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Well, this is my second post this evening. Did anyone find that site as hilarious as I did? It seems I have a strange sense of humor.
Okay, everything that follows is stuff that everyone knows, but that I want to say anyway. . . .
The infamous Terri Schiavo case is driving me crazy. I admit this reluctantly and somewhat ashamedly. Telling myself over and over that this happens in lots of places to lots of people, and that the only reason I cry is because I KNOW about it. Telling myself that I can go on living my life like always (after all, I've been perfectly happy for fifteen years as Christians starve in Sudan, languish in Korean prison camps, etc.) Telling can't induce believing. My strangely selective emotionality just cracks at this point. I've cried on and off for a week now. Every time I take a bite of food, get a glass of water. Every time I hear about kids being arrested for bringing in glasses of water, hospice nurses fired for the same crime, and (yesterday) Mr. Schiavo (illegally) giving her insulin shots to increase her pain and hasten death. WHY DOESN'T HE JUST GET A .22 AND GET IT OVER WITH? What about a dagger? Strangulation would be more pleasant, I believe.
She feels every moment, I am sure. I can imagine the parched shriveled feeling taking hold of her, the delirium and coma, and the conscious plea for help trapped inside her fading mind. I can feel the hopeless frustration of police officers, clinic workers, protesters, government officials (all those stupid "flag chasers" from Dante's Inferno), and I wonder why they don't just disobey the law for once. I also wonder how her parents will feel after this horrible week ends. I wonder if she'll die on Resurrection Sunday.
I pray God grants her His grace and salvation. May He give her His presence to help her through this time and into heaven, if it be His will.
However this case turns out, Christians now find themselves faced with the fact that our culture no longer appears neutral. Funny, but the world seems to become more black and white every day. Let's see... in America, we have 40,000,000 abortions (how does that compare with the population of Chicago, pray tell?). We have euthanasia, now witnessed in its most inhumane form (might as well perform medical experiments on Terri like the Nazis did to humans in a "vegetative state." You know: saw off the knees, immerse the person in water for ten minutes...). We have homosexuality. We have an out-of-control judicial system. School prayers and the word "God" become taboo. School shootings actually happen. Small towns become large, hostile places.
Wave good-bye to the era of common-sense morality. It's rapidly ending before our eyes.
The Christian church must wake up and realize the urgent need for CHRIST to penetrate our society. Too long have Christians lived as pretty good guys taking God's glory for themselves. My father read Psalm 94 to us this evening. It is a highly applicable passage of Scripture. But I couldn't help but see how much the American church resembles the wicked men described therein. While we're seeing M. Schiavo as the devil in this situation, we forget who is really responsible. We are responsible, because we have ignored our Savior in the public arena.
Begging God for grace on my behalf is the wisest course, as I see it. The distractions of circumstance make me forget that God's my Father, and He loves me more than I understand. He has the situation under control. I'm like that small child, clinging to my parent and screaming in fear--at the caged lion in the zoo. My father understands everything, but I can't, and it makes me afraid, resentful.
I memorized Is. 59: 19-21 this morning. Isaiah 59 as a whole is a powerfully relevant passage for us today, and in that context the last three verses carry more weight. Here they are:
So shall they fear
The name of the LORD from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
"The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,"
Says the LORD.
"As for Me," says the LORD, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the LORD, "from this time and forevermore."
Okay, everything that follows is stuff that everyone knows, but that I want to say anyway. . . .
The infamous Terri Schiavo case is driving me crazy. I admit this reluctantly and somewhat ashamedly. Telling myself over and over that this happens in lots of places to lots of people, and that the only reason I cry is because I KNOW about it. Telling myself that I can go on living my life like always (after all, I've been perfectly happy for fifteen years as Christians starve in Sudan, languish in Korean prison camps, etc.) Telling can't induce believing. My strangely selective emotionality just cracks at this point. I've cried on and off for a week now. Every time I take a bite of food, get a glass of water. Every time I hear about kids being arrested for bringing in glasses of water, hospice nurses fired for the same crime, and (yesterday) Mr. Schiavo (illegally) giving her insulin shots to increase her pain and hasten death. WHY DOESN'T HE JUST GET A .22 AND GET IT OVER WITH? What about a dagger? Strangulation would be more pleasant, I believe.
She feels every moment, I am sure. I can imagine the parched shriveled feeling taking hold of her, the delirium and coma, and the conscious plea for help trapped inside her fading mind. I can feel the hopeless frustration of police officers, clinic workers, protesters, government officials (all those stupid "flag chasers" from Dante's Inferno), and I wonder why they don't just disobey the law for once. I also wonder how her parents will feel after this horrible week ends. I wonder if she'll die on Resurrection Sunday.
I pray God grants her His grace and salvation. May He give her His presence to help her through this time and into heaven, if it be His will.
However this case turns out, Christians now find themselves faced with the fact that our culture no longer appears neutral. Funny, but the world seems to become more black and white every day. Let's see... in America, we have 40,000,000 abortions (how does that compare with the population of Chicago, pray tell?). We have euthanasia, now witnessed in its most inhumane form (might as well perform medical experiments on Terri like the Nazis did to humans in a "vegetative state." You know: saw off the knees, immerse the person in water for ten minutes...). We have homosexuality. We have an out-of-control judicial system. School prayers and the word "God" become taboo. School shootings actually happen. Small towns become large, hostile places.
Wave good-bye to the era of common-sense morality. It's rapidly ending before our eyes.
The Christian church must wake up and realize the urgent need for CHRIST to penetrate our society. Too long have Christians lived as pretty good guys taking God's glory for themselves. My father read Psalm 94 to us this evening. It is a highly applicable passage of Scripture. But I couldn't help but see how much the American church resembles the wicked men described therein. While we're seeing M. Schiavo as the devil in this situation, we forget who is really responsible. We are responsible, because we have ignored our Savior in the public arena.
Begging God for grace on my behalf is the wisest course, as I see it. The distractions of circumstance make me forget that God's my Father, and He loves me more than I understand. He has the situation under control. I'm like that small child, clinging to my parent and screaming in fear--at the caged lion in the zoo. My father understands everything, but I can't, and it makes me afraid, resentful.
I memorized Is. 59: 19-21 this morning. Isaiah 59 as a whole is a powerfully relevant passage for us today, and in that context the last three verses carry more weight. Here they are:
So shall they fear
The name of the LORD from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
"The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,"
Says the LORD.
"As for Me," says the LORD, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the LORD, "from this time and forevermore."
posted by Unknown at 6:28 PM
4 Comments:
There's too much to say, so I'm not even going to try. Thought-provoking post, as usual. Makes me feel like a fool, also as usual.
Okay, let's give credit where it's due: The profound content of this post I borrowed from my father, who helpfully explained the whole thing to me. He saw I desperately needed a constructive response to the situation (my response was to go crazy and avoid reading the newspaper), so he gave one.
P.S. Sam:
If you go to Blogger Support and click around a bit, you'll find a way to add links to your template. It took me a while, but it can be done. finding the right place in the template is a bit tricky also...
I can help you with it Monday after next. Have fun with your cousins!
That was a great post, Annie. I'd like to say something really great and complimentary, but here's my best effort: What she said. ^_^
Hey, I cry a lot too. I think for me at least, it's because it's happening in America. America, where our ancestors came to have religious freedom, is no better than Nazi Germany anymore. That hurts.
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