Yet again I am at a point in my life when I wonder why I just didn't become a monk. My heart is broken into many little pieces and all I want to do hide away. But I can't. I can't for two reasons. One, I live right across the hallway from her. Do you have any idea how hard it is not to go into her room and kiss her good morning or kiss her good night? Or to tell her you love her? Do you? I was happy and content before I met her. I really was. I was fine with being the single pastor and I did not want a relationship. She told me to open my heart. She was the one that pushed me to tell my parents. She was the one that want a relationship. I was just in shock that somebody could actually like me for more than just a expendable friend. But in reality, I was just as expendable as boyfriend as a simple friend. She says she needs to find herself, find out what she wants even though a few months ago I was what she wanted. I promised to give her my heart but my heart was not big enough. And so now I sit in my room, all alone, with nobody around to talk too, not even a simple old friend.
Two, who could I talk too? I have never been in a community so close and so tight and felt so alone and so distant. I feel isolated from any kind of church life. My church in Baltimore is an hour away and my teaching parish is not the place where I can comfortably tell members my personal problems. I wonder where God is and why did this happen? Lutheran theology is very comforting and beautiful but it can offer little comfort when all you have is that to turn too. We sometimes forget that the cross is full of splinters and nails. It is hard to cling to the cross after one has been battered and bruised.
And yet, when I finish this entry and post it, I will close my computer, get back out of my chair and continue on with my life because nothing is worth ending your life. Nothing. Believe it or not, I will wake up tomorrow and smile because I know that bloody and ragged Cross is there along with a man who made it possible for me to smile in the morning. That my friends is the beauty of the Cross. That my friends is the Theology of the Cross. Amen
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Baptism of our Lord
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A little boy was upset with his parents' financial situation, so he decided to write God a letter.
Dear God,
My mommy and daddy need $500 for bills and I don't know who else to ask. Could You please help?
Johnny
The letter was received by the local post office and put in the 'dead' letters pile. The clerk, being curious of the letter addressed to God, opened to see what it said. As you can imagine, he was touched by the letter and decided to help. He asked all his fellow workers to 'chip-in' a few dollars to help a family in need. When all the money was collected, it came to $300. The clerk sent a money order in an official Post Office envelope with the return address simply, God.
Several weeks later the same clerk found another letter addressed to God in the same writing.
The letter said,
Dear God,
Thank you for the $300, but next time don't use the Post Office, they have a $200 service charge.
Johnny
Lucky for us, Baptism is a free gift from God and does not involve the post office. Baptism for us is very different from the baptism that Jesus experienced. Mark’s version of the baptism of Jesus is very urgent feeling. It fits in with Mark’s theme of urgency through out the Gospel. Mark wants to move readers through his Gospel to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus appears in the wilderness, the River Jordan where John was baptizing, Jesus and the people around him experience this amazing revelation. It says “And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.” The word “torn apart” in Greek only appears twice in the Gospel; here in this story and at the Crucifixion of Jesus. This is a major event in Mark’s Gospel. Using this form of the word, it shows that God is with the people, his people.
And then this voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” You are MY Son. This phrase echoes the Father/Son relationship found in the Old Testament. One example is found in Genesis involving Abraham and his son Isaac. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” The author of Psalm 2 is another example. “I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” This small phrase emphasis a major point of Jesus’ relationship to the Father and Father’s relationship to Jesus: God and Messianc King, God and Servant of the Lord.
I know what some of are you are thinking. This is all well and good but why did Jesus need to be baptized? Jesus was sinless and he didn’t need a baptism for the forgiveness of sin. Why was he baptized? To answer this question we need to know that to be Baptized means to die. I know is hard to grasp this understand that to be baptized means to die especially when we baptize little babies but it more of a rebirth that we all experience when we are baptized. That is why we say we are reborn when we are baptized. For Jesus, his acceptance of his baptism meant two things: One, he was accepting the death on the Cross—a death he freely accepted—and Two, he was accepting his own humanity—he was accepting that he was just like you and me.
Our Baptism is much different from the one Jesus experienced. Jesus was sinless but we are not. We are all born with this original sin—the sin that separated Adam and Eve from God. It is by our baptism that we find forgiveness of this sin and in this Baptism God claims us as his own. Yes we will still sin but we will always find forgiveness in the loving arms of Christ because of our Baptism. Jesus is our mediator and when we sin it is Jesus proclaiming that “I died for that man” or “I died for that woman.” Christ still promises that he will bear our sins all because of our baptism. Our baptism is not done by us but it something that is done by God.
