It's early Sunday morning the week after 'Easter.' I'll call it Easter, because like it or not, Christians co-opted the holiday long ago and just like Christmas, we kind of own it now. Dawn is about an hour away, and I have a sparrow beginning to sing outside on the telephone wires outside. I still haven't figured out why sparrows aren't religious observers of the Lord's day. Does it irritate God that they refuse to observe His day? Why aren't there religious sparrows? Don't they know that there is a pandemic happening? Sparrows don't appear to be observing social distancing, nor have I seen one of them wearing a mask. Would they still congregate at our little church? Maybe they just didn't listen to the major news outlets, or the daily briefings from our Governor. Then again if they won't be quiet on Sundays in observance of the Lord's day, what makes us think they would care what our government is saying. 'Hey, let's all fly up to the telephone wire and wait for the sun to come out and make us warm for the day.' Despite the song of the non-religious sparrows, it is as remarkably quiet as it was last Sunday. It rained last night, and the air has that fresh scent of Spring, even as I'm writing this, there is a gentle mist falling outside. I'm still awestruck by the absence of vehicular noise.
Throughout my life, I've always heard 'car' noises as a background to my life experience. When my family moved to El Paso, Texas in 1960, our little trailer was parked on the corner of a busy intersection at the edge of Fort Bliss. Less than a hundred feet away was a bar where I remember hearing the blare of the Jukebox and the occasional gunshot. I don't remember sparrows singing.
The sounds of modern life were written into my memories long before I even understood what they meant. Unlike my Grandmother who used to boast that she'd seen us (mankind) go from horse and buggy, to the moon, I have only known the drone of cars, planes, trains, and the busy sounds of modern life. I've never known a living room without a TV, or a telephone for that matter. When we first moved to El Paso, we lived about a mile beyond the runway at Biggs Air Force Base, which was still home to B-52's. Every morning they would take off at 5 am and they became my 5 o'clock alarm clock. To this day, I still wake up naturally at 5 in the morning. Why am I saying all of this? Because, it is almost disconcerting to me to not hear the constant steady drone of cars in the distance, even on a Sunday. Yes, there was a time when we lived out beyond the city, but we were close enough to a major thoroughfare that the sound of cars, the local wood mill, and a fashion box company were easily heard in the early morning hours.
Now that I live in the city, it is mind boggling to not hear one vehicle in the distance. I'm sure it will begin again in about an hour or two, but for right now, silence is a sound I'm not accustomed to. What is amazing to me is that even on Sundays this city is a busy place. Even more amazing to me is the knowledge that it took a small insignificant virus to do this. Something we can't see with our naked eye did what massive armies have never done before, and brought the world to its knees. Perhaps, we should have gone to our knees sooner, to ask God for help against this unseen foe, but I'm not going to be religious about it. In the thirty minutes it has taken me to get this far in the blog, (I'm very careful about the words I use) there is a slight blue tinge in the eastern sky. I can hear more birds beginning to chirp in the distance even as a light mist falls. Ahhhh, the sound of life. Finally, one of my neighbors fired up their truck, and must be headed off to work somewhere...on a Sunday. Life still happens, even on a Sunday morning. Life still happens on Sabbath days, Holy days, and every day we human beings have marked as being sacred.
Life goes on, and that is the lesson we should be learning from this pandemic. In the United States, approximately six thousand people die everyday. That was before the Coronavirus pandemic. (The number is actually a little higher, but is actually not a known number.) Death, although tragic, is still the end result of life. My little sparrow friends live about 3 years, and they don't worry about M-95 masks or other things that we humans obsess over. They just live. That is why I worry about them being non-religious. How can they sing so brightly every day when their lives are so short? Why don't they build huge edifices to congregate in and sing worshipful songs to God? I truly don't think there are any religious sparrows! I don't understand why God still cares about them, but Jesus told us that God sees every one of them that falls to the ground. You'd think that sparrows would be the most religious beings on this planet. God said He cares about them, that should be earth shattering news to them. You'd think they would be motivated to find ways to prolong their short lives. They don't seem to care! They don't build cities, drive cars, or do great things beyond sing a lot. Other than pooping seeds everywhere, what good do they serve? I just don't understand why God cares about sparrows so much. Why does He provide plants, that provide seeds, that draw insects, that...oh, well I think you get the point. I read an article by an agnostic who said she doesn't believe in a God who would allow the Coronavirus to kill so many people. I say I don't believe in people! If people are so good, why don't we stop killing people? If that logic holds true, then why would we continue to reproduce if we know that the ultimate end to our lives is death? Selfish, unthinking PEOPLE!! I think I'd rather trust God.
