ON THE SUBJECT OF EVIL

I have not been writing much lately,  just spending more time in solitude, meditation and reflection as I ponder how much I do not know, especially about such things as evil, deception and the selfishness of my own heart.While the subject of evil is depressing and negative, at the same time it is an accurate view of the condition of humanity. I often consider my own magical thinking regarding the nature of evil.  If I ignore the evil in the world, it’s almost like it isn’t there, at least I am so detached from it, I don’t have to think much about it. I have more or less detached myself from the fact of Hitler’s Germany considering I was a small child at the time and the Nazi’s were just a group of evil people instead of realizing I share the same race with them. In a sense we as humans are all one together, I am not so different from those who have perpetrated evil on the earth, just born at a different time, different place, different circumstances.

 It is said that the majority of Nazi soldiers in world war II were no different from you or me, they were just being patriotic and loyal to their leader. Who was it that said, “The limits of Tyrants are prescribed by those they tyrannize?” In their loyalty to their nation and leader, they became numb to the issues of Auschwitz and Dachau, not considering the impact of the horrors in store for the Jewish people. To say there is no God is to say what those souls experienced doesn’t really matter because if there is no God then there must be no evil. In my opinion, what causes evil to show up for what it is,  is the goodness of God and His respect of our dignity to allow us to slaughter one another or love one another as we so choose.  His respect for the fact He has given us the possibility of choice has been a costly condition throughout all time.  

  9/11 broke our bubble and the deception of our safety and comfort in America as we try hard not to forget the impact of the terror of that awful day. Or, we don’t want to remember,  just want it to go away. We don’t want to think much about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after all we had to incinerate thousands of citizens to win the war. Surely God was on our side. From a purely secular view, the psychological and sociological views of evil are inadequate to explain such horrors but then it is easy to be an expert sitting in an easy chair studying philosophy. When the gun is at your head, or the skin has been burned off your body, philosophy goes down the drain and things get real quickly! At least that is my guess as I have never had a gun at my head in that way. I am certainly a hero in my own mind but I have had so little experience and testing in the things of heros.

One only needs to study history to realize we live in a brief bubble of comfort here in America thanks to the young men and women who have been called to war and have given their lives for the visions of many good causes yet at the same time, many tyrants. What a cost! Just sit down over coffee with a mother or a father who has lost a 19-year-old son or daughter in a war we   hope was worth it all. The bubble in America is shrinking ever so slowly as there a few moral compasses for our youth, an epidemic drug problem and complete disregard for any moral rectitude of conscience.

Shortly following 9/11 George Bush said, “Today our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. But critics at once said that the president and anyone who spoke openly of evil were simplistic and old-fashioned, that they had a view of life shaped more by fairy tales and old westerns than by science. Evil had become so politicized, they said, that it was no longer a moral term; abusing it this way would lead to self-righteousness, hypocrisy, a new round of the politics of fear, and more real evil.

Author Oz Guinness writes in his book entitled, “Unspeakable,” [facing up the  challenge of evil], Baroness Caroline Cox, described as ‘the Mother Teresa of the war-torn poor,  a nurse, scientist, and deputy speaker of Britain’s House of Lords was asked to describe her worst experience moment in her journey’s of mercy. She thought for a moment  then described with brutal simplicity what it was like to enter a Dinka village after Sudanese government-backed soldiers had left, laden with human loot.” She went on to say, “ The stench of death was overpowering. More than a hundred corpses lay where they had been savagely butchered. Men, women, children, even cattle, had been cut down or herded into captivity to be carried north as slaves. The entire village had been burned down, women brutally raped, husbands and children murdered before their very eyes, some taken off into slavery.  As the survivors were pulling together following the carnage Lady Cox noticed them making tiny crosses out of sticks lying on the ground and pushing them into the earth. What were they doing? Fashioning memorials to those they had lost? No, she explained, the crudely formed crosses were not grave markers, but symbols. The crossed sticks, pressed into the ground at the moment when their bodies reeled and their hearts bled, were acts of faith.  As followers of Jesus of Nazareth in the Horn of Africa, they served a God whom they believed knew pain as they knew pain. Blinded by pain and grief themselves, horribly aware that the world would neither know nor care about their plight, they still staked their lives on the conviction that there was one who knew and cared. They were not alone.”

