We are One Body

Tonight, I came across the following article, “Muslim Persecutions of Christians: October.” While the source site is a politically based magazine and the article focuses on persecution from followers of Islam, persecutions come from many sides and take many forms. It is imperative that we lift up all of our brothers and sisters in the faith in prayer.

If we really believe that prayer moves the hand of God, and we really believe that the Church universal is one body under Christ, then how can we not? If we will lift up Aunt Bertha’s bunion in our church services, how much more must we lift up those who fear for their safety, their livelihoods and their lives because they confess the name of Christ?

Virtue in Education

I came across this story today with the picture to the left about how the “Old Guard” patrols, maintains and honors Arlington National Cemetery. In particular, it tells of how the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded every second of every day and has for over 63 years, including through this weekend’s hurricane Irene.

The soldiers in the Old Guard view this assignment as the very highest honor they could ever have. They are fallen human beings like the rest of us, and I have no idea what their personal lives are like. But at the very least, in this area, they display some of the highest virtues humanity can express.

Planting a Semester

With the first summer term starting Thursday, I’m busy doing my semester prep, which consists of about 25 things, some minor and some major, that need to be done every semester. Much of it must wait until very shortly before and even after classes start. Some are as simple as reserving rooms for various meetings during the semester and some are as complex as reconfiguring web pages that have a difficult user interface, but that aren’t available until shortly before the term starts. Much of it is busy drudgery that takes enough brain power that it isn’t easily automated or delegated.

I started thinking about how the beginnings and endings of terms are always my busiest and most stressful times, and there simply isn’t much that can be done about them. It is very cyclical, so I started thinking about other life cycles and realized that the academic term for a faculty member can best be compared to the growing season for a farmer.

What's Missing?

Tonight on the way home, I put in a CD of ‘the greatest sermon ever preached on American soil,’ Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He really says it like it is. When I finish it, I will likely listen to it again. I just finished “Pilgrim’s Progress” by Bunyan, and it was a strange mixture of profundity and triteness, yet, it also, like Edwards, calls us to a higher level of commitment.

Why are you a follower of Christ? What have you sacrificed as rubbish before the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord? What are you really willing to sacrifice? For myself, I’ve sacrificed precious little, and would like to think I’d sacrifice it all, but find myself trying to find ways to have my cake and eat it too.