So, unlike the sparrows who don't build great cathedrals, the agnostics who worship their own logic, I'll choose to drive to our small church, social distance myself, (because I don't have Facebook to watch the live stream,) and be a part of about 10 people who worship together. Not because I'm religious, but because like the sparrow, I just HAVE to be in church. It's in my DNA, my raising, or whatever drives me to worship the Creator. Like my little irreligious sparrow friends, my soul has to sing, "because I know, oh yes, I know he watches over me."https://youtu.be/d4mvCKlov4Q
I'm ready for my life to get back to normal. The Wuhan Chinese Coronavirus has caused me to go stir crazy, but I know He watches over me.
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Sunday, April 5, 2020
No Apologies
Spring is beginning to bust loose here in Harrison. We're officially two weeks into Spring and I can tell you that because of the sparrows congregating in my yard. I still haven't put out a bird feeder, but that is largely because I still haven't figured out a way to NOT feed the greedy squirrels. I don't have anything against squirrels, although my dog does. I guess it would be free entertainment to put out a feeder and then watch her go after the squirrels, but she's over ten years old now, and I wouldn't want to give her a heart attack. We have one squirrel that loves to walk the fence in the back yard every day at 2 in the afternoon. It stops, looks towards the French Doors, barks and waits for our Beatrice Bandersnatch to spot it, then it gleefully leaps away to the higher branches. I used to have bullies that did me that way.
Oh, yeah, back to Spring.
This is a Spring unlike any other that I've experienced in my 65 years on this earth. It is 5:30 on a Sunday morning, and I can hear the sparrows chirping outside, and a remarkable absence of traffic noise. Our little house is less than 2 blocks away from Hwy 43, and usually by this time in the morning you can hear the rumble of eighteen wheelers as they slow down to make the junction to Hwy 7. There is none of that right now. Off in the distance I can hear a motorcycle heading south on Hwy 7. It's a large V-Twin of some kind or another, but that is all I hear. The self imposed isolation we've put ourselves into is amazing to say the least. Yes, later the small city will wake up, people will decide to do grocery shopping, or go to the park to walk, and maybe even pick up a 'to go' order of food. This 'Shelter in Place' we're practicing is not an edict in our State. The Governor of Arkansas has only 'asked' us to practice 'self isolation'.
WHY would we voluntarily sacrifice our jobs, our homes, our economy for the sake of a relatively small amount of people?
Our history on this earth is replete with tale after tale of deadly viral outbreaks that kill millions. Of all the killers that have taken lives throughout our brief tenure upon this planet, the common flu is the most prolific killer of all. It doesn't care who its victims are, their economic status, the power they hold, their gender, or even whether they were good, or bad people. It just kills. Yet, even as cruel as the flu is, we've never reacted to it as we have the Coronavirus from Wuhan, China. Yet, for the very first time, mankind has offered up its economic well being on the sacrificial altar of hope. We are possessed of a hope that isolation will end the viruses reign of death.
WHY?
The Covid-19 virus is very specific in the people it wants to kill. It prefers the elderly and the infirm. Now, in any other species, this targeting would be considered beneficial. I'm not being insensitive. If you are a stone cold naturist, you know that predators seek out the weak, and infirm. This ensures that those who live to propagate the hunted, will be the strongest, fastest, and most healthy. Yet, here we are, threatening to destroy the world economy in order to defend, and protect the weakest among us!
WHY?
I don't see sparrows do this. Sparrows, as much as I write about them, don't care one bit about one another except to mate and have offspring. Outside of that, they don't share food, build armies, or surrender themselves to the ravages of the hunter. WE do.
WHY?
Christianity, that's why. NO APOLOGIES!!!!
I don't care whether you are a Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Atheist, or Agnostic, only one religion in the world has taught, and continues to teach 'individual worth' and that is...Christianity. The central, core truth of Christianity is that every person has worth. Now, for those who would point out the historical failures of Christianity, I will simply answer you that it isn't easy to change thousands of years of social engineering arising out of the powerful ruling the weak. Governments throughout our history were built upon the idea that only certain people were worthy to rule by virtue of family or caste. Tribalism of every shape or form was the core of every government until Christianity finally took root. Even then, it took a long time to shake off the bonds of tribalism. As humans became more mobile, we began to intermarry, travel abroad, cross oceans, and build governments that spanned continents. Still, the lesson of individual worth hadn't taken hold, yet!.
