3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave. [a]
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.
7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you give your best strength to others
and your years to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich another man's house. Prov. 5: 3-10
In this post, I will focus on lines 6 - 10 of Proverbs 5.
I don't normally comment on current events per se, but I am deeply disturbed at how our "economic crisis" is being morphed into emotional blackmail intended to push forward morally questionable spending that has nothing to do with the economy. I speak here of the inclusion of a quarter of a billion dollars for contraception, among other "social need" spending in the "stimulus" bill. The inclusion of what the Democrats have acknowledged "may be perceived by Republicans as pork". Republicans? I would argue that any of us in our right minds would view these items as "pork" which I will define here as spending that does not directly accomplish the stated goal of any given bill. Unless we have also redefined "economic".
Vice-President Biden was today saying about the "crisis" that "It is worse, quite frankly, than everyone thought it was, and it is getting worse every day". Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that we are losing 50,000 jobs every month (an eight of the total population of 400 million which includes non working children, the elderly, and those in other unpaid work) this number should be greeted with skepticism. Pres. Obama keeps claiming he will save and ever increasing number of jobs.
There is a very deep problem with our political discourse in which the prolific use of fear mongering is seen as necessary to get "buy-in" and commit our country to an unbelievable level of spending will garuantee that American citizens will be indentured for the near forseeable future. But this is only the most visible and obvious path we take to slavery. The more powerful and irreversible way is hidden in such a way that we do not even know we walk on the "crooked path".
We have moved so far down the road to slavery that selling human life itself (ESCR, organ donation, fetal remains, etc) is no longer considered taboo. It is in fact now accorded legal protection and patents. What started with acceptance of pornography and prostitution (who are we to impose our values?) has become an ever growing monster. We have become so insensitive to the murder of the unborn under the banner of "reproductive rights" that we are now desensitized to the pain of our children caused by other parental "freedoms" like divorce, adultery, and all consuming careers.
We now openly talk about "life worth living". And the need to "end compassionately" those lives which are seen as unproductive or difficult. After all, "who would want to live like that?" And in so saying, we devalue those who DO "live like that". Their lives, their value is less than ours.
We are so consumed with ourselves that we are ever less sensitive to the other. Oh we may decry the death of middle east children in war, but we care nothing for the suffering of untold women in the developing world sterilized or forced to have abortions against their will. Their pain funded by USAID and, ultimately, us. Perhaps the woman in China who killed her own son after suffering two forced abortions deserves more of our pity.
And we don't even know it. We give no thought to what we owe God. We give no thought to prudence. We give vague lip service to Charity, but are way too interested in moderation when it comes to action.
So we find ourselves defending the indefensible and spend our "best strength" on issues of secondary importance. We serve those who promise us safety. Who promise us admiration of others. Who tell us what we want to hear. How inconvenient then that God promises us just the opposite. We are to serve Him though it cost us our lives, our prestige, our comfort. What good will it do us if we save the whole world and lose our own soul? Not much.
Do we want to give our radically pro culture of death President our best strength. Do we really want to promise our wealth to those who would use it to kill the innocent and persecute the Church? Do we really want to empower any political party over God?
Monday, January 26, 2009
From Citizen to consumer....
3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave. [a]
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.
7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you give your best strength to others
and your years to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich another man's house. Prov. 5: 3-10
Are we being beguiled by the honey of sweet words? In the first post, I am focusing on lines 3 - 5 of Proverbs 5.
It appears that words like "bipartisanship" and "listening" and "understanding" and "respect" are being redefined. The forces for the coup de culture of death, as Wesley Smith puts it on his blog Secondhand Smoke, are beguiling the masses with flowery words. It all sounds so nice and pretty compared to the harsh words of partisanship. Pres. Obama acknowledges that the abortion issue is "divisive". But just what does that mean? Many take it to mean that he understands there are legitimate concerns about abortion. But is that what he is really saying? He also says he supports unrestricted abortion, repeal of the partial birth abortion ban, he is against the Born Alive Infant Act. He overturns the Mexico City Policy and lifts all restrictions on Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR). These are not positions that can claim to be understanding of the concerns of the pro-life side of the debate. Against the Born Alive Infant Act? Can this possibly be the position of someone who gives weight to ANY pro-life concern?
But this strategy is just that, a strategy. And one with, to me, terrifying implications. According to Ed Kilgore, Pres. Obama is successfully using "values based messaging" which seeks to build support for an idea by using vague language about shared values, while hiding the true details. Yes, the "larger audience may begin to shrink once bold policy goals and detailed programs are advanced. But it definitely helps, and just as importantly, roots progressive programs in values and goals the public understands," and that tactic of deliberately misleading the public is fine by Kilgore as long as the method "represents a sensible approach to the preeminently appropriate task of tearing down the old partisan paradigm and rebuilding a new one that can command an enduring majority in support of a progressive agenda." http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/obama_and_valuesbased_messagin.htm
And lest we forget, the progressive agenda being promoted is one of unlimited abortion, embryo destroying research, gay marriage, anti-conscience rights for medical professional, pro "assisted suicide" (euthanasia), and in practice very anti-christian in particular and anti-religion in general as seen by the elimination of all public recognition of religion and the persecution of the Boy Scouts of America for holding to their founding beliefs.
