Mindful of Man

Before you, before me. Before there were trees. Or grass. Or spiders. Or even dust. He was. There was nothing to make a sound. Until He spoke. "Let there be light." The new thing flashed. Something new was formed. The sound of the Voice came again and again. Enormous balls of Helium and Hydrogen began giving off their light. One of them was placed just near enough the little sphere that had already begun to produce vegetation and began to supply energy to those new green plants. Rocks and mountains were there. Water was gathered together. And then the Voice moved on. Creatures were formed. Flying creatures - eagles, bluebirds, vultures. Swimming creatures - goldfish, clown fish, sharks, dolphins, giant blue whales. And then those creatures on land - lions, mice, spiders, elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, rabbits. So many beautiful, wonderful new things. And then the Voice spoke yet again. "Let us make man in Our image." And so, a new creature was made from dust - and something special was put into him. He was the Chosen Creature. For even as amazing as all of the new things were, Something Else had made them. Something, Someone Else wanted to be known by the creatures. Only one kind of creature would know Him. He could have chosen the mighty lion with his powerful body and great majesty. He could have chosen the great blue whale - the largest creature. He could have chosen the snail. But he chose to give a thinking mind to this new creature. This human would think for himself, and within him would be a longing for his Creator. He, and all human beings after him would learn to long for a relationship with Someone Else - He Who Made Them. And He Who Made Them wanted them to know Him. So much did He want them to know Him that He gave them rules to obey. And when they broke the rules, He planned a new way for them to know Him. Out of all creation, He chose to love man. He could have chosen any other creature. But He chose man. And man hurt and disobeyed Him. And He chose man still. The love of the Maker was for man. The heavens declared His glory willingly. The trees and mountains shouted that He was and is. And He was and is mindful of man. Oh that man would be mindful of Him!

Father, Hear the Prayer We Offer

Father, hear the prayer we offer:
Nor for ease that prayer shall be,
But for strength that we may ever
Live our lives courageously.

Not forever by still waters
Would we idly, quiet stay;
But would smite the living fountains
From the rocks along our way.

Be our strength in hours of weakness,
In our wand'rings be our guide;
Thro' endeavor, failure, danger,
Father, be Thou at our side.

Let our path be bright or dreary,
Storm or sunshine be our share;
May our souls in hope unweary
Make Thy work our ceaseless prayer.

By Love M. Willis

This hymn is a prayer that I am asking the Lord to help me pray. I love this song because it is so unselfish. The writer captures what the heart of a Christian should desire. The Lord is our portion and we should be quite content to let Him lead and be thankful for that whether it be hard or easy.

More Holiness

More holiness give me,
More strivings within,
More patience in suff'ring,
More sorrow for sin,
More faith in my Savior,
More sense of His care,
More joy in His service,
More purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me,
More trust in the Lord,
More pride in His glory,
More hope in His word,
More tears for His sorrows,
More pain at His grief,
More meekness in trial,
More praise for relief.

More purity give me,
More strength to o'ercome,
More freedom from earthstains,
More longings for home;
More fit for the kingdom,
More useful I'd be,
More blessed and holy,
More, Savior, like Thee.

By Philip P. Bliss - and it says what we need to say every day.

Wow, it's been a looong time...

Yes indeedy! I've not blogged for ages, it seems. Well, there will be no way to catch the blog up on everything. Suffice it to say that life steams on at a great pace - and they tell me that it only gets faster as one get's older. Frightening thought!

I heard a sermon yesterday about death. It may seem morbid to think about, but I've found it helpful today to remember that I could die any moment. Not another second is promised. Why, I could die before I finish typing this paragraph! When I remember how transient life is, it spurs me to think eternally. Is my life pleasing to the Lord? Am I going out and making disciples? Do I love as I ought? Am I working for Him? I am praying tonight that the Lord will give me the strength to remember each day how fragile life is and to use the moment I have now to bring glory to Him!

I should run. It is late and, if I am given tomorrow it appears to be a full day.

God Bless!

Thoughts On Communication

This semester, I've had the opportunity to take an "Interpersonal Communication" class. It's been enlightening, as you will see.

Did you know that for a relationship to succeed, four out of every five interactions must be positive? Really now? I had no idea that in order for a relationship to be good you ought to have more positive than negative encounters. I paid a lot of money to learn that.

Did you know that the only way for people to understand you is for you to be honest about your feelings? Um...Nope. That was a little over my head. I really thought people could just read my mind.

Did you know that the best way to resolve a conflict is to look for a "win-win solution"? Really? I thought that the best way to resolve a conflict was to manipulate the other person.

Yep, yep, I got my money's worth.

Next Installment

This piece that I had to read for English Lit was interesting. Maddening, actually. I had to actually read it twice before I could write about it. The piece was "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift. My thoughts were:

In his piece, A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift decries the poverty of Ireland’s children. He notices them running rampant in the streets, neglected and hungry. Frustrated with a system that caters to rich landlords and devours the poor, he attempts with satire to display the ridiculousness of the attitude of the rich. He proposes that the poor sell their children as food for the rich. Since the rich already take everything the poor own and consume their money, why not allow them also to eat child’s flesh. He targets landlords, the government, and Catholic-hating Protestants for oppressing and taking advantage of the poor. With satire, he shows them that their actions are just as revolting as selling children as food.