So today, as many of you have noticed, we have placed the baptismal font down in the center of the church. There has been a huge revival in the Lutheran Church over the years dealing with the Remembrance of our Baptism. Martin Luther wrote that “every time you wash your face, remember your baptism.” I feel that over the years, the act of baptism has been down played when in reality it is a life changing, life altering experienced that we go through. It is when we were claimed by God as one of his own and there was a promised made that God would never leave us when we needed him.
So today, as you leave, I encourage you all to remember your baptism by dipping your hand into the water, making a sign of the cross, or even just saying a prayer while touching the font thanking God for the Gift of baptism. Remember your baptism every time you go fishing or hunting, go for a walk, take a shower, wash your hands. For it was by your baptism God has said in the words of Isaiah , “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon them; they will bring forth justice to the nations.” In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
A little boy was upset with his parents' financial situation, so he decided to write God a letter.
Dear God,
My mommy and daddy need $500 for bills and I don't know who else to ask. Could You please help?
Johnny
The letter was received by the local post office and put in the 'dead' letters pile. The clerk, being curious of the letter addressed to God, opened to see what it said. As you can imagine, he was touched by the letter and decided to help. He asked all his fellow workers to 'chip-in' a few dollars to help a family in need. When all the money was collected, it came to $300. The clerk sent a money order in an official Post Office envelope with the return address simply, God.
Several weeks later the same clerk found another letter addressed to God in the same writing.
The letter said,
Dear God,
Thank you for the $300, but next time don't use the Post Office, they have a $200 service charge.
Johnny
Lucky for us, Baptism is a free gift from God and does not involve the post office. Baptism for us is very different from the baptism that Jesus experienced. Mark’s version of the baptism of Jesus is very urgent feeling. It fits in with Mark’s theme of urgency through out the Gospel. Mark wants to move readers through his Gospel to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus appears in the wilderness, the River Jordan where John was baptizing, Jesus and the people around him experience this amazing revelation. It says “And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.” The word “torn apart” in Greek only appears twice in the Gospel; here in this story and at the Crucifixion of Jesus. This is a major event in Mark’s Gospel. Using this form of the word, it shows that God is with the people, his people.
And then this voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” You are MY Son. This phrase echoes the Father/Son relationship found in the Old Testament. One example is found in Genesis involving Abraham and his son Isaac. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” The author of Psalm 2 is another example. “I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” This small phrase emphasis a major point of Jesus’ relationship to the Father and Father’s relationship to Jesus: God and Messianc King, God and Servant of the Lord.
I know what some of are you are thinking. This is all well and good but why did Jesus need to be baptized? Jesus was sinless and he didn’t need a baptism for the forgiveness of sin. Why was he baptized? To answer this question we need to know that to be Baptized means to die. I know is hard to grasp this understand that to be baptized means to die especially when we baptize little babies but it more of a rebirth that we all experience when we are baptized. That is why we say we are reborn when we are baptized. For Jesus, his acceptance of his baptism meant two things: One, he was accepting the death on the Cross—a death he freely accepted—and Two, he was accepting his own humanity—he was accepting that he was just like you and me.
Our Baptism is much different from the one Jesus experienced. Jesus was sinless but we are not. We are all born with this original sin—the sin that separated Adam and Eve from God. It is by our baptism that we find forgiveness of this sin and in this Baptism God claims us as his own. Yes we will still sin but we will always find forgiveness in the loving arms of Christ because of our Baptism. Jesus is our mediator and when we sin it is Jesus proclaiming that “I died for that man” or “I died for that woman.” Christ still promises that he will bear our sins all because of our baptism. Our baptism is not done by us but it something that is done by God.
So today, as many of you have noticed, we have placed the baptismal font down in the center of the church. There has been a huge revival in the Lutheran Church over the years dealing with the Remembrance of our Baptism. Martin Luther wrote that “every time you wash your face, remember your baptism.” I feel that over the years, the act of baptism has been down played when in reality it is a life changing, life altering experienced that we go through. It is when we were claimed by God as one of his own and there was a promised made that God would never leave us when we needed him.
So today, as you leave, I encourage you all to remember your baptism by dipping your hand into the water, making a sign of the cross, or even just saying a prayer while touching the font thanking God for the Gift of baptism. Remember your baptism every time you go fishing or hunting, go for a walk, take a shower, wash your hands. For it was by your baptism God has said in the words of Isaiah , “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon them; they will bring forth justice to the nations.” In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sermons, Sermons, Sermons....
