Taking Sides

As I get older, something claiming to be wisdom keeps intruding into parts of my life where opinions are born black and white, demanding that the gray of discerning grace settle over outrage in a calming insistence that I wait.

So often, we hear of some horrible event, and it demands that we root for the victim and curse the perpetrator, as portrayed by the one relating the awful occurrence. We want to rush to seek out cause and blame, that punishment and retribution may be parsed out.

More often than I’d like to admit, the moment I close my mouth after its issuing of my ‘considered’ opinion, more information comes out that either reverses who was really the victim and perp or that both were one or the other. The egg on my face tastes vaguely of some monstrous prehistoric ostrich. My personal opinion is that it goes rather well with the boiled sock lint left over from having my foot in my mouth.

Hitting Close to Home

{Programming note:  This Saturday I will again be the monthly speaker at the Austin chapter of Reasons to Believe. The topic is “What is Science?” (an exploration of the questions we ask, the history of science, the scientific method and the nature of proof). The meeting is from 10-noon with donuts and coffee at 9:30.

Location:  Hill Country Bible Church, near the UT Campus, 405 W. 22nd Street.

Corner of San Antonio and W. 22^nd. They have torn up the paid parking lots west of the church. There may be street parking (metered), or you can try using the parking lot 1 block west at 22^nd and Nueces, which belongs to the Scientologists, though they are usually gracious about it, especially at that time of week.}

I discovered an acquaintance is also a blogger, and a recent post is very convicting. It’s about being late and the lies we believe to justify it. Of course, in some cultures, timeliness just isn’t even considered, everyone understands it and they get along fine. But here, we are ruled by time and money, and being late wastes both.

I do struggle with running late, and it is largely because I try to cram too much stuff in before I need to be somewhere, and often don’t leave enough time for delays (traffic, forgetting something (which tends to happen more often when you are running late!), or other issue). As Levi points out, you are either late or you are not, by how little or much is irrelevant.

Polarization

When watching the news, it is increasingly easy to conclude that things are getting worse and doing so faster. This gives rise to a correlated increase in polarization in pretty much any area of life (politics, religion, education, the economy, sports, etc.) as people take sides on issues.

It becomes exceedingly easy therefore to develop an ‘us versus them’ mentality in each of these areas. We can even become so carried away that we start judging the status of someone’s salvation by their position, and concluding someone is lost because of decisions they have made.

Foolishness

Sometimes (often) we humans are humourously pathetic. How often have you seen a child or a pet act good in front of you, but you can tell there is mischief in their mind that they plan to jump into as soon as your back is turned?

We adults are no different.

It came to mind tonight about how recently, I had in mind to do something I knew I shouldn’t, but wanted God’s help for something else, so put the first out of mind long enough to pray for the help and get that task done, then went back to entertaining the original thought, as if God could be tricked.

You just want to laugh at the foolishness of it—not so much the choices themselves, but the sheer transparency of it. Ridiculous. We adults may be more sophisticated than kids, but we play the same juvenile games. The worst of it is how we lie to ourselves that we aren’t doing it.

The dirty little secret is that we all do it. No one is innocent of playing these mind games. And all of us think we can get away with it at least sometimes. Fortunately, like a good and loving parent, God forgives both insults (and make no mistake, they are grave insults against His character)—the sin and the hubris.

Thanks be to Christ for the grace that daily redeems us from our own conceit.

SDG

"If My People..."

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

II Chronicles 7:14

This is an oft quoted verse by Christians, claiming a promise from God for the restoration and healing of our country, the United States of America. As far as that goes, it isn’t a terrible thing. But it is often done out of ignorance or glibly, and that is a problem.

First, we quote it out of context, and that is always a dangerous thing. Who is speaking? Obviously God, but under what circumstances and to whom? Read this larger segment:

The Things We Can't Talk About

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

I Corinthians 13:12

Have you ever thought about how, even though we live in a free country, there are many things that we just can’t talk about?

I’m not just talking about “religion and politics” or politically correct speech, though those are certainly a large part of it. There are many things that we cannot or should not reveal about ourselves or discuss with others.

Some health ailments, we are taught, have taboos associated with them, so don’t discuss them, even if you are concerned about the health of someone who obviously has one. Are you considering looking for a new job? Better keep quiet or be very careful. Family history should be “kept in the family.” Trade secrets are just that, secret. And so on.

"Before and After"

“To err is human…” Alexander Pope

I just watched a 1996 Meryl Streep/Liam Neeson movie, Before and After. The Netflix summary describes it as, “Carolyn and Ben Ryan (Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson) see their tranquil life turned upside down when their son Jacob's (Edward Furlong) young girlfriend is murdered. Soon, all fingers begin to point in Jacob's direction, as he was the last to see her alive. When Jacob disappears, the Ryans must deal with the growing speculation about their son's involvement and the backlash surrounding the tragedy. The film is based on Rosellen Brown's 1992 novel.”

Without giving spoilers, how would you react if you made a serious mistake? What if you suspect someone you love of making a serious mistake? What are your options? What would you do? If a tragedy happens in your small town, how do you respond to the families at its center?