A MUSIC BOX GOOD-BYE

I want you to visualize this:  You have a music box and you wind it up.  You listen to the music—many notes, up and down the scale, some repeating themes, a few notes held long, most others very short, but finally, if it’s programmed right, more or less the music comes to a conclusion as the song starts to wind down.  The song doesn’t usually end, though, as it might if you experience it in a concert you attend or as you hear it on a recording or on the radio.  Rather, it starts to slow down, and slow down, and finally almost stops, and then a last note or two and then . . . stops.

So it is with most lives and most deaths.  So it was recently with Aretha Franklin and John McCain.  So it will be with almost all the people we know and so it will be with  us. 

There will be lingering memories of the pitch they sang in, the songs they sang, the concerts they performed in, the speeches on the floor, the places they walked, or sat, or built, or spent time in—the  notes they emphasized in their lives.   And then they wind down and the music stops . . . or does it?  Or should it?

Who, in our generation, will not remember Aretha belting out R-E-S-P-E-C-T whenever we hear it replayed for the next how many years of our lives, or visualize and ‘hear’ the voice of John McCain reminding us of stoic and heroic patriotism when someone invokes his name? Or when we remember special times in the lives of our loved-ones, or ourselves with them, at unbidden moments, when just their name is mentioned, or you see a picture, or a scent, or go to a place where they once walked? 

Just remember the music box.  It didn’t just stop; it just wound down and we no longer hear it.  But it will be wound up again by another hand and its music will play on another stage and delight and inspire and add to the music once played by billions and billions of other sisters and brothers . . . and one day, too, by our music box. 

PRIESTHOOD

In my little biographical sketch on the right side of this weblog home page I indicate that I find it a great honor to hold the priesthood in my Church.  I have felt that way from the day I was first ordained many decades ago and I do today.  It is because in the Church to which I belong priesthood really means something.  It means that I have authority and power to act in God’s name for the salvation of all of God’s children provided I keep myself worthy to exercise it.  And that is a worthy purpose. 

I am embarrassed for those faithful members of another Christian denomination, those who trusted their leaders who called themselves ‘priests’ of this denomination.  I am more embarrassed and even appalled regarding those fallen men who have not kept their sacred vows and have violated some of the most fundamental commandments and expectations of God. They have befouled the very title of 'priest.' But most importantly, I feel sorry for those who were violated and who had their faith and lives damaged by these trusted ‘priests’ who were in reality weak men and unworthy imposters.

Jesus said, “Whoso who shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). 

Perhaps it is not only weak men, but an ecclesiastical structure that traditionally has disallowed these men to marry that drives some men (many more we are now finding) of the 'cloth' to engage in these reprehensible practices.  I am not saying that this church encourages such behavior—because it does not—but it does not recognize or put sufficient weight on God’s observation or foreknowledge that “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18).   That ‘helpmeet’ was a woman who God gave to Adam to be his wife.  The sexual drive which was given to procreate the human race and to bind, through marriage, a man and a woman together in love was to be used in no other way and for no other purpose.

And it was not to be used to exploit children.

These attacks on the innocent not only psychologically damage the victims, but they damage the very institution of religion in the eyes of an increasingly skeptical public.

My own father was agnostic or maybe even atheistic because of what he saw, read about, or perceived as common among false priests, or hypocritical preachers who drove the big cars and held in charismatic bondage those who belonged to the big-box, ‘feel-good’ churches he saw on television. 

Don’t, like him, throw the baby out with the dirty bath water.  The invitation remains, "Come unto Christ and be saved." But be sure the church you attend is truly led by a man of God.

SECULARISTIC SCRIPTURES

Well, not exactly.  These scriptures (holy writings) come from the Bible but are not theological writings nor do they express dogma (a doctrine formally proclaimed by a church) of any kind. Any jaded, cynical, existential atheist non-believer (as well as a theist/or any religious believer) could well benefit from their application and not feel compromised in their unbelief.  The source of words of wisdom, or the person who is given credit for uttering them should make no difference to any honest person who is looking to make the world, or his or her own life a better place.

