“I have long believed there was a divine plan that placed this land here to be found by people of a special kind, that we have a rendezvous with destiny. Yes, there is a spirit moving in this land and a hunger in the people for a spiritual revival. If the task I seek should be given to me, I would pray only that I could perform it in a way that would serve God.” (Ronald Reagan)
“There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few Christians, scorned or oppressed by a succession of emperors, bearing all trials with a fierce tenacity, multiplying quietly, building order while their enemies generated chaos, fighting the sword with the word, brutality with hope, and at last defeating the strongest state that history has known. Caesar and Christ had met in the arena, and Christ had won.” (Will Durant)
“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and the virtue of our own.” (Abraham Lincoln)
“Sometimes a nation abolishes God, but fortunately God is more tolerant.” (unknown)
“If we spend sixteen hours a day dealing with tangible things and only five minutes a day dealing with God, is it any wonder that tangible things are two hundred times more real to us than God?” (William R. Inge)
“Here is my creed: I believe in one God, creator of the universe. That He governs it by his providence. That He ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render Him is doing good to His other children. That the soul of man is immortal and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this.” (Benjamin Franklin)
“God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas -- but for scars.”
(Elbert Hubbard)
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 NIV)
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
“…For hate is strong and mocks the song of Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men”
I have, for days, been pondering this line from the Christmas song, ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.’ The line, standing alone, is true. The conclusion that hate and its derivatives will win the day however is not.
News reports from the sectarian violence of the Middle East, and of the senseless violence in the drug wars of Mexico, and the sexual violence perpetrated upon children, and of economic and other social ills suffered by millions, if that is all one digests, discourages many into believing otherwise.
But when all the lines from the song are read we get a much more optimistic view of the story of mankind’s life and the destiny of this earth. Of course, you say, this is only a song; but Handel’s Messiah is “only a song,” and both proclaim great truths. The good will ultimately be victorious; evil, hate, and violence will not win the day. The Holy Scriptures and revelation to living prophets and to my soul strongly convince me of this.
These thoughts were brought to fore by a video on YouTube recently suggested to me by a good friend. I watched ‘Pale Blue Dot’ by the late astronomer Carl Sagan. The photographs from space and the musical score by Vangelis and the compelling voice and narrative by Mr. Sagan were beguiling but were symptomatic of the existentialism and nihilism of so many of today’s generation. As Brigham Young once suggested, there are 99 truths mixed with one falsehood that brings many down. Satan (yes, I believe he is real) is a great counterfeiter. Satan always has used ‘the philosophies of men mingled with scripture’ to good advantage.
After watching the video I read the comments made by other watchers of the video, most, I suspect who were young adults. Many of the comments were vulgar; most were nihilistic; and Mr. Sagan was elevated to the status of a secular scientific prophet (as I suggested was Steve Jobs as the tech prophet of our age). Sagan’s is the voice, I believe, of the ‘me’ generation or of ‘generation ‘x’ as you will have it.
Mine is a counterpoint (as you know if you have read any of my commentaries) that sustains me and gives me great hope for the destiny of mankind.
We will be in for some very rough times in the future—far beyond what many of us who sit in our warm and comfortable homes have ever experienced—but there are ‘islands of safety’ and messages of hope that ring true for any who have ‘ears to hear and hearts to understand.’ Seek, and you shall find them.
And you will probably not find these on YouTube.
News reports from the sectarian violence of the Middle East, and of the senseless violence in the drug wars of Mexico, and the sexual violence perpetrated upon children, and of economic and other social ills suffered by millions, if that is all one digests, discourages many into believing otherwise.
But when all the lines from the song are read we get a much more optimistic view of the story of mankind’s life and the destiny of this earth. Of course, you say, this is only a song; but Handel’s Messiah is “only a song,” and both proclaim great truths. The good will ultimately be victorious; evil, hate, and violence will not win the day. The Holy Scriptures and revelation to living prophets and to my soul strongly convince me of this.
