From Years Past
There are not two sides to an issue. There are at least 360. Most issues are more circular than linear.
Civility is a science & an art. It is digital & analogical. It produces positive results & it helps make life worth living.
Lord, put those obstacles in my path today that cause me to trip over that which must not be ignored or avoided.
In this world of sun and rain, the more you give, the more you gain.
Our values will drive our politics and we will have integrity (whether or not we agree) OR our politics will drive our values and we will have nothing (whether or not we agree).
Content over context contextualizes conviction consistently.
Sullied soteriology nullified his sanctimonious theology.
When he awoke from his despair,
Daylight spoke; the sky was fair.
April pierced the winter night.
Faith had come, restoring sight.________________________
Fret Not
We only have so much mental, physical, and emotional energy.
If we spend it, it is spent. If we spend it fretting about something that takes care of itself, then we have wasted it.
Evil doers, their successes, their deeds, and their devices have an expiration date. We all do. They, as we, set their courses by choices. We do not have to supervise their outcomes to insure that evil is not rewarded or that it is left unchecked. It is not our job to meddle and it wastes our energy. While we are called to work for justice for others and to hold out the way of righteousness, repentance, and grace, it is not our assignment to exercise judgment - even within our own minds and hearts.
If a man we once knew to be evil turns, it is because something wonderful has happened in his heart. If not, it is deeply sad, but our ultimately sadness is for him and for the God who grieves for His loss of one He has loved and invited to return - a faded blade of grass and a withered herb,
"Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb." -Psalm 37:1-2 (ESV)
________________________
Banishing Tyranny
What do tyrants do? What does the psalmist say>
Psalm 52 Quid gloriaris? (NRSV)
1 You tyrant, why do you boast of wickedness
against the godly all day long?
2 You plot ruin; your tongue is like a sharpened razor,
O worker of deception.
3 You love evil more than good
and lying more than speaking the truth.
4 You love all words that hurt,
O you deceitful tongue.
5 Oh, that God would demolish you utterly,
topple you, and snatch you from your dwelling, and root you out of the land of the living!
6 The righteous shall see and tremble,
and they shall laugh at him, saying,
7 This is the one who did not take God for a refuge,
but trusted in great wealth and relied upon wickedness.
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
9 I will give you thanks for what you have done
and declare the goodness of your Name in the presence of the godly.
The psalmist says that tyrants do these things:
They boast of wickedness.
They speak against the godly.
They plot ruin.
They speak with razor tongues.
They deceive.
They love evil.
They love lies.
They hurt people with their words.
But ... they do not and cannot destroy the work and people of God.
Before I get too arrogant and self-righteous, let me check myself for the tyrant in me.
________________________
Upon thinking that his thoughts were words,
He thought again and thought that none existed
Apart from thought so that ...
The thinking of them might have created them and
That in thinking not of them, they might
Become as naught, but then, he thought
That he could not undo a thought and thus
A word once spoken would exist whether he thought it
Or not.
________________________
And then, a random song