Here is my sermon from Sunday, January 4th. I preached at the National Lutheran Home in Rockville, MD. I thought you all might enjoy reading it.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I think it is fitting that we are reading John 1 a few days after we rang in 2009. 2008 has been full of many ups and down. The economy ceiling has caved in causing millions of Americans to loose their jobs, their housing, and their very welling being. At the beginning of 2008, as we do every January, we dream, wish, and hope that this New Year, this new beginning, will bring about great and new things that will make our lives easier but all to often things do not change right away and sometimes will get worst before they get better.
Think about it, how many of us have made a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight, to spend less money, to spend more time with family and by the end of the year have forgotten the resolution or broken the resolution only after a few weeks. I believe as soon as we see what we have to give up for our resolution, we are scared and go back to our old, bad habits.
This year many of us have made promises. In this past election, all of our politicians who ran for office promised to deliver a better life, a better country, a better world. Sometimes this better life has taken years to come into affect. 50 years ago, nobody would have thought that our country would have elected a minority or a woman to the office of President. But as we have seen, this is no longer a dream but reality. Barack Obama has become the first African American President. In the beginning of the election, nobody thought that a black man or a woman would be the top two choices for the democratic party nomination or a woman be chosen as the vice president candidate for the republican party but it happened and we as a country should be proud.
I recently heard a statistic that Americans spend 450 billion dollars every year on Christmas. This includes not only gifts but the trees, lights, wrapping paper, anything involving the holiday. 450 billion dollars is a lot of money. We all claim it is a necessity for getting us into the holiday spirit and I have to agree with this ideology to a point. I love the symbolism involved in the Christmas Tree or ripping through wrapping paper to get to a new gadget. But I also learned that it would only cost 10 billion dollars to supply clean drinking water to people in third world countries. For many living in these countries, they spend half of the day walking to the nearest water source only to have to walk back to their village. Their life is consumed with walking to get a necessity of life. Children have to participate in retrieving water and cannot attend school. What if these children were to get an education? What if one of these children would be the one would find the cure for cancer or aids? What if this one of these children would be the next Einstein or Martin Luther King? What if? For just 10 billion dollars, who knows what the world could be like.
There are all kinds of statistics like this one. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson point out once in a lecture that more people die every year from hunger related illnesses than from terrorism but yet never hear about this. Every day, 16,000 children die of hunger-related diseases. That’s one child every 5.4 seconds and this does not include adults. Terrorism is by no means a good thing but world hunger is also a great concern that we all need to remember not only in our prayers but in our actions.
Who knows what will happen in 2009. There are many uncertainties but we as Christians know that God is with us in our beginnings and in our endings. Through life and death, God is with us. It was God who promised his people that he was “going to bring [the Israelites] from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here… I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel. Life can be scary at times. So many Americans are living in fear that their jobs will be cut and all they have worked for will be lost. Hospitals and Nursing homes just like this one have patients and residents who are close to death. But we know that even in the midst of our greatest fears and worries Christ, the Word that became flesh is among us. John 1 proclaims that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and lived among us.”
We will find a way to work through the challenges that our nation, our world, and each of us face. We will prevail but we need to trust and act on God’s word. Jesus promises to always be with us in our beginnings and when we end our life on earth and move onto our eternal life in heaven. We have seen God’s glory. God glory has been revealed through Jesus will continue to reveal his glory through his church and people carrying out the Gospel. God’s word is powerful and changes lives. I cannot stress it enough that through our beginnings and our ends, Jesus will always be with us. That is our faith and that will carry us through even our worst times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I think it is fitting that we are reading John 1 a few days after we rang in 2009. 2008 has been full of many ups and down. The economy ceiling has caved in causing millions of Americans to loose their jobs, their housing, and their very welling being. At the beginning of 2008, as we do every January, we dream, wish, and hope that this New Year, this new beginning, will bring about great and new things that will make our lives easier but all to often things do not change right away and sometimes will get worst before they get better.
Think about it, how many of us have made a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight, to spend less money, to spend more time with family and by the end of the year have forgotten the resolution or broken the resolution only after a few weeks. I believe as soon as we see what we have to give up for our resolution, we are scared and go back to our old, bad habits.
This year many of us have made promises. In this past election, all of our politicians who ran for office promised to deliver a better life, a better country, a better world. Sometimes this better life has taken years to come into affect. 50 years ago, nobody would have thought that our country would have elected a minority or a woman to the office of President. But as we have seen, this is no longer a dream but reality. Barack Obama has become the first African American President. In the beginning of the election, nobody thought that a black man or a woman would be the top two choices for the democratic party nomination or a woman be chosen as the vice president candidate for the republican party but it happened and we as a country should be proud.
