Ironies

Life is full of ironies. Just now, what comes to mind is this. There are times when people can really annoy you or upset you; you feel like writing them off completely. You can see why some humans become so alienated and angry. Then there are times when the same species, humans, fill you with joy and you can see why God loves them - enough even to become one for thirty three years, put up with all their stuff, and at the end of that time to die for them.
Working with people, or being around them in a school or workplace, you can see the best and the worst. Sometimes they can exasperate with what seems like their pure selfishness and folly. Yet at other times, when you see their best (or see them with a better attitude yourself? ) then you know why it says: we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
I would like to pay a compliment to some of the people I've found on the net, blogging and searching for other bloggers. The Christians in particular can be inspiring to meet; but that's not to say only the Christians. I should remember, all humans are made in the image of God. When they show their better self, they show what it is that makes Creation so awesome. Seeing what some people have to say, and the way they share life and thoughts, it is possible to keep up hope for the human race.
I do not want to condescend. Something I never want to be is a 'head patter', treating people as if they needed my approval. So please don't mind me saying this, because I really mean it. I've read peoples' blogs and found out about the burdens of pain they have to carry. There are people talking about on-going health problems, about bereavements they've been through; and on the positive side, their love for their children and friends, which can mean they sometimes suffer heartbreak. Just this last week several people have posted about the death of a little girl and called on prayer for the parents. They care! That makes one incredible difference! My own life has been a lot easier than many peoples, but as is the case with anyone I've had some miserable moments. Knowing that someone else feels your pain takes away the loneliness.
So I can see why the Bible uses such metaphors for people as Jewels in the Saviour's Crown.
This might sound sentimental, but remember: lack of respect for people, of concern for them, is the attitude that enables someone to deliberately hurt others. There were a number of mass shootings earlier this year, or late last year. Some of the shooters went on the record as saying they didn't consider their victims fit to live. To have that attitude is to not see the worth of people. Any lack of consideration for others' feelings is to lace appreciation of them. That attitude destroys.
So that's the irony. Human beings can make you angry, scared or other negative things. And yet they can leave you exhilarated, and full of joy as well.

Witnessing,

There is a bit of reassurance I would like to offer any one who reads this. Sometimes I hear Christians saying they feel inadequate because they do not make more difference to the people around them. They do not cause all their friends and acquaintances to know Jesus Christ. I've felt it myself. But then, there's another angle that might be worth seeing, too. They might be doing more good than they know.
I recall being a non-Christian. Just before my 25th birthday was when I made the decision to give my life to Jesus Christ and take Him as saviour. I can remember the moment. And when that happened it was the end of a long slow process, in which numerous Christians had a part.
My mother took us to church when we were young, and we had scripture lessons at school. So I knew something about Christianity, basically who God and Jesus were, and Mary and Joseph and John the Baptist.
When I was at school and more at university I had conversations with Christians in which they ran past me what the critical things in Christianity were. Even before I was a Christian myself I could see, Christians had a reassurance that the rest of the world did not have. They believed that God made things come out right, no matter what. They were not alone or at the mercy of chance.
There was something else, too. In general, Christians were less likely to be spiteful or unpleasant in the way they treated you. Sometimes they were ridiculed as 'goody-goodies' by others, but in a general way you felt safe round them.
It all added up. Finally, I had a Christian flatmate. He made a difference.
The point is, it was a gradual process. Several small steps. And some of the people who were part of it did not see the outcome. When I was 20 I had a conversation with a warm and kind hearted Christian girl who explained convincingly why just being basically 'good' in a human sense was not the way of being saved. It took the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, to spare humans the punishment they had incurred. That girl might never know in this world that she made a difference. What she said and how she said it served in part to evangelize me.
Remember what Paul the Apostle said. One plants, one waters and God brings the increase. You might not see the outcome but the seeds you plant might grow. It is important not to lose heart.

Scared of Christians.