It was a small group of men in an obscure, dangerous, and wild land who first began to take the lesson of individual worth seriously. Even though, they themselves were fraught with the bonds of their colonizing past, they found a truth that to them became self evident, and that starkly broke with their upbringing. "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..." A seed of truth was planted in a wild, and savage land. Its power broke the chains of imperialism, and would later break the bonds of slavery. No, it didn't happen overnight. It was a sacred truth, and it takes a while for some seeds to germinate. Still, the truth of the Gospel marched unflinchingly toward the gates of hell. You see, slavery is the hallmark of hell. Its chains aren't easily broken, and its gates have withstood generations of attacks. The truth of 'individual worth' is the chain breaker, and the gate buster. Jesus told an obscure fisherman named Simon Peter that the truth of the Gospel would be what He built His Church upon and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. It has taken a couple of thousand years, but the Church finally busted down the gates of slavery. While that may seem a long time to some, it is a breath in the history of humankind. The sacred truth of individual worth finally broke the gates of slavery.
Thomas Jefferson had originally written "We hold these truths to be sacred..." and they are sacred. They are the foundation of Christianity, and no other faith. Individual worth is the gift of God, through the saving work of Christ. Within 100 years of declaring this truth, its underlying principle would be tested, and proven with the blood of over 625,000 men's lives. The last vestiges of Slavery as a legal institution were abolished. A shining light, a city upon a hill, began to proclaim the truth of individual worth. Since 1865, our Christian nation has struggled to build upon that fragile foundation, warring with itself to define 'all men' as anyone, not just a land holding European. Tribalism is a difficult thought to erase. The United States of America isn't even 300 years old yet! We're still an adolescent as far as nation states go. Yet, thanks to the Christian ethic, we have finally come to the point where we understand that everyone has individual worth.
What does that have to do with Covid-19? Everything! The Christian ideal of individual worth is like a virus, and it has infected the entire world. Even Communistic countries who've divorced themselves from any vestige of religion will discover that their rhetoric had its birth in Christianity. Even other religious nations have had their ideals, governments, and their institutions altered by the Christian truth of individual worth. For the longest time, mankind has lived by the idea espoused in a popular line from "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." This has been the unspoken mantra of the powerful, imperial, and despotic throughout history. Serve me because it serves the needs of the many. Even President Kennedy spoke it when he made his famous statement; "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." On its face it sounds good, but it denies the truths our nation was founded upon. It denies the truth of the Gospel.
Individual worth is why the world is willing to sacrifice its wealth, even its future for the sake of one frail, and feeble soul. As someone who is in the crosshairs of the Covid-19 virus, I don't fear it, nor do I want to see our great nation brought to its knees because someone believes I'm worth preserving. At the same time, I will live by the advice of my leaders, to keep from spreading this virus to others. I have two frail parents in their mid-eighties, and I worry about me spreading the virus to them. Still, I need to check up on them. My Dad is still active, and drives to town even though I beg him not to. I've offered to go get him groceries, but he won't hear of it. As much as I would like to protect both of my parents, I know I can't. Maybe our nation, or even the world will realize that, but until then I am so thankful for the victory of Christianity, and I see its power throughout the world.
NO APOLOGIES!!!!!
Oh, yeah, back to Spring.
This is a Spring unlike any other that I've experienced in my 65 years on this earth. It is 5:30 on a Sunday morning, and I can hear the sparrows chirping outside, and a remarkable absence of traffic noise. Our little house is less than 2 blocks away from Hwy 43, and usually by this time in the morning you can hear the rumble of eighteen wheelers as they slow down to make the junction to Hwy 7. There is none of that right now. Off in the distance I can hear a motorcycle heading south on Hwy 7. It's a large V-Twin of some kind or another, but that is all I hear. The self imposed isolation we've put ourselves into is amazing to say the least. Yes, later the small city will wake up, people will decide to do grocery shopping, or go to the park to walk, and maybe even pick up a 'to go' order of food. This 'Shelter in Place' we're practicing is not an edict in our State. The Governor of Arkansas has only 'asked' us to practice 'self isolation'.
WHY would we voluntarily sacrifice our jobs, our homes, our economy for the sake of a relatively small amount of people?
Our history on this earth is replete with tale after tale of deadly viral outbreaks that kill millions. Of all the killers that have taken lives throughout our brief tenure upon this planet, the common flu is the most prolific killer of all. It doesn't care who its victims are, their economic status, the power they hold, their gender, or even whether they were good, or bad people. It just kills. Yet, even as cruel as the flu is, we've never reacted to it as we have the Coronavirus from Wuhan, China. Yet, for the very first time, mankind has offered up its economic well being on the sacrificial altar of hope. We are possessed of a hope that isolation will end the viruses reign of death.
WHY?
