Friday; July 3

On July 4, 1776 a group of people in Philadelphia read a document that stated they would no longer submit themselves to European control.  They believed that they had the ability to govern themselves in a better way so they declared themselves independent from the British government.  As they signed their names, they pledged that they represented the will of the people to make this choice.  It was the beginning of a way of life that – in good times and in bad – has existed for the past two centuries.
This time of year I like to reread the Declaration of Independence and, when I do, I typically find something new or see things in a different way than I have in the past.  This year, as I read the document, I was drawn to some verbiage from the last paragraph in which they were “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world” and did so “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence”.   For years, I have understood the founding father’s belief that the rights they asserted were moral and maybe even spiritual; but as I thought about this passage I realized that they were also calling on God to judge their motives.  They believed they were doing what was correct and asserted that they had Divine protection as they did them.
I will leave each one of you to judge the motives of these men, but I would like to call upon all of us have a similar spirit in 2020.   As we enact today’s laws, as we interact with our neighbors, as we define modern morays I ask that we appeal to God to judge our actions and our motives.  It doesn’t really matter to me whether historians judge us worthy or even if society supports what we do, the thing that concerns me more than anything is whether God approves of the direction we are heading.  Is He pleased with the governmental legislation, the social relations and the moral justice we are pursing today?  In other words, are we standing for what is right in His sight?
Let’s enjoy another national birthday this weekend.  Then, as we get back to work next week, let’s assess our success through God’s view of what it means to be one nation under God.
Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more