Fog

I had the day before Thanksgiving off from work; but, I still got up at my usual time of "O dark thirty" to take advantage of the grocery stores being empty.  I hate crowds, so I find the luxury of sleeping in not so luxurious in the face of crowded supermarkets.  I was surprised at the dense fog that awaited me as I pulled my car out of the garage.  The weather man on the radio said the fog would not lift until noon.  I was forced to drive slower than the speed limit, the visibility not allowing me to see too far beyond my headlights.  As I wound along the small highway, I found myself a bit disoriented.  As certain "landmarks" appeared in the fog, my brain would readjust, mentally drawing a map of where I was along the route and adjusting as each known landmark suddenly -- and unexpectedly -- appeared before me.

I drove through a little town nearby: one of those quaint, old historic "townes" that offers the passerby a view back into an America of a bygone era: storefronts with porches along the road.  The town had put up its annual Christmas lights which shone so lovely in the foggy dark: white snowflakes attached to the old time streetlamps.  Nostalgia bubbled up inside me as I dreamt of "Christmas past" of my childhood.  The site was so lovely, I pulled my car over to snap a picture with my iPhone.  (The flash was reflected in the small particles of the fog -- no, it's not snowing in the picture above, but rather you're seeing the tiny droplets that made up the fog.)

I got back into my car and continued on to the grocery store.  I pulled onto a more lighted, busier thoroughfare, although the fog still created an odd disorientation even here.  As I pulled into the market's parking lot, I was struck by how the tall, bright lights gave an eerie glow to what was now an unfamiliar scape.

It turns out, I forgot that the supermarket is no longer open 24 hours a day.  I actually arrived about 10 minutes before opening time!  So, I waited a bit in my car, listening to the radio and peering out at my foggy surroundings.

The few moments of solitude caused me to reflect on my foggy journey.  I felt oddly confused and bewildered by the effects of the fog.  If it were not for the occasional landmark along the way -- a road sign, a traffic light or intersection -- I would have had a very difficult time arriving to my final destination. 

How often do we find ourselves in such similar circumstances in life -- our paths fogged with stress, hardship, loss, sorrow?  What "landmarks" do you have in your life that help point the way even when the going is unfamiliar and confusing?  Who are the lamps in your life that offer orienteering and guidance?  How do you stay on the right path when life blinds and disorients you?

Give thanks for those in your life who have built these lamp posts in the past and who today stand as signs along the path.  Life is hard.  Give thanks for the patches of light.  Give thanks for the Waypointers.

Faith

Professor: You are a Christian, aren’t you, son?

Student: Yes, sir.

Professor: So, you believe in GOD?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Professor: Is GOD good?

Student: Sure.

Professor: Is GOD all powerful?

Student: Yes.

Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?

(Student was silent.)

Professor: You can’t answer, can you? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?

Student: Yes.

Professor: Is satan good?

Student: No.

Professor: Where does satan come from?

Student: From … GOD …

Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it? And GOD did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Professor: So who created evil?

(Student did not answer.)

Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them?

(Student had no answer.)

Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Professor: According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student: No, sir. There isn’t.

(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?

Student: You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class was in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?

(The class broke out into laughter. )

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir … Exactly! The link between man and GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.

Good Friday: Cubans Observe Good Friday Today

How wonderful to hear that the Cuban government, in a gesture of good will, has granted Pope Benedict's recent request to allow Cubans to observe Good Friday.  This from the BBC --

Communist Cuba marks Good Friday with public holiday

Communist Cuba is marking Easter with a public holiday on Good Friday, for the first time in decades.

This follows Pope Benedict's visit to the country last week, where he requested the move.
Religious holidays in Cuba were cancelled after the 1959 revolution, and fewer than 10% of Cubans are practising Catholics.

Nonetheless, the Church is the most influential organisation outside the Communist government.
The Cuban government said it granted the request as a mark of respect, and to commemorate the "transcendental nature" of the pope's visit.

Live service
 
The Pope's predecessor, John Paul II, made a similar request during the last papal visit to Cuba in 1998, successfully persuading then-leader Fidel Castro to recognise Christmas as a public holiday.
A service at Havana Cathedral will be broadcast live on Cuban television, indicating the improving relations between the Church and the government, says BBC Havana correspondent Sarah Rainsford.
Religious or not, Cubans have welcomed the day off, and hope that the change will be permanent, our correspondent says.

