obviously I was right to do what I did.
A common theme among theologians is that there is no one path to God or His will and that each person must encounter God of their own accord.
Yet, we persist in thinking ourown way is the best. I am no less.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Mystery vs. Familiarity
1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13 - Ps 132:6-7, 8-10 - Mk 6:53-56
Where is the dwelling place of Christ? We can he go to find rest? The multitudes come and continue to come and he continues to give, untiring, unceasing to the limits of his human strength and then some. Who brings food for him? Who tries to heal him?
Surley if he is human he must have wounds, would his feet not blister and tire after staying on them all day? Would he at not least be hungry?
Or do we imagine that Christ was not really human and just healed himself whenever he needed? Do we imagine that Christ was only God "playing" at being human? Do we imagine that when the whips of the romans bit his flesh that God magically made him endure more then a man could handle?
Where was Christ's Solomon to build him a magnificant temple? Would Christ have allowed or asked for Solomon to build him a temple? What kind of a temple would Christ have built? Would it have gold and silver and beautiful crystal? Would it have expensive statues and high ceilings? Would it have elaborate sound and lighting systems? Would it look like your own parish? If not, then for whom is your temple built?
Where is the dwelling place of Christ? We can he go to find rest? The multitudes come and continue to come and he continues to give, untiring, unceasing to the limits of his human strength and then some. Who brings food for him? Who tries to heal him?
Surley if he is human he must have wounds, would his feet not blister and tire after staying on them all day? Would he at not least be hungry?
Or do we imagine that Christ was not really human and just healed himself whenever he needed? Do we imagine that Christ was only God "playing" at being human? Do we imagine that when the whips of the romans bit his flesh that God magically made him endure more then a man could handle?
Where was Christ's Solomon to build him a magnificant temple? Would Christ have allowed or asked for Solomon to build him a temple? What kind of a temple would Christ have built? Would it have gold and silver and beautiful crystal? Would it have expensive statues and high ceilings? Would it have elaborate sound and lighting systems? Would it look like your own parish? If not, then for whom is your temple built?
Monday, January 30, 2006
God, the Absolute
2 Sm 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13 - Ps 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 - Mk 5:1-20
The readings today interest me greatly. In one case you have David, one of God's chosen who fell into sin, forgiven by God was spared. David's punishment, which God forsaw, came at the hands of people who could not forgive. Then you have another example of the demon(s) Legion who entreated Christ for mercy and was shown mercy. God is merciful even unto those who hate and dispise him, who utterly work against him.
It is the heart of the human world which causes the suffering and retribution. It is the heart of humankind that laughs at the misfortune of another saying: "You who were sinful have reaped what you have sown." Yet, when they fall on hard times it is the devil or his minions at work to torment them because the eye of the enemy sees their righteousness.
So I ask when the psalmist writes: "O Lord, rise up and save me!" from whom, really, is he asking to be saved?
The readings today interest me greatly. In one case you have David, one of God's chosen who fell into sin, forgiven by God was spared. David's punishment, which God forsaw, came at the hands of people who could not forgive. Then you have another example of the demon(s) Legion who entreated Christ for mercy and was shown mercy. God is merciful even unto those who hate and dispise him, who utterly work against him.
It is the heart of the human world which causes the suffering and retribution. It is the heart of humankind that laughs at the misfortune of another saying: "You who were sinful have reaped what you have sown." Yet, when they fall on hard times it is the devil or his minions at work to torment them because the eye of the enemy sees their righteousness.
So I ask when the psalmist writes: "O Lord, rise up and save me!" from whom, really, is he asking to be saved?
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Conversion, 2 points
Acts 22:3-16 - Acts 9:1-22 - Ps 117:1bc, 2 - Mk 16:15-18
Like Paul, we all feel like we've had the horse knocked out from under us. Many of us feel like we are blind and wandering around in the dark. It is difficult to spread the Good News blindfolded... but is it a question of success or simply to try?