INSPIRATION IN 2012

I woke up this morning with the word, “Inspiration,” on my mind, got out of bed and began writing. I felt inspired! I looked up the word in Webster’s Dictionary and found this most simple definition, “To be motivated as by divine influence.” I began thinking, (which often gets me in trouble,) what would be the alternative to inspiration? I came up with this, “To be motivated by influences not divine!” Ouch! I’ve never really placed much stock in New Year’s Resolutions but I have been considering a few so I looked up the word “Resolution” and found this; “Decision as to a future action!” Now the wheels are turning and the ball is rolling. My New Year’s Resolution must be sourced by inspiration from divine influence.

This now leads me toward considering the word, “Source,” and also the word, ”Resource!” Confused yet?  The meaning of the word, “Source,” simply stated, “A place or thing from which something originates or develops, i.e. a spring from which a stream arises.” The word  “Resource,” is, “Something that lies ready for use or can be drawn upon for aid.” So, the stream is beautiful, powerful and useful only as long as the source is producing the fresh water, the source being the spring. The spring is the source which produces the stream which is a resource. Third grade science!

Now my friend, apply this to your life! You have many gifts, talents, skills and abilities, yes? You are a wonderful resource. But, what is your source? Could it be divine influence  that is directing the resource that your life is producing or is your source coming from selfish motives, desire for advantage, to be right, to look good, make more money to impress others and it goes on and on. If the strength of my commitments is out of my self-centeredness, my life as a resource will dry up, I might die a depressed old man. If my committment or resolution is sourced by The Source of all life then I will see my resources as gifts to be stewarded and continue to offer a cup of cold water to all those who thirst. How will I know how I am doing in all this? I’ll see it in my wife’s eyes!

May you seek inspiration for 2012, inspiration sourced by the Divine, may the spring of life bubble up into a beautiful fountain for you as you make your resolutions out of right motives and a right spirit. May all those you come in contact with this year be left with something special,  having been touched by something beautiful, something other-world, a resourceful human being sourced by the divine touch of God.

2012, ANOTHER YEAR OF STEWARDSHIP

Genesis 1:1 is a non-explanatory take it or leave it statement. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Not much in the way of apologetics here! It goes on to describe each aspect of the creation of the earth and sky and us, and at the end of the  seven days, it says in Chapter 2:1, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” In other words, it was complete and rest here is a symbol of completion, it is not an indication of a weary God, nor is it an indication that people need to attend church on Sundays. He accomplished what He set out to do. He always does!

 He certainly did not need humanity to do what He set out to do and I believe He found great pleasure in doing all this for us. He even showed the first man where he could find “gold and aromatic resin!” [Gen. 2:12] If that wasn’t enough He said ,”I give all this to you!” His generosity is truly amazing! There was a purpose and focus given to man (male & female) in Chapter 2:15, as he instructs man to care for the garden. It is all about stewardship! Very simply stated,” God created all things and gave them to us to steward.” And how sensitive is this? It says in Chapter 2:19, “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. Isn’t that just like a loving father?  My guess is, this admonition to name the animals was a most intimate way to join man and beast in their co-habitation in the earth and to live as God intended, together and at peace with one other.

It wasn’t until the first man and woman tried to create their own reality that things went awry. The story is often characterized as cartoony and  sometimes looses significance due to unbelief.  We still attempt to create our own realities in many ways instead of acknowledging our meaning and purpose purely as stewardship and fellowship. Stewardship cares, it loves, it maintains, it nourishes, it stimulates life and healing. Everything we have and think we own has been graciously given to us. It belongs to God! He said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden!”  Wow, how gracious is that?  But, there is one that is like hemlock, it is poison to you, don’t eat of it or it will bring death! In eating of the poison tree they ate spiritual death and we see the effects over the entire planet. It would be like me standing by my beautiful oleander bush in my back yard, bright red flowers, deep green leaves and if I choose to eat  the flowers, death for sure! The reality of the Oleander, like the Hemlock cannot be changed merely by my attempts to create a new reality. They will bring death every time if I try to consume them. They are not created for me to eat!