The Covid-19 virus is very specific in the people it wants to kill. It prefers the elderly and the infirm. Now, in any other species, this targeting would be considered beneficial. I'm not being insensitive. If you are a stone cold naturist, you know that predators seek out the weak, and infirm. This ensures that those who live to propagate the hunted, will be the strongest, fastest, and most healthy. Yet, here we are, threatening to destroy the world economy in order to defend, and protect the weakest among us!
WHY?
I don't see sparrows do this. Sparrows, as much as I write about them, don't care one bit about one another except to mate and have offspring. Outside of that, they don't share food, build armies, or surrender themselves to the ravages of the hunter. WE do.
WHY?
Christianity, that's why. NO APOLOGIES!!!!
I don't care whether you are a Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Atheist, or Agnostic, only one religion in the world has taught, and continues to teach 'individual worth' and that is...Christianity. The central, core truth of Christianity is that every person has worth. Now, for those who would point out the historical failures of Christianity, I will simply answer you that it isn't easy to change thousands of years of social engineering arising out of the powerful ruling the weak. Governments throughout our history were built upon the idea that only certain people were worthy to rule by virtue of family or caste. Tribalism of every shape or form was the core of every government until Christianity finally took root. Even then, it took a long time to shake off the bonds of tribalism. As humans became more mobile, we began to intermarry, travel abroad, cross oceans, and build governments that spanned continents. Still, the lesson of individual worth hadn't taken hold, yet!.
It was a small group of men in an obscure, dangerous, and wild land who first began to take the lesson of individual worth seriously. Even though, they themselves were fraught with the bonds of their colonizing past, they found a truth that to them became self evident, and that starkly broke with their upbringing. "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..." A seed of truth was planted in a wild, and savage land. Its power broke the chains of imperialism, and would later break the bonds of slavery. No, it didn't happen overnight. It was a sacred truth, and it takes a while for some seeds to germinate. Still, the truth of the Gospel marched unflinchingly toward the gates of hell. You see, slavery is the hallmark of hell. Its chains aren't easily broken, and its gates have withstood generations of attacks. The truth of 'individual worth' is the chain breaker, and the gate buster. Jesus told an obscure fisherman named Simon Peter that the truth of the Gospel would be what He built His Church upon and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. It has taken a couple of thousand years, but the Church finally busted down the gates of slavery. While that may seem a long time to some, it is a breath in the history of humankind. The sacred truth of individual worth finally broke the gates of slavery.
Thomas Jefferson had originally written "We hold these truths to be sacred..." and they are sacred. They are the foundation of Christianity, and no other faith. Individual worth is the gift of God, through the saving work of Christ. Within 100 years of declaring this truth, its underlying principle would be tested, and proven with the blood of over 625,000 men's lives. The last vestiges of Slavery as a legal institution were abolished. A shining light, a city upon a hill, began to proclaim the truth of individual worth. Since 1865, our Christian nation has struggled to build upon that fragile foundation, warring with itself to define 'all men' as anyone, not just a land holding European. Tribalism is a difficult thought to erase. The United States of America isn't even 300 years old yet! We're still an adolescent as far as nation states go. Yet, thanks to the Christian ethic, we have finally come to the point where we understand that everyone has individual worth.
What does that have to do with Covid-19? Everything! The Christian ideal of individual worth is like a virus, and it has infected the entire world. Even Communistic countries who've divorced themselves from any vestige of religion will discover that their rhetoric had its birth in Christianity. Even other religious nations have had their ideals, governments, and their institutions altered by the Christian truth of individual worth. For the longest time, mankind has lived by the idea espoused in a popular line from "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." This has been the unspoken mantra of the powerful, imperial, and despotic throughout history. Serve me because it serves the needs of the many. Even President Kennedy spoke it when he made his famous statement; "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." On its face it sounds good, but it denies the truths our nation was founded upon. It denies the truth of the Gospel.
Individual worth is why the world is willing to sacrifice its wealth, even its future for the sake of one frail, and feeble soul. As someone who is in the crosshairs of the Covid-19 virus, I don't fear it, nor do I want to see our great nation brought to its knees because someone believes I'm worth preserving. At the same time, I will live by the advice of my leaders, to keep from spreading this virus to others. I have two frail parents in their mid-eighties, and I worry about me spreading the virus to them. Still, I need to check up on them. My Dad is still active, and drives to town even though I beg him not to. I've offered to go get him groceries, but he won't hear of it. As much as I would like to protect both of my parents, I know I can't. Maybe our nation, or even the world will realize that, but until then I am so thankful for the victory of Christianity, and I see its power throughout the world.
NO APOLOGIES!!!!!
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