I recently heard a statistic that Americans spend 450 billion dollars every year on Christmas. This includes not only gifts but the trees, lights, wrapping paper, anything involving the holiday. 450 billion dollars is a lot of money. We all claim it is a necessity for getting us into the holiday spirit and I have to agree with this ideology to a point. I love the symbolism involved in the Christmas Tree or ripping through wrapping paper to get to a new gadget. But I also learned that it would only cost 10 billion dollars to supply clean drinking water to people in third world countries. For many living in these countries, they spend half of the day walking to the nearest water source only to have to walk back to their village. Their life is consumed with walking to get a necessity of life. Children have to participate in retrieving water and cannot attend school. What if these children were to get an education? What if one of these children would be the one would find the cure for cancer or aids? What if this one of these children would be the next Einstein or Martin Luther King? What if? For just 10 billion dollars, who knows what the world could be like.
There are all kinds of statistics like this one. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson point out once in a lecture that more people die every year from hunger related illnesses than from terrorism but yet never hear about this. Every day, 16,000 children die of hunger-related diseases. That’s one child every 5.4 seconds and this does not include adults. Terrorism is by no means a good thing but world hunger is also a great concern that we all need to remember not only in our prayers but in our actions.
Who knows what will happen in 2009. There are many uncertainties but we as Christians know that God is with us in our beginnings and in our endings. Through life and death, God is with us. It was God who promised his people that he was “going to bring [the Israelites] from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here… I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel. Life can be scary at times. So many Americans are living in fear that their jobs will be cut and all they have worked for will be lost. Hospitals and Nursing homes just like this one have patients and residents who are close to death. But we know that even in the midst of our greatest fears and worries Christ, the Word that became flesh is among us. John 1 proclaims that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and lived among us.”
We will find a way to work through the challenges that our nation, our world, and each of us face. We will prevail but we need to trust and act on God’s word. Jesus promises to always be with us in our beginnings and when we end our life on earth and move onto our eternal life in heaven. We have seen God’s glory. God glory has been revealed through Jesus will continue to reveal his glory through his church and people carrying out the Gospel. God’s word is powerful and changes lives. I cannot stress it enough that through our beginnings and our ends, Jesus will always be with us. That is our faith and that will carry us through even our worst times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Monday, September 29, 2008
What the hell...
Over the past few hours, I have been watching CNN as they covered the voting of the Bail Out Bill. The bill failed by just a few votes. According to Yahoo News, "Several Republican aides said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had torpedoed any spirit of bipartisanship that surrounded the bill with her scathing speech near the close of the debate that blamed Bush's policies for the economic turmoil."
Oh my God! Bush's policies have ruined the economy. We are in a war that is costing us 10 billion dollars a month. Bush created loop holes allowing companies to take tax breaks and send US jobs over seas. Bush did nothing, more importantly Republicans did nothing to stop the out of control banking industry from lending bad loans. We are so in debt as a nation that nobody trusts our dollar or our economy. Democrats just took control over congress this past year. Republicans however were in power much longer than the Democates and therefore the Republicans have ruined the economy. Republicans voted for the war, voted for the extreme spending, voted and allowed the out of control tax loop holes. Republicans have lost their power and now they are going to find any opportunity to now hurt those who took away their power.
Frankly, anyone who voted no this bill did it for two reasons: 1.) They did it out political move in an effort to hold their seat. 2.) They are greedy and just want to make sure they are making a buck and that their business buddies are able to make a buck. Either way, the people that lose are the American people. President Bush when he leaves office will go back to his ranch and live high on the hog. Members of congress will have their nice homes that they can go home to. Many Americans though are losing their homes, jobs, and their way of life. God be with our nation.
Oh my God! Bush's policies have ruined the economy. We are in a war that is costing us 10 billion dollars a month. Bush created loop holes allowing companies to take tax breaks and send US jobs over seas. Bush did nothing, more importantly Republicans did nothing to stop the out of control banking industry from lending bad loans. We are so in debt as a nation that nobody trusts our dollar or our economy. Democrats just took control over congress this past year. Republicans however were in power much longer than the Democates and therefore the Republicans have ruined the economy. Republicans voted for the war, voted for the extreme spending, voted and allowed the out of control tax loop holes. Republicans have lost their power and now they are going to find any opportunity to now hurt those who took away their power.