These thoughts were brought to fore by a video on YouTube recently suggested to me by a good friend. I watched ‘Pale Blue Dot’ by the late astronomer Carl Sagan. The photographs from space and the musical score by Vangelis and the compelling voice and narrative by Mr. Sagan were beguiling but were symptomatic of the existentialism and nihilism of so many of today’s generation. As Brigham Young once suggested, there are 99 truths mixed with one falsehood that brings many down. Satan (yes, I believe he is real) is a great counterfeiter. Satan always has used ‘the philosophies of men mingled with scripture’ to good advantage.
After watching the video I read the comments made by other watchers of the video, most, I suspect who were young adults. Many of the comments were vulgar; most were nihilistic; and Mr. Sagan was elevated to the status of a secular scientific prophet (as I suggested was Steve Jobs as the tech prophet of our age). Sagan’s is the voice, I believe, of the ‘me’ generation or of ‘generation ‘x’ as you will have it.
Mine is a counterpoint (as you know if you have read any of my commentaries) that sustains me and gives me great hope for the destiny of mankind.
We will be in for some very rough times in the future—far beyond what many of us who sit in our warm and comfortable homes have ever experienced—but there are ‘islands of safety’ and messages of hope that ring true for any who have ‘ears to hear and hearts to understand.’ Seek, and you shall find them.
And you will probably not find these on YouTube.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Authentic Christmas
As we reflect upon the first Christmas—the coming to earth of the child Jesus—we cannot help but anticipate that it will not be long before our Savior returns to this earth much differently than he did 2000 years ago. It will not be, as before, as a humble babe in a manger, or a life lived out as a humble carpenter, or as a humble itinerant preacher and healer, or even as the humble and infinite Atoner for mankind.
Instead, his next appearance to the world will eclipse even the “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people,” or the exclamations of the “multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” It will be, instead, His coming in glory with the hosts of heaven, in great power, as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. It will be then that many of our great Christmas hymns will become a reality. And we will be in awe.
But we should also remember His first appearance. A little over two thousand years ago the archangel Gabriel appeared from the Heavenly realms and made a startling announcement to some faithful shepherds who were attending to their task in the dark of the night. Additional heralds, a multitude of what we suppose were singing angels, joined Gabriel praising God. They, too, left their message with the astonished shepherds. The shepherds responded with haste to this glorious outpouring to find this child, this long-prophesied Messiah—to gain a personal testimony of the things they were told. After they had seen for themselves, they enthusiastically told all they encountered of what they had heard and experienced.
What can we learn from this? What does God want us to learn from this? The scriptural record here shows that God will make known even to the lowliest of His children messages of transcendent importance. There is no indication in the record that the shepherds were aged or highly-educated sages; nothing is said about them holding position or priesthood. Nothing is said of their gender. The likelihood, instead, was that these were probably poor and uneducated young men and/or young women who knew how to care for God’s creatures, who were in the line of their duty, and who were not asleep.
Can you see the pattern? Though the wise men came later bearing gifts, the response desired by God of those who were in a position to immediately respond to this Holy day, this Birthday of Birthdays, was for them to listen to His messengers, to gain a personal testimony themselves, to worship God’s Son, and to proclaim to others what they knew to be true.
Could this not be the proper response for us to emulate during this Christmas season?
Instead, his next appearance to the world will eclipse even the “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people,” or the exclamations of the “multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” It will be, instead, His coming in glory with the hosts of heaven, in great power, as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. It will be then that many of our great Christmas hymns will become a reality. And we will be in awe.
But we should also remember His first appearance. A little over two thousand years ago the archangel Gabriel appeared from the Heavenly realms and made a startling announcement to some faithful shepherds who were attending to their task in the dark of the night. Additional heralds, a multitude of what we suppose were singing angels, joined Gabriel praising God. They, too, left their message with the astonished shepherds. The shepherds responded with haste to this glorious outpouring to find this child, this long-prophesied Messiah—to gain a personal testimony of the things they were told. After they had seen for themselves, they enthusiastically told all they encountered of what they had heard and experienced.