Some described it as a sign that Cuba was opening up to the world.

"I think almost all Cubans think it's a very good idea," one told the BBC.

The holiday has only been declared for this year, but the government says it will take a decision later on whether to make it permanent.

Let us be sure to include Cuba this day in our Good Friday prayers ... that the Holy Spirit would continue His work among the Cuban people and government.  "Lord, we thank you for your work in Cuba among Your children.  Continue to bless the faithful with courage and devotion.  Stir up a wind of true liberation, creating new believers and freeing them from the shackles of atheism, communism, and/or paganism.  We thank and praise You for the ongoing redemptive work wrought through the sacrifice of your precious Son, and it is in His name we ask these things.  Amen!"

Footpaths and Hollows

Last week we had some unseasonably warm weather in the area, so one day after school I decided to use an outdoor walk as my form of exercise of the day.  Using the elliptical at 4:45 in the morning is a great workout, but especially on these short winter days, a gal needs some fresh air and sunshine every now and then to keep her head clear and level. 

I went to a park near school, having been to it on occasion in the past.  However, as I made my way around the park on the usual course, I discovered a hiking trail that went into the woods behind the park ... and lo and behold!  What a beautiful trail it was!  The soft, compost-padded trail turned into a steep decline down the back of a huge hill that lead to the river valley below.  Gradually, the trail lead up the back of another hill, which turned onto the park's regular roadway.  As I walked along the path, here and there I found little signs the park service had posted, explaining the different trees and plants and their uses.

I marveled at how tall the trees were -- I estimate that the ones in the "hollow" were easily 30 feet high ... maybe more!   As I made my way along the lovely nature trail, occasionally I would stop at the base of a tree and run my eyes all the way up the trunk, likewise eying the nearby trees, wowed by how tall they were. The barren trees, naked from the winter cold, afforded me a view of the surrounding woods, stretching miles over the river valley.  I tried to imagine what these woods would look like in the spring and summer with wondrously green vegetation.  And, yet, its wintry, monochromatic nakedness was a work of beauty just as it was. 

As I am inclined to do in such moments of simplistic beauty, free of the world's distractions and mind-cluttering noise, I pondered how we are, indeed, so similar to these trees.  These incredibly tall trees, I noticed, had no branches until the very top.  Such a dense forest created a fierce field of sunlight competition, and the physical ramifications on the fauna were evident.  Obviously, in a deep ravine where sunlight is at a premium, trees do not waste a lot of energy on producing branches down where the sunlight won't reach.  Instead, they expend their energy in growing upwards, birthing branches at the top -- reaching for the sun and its light. 

We humans, frequently expend a lot of valuable energy where there is little pay-off and growth.   The world, in its distracting and fallen state, can cause us to stop looking upward to God and pull our attention and spirits down.  In order to grow, sometimes we finally realize that we must let certain, lower "branches" go -- no longer feeding these useless distractions with our precious energy and life force --  so that we can focus our concentration on higher, more nurturing things.  We must keep growing upwards toward God, supporting our fellow "trees" in the process and producing a beautiful canopy of life that offers shelter and nourishment to the "forest" below.

The Buzzard, the Bat and the Bee

Thanks, J, for this gem ...

The Buzzard -- 

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner.  The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet.  Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The Bat --

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place.  If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air.  Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

The Bumblebee --

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out.  It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom.  It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

People --

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat and the bumblebee.  We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up!  That's the answer, the escape route and the solution to any problem.  Just look up.

Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up!

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us.

Good is good all the time!

Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil -- it has no point.

The New American Religion of Young Adults

Here are two interestingly related articles regarding young adults and their lack of religious schooling and background.  The first article I found over a year ago, and it's actually an article from 2005 that I found in The Christian Post.  The author, R. Albert Mohler, Jr., write of America's young people and their "moralistic therapeutic deism" --

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism--the New American Religion

When Christian Smith and his fellow researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took a close look at the religious beliefs held by American teenagers, they found that the faith held and described by most adolescents came down to something the researchers identified as "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

As described by Smith and his team, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these: 1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself." 4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."