Like Paul, we all feel like we've had the horse knocked out from under us. Many of us feel like we are blind and wandering around in the dark. It is difficult to spread the Good News blindfolded... but is it a question of success or simply to try?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
A Blind Eye
1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 - Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10 - Mk 3:1-6
What was it that wounded the Pharisees? What hurt or pain had they suffered that so blinded them to who Christ was? The reactions of the Pharisees seem to be irrational. What counsel did they keep when they were away from Christ and therefore not recorded in the Gospel?
Thomas Merton said that once an arrogant man believed he was humble that he would be hard to reach. Is this where the pharisees were? Is this not where we are from time to time?
There are those that might think, after reading this and my other postings that I am down on being human. There are those that think I am saying that God and religion are harsh things that belittle us and make us small... This is not the case at all.
We are a fantastic people with so much potential, but we, like the pharisees have a blindness. Where the pharisees were blind to Christ we are blind to Christ in each other. Our own interest will allow us the conciet of comprehending Christ in ourselves, but it is almost alwas easier to see the good in ourselves then in another. ( Except when we want them to do something for us. ) Everyday however one does not have to go very far to see the effects of selfishness in the world. Take the simple task of driving. For whatever reason our roads have become a place of self-interested mayhem. Nobody gives anybody half a chance. People are constantly cut off, honk at and worse. The streets are full of impatience and anger... So thick you can taste it in the air.
It is this self centered focus I believe that put the pharisees where they were, eventually leads Saul and David to their down falls, and keeps everyone separated. People are more interested in how they appear to others than being friends. People are more interested in their lives than the lives of others. If all we do is gauged only by what we gain then it will not be long before our schools, churches, markets, and homes will be in much the same condition as our roads. It has already begun.
We each stand as David facing our own self centered interest in the form of Goliath. Do we take our sling and charge, or drop our rocks and run? I know that I have done my fair share of running and will do so in the future. God knows this and still loves me, but when I manage to defeat my self interest, even for a short while, it makes him happy. Each time the monster goes down, he is easier to defeat... but each time I give in he becomes stronger.
What was it that wounded the Pharisees? What hurt or pain had they suffered that so blinded them to who Christ was? The reactions of the Pharisees seem to be irrational. What counsel did they keep when they were away from Christ and therefore not recorded in the Gospel?
Thomas Merton said that once an arrogant man believed he was humble that he would be hard to reach. Is this where the pharisees were? Is this not where we are from time to time?
There are those that might think, after reading this and my other postings that I am down on being human. There are those that think I am saying that God and religion are harsh things that belittle us and make us small... This is not the case at all.
We are a fantastic people with so much potential, but we, like the pharisees have a blindness. Where the pharisees were blind to Christ we are blind to Christ in each other. Our own interest will allow us the conciet of comprehending Christ in ourselves, but it is almost alwas easier to see the good in ourselves then in another. ( Except when we want them to do something for us. ) Everyday however one does not have to go very far to see the effects of selfishness in the world. Take the simple task of driving. For whatever reason our roads have become a place of self-interested mayhem. Nobody gives anybody half a chance. People are constantly cut off, honk at and worse. The streets are full of impatience and anger... So thick you can taste it in the air.
It is this self centered focus I believe that put the pharisees where they were, eventually leads Saul and David to their down falls, and keeps everyone separated. People are more interested in how they appear to others than being friends. People are more interested in their lives than the lives of others. If all we do is gauged only by what we gain then it will not be long before our schools, churches, markets, and homes will be in much the same condition as our roads. It has already begun.
We each stand as David facing our own self centered interest in the form of Goliath. Do we take our sling and charge, or drop our rocks and run? I know that I have done my fair share of running and will do so in the future. God knows this and still loves me, but when I manage to defeat my self interest, even for a short while, it makes him happy. Each time the monster goes down, he is easier to defeat... but each time I give in he becomes stronger.
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