TV Show Quote

I heard a good line on a TV show that went something like this:
"Our scars tell us where we've been. They don't have to dictate where we're going."

One or the Other

"Evolution has been accepted as scientific fact for around a century, but 14 per cent of Canadians believe humans were created by God."

Does it have to be one or the other? Can't it be both? I find this statistic misleading. What percentage of Canadians believe that God used evolution?

When is it okay?

I had an interesting/silly conversation with a young woman at work today. During conversation, she expressed her belief that it was wrong for a woman to sleep with a man who was engaged to another woman. As this is becoming a less common view, I was surprised. I decided to double check, and asked her if she believed it was wrong to sleep with somebody who was married. She replied to the affirmative, unless they were separated (so much for my high hopes). So I decided to have some fun, and it all came down to toilet paper. I asked if it would be okay to sleep with a married man, separated from his wife, if they lived in different rooms of the same house. She said that it wasn't. What about if they live in different apartments in the same apartment building. It was. Okay, what about if it's two apartments in the same house. It was. Okay, what about if the two apartments in the house share a bathroom. It wasn't. What about if there were two bathrooms (the apartments were now totally separate again), except that there was only one toilet paper holder for both bathrooms (there was a hole in the wall so that the two bathrooms shared a roll on the holder in the wall. It wasn't. What about if the man was separated from his husband. It was yuck. So, I left it there.

Think of Others

Today's reading got me thinking. A lot of atheists, especially Christopher Hitchens, claim that Christianity sets impossibly high standards that we can't possibly reach, putting others before ourselves. Today's reading, Philippians 2:1-end, tells us in the passage that we are to think of others and not simply ourselves. That sure sounds attainable to me....

Lent

Lent is supposed to be a time of preparation for Easter, a time of deeper prayer and perhaps fasting along with self reflection. For some, Lent is wrong. It's "too Catholic" or it's a pagan festival or what ever. I say, what's in your heart? What's your intension? Are you doing it to honour God? I really like Lent. For me, it's a call to prayer, to Holyness. I try to pray more. And, for the past five years or more I've given up something. Last year I gave up not running; I ran more. The year before that it was coffee (I slipped up on the coffee one). Before that it was the computer. But, the prayer is important too.

For me, prayer is a weapon (to fight spiritually), a tool (to ask for healing for others and protection and our daily bread), a comfort (in times of distress), a means of communication (to talk to God), worship (a form of devotion to God), and so many other things. Enjoy your Lent. Pax!

Some Lent Stuff:
http://www.anglican.ca/podcasts/

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1550226346&sk=info http://www.lutheransconnect.com/?q=node/7

Letter

Not all of my thoughts end up in my blog here, at least not right away. Some of them are written in other places or spoken or what ever. I thought I'd post some of a letter I sent to a friend. I won't post his reply of course, but my thoughts to him are below:

"Sometimes you can't make a horse drink. Some Christians believe that they can be Christian without going to Church at all, although I've come to believe that this is a very selfish view. And, St. Paul said that we should not give up the practice of meeting together. I was surprised, as I started back to Church (I didn't go at all throughout college or for a few years after), to find so many Christians for whom Christianity is simply a lifestyle philosophy (Jesus was a good man and it could be a better world if we all follow His teachings). For some Christians, Church is just comfortable. It's what they know. Church may just be a friendly social club of “good” people. A Lenten study may help. I remember one that Fr. Ted did on the Holy Spirit that was good. I'm no theologian, but I was thinking about what I found helped me build my own faith (which I myself consider very weak, but growing). Bible study got me started, got me thinking (Who is God? What does He want?). I think about what St. Paul (I think) said about prayer being exercise for the soul. I try, although not always successfully, to set time aside each day to pray. I find the more I pray, the closer I seem to be to God. But, first, you have to want to believe. An interesting quote came out of our VIVA workshop. Dewitt Jones said in a video that he used to think, “I won't believe it until I see it”. He came to realize that, “I won't see it until I believe it.” Without a road to Damascus experience, you have to want to believe I think. My high octane evangelical friends tell me that a faith without the presence of the Holy Spirit will die; this is true. They believe that every Christian needs to have their own drunk in the Spirit Pentecost. But I think, blessed are those who believe not having seen. The more I look for God in events, in the world, the more I see Him, if I choose to see. I also find prophetic scripture helps grow my faith. Reading the Bible, the 22nd Psalm, Isaiah.... It is amazing how the scripture reinforces the fact that God sent His Son, and it was written generations before Jesus came. It's amazing. When I read them, and even when I re read them, I think, “Wow!” So, to people who actually take the time to read the Jesus prophecies, it's either amazing or it's a load of bull feathers. I choose to believe the former. Short of having a vision, I don't know how else to build up faith. I've always believed in God from as far back as I can remember, but my faith is weak; it's a paradox. I think that's why I take comfort in St. Thomas saying that he wouldn't believe until he put his hand in Jesus' side, or in St. Peter sinking in the water when he tried to walk on it (and Jesus didn't let him sink). I can really ramble on, can't I? :)

