I think we often sell ourselves short because we act like memories are only for the aged. Our post modern culture lives so fast, "in the now", and future focused that I fear we may be neglecting a beautiful and natural human process, the establishment of memorials.
As you drive around our country, and even our world, you can find monuments, plaques, signs, buildings, grounds and even highways that are dedicated to the preservation of the memory of an event or a person from the past that has had a significant impact in shaping the culture of the given area. Quite simply these memorials give the culture its foundation and sustenance because it gives it a picture of the struggles and successes of the past, therefore, promoting faith in the hope of surviving the struggles and enjoying the successes of the future.
In our own personal lives and in the lives of our families we need to be sure to build memorials. Remember those difficult things you have survived, those successes you have enjoyed and those blessings God has given you. It is a good idea to have something tangible like a photograph, a plaque or some other physical memento that can help us to remember.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Insanity in the face of reality
I don't want to sound whiny nor do I want to seem overly pessimistic. However, at the moment I am at best greatly saddened for the condition of our fallen world and, at worst, deeply depressed for the blindness of men’s hearts. Due to a car accident I was unable to make it to Des Moines this morning to participate in some level of the Judiciary process that could relieve the current restrictions of same sex couples when it comes to marriage. I was however able to get back home in time to watch the last couple of hours of the hearing.
There was nothing that I heard that gave me much hope. The Justices seemed, to me anyway, far more pointed toward the conservative arguments than they did with the plaintiff. This could have been a process of playing devil’s advocate in order to force the attorney to flesh out his position but I found it to seem a little more like a way of tripping him up in his arguments and to some degree I think they may have been successful. The Plaintiff did a great job of playing the victim card. He did irritate me quite a bit when he matter of factly included “we have a separation of church and state” and tore down the credibility of the conservative experts because they have had some brush with religion in their past. He went on to build his argument based on how allowing same sex couples to marry would in no way affect his own heterosexual marriage so there would be no problem for the rest of society. It was almost surreal to see this actually taking place other than just something we have heard about.
How have we come to this point? How have we come to the place, again, without learning from the past, where we challenge the very fundamentals of creation? To answer I think I may give the plaintiffs part of their argument in agreement. They are exactly right. They are victims. However, they are not victims of society, prejudice, bigotry or cruelty as they have asserted around the country and have duped half the world into believing. They are, just as we all are, at least at one time, victims of a sinful nature. I am no attorney so I don’t know how you can combat this stance on the bench but I think that goes to prove the point that this is not an argument that should be argued in the court room or even the legislature. Of course I want either DOMA or a Marriage Amendment that defines marriage as the sacred union between God, one man and one woman, that will protect, or at least slow the downward spiral of, society. But these must never be interpreted as the solution to the problem. If it is considered in this way we can rest assured that one day in the future it will be contested again by an even more liberal society and it will be passed at that time.
So what is the answer? I think the first part of the answer comes with a chastisement of the Church in North America. Shame on us. Shame on the Church of the last three or four generations who have slowly and ever so lazily allowed the morality of our being to slip through cracks. I place blame on the generation of power in the 50’s who after the Great Depression and the challenges of World War II opted to build their American dream based in technology and dollar signs rather than to rebuild the moral compass of the nation. Maybe they won great victories in Europe and the Pacific but I think they lost part of the war at home that was only beginning to rear its head. I believe it was probably done innocently but many of the men of this generation, I believe hardened by the ravages of war, enforced a society of rule without heart to the extent that they begat the generation of the Hippy.
I blame the Hippy generation who chose to rebel against the morality of the previous generations opting for free expressions of love and self gratification. This boomer generation has lived their existence in such a way as to challenge every precept of society. Some of this has been good, such as when it comes to allowing the expression of women and people of non-white races. However this generation has also dealt a blow to the world by allowing and promoting the slaughter of unborn children, beginning the process of weakening the influence of God in culture by touting the insanity of a “separation of Church and State”, and by placing the god of self above the God of the universe in nearly every moral and societal issue to come before them for a decision.
I blame my own generation for not opening their eyes and seeing the failure of society around them. I blame us for being too lazy to challenge the current culture and thereby rebuilding the society of morality that works and was intended. I blame us for drinking in false teaching, psychological noise and cultural chatter to the extent of ignoring sound reasoning and logic. Folks we are smarter than this. We have allowed Satan to keep our attention and we enjoy it.
I blame every person who has ever occupied a pew, called themselves by the name of the precious Son of God but has failed to be a Christian in their world. Those who have failed to let their light shine, have failed to train their children in the way of the Lord and have sat back and allowed society to “happen” around them without actively working to take charge of it. I blame every Christian, including myself for I am the worst, who has fired from the mouth but lacks callous on the knee.
