04.11.07
Posted in Reflections on Life in General at 5:28 am by Administrator
Don Imus is an idiot. He made a stupid, hurtful, insulting statement about a group of girls who never did one thing to hurt him, offend him…these girls had probably never even heard of him before his remarks. But I’m so sick of the story. It’s been going on for days and days, with no end in sight, it seems. But that’s not what really makes me sick. I think Mr. Imus’ rights have also been infringed upon.
What? You might say, with shock, horror and revulsion in your voice. How can you say something so shocking, horrifying and revolting? Here’s why…It’s a little thing called The First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Last time I checked, I think Mr. Imus qualified as a member of the press. And the press clings to this amendment as their life-force. I don’t hear any calls for their heads when they make derogatory remarks about the President of our nation. And they make some pretty awful statements about him. But the constitution is clear.
Was Imus an idiot? Yes. Does he need to be firmly reminded of the stirring and powerful and true words of the Declaration of Independence?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Yes, he does need a strong reminder. But we need to support and defend our constitution with everything we’ve got. The First Amendment says nothing about freedom of speech only when it’s concurrent with popular opinion.
I believe that Don Imus had as much right to voice his stupidity as Martin Luther King had to orate his fantastic, powerful “I have a dream…” speech.
The moral of the story? Watch what you say…it will certainly come back to haunt you. Oh, and treat others as you would have them treat you. It doesn’t say like them, agree with them, or promote them.
Just put the shoe on the other foot before you stick it in your mouth.
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04.07.07
Posted in Reflections on Life in General at 9:26 pm by Administrator
That was the title of our pastor’s sermon tonight in church. He is beginning a new series on the 7 deadly sins. Tonight’s sermon was simply a foundational message for the next 7 weeks during which he’ll go into more detail about each sin. But one of his points struck me tonight.
His main point was “where do we learn about sin?” and one of the ways was by experiencing God. He used Isaiah 6:5 to prove his idea, but I am including verses 1-8 of that chapter to give you an idea of the context. Isaiah, one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament, was standing in the very presence of God. As my pastor pointed out tonight, one would think if you are standing in God’s presence, you’d raise your hands and praise God’s name and shout for joy. But in reality, it will/would probably be a bit more like Isaiah’s experiencing God:
Holy, Holy, Holy! (The Message Bible)
1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne—high, exalted!—and the train of his robes filled the Temple. Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew. And they called back and forth one to the other,
Holy, Holy, Holy is God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
His bright glory fills the whole earth.
The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke. I said,
“Doom! It’s Doomsday!
I’m as good as dead!
Every word I’ve ever spoken is tainted—
blasphemous even!
And the people I live with talk the same way,
using words that corrupt and desecrate.
And here I’ve looked God in the face!
The King! God-of-the-Angel-Armies!”
Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me. He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with the coal and said,
“Look. This coal has touched your lips.
Gone your guilt,
your sins wiped out.”
And then I heard the voice of the Master:
“Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us?”
I spoke up,
“I’ll go.
Send me!”
The very purity, the very holiness of God himself only made more evident the ugliness of Isaiah’s sinfulness. And his reaction, really, the only reaction, was to fall to his face in shame and beg for forgiveness. And he got it! That’s the best, most beautiful part of the passage. “Gone is your guilt, your sins wiped out!” How precious are those words?
Every night before bed, I read a story to my kids. We have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia for quite sometime. We just finished “The Silver Chair” and will begin the last book tomorrow night. In each book, it never fails…I am stunned by the imagery and the correlation between the characters’ interaction with Aslan and my own interaction with Christ. I was not disappointed in “The Silver Chair.”
As I read the last chapter, I came across this passage, and tears filled my eyes. Tell me if you can see why:
“I wish I was at home,” said Jill.
Eustace nodded, saying nothing, and bit his lip.
“I have come,” said a deep voice behind them. They turned and saw the Lion himself, so bright and real and strong, that everything else began at once to look pale and shadowy compared with him. And in less time than it takes to breathe, Jill…remembered only how she had made Eustace fall over the cliff, and how she had helped to muff nearly all the signs, and about all the snappings and quarrellings. And she wanted to say, “I’m sorry” but she could not speak. Then the Lion drew them towards him with his eyes, and bent down, and touched their pale faces with his tongue, and said:
“Think of that no more. I will not always be scolding. You have done the work for which I sent you into Narnia.”