 Let’s look at a few:

·        “. . . all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so them . . . ” (Matthew 7:12).  In our vernacular we would say, ‘do unto others what you would have done to you.’ We call this the 'Golden Rule.'

·        “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).  This truism is commonly called ‘the law of the harvest.’

·        “. . . do justly, love mercy, walk humbly. . .” (Micah 6:8)

·        “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. . . .” (John 7:24)

·        “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose . . . “ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8-11.

·        “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29::18)

·        “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

·        “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

·        “The love of money is the root of all evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

·         

Civil War general Robert E. Lee said:  “In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.”   

IDENTITY and SELF DEFINITION

In making a new acquaintance it is customary in our culture to inquire of a person—or have them ask of you— “How are you?” (do you or they really want to know?), or “Where are you from” (does that really matter to you—or them?), or maybe, “What do you do for a living?” That is how most people identify themselves.  But is that going to make a difference to how you view them or how you want them to view you?  It is less common to ask them (or yourself) questions such as, “Who are you?”, or “What’s important to you?”, or “Why are you here?’ or “What do you value?” or, “Where are you going?” or, in short, “How do you define yourself?”

When we were kids we were asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  We probably replied that we would like ‘to be’ some occupation—an athlete of some kind, or a ‘star’ in something that brought celebrity or a job that would earn us a lot of money—maybe a singer, or an astronaut, or a doctor. But we really didn’t know what it would take to ‘be’ those occupations.  We didn’t know that it wasn’t even entirely up to us--being in the right place, at the right time, with the right opportunity and the right people there to help us or recognize us, or inspire us.  These things would play a big part in an ‘occupation-defined’ life. In fact we probably didn’t think much beyond what we would ‘be,’ occupation-wise. Somehow it would come, we thought,  but in the meantime all we wanted to do was have fun.

As a child we subconsciously defined ourselves as thinking we would be or could be competent to do whatever it was that we wanted to do and that we would, in fact, do it.  As we got a little bit older, say in our early adolescence, we found that things weren’t that easy.  We had to earn it.  We then sometimes did a 180 degree turn and discouragement set in and we viewed ourselves as worthless because things did not come to us automatically, or we bought into the social mirror (which is almost always distorted) and didn’t really realize that young people rarely look outward but focus on themselves as the center of the universe.  We were victims, we thought.

We were looking at the wrong issue and in the wrong direction.

We thought about what we would be but didn’t think about who we would be. Do we yet? That was the larger question.  How do you look at others, and how do you define yourself? 

I am reminded of the related statement made by Martin Luther King, Jr. who said “I have a dream that my . . . children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character!” 

An intelligent man or woman will always consider character far more important than skin color or physical appearance, or place of origin, or place of residence or size of bank account or, yes, occupation.  And character is developed.

I would suggest you do something really radical: consider your life as a moral drama.  Consider that a quality life is not only to do good or be prosperous but to be good.  Don’t just float along from day-to-day.   If you measure the success of your life at all (which I hope you do)—choose not to measure it against the false standards we so often see and hear around us, but against the principles and values upon which the best societies and cultures and people have been built.  And then choose from this day forward to change, to build your life around the principles, and people, and purposes that set you apart and promote peace, external and internal, and define you as a person of substance.  Be honest.  Be kind.  Be genuine.  Be of service.  Be a friend. Be good.  And remember, passivity is not necessarily good.  Get engaged.

You’ve got it in you—just bring it out and bring it on and then see how you define yourself—your changed self.   You might be amazed!

OH SAY WHAT IS TRUTH?

With just a minute or two spent in consulting your dictionary you can easily fathom what this 19^th Century British author was saying in his insightful poem Oh Say What is Truth?  It is especially relevant for our times (John Jaques, 1827-1900):

Oh say, what is truth? ‘Tis the fairest gem That the riches of worlds can produce,   And priceless the value of truth will be when The proud monarch’s costliest diadem Is counted but dross and refuse.

