The Power of Truth

Hatred begins in the human heart and grows from the inside out. At first a spark of humiliation kindles a flame that that is fed by the winds of anger and imagination and goes to the lips to announce a wounded pride. From there it is either broadcast or whispered to the ears of others depending upon the courage and the outrage of the offended party. Once finding sympathetic ears to hear, the indignation strikes a chord with those who harbor similar disappointments or unrealized expectations. The flames grow into a conflagration of hatred. Then a scapegoat victim is sought in order to justify redress or revenge by the collective false righteousness of the crowd. "Crucify Him, crucify Him!," they shout, or "Lock her up, lock her up!" So, we see that when the vain and arrogant are humiliated by the truth, the Devil leaves their own dark hearts and is directed to other people to stir them up against the bearer of the truth. A person who is truly just will welcome the truth and not oppose it with anger and lies.

Truth is the great anti-satanic power because God Himself is the witness for truth. A person who is truly evangelical will always seek the truth. To tell lies in the face of God's truth is the unpardonable sin and those who lie under oath are in grave danger of placing themselves beyond forgiveness, for by doing so, they blaspheme the Holy Spirit of God. Moral conduct is essential for those who seek the truth. After all, no one can see the truth while wandering around in a perpetual state of concupiscence (animal lust). There is an old saying that after every act of  fornication you can hear the Devil laughing. The blind who deny that they are blind will never "see" anything, and the sinners who deny their sins cut themselves off from any remedy.

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Is it time yet?

All of the people who have ever lived and all of those yet unborn are like the upper and lower globes of an hourglass that are connected by a narrow passageway. Each passing from birth to death is like a grain of sand that passes through the neck of the hourglass. Just before the end of the world the last grain will fall and that will represent the last soul to receive a mortal body on this earth. The hands of the "Doomsday Clock"  have just been moved forward to two minutes until midnight because of "the failure of our president and other world leaders to deal with the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change." The last soul at this moment may very well be sitting at the top of the pile, nervously waiting for the nod.

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No matter what I say

No matter what I say, other people seem to remember only the words that they were expecting. It is not the tongue that determines what people hear. It is the ear that decides what they will hear, and what they won't.

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Build or Destroy?

Why is the American Democracy always under construction? Because without never ending construction to provide for never ending change, the great destruction will begin. What is the blueprint for the never ending construction? Look up at the stars tonight. That is the blueprint.

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Metoo & Youtoo

Women are believed to be the first to use civil disobedience against an unjust head of state. After Joseph (of the many colored coat) died and many years had passed there was a new Pharaoh in Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph and he feared that the Hebrew population was growing uncomfortingly large. He started to oppress the Hebrews and enslave them and the more he did so the more numerous they became. Finally he decided to control the male population by killing all of the Hebrew male babies. In Exodus 1:15-21 we read about two women who took on the challenge to defy the Pharaoh. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah. The refusal of Shiphrah and Puah to follow the Pharaoh's genocidal instructions may be the first known incident of civil disobedience in history and in some ways the most powerful example of resistance to an evil regime. 

Exodus 1:15-21

Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah:

“When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”

But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 

"Yes" or "No"

In one way or another, through births, adoptions, or immigration, America's population continuously renews itself. The participants in the political dialog die off one by one and in the meantime those who take their places arrive, some in one way and some in another. When one makes his or her first entrance into the politics of social life on whichever side of the spectrum, or changes sides, or abandons the political intercourse altogether, there is a process of adjustment and the political balance tends to be restored, almost always regressing toward a point where the median and the mean coincide...the middle of the road as it were. Through all of this a battle of words constantly rages with points, counterpoints, talking points, tweets, invectives, expletives, threats, sarcasm, criticism, and outright lies..."from people on both sides." The same dialog has been in progress for more than 240 years and by the grace of God it will continue as long as we continue to acknowledge Him.

The key to America's survival as a democracy is active participation by citizens of good will and the enemy is apathy and abdication to the one with the biggest appetite and the longest reach. Our Lord admonished us to strive for perfection (Matthew 5:8) and as the U.S. Constitution states, it was established to form a more perfect Union in order to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. The Lord also tells us that all we need to say is simply "Yes" or "No" and anything beyond this comes from the evil one (Matthew 5:37). We need to avoid the boasting, the name calling, and the lies and get out the vote through honest debate and persuasion. To be a good political leader one must sacrifice oneself, that is to say, "humble oneself" for the good of the nation. That is what true love is; sacrifice, a mother for her child, a father for his family, a soldier, policeman, firefighter, or first responder for the duty and honor to serve their country, a president, governor, senator, congressman, or mayor for their country, state, city, or county, a teacher for their pupils, a doctor or nurse for their patients, et cetera, et cetera, and so forth. The duty to make sacrifices for peace, security, freedom, and democracy is the duty of every citizen.

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Preparing for the willy-nilly slide,

Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset.
One foot following the other,
Searching for the trickle-down
And thanking God for my daily bread.
I'm on the spiral road to infinity.
An evil impulse is tracking every move
By following my digital exhaust.
As I climb the hill of January
I look the left and slightly below
To the descending Januaries previous,
To the right and above, only clouds.
Home is wherever my heart is at peace,
But sin is crouching at every door,
Ready to jump at the first opportunity.
I keep marching, marching up the incline,
After January, the boredom of February,
And then the treacherous Ides of March.
Finally the road smooths out in April
With rain that brings the May flowers,
And Mayflowers that bring June Pilgrims.
The lazy, hazy days of mid-summer
Are a respite from the steep climb
Until I begin the willy-nilly slide.
Year after year, round and round it goes.
Where will it stop? The Lord only knows.
I fear that one day all of my desires
Will awaken within me at the same time
And hold my tattered soul for ransom.
We only think we enjoy our desires
While all the time we are their slaves.
Once I was young and now I am old,
And my desires have faded to memories.
The only desire truly worth having
Is the desire for humility and charity
Through self-sacrifice, and eternal union
With the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen!

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