Some years back a fine preacher named Chuck Comella gave a fine analogy of how we stay fresh and life giving. Seems his sister had brought him some very good, albeit smelly cheese. Now Chuck tends to put things in his refrigerator uncovered and he put his fine cheese next to an open pitcher of orange juice. Imagine his surprise when he drank his orange juice only to discover it tasted like cheese.
The point was that when we spend time in prayer and reading our Bibles, we can expect to "smell" more like Christ. The concept holds true in much of life, I.e if we run with the dogs, we'll likely get smelly and have fleas.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Perhaps it's my impending 68th birthday or watching the daily left-right hate fest, but I am totally frustrated with the utter lack of 'communication' in today's political climate.
A while back the Director of The Family Action Council of TN posted an op-ed in the Nashville newspaper, The Tennessean, questioning same sex marriage and laying out a rational case for traditional marriage as he saw it. The furor that it generated was unbelievable. The first 38 comments in response were dripping with vile insinuations and ad hominem attacks that left me shaking my head.
Fast forward to last week when Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si" was released. I read it and was immediately impressed by his loving and reasoned thesis that the ills of the world are traceable to our failure to acknowledge God's plan for mankind, nature, and the earth. While I disagreed with a lot of his conclusions, I do feel the document could certainly form the basis for the start of a meaningful dialogue. Hence I was deeply disturbed by many comments in response that attacked the pope as a pedophile, the institution of the church, liberation theology, socialism, communism, etc.... missing his major point entirely.
My boss often says that the left and the right both have it wrong. The left believes that if we have programs and policies that help the less fortunate all will be well. The right believes that if we implement the right economic policies and tax structures all will be well. Both see government as the answer. During the 2008 campaign, Shane Claiborne was asked by a young lady in the audience whether he favored John McCain or Barack Obama. His response was priceless, "It doesn't matter who gets elected, we'll still be engaged in damage control... As long as we put our faith in man and not in Jesus we will still have a problem.."
A while back the Director of The Family Action Council of TN posted an op-ed in the Nashville newspaper, The Tennessean, questioning same sex marriage and laying out a rational case for traditional marriage as he saw it. The furor that it generated was unbelievable. The first 38 comments in response were dripping with vile insinuations and ad hominem attacks that left me shaking my head.
Fast forward to last week when Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si" was released. I read it and was immediately impressed by his loving and reasoned thesis that the ills of the world are traceable to our failure to acknowledge God's plan for mankind, nature, and the earth. While I disagreed with a lot of his conclusions, I do feel the document could certainly form the basis for the start of a meaningful dialogue. Hence I was deeply disturbed by many comments in response that attacked the pope as a pedophile, the institution of the church, liberation theology, socialism, communism, etc.... missing his major point entirely.
My boss often says that the left and the right both have it wrong. The left believes that if we have programs and policies that help the less fortunate all will be well. The right believes that if we implement the right economic policies and tax structures all will be well. Both see government as the answer. During the 2008 campaign, Shane Claiborne was asked by a young lady in the audience whether he favored John McCain or Barack Obama. His response was priceless, "It doesn't matter who gets elected, we'll still be engaged in damage control... As long as we put our faith in man and not in Jesus we will still have a problem.."
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