Yes, say, what is truth? ‘Tis the brightest prize To which mortals or Gods can aspire.  Go searching in the depths where it glittering lies, Or ascend in pursuit to the loftiest skies: ‘Tis an aim for the noblest desire.

The scepter may fall from the despot’s grasp When with winds of stern justice he copes.  But the pillar of truth will endure to the last, And its firm-rooted bulwarks outstand the rude blast And the wreck of the fell tyrant’s hopes.

Then say, what is truth?  ‘Tis the last and the first, For the limits of time it steps o’er.  Tho the heavens depart and the earth’s fountains burst, Truth, the sum of existence, will weather the worst, Eternal, unchanged, evermore. 

Interestingly, two millennia ago Pontius Pilate asked the same question, "what is truth," of Jesus but didn’t recognize that he was in the very presence of  the embodiment of The Truth or stay for the answer to his question (see John 18: 37-38; 14:6).  As Christ and His message was rejected by His people, and God’s prophets have been largely rejected (and thereby much of Truth rejected though it remains “Eternal, unchanged, evermore”), needful governance has been vested in what was left: to highly fallible men. 

  

Never in my lifetime (even in the schoolyard!) have I ever heard in the media such back-and-forth vitriol regarding truth and lies as it relates to the crises in our social and political life. The heart of this crises, though, is the corruption and failure of personal integrity of men in power, but not men in truth.  And it is the failure of those who put them in power or who allowed(s) them to stay.

In the 19^th Century, America was politically saved by a man of integrity, a great man, Abraham Lincoln, who didn’t purge God out of the equation or solution to America’s divisiveness. Likewise were the great men among our 18^th Century’s Founding Fathers who did not displace deity from their deliberations.  And likewise in the mid-20^th Century the Western world was saved by a great man, Winston Churchill, though not a stout Christian, but a stout believer that truth was the consummate weapon.  He used the power of truth and persuasion in his powerful radio messages to fortify his people and to move America to come in the nick of time to the rescue of  western Europe.  

Winston Churchill was able to save the West because he had truth on his side.  Truth—which includes the divine principles of honesty, of decency, of respect for life and for sovereignty and freedom.  And he had the guts and willingness to give his all--to stand against evil which was swallowing up the free world.  Churchill recognized eternal principles of truth which guided him and which transcended politics—and which enabled him with magisterial force to see when others could not, to speak when others would not, and to persuade a reluctant America with God’s imprimatur to do her duty.

Oh that the world had men today of that caliber today in Washington, in Moscow, in Pyongyang, in Damascus . . . .   

It cannot be said too often:  Come back to the foundational principles!  In the hurricane of words and lies today remains the eye of the hurricane, which is calm, which is The Truth—“an aim for the noblest desire.”

PREJUDICED

Prejudice (old definition): 'to prejudge or to discriminate among an action, a product, a person or an alternative or to evaluate before a full hearing or examination based on established criteria'. 
  

Using this definition I am clearly a prejudiced person. And so are most people who make judgments about almost every aspect of life.  Regarding people as they present themselves I am prejudiced in favor of a person who, though he or she may not have reached a level of perfection in whatever it is that is decent, laudable and worthwhile of doing, is pursuing it assiduously.  I am prejudiced in favor of one who is putting in the study, the time, the effort, the super-effort, the tedium, the discipline, the commitment and the sacrifice that is required for a level of relative perfection in a worthwhile pursuit.

But most of mankind does not do this; most people do not really put out.  They set their sights low or always attempt to duck under the lower threshold.  They don’t expect much of themselves perhaps because they don’t have a vision of what they really could become.  They give in to sloth, inertia, the ‘easy’ way out.  They don’t, as my Dad used to say with some scorn, “make much of themselves.”

For those whom I have prejudged to have the ability to do good things (most people), for them to simply rely on and demonstrate their natural (undeveloped) talent--and feel satisfied with that--is not enough to overcome my prejudice (though it might lessen it somewhat).  Those who I am prejudiced against could be better: they could be the athlete, or musician, or humanitarian, or mother or father, or husband or wife, or civil servant or employee that could raise the bar for others if they would but honor and magnify the native gifts they had been given. But they don’t. They often don't even discover those gifts. And sometimes I don’t, and when I don’t I think less of myself as well. 