I am surprised because I intersect with A Modest Proposal more than I would expect. We live in a country where the problem of child poverty, though still alive, is much dissipated. However, I feel that we have gone to another extreme in our country. We reward laziness with Welfare and our children still suffer from poverty stricken homes. Perhaps the problem lies not with the lack of government involvement in the lives of poor people but with an attitude that poverty itself is inherently bad. Children, both poor and rich, suffer from depravity of the worst sort. Parental attention and love have all but disappeared from many American homes. Children need love, not money. They need consistent rules and boundaries, not more commodities. If a child goes without many “necessities”, ie: more than one pair of jeans, socks without holes, etcetera, and yet grows into a law-abiding, kind, godly person, they have suffered very little in the way of development. However, a child lavished with every nicety known to man who grows up selfish and defiant has suffered much and likely will be more unhappy than the poor person. If a child goes without physical comforts and in addition is allowed to run the streets and govern himself, he likely will grow up rebellious as well. It appears to me that a child who is consistently loved and disciplined grows into a more enjoyable and useful adult than if he is either coddled or emotionally neglected and that economic wellbeing has very little to do with it.

I feel that I should qualify what I’ve said. I do believe that we ought to help the poor if possible, and that the government can be a useful tool in accomplishing this. I believe that if children are well managed, and adults are hard-working, helping those who are underprivileged is a worthy endeavor. However, I do not believe that those who refuse to work should be coddled or ignored, but rather given work to do that they might provide as much as possible for themselves. If we are willing to work for what we need, the extra help from churches or governments is well appreciated. Working in the medical field helps me to see that so many who receive help and are not required to work see the help as “owed to them” and become selfish and demanding. When I see laziness rewarded and selfishness bred, I question whether we have not come to an equally appalling and hurtful extreme as is decried in A Modest Proposal.

What, therefore, do I propose? I propose quite simply to require people to work, even to work hard, for the help that they receive. Idleness produces a plethora of evils, such as drunkenness, substance abuse, sexual crimes, and more. As a society, we have allowed selfishness and laziness to take over. Children ought to be educated properly, fed enough to be full and clothed well enough to be warm. Adults ought to work as hard as they must to provide for their families. If children must work after school to help support themselves, let them work. We speak of “letting children be children”. By this we mean, “don’t let them work or take life too seriously until they are grown.” I argue, however, that a child who learns at an early age to work hard and think seriously has a better chance of succeeding as an adult.

Let us consider the words of the wise man in the book of Ecclesiastes, “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and to enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19) This man wisely tells us to work hard and to enjoy what we earn from what we work, be it little or much. I choose to take his advice and work hard and help those in need when able. What will you choose?

Next one.

This paper was an extra credit assignment I did for my English Literature class. We had to watch the movie Dead Poet Society and write a response to it. The following was my response.

Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society opened at the beginning of a semester at Welton Academy, a private school for teenage boys. At the heart of that particular semester was John Keating, a revolutionary English teacher. Rejecting “normal” teaching tactics, Mr. Keating (or “O Captain, My Captain,” as he preferred) endeavored to instill in his class both a love for poetry and the ability to think independently. Among the boys under his tutelage were Neil, Charlie, Todd, and Knox. After discovering that Mr. Keating was once the leader of the “Dead Poets Society,” Neil decided to reconvene the Dead Poets. The new chapter of the Dead Poets held meetings at night in the traditional Dead Poet meeting place, a cave not far from the school. The meetings often grew wild, but some of the boys took Mr. Keating’s messages to heart and strove to think for themselves and “seize the day”. “Carpe diem!” echoed in their minds and they wished for the strength to do so. Neil led the way when he chose to act in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream against his father’s wishes. Others followed. Neil’s story ended tragically the night his father withdrew him from Welton and commanded him to give up acting and focus on his future career as a doctor. Distressed with his plight and his inability to communicate with his father, Neil shot himself. The repercussions at Welton Academy were astronomical. The Dead Poets were disbanded, and Mr. Keating discharged. In a final moment of truth, the shy Todd found his voice. As Mr. Keating prepared to leave, Todd rose to his feet in the presence of the president of the school, stepped onto his desk and “O Captain, My Captain” escaped from his lips. Other boys followed suit. Mr. Keating still left, but he left knowing his mission was accomplished. A classroom of boys knew how to think independently.

Wow. I began watching Dead Poets Society late one night. I was tired and afraid I’d fall asleep. In the beginning, I felt as if I would. I enjoyed the movie but it moved slowly. However at some point, without knowing when, I developed an emotional tie to these characters. I never cried so bitterly during a movie before. Neil’s suicide took me completely by surprise and Todd’s willingness to finally stand up at the end tore at my heartstrings and I sobbed like a child. Many emotions raged through my heart. Anger. Sadness. Determination. This film had affected me in a way few others had ever done. I had learned some powerful lessons.

As the tears coursed down my cheeks, I determined that my new motto would be “Carpe Diem!” Each new day would present new opportunities to be seized, and I would seize them. I knew I was not guaranteed the next day, so I decided that each day would be lived as if it were my last. Each opportunity to do the right thing would be taken and regrets would be forgotten.
Finally, I thought of my future children. Like all people, I hoped for them many things. In my girlish dreams of parenting, I wished them to be intelligent, to be great, perhaps to be doctors, lawyers, preachers. Yet with Dead Poets Society I learned a valuable lesson and I purposed never to pressure my children to be what they did not wish to be. Teach them, yes. Give them opportunity, yes. Mold them, yes, but free thinkers they would be! Free to follow their dreams; free to pursue those free thoughts they would think.

I greatly appreciated the message of Dead Poets Society and willed the powerful emotion never to fade. Yet, I knew it would. That moment was the only moment I was guaranteed. Therefore, lest I forgot the powerful message, I whispered to myself as I drifted off to sleep, “Carpe Diem!”