Do you see it? I was overcome. Instead of reveling in the glory of Aslan’s presence, the very one thing which should have comforted her, Jill was instantly reminded of her horrible behavior, her disobedience, and, in short, her sinfulness.
God is amazing. He took this one passage, which I have read and taken for granted (Isaiah) and brought it home to a very real place in my heart, by the same sort of experience in reading the Chronicles of Narnia.
And there is Hope Beyond the Darkness…that Hope rose from the dead, leaving an empty tomb on the third day after he was crucified. And we can stand in his presence, while he touches coal to our lips, or touches us with his gentle tongue, and wipes away our guilt and sin.
And then, only then, can we move into the Light.
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04.01.07
Posted in Reflections on Life in General at 9:18 pm by Administrator
If you haven’t figured out by now, music plays an integral part of my life. History plays itself out in my mind via music. Memories swirl around a tune, reminding of where I was, what I was doing, what my life was like when a song was popular. I feel the stories in music. I visualize my own experiences through the music of others. I praise God through music. It’s how I worship best.
So it came as no real shock to me tonight when a song and a couple of verses came into my addled brain. It’s a song Sandi Patty released shortly before the first Gulf War, way back in the early 1990s. I have always loved it and it strikes me now, in the midst of my burdens and my worries.
The verses:
John 14:27
PEACE I leave with you; my PEACE I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
The song:
“I’ll Give You Peace” –from the album Another Time…Another Place
Sometimes, when you’re in the valleys
All of your burdens, you carry alone
Oh but I know, I know when you need me, call me I be there
Longing to prove how much I care
Peace, I’ll give you peace
When the wind blows on
Peace, whenever you call me,
I’ll give you peace
When the wind blows on
Heartaches, whenever your heart aches
I want to be there to help see you through
When you’re weary, you know you can find all the strength that you need
Find your rest and your hope in me
Peace, I’ll give you peace
When the wind blows on
Peace, whenever you call me,
I’ll give you peace
When the wind blows on
No matter how long the night may last
I’ll keep you safe ’til the storm has passed
I’ll give you peace, sweet peace
When the wind blows on
Peace, whenever you call me,
I’ll give you peace
When the wind blows on
I’ll give you peace when the wind starts blowing
Peace, I’ll give you peace
I’ll give you peace when the wind starts blowing
I’ll give you peace when the wind starts blowing
Peace, I’ll give you peace
Peace I give you, Peace I give you,
Peace.
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Posted in Reflections on Life in General at 2:54 pm by Administrator
I love Karen Carpenter. Laugh if you must, but there it is. I love her soulful voice and the fact that she is often imitated but never, in my opinion, has anyone managed to duplicate her unique, truly one of a kind voice.
I’m having a serious teeth-clenching moment and have escaped to the great outdoors…banning everyone from following me…and fired up itunes. What should the first song be but good ole Karen singing “Rainy Days and Mondays.” I just had to laugh and immediately decided to blog.
I survived the weekend trip to Cleveland for Tracy’s surgical biopsy. We met my in-laws Cleveland on Thursday, and on Saturday we loaded up, and I do mean loaded up, in my car and headed home. We got home last night…in perfect time to watch the Gators soundly trounce UCLA. It was a perfect ending to the long, stressful, long, stressful…did I say long and stressful?…two days.
Today I looked forward to rest, relaxation, taking care of my husband and some relief to the stress that has been slowly eating away at me for weeks now. Instead, I find I am screaming at the children, mumbling under my breath at my in-laws and ready to yank Tracy’s stitches out myself, which would be a marvelous feat considering he has no stitches…only surgical glue keeping his incision together.
I had hoped for some relief, but all I am getting is more stress. I don’t know why I expected anything different. My body is still reacting to the stress of the unknown and I need to relax. I need it to all go away. I need someone to say, “Hey, your emotions are valid and you have a TON on your shoulders right now.” It’s just hard to be strong for everyone all at the same time.
So I’m singing to Karen, gritting my teeth and cringing at the sound of the kids’ voices.
At least the sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day.
The stress will go, in time, I know. I just need to complain and whine and remind people that I, too, am suffering from this series of unfortunate events in our family life. I just want to shout, “Me! Me! Me! It’s all about me!” Sigh. Until the next squabble with the kids and the next call from Tracy for something and my in-laws get home from the store with something odd for dinner all remind me that it’s not, in fact, about me.
“Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”
So does life.
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