Moreover, I think I will never overcome my prejudice against people who pursue non-worthwhile or exploitive goals—especially at the expense of others—such as getting rich, or gaining celebrity, or using other people to achieve their selfish desires and thus keeping those who are the detritus in the path of these ‘users’ of humanity from achieving their own more worthwhile goals or potential.

I am prejudiced against such people because my experience has shown me that when this class of person has let down in some important aspect of their lives they usually let down in some other important aspect--it carries over.  That is why many of these people can never get or hold a job or a spouse; they are unreliable; they are untrue to themselves. It doesn't take a degree in psychology to spot them.   

    

When I have seen an athlete like Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin or a political candidate like Ben Carson, MD,  or a humanitarian like Mother Teresa, or a recovering war casualty or a little boy or little girl who has an orthopedic handicap or a life-threatening illness or deprivation overcome it or try to overcome it by total faith in their father or mother or physician or God, then I gladly relinquish my prejudice for there should be none.

  

I am not prejudiced because of a person’s race or color, their heritage or religion or physical or mental handicap; I am prejudiced by the example of one’s repeatedly poor choices, or unworthy values chosen, or cruelty, or infidelity, or sloth, or abuse of body, mind or spirit.  And in my defense, if I need it, though I may continue to be ‘prejudiced’ against those in the last half of the above sentence, I certainly concede I would be wrong to ‘discriminate’ against them by depriving them of their inalienable human rights.  I would not want to do that.  Besides, that is out of my purview.  

UP-COUNTRY

I recently spent a few days in the Sierra Nevada of California.  The contrast to where I now live and have lived for almost all of my life brought me back to what conditions were like nearly a century ago in rural America—and still are when you get away from the cities and suburbs.

Here is what I observed . . .

People and the conditions in which they live in the unincorporated area I was in are markedly (and generally) ‘slower,’ less formal, poorer in terms of material possessions and appearances, and the focus of conversations more on the mundane. 

People I observed and overheard in the grocery store or plumbing store or at the gas station focused on simple things—their health, or the weather, or their family or things of nature.  For example, it was not uncommon to see little groups of three or four men (some of whom were clearly unemployed) standing around in their dirty blue jeans and boots wearing plaid or checkered shirts and a baseball cap staring under the hood of a truck, and talking about the displacement of the engine of their own dirty pickup trucks parked nearby, or looking at a stack of car tires, or talking of the weather and the depth of the snowpack or the upcoming fishing season.  Women, when you saw them, sadly and often looked more bedraggled or beaten down than women one might see in towns or in business establishments.  I guess the women were inside their homes, and I would guess watching television, for I saw few in yards or the small stores I visited.  And (I hate to say it) both men and women seemed to be very unattractive in terms of physical condition or grooming. Overfat and unhealthy-looking people were the norm.  Overheard public language (from both genders) also seemed more crude or unrefined. People, in general, seemed less well educated than those on the coast.

But, on the upside, these people seemed to have an independence of spirit and appeared to be proud of their freedoms and of living in America.  The old symbols of patriotism seemed more alive than in the more urbane area in which I live. I observed and sensed a distinct regional character—an old American character, but sadly one in which the old “American dream” seemed to burn less brightly.  

  

Yet for all of the differences between up-country living and that where I am from, I enjoyed being in the up-country—the beauty of it if one did not look to closely, the sounds and smells of nature and the smoke of a wood fire rising from a chimney, the inherent serenity of clouds, sunrise, sunset, and starlit night or hearing a dog or coyote barking in a distant canyon.  And the people, one-on-one, seemed decent and were courteous to one who was an obvious ‘outsider.’  Of that I was appreciative, and I tried to be likewise.

All of us—at least those of us who are citizens—are Americans in our own way.  We can all learn from each other.