The lesson for me is, when I try to create my own realities I take the place of God and fail every time. I make a lousy God! I am not the creator, I am the receiver, the steward, the gifted if you please. I can only receive and offer back what I have been given, I cannot create any new realities that have not already been created. Isn’t receiving and offering back what worship is all about? I think so! The violations and trespasses of humanity have the world in an uproar through wars, terror, rumors of wars, selfishness, divided governments, broken families, broken relationships, fear and everything else that is of the darkness. Our own Government cannot even agree on much!

There is an answer you know. The answer is by way of invitation. “Come all you who are tired, worn out, burned out, stressed, restless, angry, come, I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light…….Come!” It is more simple than complicated! It is His yoke, but our choice to enter, or not!  Another way to say it, “Come, steward all I have given you, all you have received, allow our relationship to be your goal and reward as well.” He creates, we steward what He has created. It is the nature of God! It is the nature of love! When my sons were little boys, we supplied the paper, the paint and the brush and even though their offerings of artistry were elementary and their supply was from us, we praised them for their beautiful artwork! It’s like that!

 Your value is priceless! May this New Year, 2012 bring you peace, joy and love!

THERE IS NO GOD!

So, I was thinking in light of all the pain and death in the world there must be no God, or maybe I should write it this way, “There is no God!” In taking this view I become God myself by default. I saw “Bruce Almighty” and I don’t want to be like Jim Carrey I want to be like Morgan Freeman. Now that I am my own God I may do whatever I wish, I may give, I may take away. Wow this is great! I bless you today my friend! I think my first act as God will be an unselfish one and creative at that! For my first display of divine power I think I will create a hummingbird. Yes, I will create a beautiful hummingbird. Let’s get started! I will start simple and with practice move toward creating larger entities such as new universes. After creating the hummingbird, I think I’ll try creating a sun.

First, I think I should begin crafting the little bird by creating a solid foundation. I will start with the feet. I will create two little feet and build upward from there. I am instantly confronted with a complex problem however as there are over 356 species of hummingbirds on our planet. I need to select one! How will I determine which one to begin with? Oh well, I am God so whatever species I choose will be right! Another problem facing me is the hummingbirds legs were not designed for walking, only perching, I’ll have to connect that process to its little brain somehow. I’m sure I will think of something, being God and all! I must remember to properly wire all the circuits in the little animals brain, things like, on an average day a hummingbird consumes half of its weight in sugar. They also have an ability to pollinate flowers which remarkably have co-evolved with them. I must remember the little creatures can fly quickly over short distances, at up to 31-40 miles per hour. They can fly forwards, backwards, and briefly upside down. Upside down? Being God, I should have known this!  Because of their small size, the tiniest hummingbirds must maintain a extraordinarily rapid wing beat rate of 70 beats per second to stay aloft. However, the larger species can fly with only about 20 beats per second. The flight muscles of hummingbirds typically account for 25-30% of the body weight, compared with an average of 15% for other birds. I will also need to remember hummingbirds also have a long tongue that can be extended well beyond the tip of their bill. The tongue of the birds has  inrolled edges, that can be used to form a tube for sucking nectar. And last but not least,  I will have to figure out how to maintain a heart rate of over 1200 heartbeats per minute in certain species. I’m sure I will think of something!

So much to remember, but after all I am God you know! I am running into some engineering problems however as I seem to be unable to figure out exactly the right formula for the construction of the legs. I can only come up with a replica but not the real thing. I changed my plans, after all I am God, and I think I will begin with the needle shaped bill. Again, I am having problems creating the real thing, I am only coming up with a replica of the bill and there is so much left to figure out. I must create the brain, the blood vessels, the heart, the organs and how will I ever figure out how to create the feathers, let alone design the organic computation between brain and body functions.

I am now totally frustrated and discouraged! I am losing heart! I am going out in my back yard to just sit in the sun for a while and try to gain my composure. A small hummingbird just flew within 10″ of my face and hovers in front of me, then flys backwards, sideways to the right, sideways to the left, then straight up like a harrier jet. Colors of magenta, emerald green and blue flash through the air above me, the whirring of tiny wings. I am not doing so well being God! I drop to my knees, raise my hands to the sky…………..and worship!