Does it ever seem that some people are scared of Christianity? The same principles of tolerance and freedom of thought and belief that apply to any other code of belief should apply to Christianity too, right? So what's the problem?
Suggested answer: huge vested interests are threatened by what Christianity teaches and stands for.
Stop and think what would happen if ninety percent of all people in the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand became real Christians, and lived according to the Bible's teachings. Does it sound all good?
Are you sure?
If all those millions of people really lived like Christians, would there be a massive free fall in the consumption of alcohol? Christians do not have to be totally dry but they know to avoid heavy boozing and drunkeness. So guess which major industry would go into steep decline after a massive Christian revival.
If Christians are true to their faith, they do not use pornography, or use the 'sex industry' (that's the P.C. term for brothels and prostitutes, etc). Does anyone know how much money and business interest is tied up in that? I've got no idea, but I'm quite sure some affluent people would see their wallets thinning down if 'sex workers' and their agencies were suddenly all going out of business.
It doesn't stop there. Christians are much less likely to divorce, if both partners are real about their faith. Who makes money out of divorce?
Lawyers. The demand for their services could shrivel up super quick if several million people started living as the Word of God says, and stood by their marriage commitments.
Lawyers might lose another big cash cow, too. Christians are not perfect but if they treat others rightly and are treated rightly, they are less likely to be involved in law suits, civil or criminal.
Not that I should pick on lawyers. Some of them are honest and upright. So what about the entertainment industry? Would a Christian society make a multi-millionaire celebrity out of someone who bares their body on screen or in colour photographs? So think of any one who has become famour for raunchiness, rather than talent or merit, and ask where they'd be in a nation or culture which did not buy what they are selling - risque visual images.
Come to that, some members of the medical profession might see their earnings plunge, as well. I don't say that a Christian would never have plastic surgery, but would they have the extensive amount, at the extensive cost, incurred by some people for proceedures which include changing the way their navel looks? I've heard of a female entertainer doing that.
Even in regard to the essential, a society characterised by Christian behaviour would generate fewer motor accidents, stabbings, shootings, cases of sexually transmitted disease, industrial accidents caused by neglect and greed of those in charge, and liver diseases caused by alcohol. And you could add to that list. There would be less need for the services of doctors and nurses in casualty wards, not just cosmetic surgery practices.
In fact, Christians in massive numbers could give their nation such a shake up that you'd hardly know the place.
Might that be why some people get worried about it and sound off about Christianity? It is a threat to a lot of grimy vested interests and incomes, and even some honest ones.
If it happened, God would care for His own. But others might get the a frightful shock.
Some centuries ago, a Roman governor carried out a massacre of the Christians in his area because they were upsetting the local economy. They did not buy the silver idols used in the traditional worship that existed in that area. Christianity was bad for some peoples' business.
It is a sickening thing to hear, but it tells you a lot about the world.
Do you hate what drug dealers do? One way you can hurt them they have no answer to. Make sure you don't buy what they are selling. Pass the word.
Christianity can scare some people, all right. And that's even before they fall into the hands of an angry God.

If you say it, they will hear.

I can remember this movie "Field Of Dreams", starring Kevin Costner, about someone who built a baseball stadium in the middle of his cornfield because he heard a voice saying "If you build it they will come." And when he built the field, the ghosts of star baseball players came and played on his field. It was a romantic notion, but uplifting in its way. I can't remember the movie clearly, but it seemed to be about reaching out in faith rather than letting yourself be trapped by dull reality. Okay, so it's not that simple, or we could all change things at will. But sometimes if you step out and try, it will lead somewhere.
I was almost jealous that I hadn't had that idea for a storyline. It works the same for writing. Fiction is fiction, and it may reflect wishful thinking; but if you write about what could be, sometimes other people might take up the idea. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin", and aroused considerable passion about the issue of slavery.
A British novel "Kes" described a day in the life of a boy who lived in a dysfunctional home, with a negligent mother and no father; and the way every thing that could go wrong, did so. The message, not so original but still true: it is wicked to bully younger children, like the older sibling did in "Kes".
The best approach to writing a novel, a poem, a film or anything is to write about what you feel strongly about. And if you say it, some others might hear it, agree, and be encouraged to hear their own thoughts expressed by someone else. You know you are not alone in thinking and feeling certain things when you hear someone else say the same thing. That is probably why there is a limitless market for songs about love, broken hearts, looking for love, and all that. People feel it so they get help from hearing someone else put it into words. Sometimes, obviously it can be a real 'duh' moment to hear a person stating the obvious and thinking it makes them clever and profound. But still, there is a time and place for saying it, or writing it, and seeing who else thinks the same.

Someone I knew said that fiction was a waste of time. I was a guest in his home, so I had to be tactful. But that was one of the most oafish, small minded comments I've heard in my life. Fiction is how a whole dimension of the human spirit stays alive.
The quote was "A good book is the life blood of a precious literary spirit." It was in the front of a poetry book. Flowery prose, but I think it's quite true. Every human society I've heard of has a culture of story telling. It might be verbally recorded, stored in human memory instead of written down. Some cultures, such as the Australian Aboriginals, did not have a system of writing. The stories were memorised and taught. In early Europe, bards or minstrels made a life's work out of learning stories and telling them at gatherings. It may be spoken rather than written,but it is still a body of lore that they kept and shared. Writing makes it easier to keep these stories. The stories may have a moral, like Aesop's fables. They may be intended to inspire, like the hero myths about Hercules, William Tell, Robin Hood, or Davy Crockett. Some are intended to teach spiritual lessons. Or stories might be part of a body of spiritual belief. The story of David and Goliath is part of history, also treated as a stand-alone story.
Someone pointed out that stories, like films, let the reader experience things in their imagination that they cannot in real life. It broadens the mind. It might provoke thought, too. Sometimes the written word has changed history. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in protest against slavery, and arouse enough feeling to demand change. Slavery was abolished. Beecher Stowe's novel was not solely responsible but it made a difference. Books of fiction can inspire, as well as entertain.
Anyone is entitled to choose their own interests. Reading fiction is not what everybody wants to do to relax. But to those who like it, nothing else will do. Fiction, stories, are part of the mind's life blood.