What can we learn from this? What does God want us to learn from this? The scriptural record here shows that God will make known even to the lowliest of His children messages of transcendent importance. There is no indication in the record that the shepherds were aged or highly-educated sages; nothing is said about them holding position or priesthood. Nothing is said of their gender. The likelihood, instead, was that these were probably poor and uneducated young men and/or young women who knew how to care for God’s creatures, who were in the line of their duty, and who were not asleep.
Can you see the pattern? Though the wise men came later bearing gifts, the response desired by God of those who were in a position to immediately respond to this Holy day, this Birthday of Birthdays, was for them to listen to His messengers, to gain a personal testimony themselves, to worship God’s Son, and to proclaim to others what they knew to be true.
Could this not be the proper response for us to emulate during this Christmas season?
Monday, December 12, 2011
The Enduring Questions
I have on my bookshelves an old philosophy book titled The Enduring Questions. It contains over 800 pages of the thoughts of men (no women, interestingly) from Socrates to the 20th Century behaviorists who have grappled with the issue of man-- who he is, why he is here on this Earth, and what he should be doing with his time. In short, they are trying to get a handle on the meaning of life so we can live with meaning.
I suspect we all have given these enduring questions some thought. Or at least we should. They are of deep concern to every thoughtful individual. We should not just leave it to the philosophers and poets to worry about these things; metaphysics is that branch of philosophy that attempts to do that and true religion absolutely should do that. I testify that the answers are ‘out there.’
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Well, I disagree; it is worth living but it doesn’t amount to much until it is examined and measured against the standard of conscience and revealed truth and then set on a direction that satisfies that conscience with which we were programmed from our beginnings. Disregarding our conscience (that ‘ought to’ or ‘ought not to’ feeling) and not trying to educate it beyond what we came with by simply ‘going with the flow’ or even just sticking with cultural norms is not good enough. Doing so is an abdication of the highest in us that needs to be tapped and the highest outside us that needs to be explored.
I feel that each of us should periodically take some time to stand alone without distraction under the stars and contemplate the enduring questions and the answers we have come up with. If we don’t “stand all amazed” we are avoiding the issues that make up the very purpose for which we were born. Or maybe we have not looked hard enough for answers and direction. You can tell if you are on the right track by having a reverence for all life and a deep feeling of gratitude for your own life—regardless of its circumstances.
I end with a statement from Blaise Pascal: “Know then, proud man, what a paradox you are to yourself. Humble yourself, weak reason; be silent, foolish nature; learn that man infinitely transcends man, and learn from your Master your true condition, of which you are ignorant. Hear God.”
I suspect we all have given these enduring questions some thought. Or at least we should. They are of deep concern to every thoughtful individual. We should not just leave it to the philosophers and poets to worry about these things; metaphysics is that branch of philosophy that attempts to do that and true religion absolutely should do that. I testify that the answers are ‘out there.’
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Well, I disagree; it is worth living but it doesn’t amount to much until it is examined and measured against the standard of conscience and revealed truth and then set on a direction that satisfies that conscience with which we were programmed from our beginnings. Disregarding our conscience (that ‘ought to’ or ‘ought not to’ feeling) and not trying to educate it beyond what we came with by simply ‘going with the flow’ or even just sticking with cultural norms is not good enough. Doing so is an abdication of the highest in us that needs to be tapped and the highest outside us that needs to be explored.
I feel that each of us should periodically take some time to stand alone without distraction under the stars and contemplate the enduring questions and the answers we have come up with. If we don’t “stand all amazed” we are avoiding the issues that make up the very purpose for which we were born. Or maybe we have not looked hard enough for answers and direction. You can tell if you are on the right track by having a reverence for all life and a deep feeling of gratitude for your own life—regardless of its circumstances.
I end with a statement from Blaise Pascal: “Know then, proud man, what a paradox you are to yourself. Humble yourself, weak reason; be silent, foolish nature; learn that man infinitely transcends man, and learn from your Master your true condition, of which you are ignorant. Hear God.”