BULLET HOLES

I figured the title of this blog would attract attention! I attended a Board Of Directors meeting for Children’s Hunger Relief Fund in La Jolla, San Diego and at that meeting one of the attendees of the meeting who lives in South Africa shared some personal photos and gave a report on his latest trip into Somalia. Somalia is not a place I would care to visit. He was there with a convoy of people to help the starving and hurting people there. They went in heavily armed for their own protection and remained watchful for the duration of their trip. It is a dangerous place, especially if you are there to help the many starving people.  One of the photos was of a little boy maybe 4 or 5 years of age with two bullet holes in the side of his head. Other photos depicted the pain and suffering of the citizens of that country who live very much like animals, day-to-day, searching for something to eat, to drink and for shelter. The pictures I viewed are not photo opportunities for T.V. Evangelists, they are the real thing!  They were impacting, repulsing and so sad. How could human beings do this to other human beings?

As I viewed these pictures I could not help but fixate on the two bullet holes in the side of the little boy’s head. The violence that inflicted his wounds was the same violence that tore the hearts of six million plus Jews in Europe, created the wars throughout history and affected our nation so greatly in Pearl Harbor and on 9/11. What happens in a person’s heart that would lead to squeeze of the trigger of a gun aimed at a small boy’s head? I cannot even begin to imagine even though I can offer the common theological answers and idealistic religious and political views. The bullet holes are contrasted in my mind to the comforts I enjoy, the abundance of food I eat, the peace I experience, they make me grateful but at the same time responsible, responsible to care, to be moved, to act, even if it is in a small way. I will find a way!

This writing offers absolutely no answers to the problems of the world. I must leave that to the ”experts!” The photos left me with tears in my heart and a deep utterance groaning from within that cries out, “Where are you God? I don’t want pat theological answers, they are not adequate! Nothing is adequate to soothe the pain of the bullet holes, they are reality! The wounds will remain in my mind and in my memory. I recently heard a well-known quote by a Jewish man who was greatly affected by the Holocaust. “It is asked, ‘Where is God?’ I say, ‘Where is man?‘ I will allow the memory of the bullet holes to remain in my mind, I will think of them often, I will remember why I am here, and why you are here! Perhaps together we can make a difference, even if it is in some small way.

TEXTUALISM AND THE BIBLE

So, I just read this in the bible, “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth,” I John 3:18.  One’s confession may be, “I just follow the Bible, or maybe  the Koran or Torah. I just want the written word, only the word.”  I read it again, “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth!” I put my bible down, now what? If my confession of belief is real and  has any substance, if I practice what I just read, it will affect those around me. They will get my love!  If I have just read what I’ve read with the purpose to be right or at least more right than others, I will preach to you about  how I believe these scriptures but it will never turn into action. Instead of sensing love from me you may sense a defensive, angry and “religious spirit.” You may sense I am using the bible as a defensive weapon to make others wrong. It is very subtle!  The dynamic is called, “textualism!” I read words and because I agree with the ink on the page, I think it lives in me but this is not necessarily true. Textualism means, “strict adherence to a text!” It could be the bible or any text for that matter. A textualist is one who is well versed in a text (As pertaining to these comments, the scriptures.) It does not necessarily mean the text ever gets off the page and into one’s life. Maybe that is why Jesus said, “Unless you eat my flesh, drink my blood”…..!  That wasn’t about a little wafer and a thimble of wine! When he said this it really angered the religious leaders around him who were very  hypocritical in their religious practices. Getting my nose out of the pages and the text must take place if the words are to become life, for me and for others. What this verse in I John means to me is that talk can be as cheap as cheap religion and must morph into a genuine love and concern for others. We get it backwards when we offer to feed the hungry but insist that they attend our particular brand of church service first! How about exposing our faith by feeding them first instead of imposing our faith by making them listen to us for an hour before they eat?

For Mother Theresa, this love meant forsaking the possibility of a life of comfort and ease in her later years, fully paid for, after all, she worked so hard, she deserved it.  No, she had eaten the bread, consumed the wine and as it became her nourishment she was ruined in terms of her own comfort.  She was unable to resist the alleys and streets of Calcutta where the drunks lay in their vomit, the prostitutes in their sweat and  the cries of the suffering are heard and felt each day. It looks a little different from our Western evangelistic light shows and free hot dogs for the homeless (once or twice year,) don’t you think? It makes me feel really good to feed the homeless some turkey and dressing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. That will hold me for another year! It makes me proud of all the good I do for others, after all I only want the “pure written word!” It also makes great promo for my church bulletin, “Look what we do!”