That, in sum, is the creed to which much adolescent faith can be reduced. After conducting more than 3,000 interviews with American adolescents, the researchers reported that, when it came to the most crucial questions of faith and beliefs, many adolescents responded with a shrug and "whatever."

As a matter of fact, the researchers, whose report is summarized in Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Eyes of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton, found that American teenagers are incredibly inarticulate about their religious beliefs, and most are virtually unable to offer any serious theological understanding. As Smith reports, "To the extent that the teens we interviewed did manage to articulate what they understood and believed religiously, it became clear that most religious teenagers either do not really comprehend what their own religious traditions say they are supposed to believe, or they do understand it and simply do not care to believe it. Either way, it is apparent that most religiously affiliated U.S. teens are not particularly interested in espousing and upholding the beliefs of their faith traditions, or that their communities of faith are failing in attempts to educate their youth, or both."

As the researchers explained, "For most teens, nobody has to do anything in life, including anything to do with religion. 'Whatever' is just fine, if that's what a person wants."

The casual "whatever" that marks so much of the American moral and theological landscapes--adolescent and otherwise--is a substitute for serious and responsible thinking. More importantly, it is a verbal cover for an embrace of relativism. Accordingly, "most religious teenager's opinions and views--one can hardly call them worldviews--are vague, limited, and often quite at variance with the actual teachings of their own religion."

...

And, here is a recent opinion piece by Peter Wehner I found at Commentary Magazine: 

Our Lack of Moral Vocabulary

Earlier this week, David Brooks wrote a fascinating column on young people’s moral lives, basing it on hundreds of in-depth interviews with young adults across America conducted by the eminent Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith and his team.

The results, according to Brooks, were “depressing” — not so much because of how they lived but because of “how bad they are at thinking and talking about moral issues.” Asked open-ended questions about right and wrong, moral dilemmas and the meaning of life, what we find is “young people groping to say anything sensible on these matters. But they just don’t have the categories or vocabulary to do so.” What Smith and his team found is an atmosphere of “extreme moral individualism — of relativism and nonjudgmentalism.” The reason, in part, is because they have not been given the resources — by schools, institutions and families — to “cultivate their moral intuitions, to think more broadly about moral obligations, to check behaviors that may be degrading.”


This is part of a generations-long phenomenon. In his 1987 book The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom​ wrote, “There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative.” And the university, Bloom argued, is unwilling to offer a distinctive visage to young people. The guiding philosophy of the academy is there are no first principles, no coherent ways to interpret the world in which we live.

But this is merely a pose. No one, not even a liberal academic, is a true relativist. Scratch below the surface and you’ll find them to be (morally) judgmental toward those who want to discriminate based on race, gender, or sexual orientation. They will likely have strong (moral) views on criminalizing abortion, restricting marriage to one man and one woman, anthropogenic global warming, water-boarding terrorists, rendition, Israeli settlements, profits for oil companies, and cutting taxes for the rich. The left is adamant: women have a “right” to an abortion and gays have a “right” to marry. These rights are viewed as a priori and inviolate. And no one, not even a progressive liberal arts professor, is morally indifferent to someone who wants to rape his wife, molest his children, and steal his iPad. It is fashionable to insist we don’t want to “impose our values” on others or “legislate morality.” But the reality is we do so all the time, on an endless number of issues, and no civilization could survive without doing so. The question, really, is which moral standards do we aspire to? What is the ethical code we use to judge ourselves and others?

...

This didn’t arise ex nihilo. In the 1970s, influential figures in education like Sydney Simon and Lawrence Kohlberg argued for “values clarification” and “cognitive moral development,” believing the traditional moral education was essentially indoctrination –“undemocratic and unconstitutional.” (See this excellent 1978 Public Interest essay by William J. Bennett and Edwin J. DeLattre for more.) This was utter nonsense, of course; but it was also corrosive and had profound human and social consequences. You can’t promote ethical agnosticism and embrace nonjudgmentalism without there being moral ramifications. Because at some point, we all have to take a moral stand and embrace a moral cause. We have to believe in, and abide by, rules and precepts. We don’t have the luxury of living a life of perpetual moral confusion. C.S. Lewis put it as well as anyone when he wrote in The Abolition of Man, “We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.”

