Lions and Eagles

So I've been a father now for two weeks, four days. Fracena and I love our baby. We do our best to meet her needs. Food, cleaning, and love. Here's one thing that's caught my attention, though: She wants to eat. We want to feed her. But in the midst of our trying to feed her, she's so worked up that she fights us, swatting at the bottle and tossing her head around, until we finally get the bottle in her mouth, and it takes her a couple of seconds to realize what it is. Heavenly Father: How often do I fight You when You are trying to give me something I need? Please forgive me.

I've been reading a lot of headlines lately. These fools in Florida and elsewhere that want to burn Korans. Riot crowds in Islamic countries burning Bibles and crosses in retaliation. Everyone's a victim, everyone's lashing out. A few thoughts in return: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matt. 5:38-39) In other words, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth eventually leaves everyone blind and eating oatmeal. Also, a quote from M. Scott Peck that was in a recent sermon I heard: "There are dozens of ways to deal with evil and several ways to conquer it. All of them are facets of the truth that the only ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a willing, living human being. When it is absorbed there like blood in a sponge or a spear into one’s heart, it lo...

God, what are you doing in my life? I'd really like to understand. First, last weekend, there were the Jehovah's Witnesses you brought to my door. That was interesting. But okay. Then, there was the lunch where we stumbled onto friends, and joined them, only to find out that the guest of honor at the meal was a Buddhist monk and writer. The "dedication" for the meal was... interesting. But okay. And then there was last night. Dinner with family, friend, and friends of friend. Half the folks there were new to me. Fun, eclectic, widely varied conversation. Loved it. So then I got to asking my brother about the church he's recently been going to. Sounds like a great place. Anglican with a very contemporary styling, from what I understand. Then we heard a chime in. "Oh, that isn't one of those Anglican churches, is it? The ones with the gay-hating African bishops who think all gay people should be killed?" Umm... I know the Anglican churches you're t...

I encountered two very sad things this week. First, there was a woman at the church pot luck (I've seen her there many times) who said that she doesn't believe God has a plan for her life. She has nothing in this life but a litany of sorrows. I didn't know what to say!How do you answer that? How sad, to believe that God's love for you is less than perfect! How sad, to believe that God doesn't want you to have life and joy, or to think that somehow His power isn't enough to care for you! The other sad thing was just a few minutes ago. A trio of Jehovah's Witnesses came to the door, with an invitation to their Easter day service (though JWs aren't allowed to celebrate Easter). I politely told them that we would be quite busy at our own church. But one thing struck me after I had closed the door... They said that they wanted to invite me to a "celebration of the death of Jesus". Now, I will be celebrating Jesus's death... on Good Friday. Easte...

Yes, I heard Tiger’s “apology” press conference. At least, I heard part of it. More interesting to me than the conference were some of the remarks of WSB Radio listeners after. The question came up, why did he need to do this? One caller answered: This could be the beginning of Tiger’s own spiritual recovery. The first step, in many recovery programs, from infidelity to alcoholism, is to admit personal failure. This got me to thinking. This was a Buddhist confession, not a Christian one. How are the theologies different? What does Buddhist theology say about marriage and fidelity? The Dalai Lama was asked about this recently: Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader told The Associated Press during a brief interview in his hotel suite in Beverly Hills that he had not heard of Woods, but when the circumstances were explained to him he said that when it comes to adultery, “all religions have the same idea.” “Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that’s important,” he ...

Our Federal politicians love to talk about how much they support education. They talk about all the money they want to throw at the states for special education projects. And the price for states that want to take that money is, they have to comply with certain Federal regulations. But, per the Constitution (10th Amendment), education should be in the States' ballpark. Want to take a wag at how much of the education money spent in Georgia comes from the Federal level? 3%. That's right. Just 3%. Now, want to take a guess at how much of the overhead rules and regulations dropped on our teachers come from the Federal level? 90%. That's right. A mere 3% of the state's education money comes from the Federal government. And the price for that is, 90% of the overhead our educators have to deal with. At what point do we decide it's worth getting rid of the 3% to be free of the 90%? Just a thought.

So one person gets a need fulfilled, and another person pays for it. If the payer is paying willingly, it's charity. Otherwise, it's theft for a noble cause. But the Bible doesn't say "Thou shalt not steal unless it's for a really good cause". It says "Thou shalt not steal." Sorry, sometimes the Bible is hard that way. What it means is that we have to save lives without stealing. But let's ignore the theft aspect for a moment. Let's focus on charity. I like charity. Charitable actions bring a multitude of spiritual rewards, both for the gracious, generous, and loving giver, and for the humble receiver. Throw government into the mix, on the other hand, and all spiritual rewards are lost. The givers (taxpayers) lose the chance to be lovingly and personally invested in the well-being of their fellow man, because the government's in the way. And the receivers lose any reason to be humble. Why offer up humble thanks for a government "righ...