There are many wonderful folks in our community that are reaching out to the suffering and the hungry. They are usually not seen nor heard but the community benefits greatly by their quiet service. Their motives are not to get people into their churches but motives of unconditional love for others. I recently attended a free Thanksgiving banquet for the community hosted by The Redwood Gospel Mission in Santa Rosa. Thousands of people attended, many, many children. As I observed the festivities I especially appreciated the volunteers (three hundred of them) as I realized their love and service was what made the difference. They have truly partaken of the bread, the wine…….! Their service has become their life as they have consumed, “The Way, The Truth And The Life!” It is the way of love.

CHARACTER, CHOICE OR RESPONSE?

I just wrote a blog on character, typed three paragraphs, lost it all,  just disappeared off my screen, off Word-Press completely. I became very frustrated, thought maybe I was being punished for what I had written (residue from my childhood, ha!) like maybe it was inaccurate , etc. but in the space of time between my first writing and now I have had some amazing insights come to me regarding the issue of character. So, losing the first blog actually chiseled a new piece into my character and instead of throwing my marbles on the ground and walking away I will attempt once again to share my thoughts on the subject of “Character.”

There was an interesting article in the Editorial section of our local newspaper this morning entitled, “Bad things happen when character takes a holiday,” written by Ann McFeatters. She writes, “It was a bad week for displays of good character.”  She was speaking regarding  the accusations against Herman Cain and his female accusers. She then spoke of Rick Perry’s loss of memory in the GOP debate which has me baffled as to why that would have anything to do with his character. She then went on to mention the current mess at Penn State, Michael Jackson’s doctor and the fact that body parts of our soldiers from Iraq were incinerated and dumped in landfill. Wow, is nothing sacred anymore? She finishes her article with the final paragraph, “This was a sad week. We all lost. But maybe we learned the meaning of a trite but true saying: Character matters.”  

The writer of this article stirred me to search out what I believe to be true about the issue of character. First let me preface my definition of character as specifically an ethical issue of moral character as Ann was speaking of in her article. I am a follower of the teachings of Jesus but I fully understand why there are so many folks who have a tough time with the bible, especially with verses as found in Romans, Chapter 5, verse 4 as it says, “Suffering produces character!” But I’ve been led to believe it is a product of my good choices! What if character was not a matter of choice but rather a matter of our response to our choices. I’m afraid my bad choices in life have far outweighed my good choices. But, I am realizing it is not the amount of good choices or the amount of bad choices I’ve made that is forming character in me, rather it is my response to those choices.  I am learning how not to take pride in my good choices and to allow my poor choices to build character by responding to those poor choices properly.

Some examples for me that are profound are the following; King David, as we all know, screwed up royally, (no pun intended,) upon gazing at the beautiful woman on the roof. One thing led to another, he ends up having an affair and if that wasn’t bad enough he had her husband murdered. David had been blessed with many, many gifts. He was a mighty warrior, skilled in battle strategy and tactics, a brave man, skillful with the sword yet he was also a musician, played the harp. He was a leader among leaders. He was true greatness personified, yet he had a character flaw and it was a flaw that needed to be exposed and brought out into the light. Making it with Bathsheba and having her husband murdered was not a, “Bad character day”, the flaw was there all along and the circumstance brought it into the light. His response to his poor choices is found in II Samuel 12:20. David and Bathsheba’s offspring was ill and it says, “David went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground, eating no food. praying for the life of his son.” After his little boy died it says, “David got up from the ground!After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.” Enter character! His gifts and talents were not what made his character, his suffering and right response to that suffering are what produced character. There was something more important than him in all this.

In Luke 22:31,  Jesus says to Simon Peter, “Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail.” Peter’s response was like all his responses so far in the story as he says, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” Jesus responds with, “You will deny me three times.” Peter’s character was missing a key ingredient and that ingredient was faithfulness, no matter what happens. It was his utter failure that led to the formation  of character that allowed him to be a faithful man in the end and willing to die for his beliefs.