One final thought: what is often lost in this debate is that human fulfillment and happiness isn’t found in a world stripped of moral beliefs. Despair, not joy, is found among those who believe in nothing, who find purpose in nothing, who fight for nothing. Because of human anthropology – because we are moral creatures, made in the image of God – we are meant to delight in His ways, to live lives of high moral purpose. All of us fail more often than we should. But we cannot give up on the aspiration; nor can we allow our hearts to grow cold and indifferent, unmoved by the beauty of moral excellence.

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things,” St. Paul wrote. In our world, there is still excellence. There are still things worthy of praise. It’s time we once again dwell on them.

 Being a public school teacher for over 25 years and having been a youth leader for some six years, I have a deep concern for young people.  I know the ways of this world and the lies that are told to us -- especially at such a vulnerable age as an adolescent and young adult.  It is surely a poverty of our nation that kids are increasingly losing their Judeo-Christian heritage.  Let us pray for revivial.  We are still predominantly a nation of faith; but, let us not give another inch and start digging our roots deep into God.

Social Media Censoring Christianity?

Today I found a startling article at The Christian Post -- Is it possible that Facebook, Google, and Apple are on a campaign to stamp out religious free speech?  Here's the story from Stephanie Samuel (emphasis added):

Facebook, Google, Apple Censoring Religious Speech?

WASHINGTON – The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) group sounded the alarm Thursday about new media outlets such as Facebook, Google and Apple, which they say have written policies that violate the fundamental rules of free expression, particularly concerning religious free speech.

The NRB released a report at the National Press Club Thursday analyzing the various content policies of social networking websites. What they found was disturbing: new media platforms Facebook, Apple, Comcast, AT&T and Google have adopted policies to censor lawful viewpoints expressing Christian views or controversial ideas on “hot button issues.” Some platforms, such as Apple’s iTunes App Store and Google’s search engine, have already started to use those policies to remove orthodox Christian viewpoints considered “offensive” or too controversial.

Former Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth said, “The irony is the companies listed in this report are some of the most open companies in the world.”

In a January 2010 interview with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg praised social networking for opening people up to share “more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people.”

However, Zuckerberg’s social network has removed content deemed “anti-gay,” according to the NRB report. It is unclear whether that censored material contained any religious expression. However, the NRB report warns, “The position of Facebook on the issue of homosexuality and its collaboration with gay right group the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination (GLAAD), coupled with its troublesome written policies, are all strong indicators that its social networking platform poses a high index of risk for anti-Christian discrimination.”

The Associated Press caught Comcast blocking or at least delaying peer-to-peer file sharing of the King James Bible.

Google has also committed a number of free speech violations, the NRB report alleges. The world’s most powerful search engine initially prohibited the English Christian Institute from purchasing space for an advertisement about abortion. It also allegedly blocked a Massachusetts pro-family website because of its conservative Christian content. Google also has also excluded churches and other faith groups from free or discounted use of its web tool Google for nonprofits.

Colby May, senior counsel and director for the American Center for Law and Justice, said of new media’s apparent split personality, “Something else is in play.” He and others attending a panel discussion of the report suggested that social networking platforms are under a tremendous amount of pressure from various special interest groups.

For example, Google removed pages of a Norwegian anti-Church of Scientology site after it was pressured to do so by Church of Scientology lawyers.

And when Facebook, citing its outlined responsibility policies, abruptly yanked a fairly innocuous photo of two fully clothed male actors kissing from the blog post of gay rights activist Richard Metzger, it sparked criticism in the gay community, leading Facebook to repost the photo.

Facebook issued a formal apology and reposted the picture. The report contrasts this incident with several others where Facebook “has permanently and unapologetically removed sexual content.”
The grossest act of anti-Christian censorship, according to the report, is Apple’s removal of the Exodus International and Manhattan Declaration apps.

Gay rights protesters demonized Exodus’ app as the “gay cure app,” although the app primarily advertised the date, times and locations of its upcoming events. They rallied more than 107,000 sign petitions asking Apple to remove the app from the iTunes store. Gay activists also successfully petitioned the removal of the Manhattan Declaration.