Judgement

Doomsday 'propheteering' is so common that it has lost credibility with a lot of people. But there are some disturbing signs around us. Here in Australia, there have been years of drought in the Murray-Darling River Basin, and some climatologists are afraid that it may be a permanent climate change. We will have to live with lower rainfall and reduced food production. Then there were the horrors of the tsunami that hit Asia, on Boxing Day 2004. And just days ago there was the fearful storm surge that hit Burma, which we are still hearing about. Some say it's global warming, resulting from bad lifestyle and industrial practices causing pollution, damaging the atmosphere. Others insist that it's only part of a natural cycle. They point out that some hundreds of years ago the climate of northern Europe was warmer. Having no particular science background, I can't argue with them. I do know this, though: the Scriptures give humanity a warning, first given to the Israelites who had been led out of Egypt. Leviticus 18:28 states: "And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you."
So, are we defiling the land? People have to live. That involves land use. But are we over-using it for greed? And in some of the life styles of the Western world, are we polluting God's Creation?
Some people do not want to involve the God factor in their life equation because they do not want to admit their debt to Him, or His authority over His creation. God did give us free will, too. But 'freedom of thought' can include terrible foolishness the becomes self-destructive.
Is God chastising the world to bring people back to Himself? If that happens, we need to pray that we are ready to cope with it ourselves.

Gender agenda

The gender issue is on the social agenda again. In the U.S. there is a female presidential candidate. In Australia we are going to have a female Governor General. And the usual politically correct comments are being made on the subject. It goes to show, female chauvinism exists just as much as male chauvinism, and it is just as obnoxious. To hear some people talk, only a woman has any humanity at all. To hear some men talk, only a man has any brains and common sense at all. It gets annoying.
Personally, I think the two genders lack respect for each other. There are things about the female, in general, that many male people fail to appreciate. And there are things about the male, generally speaking, that many female people fail to appreciate.
I've watched a the process of child birth, five times. That's how many Liz and I have. It is really sobering, and harrowing, to watch the pain and stress that it can put on the mother. And there is no other way. For someone to be born, a woman has to carry the child around in her own body for nine months, put up with the nausea, back ache and other side effects for nearly a year then go through LABOUR - an understatement about the process. Never should anyone doubt the courage of a woman who has more than one child, because the second and subsequent times she knows what she's in for.
I know this too, though. There are things that a man can do better than most women. Not only is pure physical strength the issue. In a general way, men can endure certains forms of stress better than women, just as women can cope with some things better than men. It's been deduced that a man would pass out if subject to childbirth sensations, and thus not be able to assist in the delivery process, which might be disastrous. But it's been observed that men can be harder to physically intimidate than women. And physical courage in the face of danger has its place too.
One feminist academic, I THINK it was Camille Paglia, put it this way. If women ran the world, there would be fewer wars but we'd still be living in grass huts. That might not be a completely safe generally safe generalization, but it makes a point. Women might be better at surviving by putting up with things. Men might be better at surviving by changing them. Each might have it's place. So the world works best if both perspectives are treated with respect.
Here is another example. Years ago a nurse, Sister Kenny from Australia, found out that polio-damaged limbs would heal better if kept warm by wrapping them up. It was to allow good circulation through them when they tended to lack it because they were paralysed. So a woman found out, by her nurturing approach, what would save a great deal of damage. But it was a male researcher who found out ways to kill the evil disease that caused it - and not just because there were no women involved in medical research. There have been women in medicine since the nineteenth century. The male psyche is more 'crash through or crash', while the female psych might be more 'roll with the punches'. Neither is superior. They each have their place. And from a Christian perspective, BOTH genders are made by God in His image and by His intention. It is actually unChristian to belittle females, just as it is unChristian to belittle males. Each of them is part of what God made, and what in its better moments reflects His nature.
We know God is not a racist. Nor is he sexist. He made both genders in His own image. See Genesis 1:27. So from where we are now, the need is to see that the two need each other to make a life and a world. I really like being married, and having a woman as my best friend and closest companion. I'm really glad we had a daughter as well as our four sons. In fact, without grumbling, I sometimes wish we'd had two more girls. Among the worst things that can happen is for a society to be divided between the genders. That is a device of the devil.