 I guess my encouragement to the readers of this blog is to see  poor choices as stepping-stones and opportunities toward building character by seeking the right responses to  failures or perceived failures. “Character,” as found in The New Testament is defined as this; Dokimasia,  [Greek]  meaning, “a testing, a proving, trial, ordeal, a test leading to proven worth.”  What if it was failures, trials, difficulties and the pain of all the suffering  that we all experience in this life that leads to proven character. I believe this is so! When David got off the ground and worshiped instead of victimizing himself he moved out of the darkness and into the light. And for me my friend, that is the definition of good character!

QUIET

“Quiet” [kwi'it]  making no noise or sound, no disturbing sound; free, or comparatively free from noise, silent, restrained in speech, manner, saying little, free from disturbance or tumult, tranquil,peaceful, being at rest, refraining or free from activity, esp. busy or vigorous activity, peaceable, motionless or moving very gently, quiet waters,  free from disturbing thoughts, emotions, mentally peaceful, a quiet conscience, said, expressed, done, etc. in a restrained or unobtrusive way, not showy or obtrusive, subdued, not busy or active, to make quiet, to make tranquil or peaceful, pacify to calm mentally, to allay doubt, fear, to silence, calm, serene, unmoving, still hush, silence, quiet rest, stillness.  Webster

“He leads me beside the still and quiet waters. He restores my soul!” Ps. 23. Enough said!

 

 

IDEAS BY ADOPTION

We all will have many, many ideas this day. Webster describes the word “Idea,” this way; “Any conception existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness or activity, a thought, conception or notion.” I have often pondered the question, “where do my thoughts or ideas originate?” I guess it’s according to what one believes regarding theology…..or not!  Ever have an idea that pops into your mind that you are repulsed by and wonder where that came from? If one studies the physiology of the brain it is understandable how one could reduce the complexity of our thinking in strictly physical terms.  However, my thoughts and ideas do not all originate with me. You can share your thoughts with me and they become my thoughts whether I like it or not. Consider the power of advertising! I didn’t know I needed a lexus until I was told so by someone in a T.V. commercial. What I do with that idea will either take me into a $50,000 debt, or if I design my own idea instead of adopting someone elses, I will  save $30,000 by buying a Honda Civic which in my case is much more economic and practical. And, it makes my wife happy!

The way I see it, once I have an idea, I can analyze it as mine or someone elses idea that I have adopted and received as mine. This makes the power of suggestion one of the greatest powers on earth. It comes down to what I am willing to believe about life, community, relationships, vocation, marriage, myself and all aspects of life for that matter. I think we can all agree that the earth is filled with good and evil influences at the same time. What about the possibility of our minds in the struggle between good and evil, light and dark and we are constantly choosing one or the other? I work with many friends who are agnostic and even atheist, (which by the way, I don’t believe one happens to be atheist, it is a choice like everything else.) Being open to other’s ideologies instead of being negatively judgmental has helped me learn much from those who perhaps believe differently than I, as I truly appreciate and honor their opinions and insights. It helps me be clear about what I believe and at the same time love and respect them even if we don’t agree on aspects of certain beliefs.

Once I adopt an idea or belief about something, the next thing that happens is, it affects is my emotions. My emotions affect my feet or spoken a different way, controls what I do. Let me give an example; If I have come to the conclusion my life has no value here on earth and I decide to suicide, my emotions move me toward ending my life, my feet, being affected by my emotions, move toward action and death comes swiftly. For me, ideas come from me, from others, from God or from the spirit of evil (whatever you wish to think about that!) The Bible, The Koran, The Torah, and Buddahology all offer principles on how to control thoughts toward the good and not the evil.

Next time you have an especially disturbing thought or idea, consider where it comes from. If you adopt the idea, it becomes yours and you will act on it. If you are not Christian please bear with me on this. I am committed to exposing my faith, not imposing it! There is a difference!  Someone brought Eve this thought in the garden; “If you eat the fruit that is forbidden, you shall surely not die as God has spoken.”  He goes on to imply God is a liar when he speaks further, “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The same voice comes to King David as recorded in I Chronicles 21:1, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel,” David adopted the idea against the promise of God to take care of His people not according to their might but according to God’s mighty power. Lies were spoken to Jesus in the wilderness but he refused to adopt the ideas offered him. I am reminded of Peter, Judas, many, many others in the bible who adopted the ideas of evil as their own. Those adoptions were rooted in pride.