May lamented Apple’s skewed judgment, saying it rejected an app for a document that upholds the sanctity of life and marriage as “offensive,” but maintains an app for the violent videogame Grand Theft Auto.

The panelists all expressed the fear that selective censorship may silence not just Christianity, but all religions.

May stated that the religious community must demand that companies such as Google and Facebook open their media platforms to more kinds of speech. “When we say ‘open,’ we mean open ... don’t give the heckler veto,” he urged.

Roth urged the religious community to educate the public about the importance of free speech. He said those in academia – millennials such as Zuckerman and the early makers of Google who launched their companies while attending college – may not be aware of why censorship, however small, is problematic.

NRB Senior Vice President and General Counsel Craig Parshall told The Christian Post it plans to send the report to the offending companies along with an invitation for dialogue and discussion. Parshall and others on the Thursday panel made clear their preference for change through dialogue rather than resorting to legislative or regulatory means. However, if the companies do not respond, Parshall says the NRB reserves the right to begin talks with the FCC.

Wow ... and all the Apple products I've bought over the years ... I don't to, but if this Big Brother behavior continues, I may have to take my business elsewhere ... I don't wanna have to buy a PC!

Spread Your Wings: Aloft on God's Wind

As I walked along the sidewalk heading into church this morning, the early sun, although still low in the sky, was already sending out intense heat, as if announcing to all the heatwave was still on. Off to my right about a foot above my head, a dragonfly soundlessly kept pace with me as if he, too, were heading into the church. I smiled as I admired how lovely his translucent wings reflected the sun's rays, giving his wings an iridescent, golden framework to which the clear membranes attached.

My winged companion brought me back to last night's evening prayer. Now, I must first say I am quite lazy and neglectful with regard to my spiritual habits and relationship with God. After realizing how much of my precious time I spend ruminating over past wrongs, I began to assess how damaging this habit is to me spiritually and physically. In my first attempt to pull myself out of what I dub my "Tazmanian Devil" behavior (i.e. mentally spinning like the cartoon chracacter until I spin myself corkscrew style into the ground), I knew I had to, in the words of the classic hymn, "take it to the Lord in prayer."

And take it to the Lord, I did!! In the quiet of the evening, I darkened the living room and lit a candle (well, actually one of those electric tea lights -- safer, you know), and placed it in a multi-colored glass holder. I began by searching for a Psalm that would set the tone and evoke my emotions. It did not take long at all to "happen" upon the one: Psalm 42 --

As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3My tears have been my food day and night,
while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember,>
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation 6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

I then sat at the dining room table with the flickering candle before me. I sat with my hands on the table, palms up. I prayed. Such a long, heartfelt, intimate prayer -- conversation -- I had not had in a long time with my Father.


Today is a much better day -- night and day difference! As my dragonfly buddy accompanied me to worship, I thought how I had not been allowing my wings to spread, aloft on the Wind and basking in God's light. Instead, I had been using my wings in more of a defensive posture, like the young robin my dog scared up the other day. In an early morning, quick game of Frisbee, in some odd way my pup had stepped on a young robin hiding in the grass. I don't know if it had been injured prior to our Frisbee game or if my dog had, indeed, trounced on it.

The fledling scurried away along the ground, trying to take flight, chirping and squawking in panic. My retriever naturally pursued it, curiously poking the bird with her nose and dabbing at it with her paw. The frightened bird crouched low to the ground, stretching its wings parallel to the ground like an old-fashioned fan, forming them in tense little triangles. It peered at us in a defiant glare, chirping and squawking all the while. I grabbed Retrieving Machine and pulled her back to the house.

Dragonfly brought that incident of the injured bird to mind, his golden wings in constrast to those of the little bird. The bird's were tensely and defensively stretched along the ground -- an unsafe place to be for a bird. The luminous wings of the dragonfly, in contrast, buzzed softly in glorious flight.

Life had trounced on me years ago. Sadly and wastefully, I continue to be frozen and frightened in a defensive posture on the ground.