Frankly, anyone who voted no this bill did it for two reasons: 1.) They did it out political move in an effort to hold their seat. 2.) They are greedy and just want to make sure they are making a buck and that their business buddies are able to make a buck. Either way, the people that lose are the American people. President Bush when he leaves office will go back to his ranch and live high on the hog. Members of congress will have their nice homes that they can go home to. Many Americans though are losing their homes, jobs, and their way of life. God be with our nation.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Something to think about...
Is it okay to go through life expecting and anticipating that everything we have plan, everything that we work so hard for would just fall apart? Is it healthy to keep our expectations low and expect everyone to stab us in the back? Should we trust nobody and confide nothing to our friends, family members, or coworkers in fear that they will use this information to hurt us?
I ask these questions as I sit in a workshop dealing with appropriate sexual relationships. I wonder what happened in our society where we no longer have a sense of appropriate boundaries. Talking to two fellow students they said, if they were walking back alone at night to their dorm and was approached by unknown male, their immediate reaction is that this man will hurt them. Now I understand that we should be on guard but why is that our first reaction? You could apply this same question to seeing a black male walking down the street. Many of our reaction is that he is going to hurt us when 99% percent of the time the man is just walking to the store. Why are we always on the guard? Why do we feel that there is always someone out there that wants to hurt us?
I feel that our society, our cultural, is calling us to be on guard. Ever since 9/11, we fear that someone is going to attack us again. Which is probably true since we attack back. What if we just talked instead of fight? What if we had an open mind, while still being on guard, but not expecting everyone is out to get us. Open mindedness is key in the world right now. We are all not criminals. We are confused and scared.
I ask these questions as I sit in a workshop dealing with appropriate sexual relationships. I wonder what happened in our society where we no longer have a sense of appropriate boundaries. Talking to two fellow students they said, if they were walking back alone at night to their dorm and was approached by unknown male, their immediate reaction is that this man will hurt them. Now I understand that we should be on guard but why is that our first reaction? You could apply this same question to seeing a black male walking down the street. Many of our reaction is that he is going to hurt us when 99% percent of the time the man is just walking to the store. Why are we always on the guard? Why do we feel that there is always someone out there that wants to hurt us?
I feel that our society, our cultural, is calling us to be on guard. Ever since 9/11, we fear that someone is going to attack us again. Which is probably true since we attack back. What if we just talked instead of fight? What if we had an open mind, while still being on guard, but not expecting everyone is out to get us. Open mindedness is key in the world right now. We are all not criminals. We are confused and scared.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Henry Lyte wrote this hymn as he was dying of tuberculosis. He finished the song on the Sunday he was delivering his farewell sermon to his church. He was going to travel to Italy to receive treatment for his illness. He did not make it to Italy and died three weeks after he left his church. Here is an excerpt from his farewell sermon:
“O brethren, I stand here among you today, as alive from the dead, if I may hope to impress it upon you, and induce you to prepare for that solemn hour which must come to all, by a timely acquaintance with the death of Christ.”
The song is a song of hope. It’s a prayer for God to stay with us in our worst times, in the times when we lose our jobs, when we lose our faith, when we lay at death’s door. The song took on a new meaning for me when I was sick; to the point of death. I particularly love the last the verse of the song. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes of death to shine me through the gloom of death dark light and point me to the heavenly skies above. Death is not escapable and neither is the work of Christians. While we all die we still all have a life to live and to live that life fully to the Gospel of Christ.
“Behold the life giving cross on which hung the Salvation of the world. Oh Come let us Worship him.”
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Henry Lyte wrote this hymn as he was dying of tuberculosis. He finished the song on the Sunday he was delivering his farewell sermon to his church. He was going to travel to Italy to receive treatment for his illness. He did not make it to Italy and died three weeks after he left his church. Here is an excerpt from his farewell sermon:
“O brethren, I stand here among you today, as alive from the dead, if I may hope to impress it upon you, and induce you to prepare for that solemn hour which must come to all, by a timely acquaintance with the death of Christ.”
The song is a song of hope. It’s a prayer for God to stay with us in our worst times, in the times when we lose our jobs, when we lose our faith, when we lay at death’s door. The song took on a new meaning for me when I was sick; to the point of death. I particularly love the last the verse of the song. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes of death to shine me through the gloom of death dark light and point me to the heavenly skies above. Death is not escapable and neither is the work of Christians. While we all die we still all have a life to live and to live that life fully to the Gospel of Christ.