Fr. Warren planted a new Church. They started meeting in a plaza store front. He grew a tiny group of Christians who had a strong faith. They eventually bought a piece of land and rented a portable for worship while the Church was constructed (I actually helped put down the sod one Saturday). They eventually moved into their big building. However, when I went back to Barrie the last time, there seems to be nobody left from that first store front Church (nobody knew me anyway). It's too bad. You sound as though you would prefer the first century home Church. Maybe one Sunday (Sunday afternoon etc...) a month, or every other month (or every three or what ever) a congregation could meet together for worship at a volunteer's home (rotate through the volunteers) to bring back a sense of that first century home Church feeling. However, for me, there's some thing special and Holy about those big old buildings too.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not agnostic. I believe in God. I’ve met people with a strong faith. I know that my faith can be stronger. I’m not ready to drink the poison or be bitten by a snake. Peter Hitchens says in his book that a man who truly fears God, fears nothing else. I say my faith is weak because I’ve met people with a strong faith, and my faith could be stronger. I try to keep my faith fierce. And, I confront militant atheism when I encounter it in the world. I’ve never found religion to be an obstacle myself; I find that it has only been a tool to grow my faith."

Even More on Marriage

"I'm going to have the carpenter come over to hang new cupboards in the kitchen tomorrow," somebody might say. Now, when I say cupboards, I think of boxes with doors and shelves hanging on the wall in the kitchen. But, at one time, it was literally cup boards on the wall, shelves on which to put cups. Even though it is slight, the meaning has changed. English is a living language, and so words and meanings change. The Holy Ghost is now the Holy Spirit. To most people, the word catholic means the Church of Rome. Hermit means anybody who lives alone, not a monk. State means political district (New York State), not a sovereign nation. Doctor means a medical doctor, not somebody with a PhD. Breakfast means the morning meal, not breaking the night time fast (religious practice). In the 1700s a Republican was a liberal, now a Republican is a conservative. God meant Jehovah, now God means higher power/supreme being etc.... Hall means hallway. Tomahawk meant war axe, now it's a guided missile. Icon was a religious visual representation, now it's a computer graphic. Are means our in general conversation (forgive us are sins as we forgive those who sin against us).

The word marriage has come to mean anybody who cohabits in a sexual relationship. This is not what marriage means. Marriage is defined in the Bible. Abraham and Sarah were married. My definition of marriage is not the same as society's definition. Marriage is a religious rite that joins a man and a woman.

An older Lutheran man once said something to me that really stuck with me. He said that many marriages fail because they don't have God in them. He said most people think it's just two people. But, according to him, there are three persons in a marriage, husband, wife, and God. If you have God in your marriage, it will be strengthened. What God has joined together let no man....

I don't care if you want to have bigamy, polygamy, bestiality, same sex union, extraterrestrial probing, it's not marriage. Your marriage is not my marriage. You say marriage and mean sexual union and cohabitation. My marriage is so much more. My marriage is a religious rite. It is a union of a man and a woman. It is based in faith, religion, tradition, and respect, made by God. The legal definition of marriage being changed to suit others is destructive and hateful. Changing the Highway Traffic Act to make trucks include cars does not make your car a truck. No matter how much you want it, you have a car. Everybody should be equal under the law in this country. I don't care if two men want to live together in a sexual relationship. And, they should have all the same legal rights as I have. I also have my freedom of religion, in which marriage is as listed above. The government can't change that. Ralph Klein was so so right; the government needs to get out of the marriage business. They're perverting (changing and destroying) a religious rite. There should be a separation of Church and State anyway, right?

The Church changing the rite to suit society's views is sad, and a whole other issue.