We must be people of prayer. This is God’s issue, God’s battle and he must be invited and allowed to fight it.
God’s laws are not man’s laws and, therefore, I doubt they can be legitimately argued in court. So the question is, “What are we going to do to win…outside the courtroom…in the real world?” First I believe we must ask for forgiveness for our neglect and laziness. Secondly I think we must make a priority to raise Godly children. And lastly we must give up ourselves to win back our nation. If we do not do this, the next generation will meet with the final demise. America, I believe will cease to exist in the next three generations. Our children will be lost and hopeless. It is our fault. What are you going to do about it?
There was nothing that I heard that gave me much hope. The Justices seemed, to me anyway, far more pointed toward the conservative arguments than they did with the plaintiff. This could have been a process of playing devil’s advocate in order to force the attorney to flesh out his position but I found it to seem a little more like a way of tripping him up in his arguments and to some degree I think they may have been successful. The Plaintiff did a great job of playing the victim card. He did irritate me quite a bit when he matter of factly included “we have a separation of church and state” and tore down the credibility of the conservative experts because they have had some brush with religion in their past. He went on to build his argument based on how allowing same sex couples to marry would in no way affect his own heterosexual marriage so there would be no problem for the rest of society. It was almost surreal to see this actually taking place other than just something we have heard about.
How have we come to this point? How have we come to the place, again, without learning from the past, where we challenge the very fundamentals of creation? To answer I think I may give the plaintiffs part of their argument in agreement. They are exactly right. They are victims. However, they are not victims of society, prejudice, bigotry or cruelty as they have asserted around the country and have duped half the world into believing. They are, just as we all are, at least at one time, victims of a sinful nature. I am no attorney so I don’t know how you can combat this stance on the bench but I think that goes to prove the point that this is not an argument that should be argued in the court room or even the legislature. Of course I want either DOMA or a Marriage Amendment that defines marriage as the sacred union between God, one man and one woman, that will protect, or at least slow the downward spiral of, society. But these must never be interpreted as the solution to the problem. If it is considered in this way we can rest assured that one day in the future it will be contested again by an even more liberal society and it will be passed at that time.
So what is the answer? I think the first part of the answer comes with a chastisement of the Church in North America. Shame on us. Shame on the Church of the last three or four generations who have slowly and ever so lazily allowed the morality of our being to slip through cracks. I place blame on the generation of power in the 50’s who after the Great Depression and the challenges of World War II opted to build their American dream based in technology and dollar signs rather than to rebuild the moral compass of the nation. Maybe they won great victories in Europe and the Pacific but I think they lost part of the war at home that was only beginning to rear its head. I believe it was probably done innocently but many of the men of this generation, I believe hardened by the ravages of war, enforced a society of rule without heart to the extent that they begat the generation of the Hippy.
I blame the Hippy generation who chose to rebel against the morality of the previous generations opting for free expressions of love and self gratification. This boomer generation has lived their existence in such a way as to challenge every precept of society. Some of this has been good, such as when it comes to allowing the expression of women and people of non-white races. However this generation has also dealt a blow to the world by allowing and promoting the slaughter of unborn children, beginning the process of weakening the influence of God in culture by touting the insanity of a “separation of Church and State”, and by placing the god of self above the God of the universe in nearly every moral and societal issue to come before them for a decision.
I blame my own generation for not opening their eyes and seeing the failure of society around them. I blame us for being too lazy to challenge the current culture and thereby rebuilding the society of morality that works and was intended. I blame us for drinking in false teaching, psychological noise and cultural chatter to the extent of ignoring sound reasoning and logic. Folks we are smarter than this. We have allowed Satan to keep our attention and we enjoy it.
I blame every person who has ever occupied a pew, called themselves by the name of the precious Son of God but has failed to be a Christian in their world. Those who have failed to let their light shine, have failed to train their children in the way of the Lord and have sat back and allowed society to “happen” around them without actively working to take charge of it. I blame every Christian, including myself for I am the worst, who has fired from the mouth but lacks callous on the knee.
We must be people of prayer. This is God’s issue, God’s battle and he must be invited and allowed to fight it.
God’s laws are not man’s laws and, therefore, I doubt they can be legitimately argued in court. So the question is, “What are we going to do to win…outside the courtroom…in the real world?” First I believe we must ask for forgiveness for our neglect and laziness. Secondly I think we must make a priority to raise Godly children. And lastly we must give up ourselves to win back our nation. If we do not do this, the next generation will meet with the final demise. America, I believe will cease to exist in the next three generations. Our children will be lost and hopeless. It is our fault. What are you going to do about it?
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