“Behold the life giving cross on which hung the Salvation of the world. Oh Come let us Worship him.”
Friday, August 15, 2008
Reading through google news I found an interesting article about a man who was released from a 30 year prison sentence after being found guilty of raping three teenage girls. Being a sociology major, I have had many discussions about the topic of sex crimes and whether or not a sexual offender will remain a danger to society. Frankly, I believe sex crimes to be like alcoholism. Prison will not fix the problem but rather strict psychological and socioliogical counsoling is needed inorder to help these offenders. I believe this with any crime though.
Prisons do not solve the problem of social deviance. If prisons did work, we would not have criminal offenders.
Getting back on subject, I think it is wrong, if not criminal, that these people would continue to persecute this man after he has served a 30 year sentence. Granted what he did was horrible but he did serve his time. I would be more worried about a murderer living next to me than a sexual offender but I do not have kids. I have mixed feelings about the sex offender registry. It is good in the fact that we know who is living in the neighborhood but it is also hiding our privacy; privacy being a right that many Americans cherish and enjoy. I am one that enjoys my privacy.
What this man did was wrong but his neighbors are probably even more wrong. God promises to forgive us as long as we ask and seek his forgiveness. 30 years in prison is a very long time and I could not imagine spending that long in prison. He has served his time. His neighbors however took it upon themselves to block his driveway when he came home. Police had to hold them back as they crowded the driveway preventing his car from pulling in. According to the AP, "George Feigley's release comes amid heightened concern that police lack authority to monitor his activities now that he is free.
Prisons do not solve the problem of social deviance. If prisons did work, we would not have criminal offenders.
Getting back on subject, I think it is wrong, if not criminal, that these people would continue to persecute this man after he has served a 30 year sentence. Granted what he did was horrible but he did serve his time. I would be more worried about a murderer living next to me than a sexual offender but I do not have kids. I have mixed feelings about the sex offender registry. It is good in the fact that we know who is living in the neighborhood but it is also hiding our privacy; privacy being a right that many Americans cherish and enjoy. I am one that enjoys my privacy.
What this man did was wrong but his neighbors are probably even more wrong. God promises to forgive us as long as we ask and seek his forgiveness. 30 years in prison is a very long time and I could not imagine spending that long in prison. He has served his time. His neighbors however took it upon themselves to block his driveway when he came home. Police had to hold them back as they crowded the driveway preventing his car from pulling in. According to the AP, "George Feigley's release comes amid heightened concern that police lack authority to monitor his activities now that he is free.
A woman who lives next door to Feigley's home, where his wife has continued to live, has been circulating a petition to keep Feigley from returning to his old neighborhood.
When Feigley arrived at his three-story Harrisburg home as a passenger in a car shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday, about 15 people blocked the driveway, shouted and held up signs that said, among other things, "Don't let him hurt again." Two police officers helped clear a path for the car to get in the driveway."
What intrigues me more is that "State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola has said he plans to introduce legislation that would allow authorities to keep potentially dangerous sex offenders in prison after they have finished serving their sentences." In other words, they would never be released from prison and would never learn how to properly act in society. I thought we were working on improving society. Fear is not a deterioration. Scaring people into going to prison does not work but rather working with individuals to help them avoid prison and social deviance. I like to hear everyone's thought on this. Please comment. I believe this should be a debate not among a small group of legislators or sociologist but among everyone.
One final thing before I close. Last week I had a discussion with my father about the incident that occurred two years ago with me. He said if I had died, he would probably have left the church. I cannot stop thinking about that. People die everyday and he has spent time with many people who were dying. Death is never fair but it is apart of our life. I cannot imagine my dad being anything else than a pastor. He is somebody I look up to and only dream that one day I would be as good as a pastor as he is. He is more than a pastor but rather a theologian. To think that if I would have died my dad would of given up on God hurts me more than anything else in the world. What this world needs is not a great and glorious king but rather a man who can hold us in our darkest hour and let us know that we are loved by God. I do wonder about death more now than ever. If I would have died two years ago, how would my family have acted? What would they had done? What would they have thought about God? God is fair but life is not. We all will die but for the time being we are all living. Live for the moment but know that one day life will end on earth and begin in heaven. Death is always painful and is never welcome but it is going to happen. I hope that I will continue to live a long, long life but if God calls me home early, I hope that nobody loses faith. God is God. He works in mysterious ways and he will continue to work in all of us; whether we believe or we do not believe.
Blessings!
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