But, it's a new day. I now endeavor to stretch my wings to catch God's updraft. I will push past the negativity, the stewing, the Tasmanian spinning and choose to cling to the hope we have in Christ. I desire to reflect God's love and light rather than my wimperings and grievances. I desire to bring hope ... to not bring down. I choose to get off the ground and fly!

King James Bible Celebrates 400 Years

From FoxNews ... (emphasis added) ...

Happy 400th Birthday to the King James Bible -- The Most Influential Book in the English Language

By Larry Stone

The poetic power of the King James Bible is part of our heritage. Around the world people have been comforted by the words, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” They have been challenged by, “Be strong and of good courage.” They have celebrated with the proclamation, “Fear not . . . For unto you is born in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

The early 16th century was a tumultuous time in Britain. England had been Catholic for more than 1,000 years, but when Pope Clement refused to annul the marriage of King Henry VIII, Henry separated the Church of England from the Church in Rome.

While Henry was still Catholic, William Tyndale sought permission to translate the Bible into English so that even “a boy who drives the plow” might know Scripture. Permission was denied, and Tyndale moved to Germany where he completed the first translation of the English New Testament made from Greek. It was published in 1526, and over the next ten years 50,000 copies were smuggled into England. Tyndale was betrayed, captured, and in 1536 killed for the crime of publishing the New Testament in English.

Although his body was burned at the stake, Tyndale had unleashed an enormous demand for Bibles in “the vulgar English tongue.” A number of translations were printed, including the Bishops’ Bible and the immensely popular Geneva Bible, which was the Bible Shakespeare read and the Bible Puritans carried to New England.

Elizabeth I, who reigned from 1558 to 1603, sought to bring peace among religious factions. But more importantly for our story, varied creative forces came together then to form the most splendid age in English literature. James VI of Scotland was a product of this season of creativity. When James VI became king of all Great Britain and Ireland in 1603, he called a conference to try to settle differences between Anglicans and Puritans. Out of this conference came the decision to create a new translation of the Bible.

Fifty-four scholars labored nearly seven years. In spite of its title page saying that the KJV was “newly translated,” the committees were instructed to follow the Bishops’ Bible when possible. Because the Bishops’ Bible depended on the work of Tyndale, more than 80% of the KJV is Tyndale’s wording. The KJV was published in 1611 and within 50 years it was the dominant English translation of the Bible—a position it held for 300 years.

Wherever the British went to build an empire—either for their monarch or for their God—the King James Version went too. When a clergyman in Scotland read the Scripture, when a student in America memorized a Bible verse, when a speaker in India or Australia told a story from the Bible, they all used the same words from the King James Version.

The King James Bible is the best-selling English-language book of all time. It has been in print continuously for 400 years. It has helped form our language; it has given context to our literature; it has inspired our music; and for centuries it was the one book a family would own and read before all others.

Larry Stone, is author of "The Story of the Bible: The Fascinating History of Its Writing, Translation & Effect on Civilization" (Thomas Nelson).

What an inspiring story!  Whenever we hold a Bible in our hands, we must pause to give God thanks for the brave people who literally fought so hard to bring it to us and to make so easily available today.  It is truly covered in the blood of martyrs.  I prefer other more modern translations of the Bible, such as the NIV and the newer ESV; but, no version can hold a candle to the beauty of the KJV.  It is poetry.

National Day of Prayer Ruling Overturned: Alienation Is Not Injury

I caught this good piece of news over at Christianity Today (emphasis added):

National Day of Prayer Ruling Overturned

A federal appeals court today ruled 3-0 that dismisses a lawsuit against the National Day of Prayer. The decision overturns last year's ruling by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb that ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Freedom From Religion Foundation did not have standing to bring the lawsuit against President Obama. "But unless all limits on standing are to be abandoned, a feeling of alienation cannot suffice as injury in fact," the court said in its opinion opinion.

President Truman signed into law in 1952 a Congressional resolution establishing a National Day of Prayer. The Justice Department had appealed Judge Crabb's decision.

So, I guess prayer is a protected right still ... for a while.  I wonder when the next attack on religious freedom will occur.