We have all witnessed the destructive end of evil men who embraced ideas of evil and adopted them as their own. Osama  Bin Laden for example, and recently Moammar Gadhafi adopted ideas that violated even their own Islamic religion. Their adopted ideas led them to commit mass murder and sent them both to early graves. Remember, the adoption of the idea moves the emotions which move the feet! May we take our thoughts captive and remember a principle found in many major religious beliefs, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”

Now there are some ideas that are safe to adopt! Those are good ideas no matter who ya are!

TRUTH

What little I know regarding ancient Hebrew language could probably fit on the head of a pin but I love to study Hebrew meanings of words. The English language seems almost elementary in light of Hebrew translation. Words have so much more meaning in Hebrew than the English vernacular, at least that’s the way it seems to me. Maybe it is because of my familiarity of English. In studying ancient language it is important to understand the history and culture of the people speaking the language. Classical Hebrew is a verb-oriented language rather than a noun-oriented or abstract language. The language is quite concrete in expression. Studying languages and the complexity of dialects can become mind bending to say the least. Early Greek independent city states established individual dialects of Greek (Attic, lonic, Doric). As a result of the conquests of Alexander, however, these dialects mixed together into a common tongue, a “Hellenistic Greek,” that has come to be called “Koine.” This was the common language understood almost anywhere. It is all quite confusing without adequate study of such languages.

I find it rather humorous when considering all the conversation out there regarding bible translation. Probably the easiest approach to the bible is to just discount it as a book full of error that makes it an untrustworthy study written by people like you me who often make mistakes. This is true until I really read what it says! Basically the bible comes from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek languages and all the particular styles such as Classical Greek, Koine Greek (language of the street,)  etc., etc. I am probably not only boring you with all of this but it is actually giving me a headache thinking about such a complex study that would require a lifetime of careful research to even scratch the surface of understanding it all.

Where am I going with all this? I have been studying the word, “Truth!” Truth is mentioned 110 times in the New Testament, New International Version of the bible, 92 times in the Old Testament.  The Greek word for “Truth,” [Aletheia]  is simply, “Most Certainly, Rightly, Truly.” The Hebrew word for truth [Emith] has similar meaning, “Truly, Correctly, Faithfully and Lasting.” Webster states it like this; “The true or actual state of a matter.”  It simply means my fingers are typing on my laptop as a fact, not negotiable, not something else, not what I make up about it, but exactly what it is! Fact! Everything around me in the  empirical  world is fact, not negotiable. My house, the trees outside, my cat, the breakfast I am about to eat is what it is, not what I make up about it, but specific. I am specific! I am not a dog (maybe sometimes,) not a cat, nor a worm, I am a man specifically. My brain is real, my thoughts are real. Ah, my thoughts, that is where the struggle is as the mind seems to be in constant flux, influenced on all sides, ever-moving in complexity and angst. I find that I believe things that are true and at the same time I am constantly learning what I have thought to be true which really is not! I find the desire to search out the more concrete truths that are most important, reliable and useful for motivation and life direction. If matter is specific, how much more  is that which created matter, the mind and intention of God and the power of His Spirit? You have been fearfully and wonderfully made….by someone else! Truth is stranger than fiction, yes?

You have probably heard it said, “We see things as they are or we see things as we are.”  One important aspect of the bible is the characters in the story. Historical evidence points to the fact that they were real people who lived their lives at different periods of time. King David for instance was definitely King of Israel and had much to say which has been recorded. In Psalm 139, at the end of the chapter David says, “Search me O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”  In this prayer he was searching for truth outside himself.(The bible was written as a story, not with chapters and verses, those came later) The story was about people’s lives. One person’s life stands out above all others in the story called “Bible,” and that person is Jesus. He made one statement that sends lightning across the entire universe. “I am the way, the truth and the life!” If this is true, how can one afford to ignore it? Is it really worth the chance?  As Pontius Pilate was torn by the pressures of Rome and Israel he saw Jesus through his own paradigm of self-interest which caused him to miss the point of the truth spoken by the man to whom he asked, “What is the truth?” Even Pilate’s wife sent him a message of a very disturbing dream she had concerning Jesus that caused her great suffering. [Matthew   27:19] Pilate could only see truth as he was, even though truth was standing in front of him.