I’ll ask because I’m free to do so.
The people that God used in the bible were common men and women. Most uneducated, mostly poor, mostly lived a boring life until God jumped in. I wonder if they were seeking Him and finding Him hiding in everything that they did. I wonder if God saw their hearts and knew that this person was ripe for an adventure beyond their wildest dreams. I wonder if God knew that they wouldn’t doubt him because of their uneducated minds in the way of religion. The funny thing is the only schooled teachers in the bible were the Pharisees and Sadducees, who took great pride in this fact and made it clear to everyone that they had the fullest amount of knowledge of God. They were so smart that they were deemed holy men by other men. Dare I say, they were held in such high regard in the community, that they taught every week in huge buildings decorated with the finest materials that money (tithes) could buy. I guess I should say that there might have been others that were educated in religion that God did use, however, they were rare.
So you ask – “what is my question?”
What’s changed?
Jesus came and brought massive change to the church for about a century or so and then we returned to what was comfortable. Most of us no longer seek God but seek the wisdom of man’s interpretation of God.
- Thomas Aquinas once visited Pope Innocent II and the Pope showed Thomas the abundance of funds in the church treasury, the works of art, the extravagant decorations and ornaments in the chapel. "You see, Thomas," said the Pope, "the church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’ " "True," Thomas replied, "but neither can she now say, ‘Rise and walk.’ "
Been good too long… time to be bad.
"Sex without love is a meaningless experience, but as meaningless experiences go, it's pretty damned good."- Drew Carey
"Sex at age 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope."- Camille Paglia
"There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 380SL convertible."- Lynn Lavner
"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."- Jack Handy
"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools."
- Ernest Hemingway
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
- Ernest Hemingway
"What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch?"- W.C. Fields
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."- Henny Youngman
"When we drink, we get drunk.
When we get drunk, we fall asleep.
When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.
Sooooo, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!"- Brian O'Rourke
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."
- Frank Zappa
"Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer."- Dave Barry
My Passion
This morning I was awakened by my boys desperately trying to be quiet while my wife and I attempted to sleep. Sooner or latter they couldn’t contain their energy. Whack! and the wrestling began and continued for a half hour until I had to excuse myself to go to work. That made my day.
I am so thankful that my kids will have the childhood that I never had. Not that mine was terrible, but it did lack a father figure for most of my youth. My dad lived in another town and I visited him during the summer breaks and holidays and such, but the everyday father, he was not. I don’t hold that against my mom and dad now. I love them both very much and value the relationship that I have with them as a “close friend” for lack of better vocabulary. Honestly, although I am learning what being a father is all about, I found a passion for fatherhood through my past.
I believe that when two people join in marriage and create another person, that person should be respected more than any adult. Just because that child can’t protect itself, doesn’t mean that they should receive all the consequences from the parent’s actions. The kids that we have are much more than a gift. A gift is one which we can use as we see fit. A child is a mirror that mimics the parent’s actions. A child also has no other options but to rely on those who created it. Therefore the parent’s should be required to take on the consequences of their own actions regardless of comfort. Adult comfort is forfeited when children are present.
Why do I say these things? On what authority?
I am a child of a divorce. My family has suffered through more family quarrels and divorces than the Jerry Springer show (so it would seem). I have also been in contact with a number of group homes in my past and have seen first hand the damage that parents do to their children. The stories from that haunt me leave me filled with rage and tears.