Exchanging the Truth for A Lie

He nervously paced the floor, like an Olympian athlete engaged in visual imagery, going through the motions of the huge challenge before him. He waited outside the courtroom, his own attorney's gaze following the frenetic path of his client. Kevin occasionally reached inside his coat pocket, fingering the rosary he had bought long ago in Mexico. His mind groped for reassurance and comfort as his fingers searched for the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe that was attached to the rosary. In the other pocket nestled a scallop shell from his pilgrimage he had made along the Way of St. James in Spain -- "el Camino de Santiago de Compostela."

Kevin had brought these trinkets with him on the day he had been dreading: the day of a deposition involving an angry neighbor and his nasty lawyer. They were hell bent on intimidating Kevin with a long and drawn out deposition at the courthouse. It was an annoying and ridiculous property dispute ... a matter he tried to settle with his neighbor but to no avail. He had been dragged into court.

I have known Kevin for many years. He is a family man, married many years to the same sweet woman and the proud father of two -- a teenage son and a younger daughter with Down syndrome. His wife had battled some serious health crises herself over the years and, coupled with the extra trials a special needs child brings, Kevin's home life was filled with additional burdens and emergencies many other families do not face. But, he never showed bitterness or resentment toward the seemingly harsh and unfair chain of events that comprised his life, instead choosing to be jovial and a ball of fire in the workplace.

Over the years and through the numerous trials, crises and close calls, Kevin understandably wondered the same question any of us would: WHY?  Raised Catholic, yet having chosen to slip "the bonds" that Kevin felt Catholicism presented, he delved into various New Age philosophies and gurus to soothe his aching soul, seeking a spirituality that brought him comfort but not the "control" he believed religion forced upon its adherents.

One day at lunch, some of us were discussing religion ... the precise topic of the discussion escapes me now. But, I clearly recall Kevin interrupting the conversation, announcing to the group with pride: "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual." I asked him what he meant by "spiritual."

He talked about having a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe in his garden, a statue he had brought back with him on one of his winter trips to Cancun. He said that he found meditating before the statue in his garden brought him peace. He stated that spiritual means he does things that help him connect with the world and "a higher being" without the trappings of religion. He read books by such authors as are featured of Oprah. He said it helped him feel better and that it made him a better person.  I replied that it seemed very self-focused .... very selfish. Did his meditations lead him to reach out to his community to make the world better and not just himself?  I tried to be as kind as possible in choosing my words, but such a challenge is never welcome.

That conversation was years ago, perhaps not handled by me as best as it could have been. And now he was preparing for the dreadful deposition. His pronouncement of having his pilgrim's shell and rosary with him -- what I would deem his "good luck charms" -- only brought me sadness. He had exchanged the truth for a lie. He sought support and comfort from two small inanimate objects. They were not souvenirs from Christ-centered pilgrimages. I could understand their importance if they were accompanied by a Christ-centered faith. But, rather than using them to help bring himself closer to Christ, they were used no differently than a rabbit's foot -- mere good luck charms to help connect him to the universe. No relationship. No different from reading one's horoscope. No different from knocking on wood.

The "New Age", my friends, ain't nothin' new.  It's the same ancient paganism that's been around for millenia.  In the past two decades it has been repackaged, revamped, and been presented in a sleek Madison Fifth Avenue PR campaign.  

Ironically, in Kevin's revolt against the "control" of religion, he failed to see his own desire for control, for what is the purpose of superstition but to give us a sense of some control over our out-of-control lives -- our destiny?  If I throw a pinch of salt over my shoulder, I'll ward off evil ... that would vengefully attack me for spilling salt.  If I cower at the number 13, I believe I'm warding off misfortune, but I miss out on the full engagement in one day a month and the lovely "baker's dozen" at the bakery.  If I bury a statue of St. Joseph in my front yard in hopes that my house will sell faster, I worry that maybe I buried "him" the wrong way ... and I wind up putting my faith in a cheap trinket rather than connecting in close communion with my Lord.

Do these items drive me closer to God ... or do they serve to distract me from God, naively placing my faith in inanimate objects and rituals?  In my feeble attempts to control my life, I shut the door to the true Author of Life.  I exchange Him and His Truth for a life of cheap grace -- fruitless rituals, charms, and charlatans.