Thursday, December 8, 2011
To Live, To Love, To Learn, To Leave a Legacy
To Live -- survival
To Love-- relationships
To Learn—growth and development
To Leave a Legacy—meaning and contribution
As you may have noticed if you have perused my biographical sketch, one of the seminal books I have read that continues to influence the direction of my adult life is Stephen R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. A follow-up book, The 8th Habit, further develops our understanding of four great human needs, especially the last one, to Leave a Legacy or as the theme of the book, to develop what Covey calls ‘Voice.’ As I grow older I find myself more and more focusing on this one. This weblog, Omnium-Gatherum-Millerum, is an outgrowth of that need in my life.
The Biblical writer of Ecclesiastes says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven… a time to be born, and a time to die…a time to heal…to build up…to dance…to lose…to keep…to keep silence, and a time to speak….” I read a book once: Black Elk Speaks. It was this great Native American’s legacy.
Though some of these human activities of Ecclesiastes may require, at times, almost undivided attention, I think that with planning and effort the four great human needs can be pursued contemporaneously. This has been a conscious goal of mine for the past 2/3 of my life.
I have begun to know a woman, a wonderful 98 year-old woman named Priscilla Nesbitt who lives in an assisted living home with my mother and several other fine women. Although she is very aged she has a wonderful mind and wit. Just today, as I was reading out loud to the women in the home she said to me, “I think it would be a wonderful thing to write a book like this and have it read.” (I was reading a 1944 novel, Winter Wheat, by Mildred Walker) To me, having known her for only a few months, I look at her as a living book. She was career teacher who, I am certain, wrote indelible lessons upon the tablets of the hearts and minds of her students for over three decades. She is leaving lessons with me each time I visit.
Priscilla Nesbitt has lived a long life—she is a survivor; she regularly tells me of how she loved her students—and her cats; she continues to learn—she reads constantly; and she is leaving a legacy with me without even trying.
My mother-in-law Beth Fischer is another 95-year-old plus who is cut of the same cloth. She has no middle name, but if I had my way it would be ‘Service.’
These women are an inspiration to me and to any who know them, and for that reason alone, if for no other, their lives have value and they are making a contribution as they endure to the end.
May God continue to bless them.
To Love-- relationships
To Learn—growth and development
To Leave a Legacy—meaning and contribution
As you may have noticed if you have perused my biographical sketch, one of the seminal books I have read that continues to influence the direction of my adult life is Stephen R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. A follow-up book, The 8th Habit, further develops our understanding of four great human needs, especially the last one, to Leave a Legacy or as the theme of the book, to develop what Covey calls ‘Voice.’ As I grow older I find myself more and more focusing on this one. This weblog, Omnium-Gatherum-Millerum, is an outgrowth of that need in my life.
The Biblical writer of Ecclesiastes says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven… a time to be born, and a time to die…a time to heal…to build up…to dance…to lose…to keep…to keep silence, and a time to speak….” I read a book once: Black Elk Speaks. It was this great Native American’s legacy.
Though some of these human activities of Ecclesiastes may require, at times, almost undivided attention, I think that with planning and effort the four great human needs can be pursued contemporaneously. This has been a conscious goal of mine for the past 2/3 of my life.
I have begun to know a woman, a wonderful 98 year-old woman named Priscilla Nesbitt who lives in an assisted living home with my mother and several other fine women. Although she is very aged she has a wonderful mind and wit. Just today, as I was reading out loud to the women in the home she said to me, “I think it would be a wonderful thing to write a book like this and have it read.” (I was reading a 1944 novel, Winter Wheat, by Mildred Walker) To me, having known her for only a few months, I look at her as a living book. She was career teacher who, I am certain, wrote indelible lessons upon the tablets of the hearts and minds of her students for over three decades. She is leaving lessons with me each time I visit.
Priscilla Nesbitt has lived a long life—she is a survivor; she regularly tells me of how she loved her students—and her cats; she continues to learn—she reads constantly; and she is leaving a legacy with me without even trying.
My mother-in-law Beth Fischer is another 95-year-old plus who is cut of the same cloth. She has no middle name, but if I had my way it would be ‘Service.’
These women are an inspiration to me and to any who know them, and for that reason alone, if for no other, their lives have value and they are making a contribution as they endure to the end.
May God continue to bless them.
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