Forget thirty pieces of silver, our leaders are being bought with dinner, nice words, and the approval of the "right" sort of people. At least Judas got cold hard cash for his betrayal, remember that Judas protested the "waste" of oil on Jesus when it "could be sold and given to the poor". And like Judas, both are heading down the same road which can only end in death. When we give ourselves over to temptation, we often try to make the wide road look like the right one. We are not envious, no, we are "concerned for the poor". We are not forsaking the fight for life from conception to natural death, we are just "finding common ground". We are not dissenting from the teachings of the Church, we are just "moving past judgmentalism" and moving "more toward loving all our neighbors". We are not greedy, we just think that "the unregulated market best serves the interests of the poor".
Our founding fathers knew that only an educated and engaged populace could withstand demagoguery. Does anyone still think our populace is educated? Do we weigh the words in light of the action? I don't think so. Our desire to give ourselves a free pass on the sacrifice that acting on our words would entail leads us to give our leaders and pundits (at least those on "our" side) a free pass as well. So we find ourselves in the strange position of defending actions we don't like by pointing to the fact that the person's words are the opposite so therefore their actual behavior somehow becomes ok because it is not the same as their words. We used to call this being "two-faced" but the standard of character as Rev. King saw it seems to have fallen out of favor and so have the terms used to distinguish the corresponding lack of character.
Character counts. We can't persevere on the road to heaven without it. But the virtues that hopefully form our character must be exercised and built up. The reverse is when our character reflects poorly on us because we fail to correct our vices through practice of their corresponding virtues. I bring this up because it seems to me that many of us fail to use the brains God gave us...literally. God gave us the use of reason to keep us from being mislead by empty promise or blown around with the winds of the current zeitgeist. But do we use our reason? Do we "test the spirits" as instructed in I John 4?
and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave. [a]
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.
7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you give your best strength to others
and your years to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich another man's house. Prov. 5: 3-10
Are we being beguiled by the honey of sweet words? In the first post, I am focusing on lines 3 - 5 of Proverbs 5.
It appears that words like "bipartisanship" and "listening" and "understanding" and "respect" are being redefined. The forces for the coup de culture of death, as Wesley Smith puts it on his blog Secondhand Smoke, are beguiling the masses with flowery words. It all sounds so nice and pretty compared to the harsh words of partisanship. Pres. Obama acknowledges that the abortion issue is "divisive". But just what does that mean? Many take it to mean that he understands there are legitimate concerns about abortion. But is that what he is really saying? He also says he supports unrestricted abortion, repeal of the partial birth abortion ban, he is against the Born Alive Infant Act. He overturns the Mexico City Policy and lifts all restrictions on Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR). These are not positions that can claim to be understanding of the concerns of the pro-life side of the debate. Against the Born Alive Infant Act? Can this possibly be the position of someone who gives weight to ANY pro-life concern?
But this strategy is just that, a strategy. And one with, to me, terrifying implications. According to Ed Kilgore, Pres. Obama is successfully using "values based messaging" which seeks to build support for an idea by using vague language about shared values, while hiding the true details. Yes, the "larger audience may begin to shrink once bold policy goals and detailed programs are advanced. But it definitely helps, and just as importantly, roots progressive programs in values and goals the public understands," and that tactic of deliberately misleading the public is fine by Kilgore as long as the method "represents a sensible approach to the preeminently appropriate task of tearing down the old partisan paradigm and rebuilding a new one that can command an enduring majority in support of a progressive agenda." http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/obama_and_valuesbased_messagin.htm
And lest we forget, the progressive agenda being promoted is one of unlimited abortion, embryo destroying research, gay marriage, anti-conscience rights for medical professional, pro "assisted suicide" (euthanasia), and in practice very anti-christian in particular and anti-religion in general as seen by the elimination of all public recognition of religion and the persecution of the Boy Scouts of America for holding to their founding beliefs.
Forget thirty pieces of silver, our leaders are being bought with dinner, nice words, and the approval of the "right" sort of people. At least Judas got cold hard cash for his betrayal, remember that Judas protested the "waste" of oil on Jesus when it "could be sold and given to the poor". And like Judas, both are heading down the same road which can only end in death. When we give ourselves over to temptation, we often try to make the wide road look like the right one. We are not envious, no, we are "concerned for the poor". We are not forsaking the fight for life from conception to natural death, we are just "finding common ground". We are not dissenting from the teachings of the Church, we are just "moving past judgmentalism" and moving "more toward loving all our neighbors". We are not greedy, we just think that "the unregulated market best serves the interests of the poor".
Our founding fathers knew that only an educated and engaged populace could withstand demagoguery. Does anyone still think our populace is educated? Do we weigh the words in light of the action? I don't think so. Our desire to give ourselves a free pass on the sacrifice that acting on our words would entail leads us to give our leaders and pundits (at least those on "our" side) a free pass as well. So we find ourselves in the strange position of defending actions we don't like by pointing to the fact that the person's words are the opposite so therefore their actual behavior somehow becomes ok because it is not the same as their words. We used to call this being "two-faced" but the standard of character as Rev. King saw it seems to have fallen out of favor and so have the terms used to distinguish the corresponding lack of character.
Character counts. We can't persevere on the road to heaven without it. But the virtues that hopefully form our character must be exercised and built up. The reverse is when our character reflects poorly on us because we fail to correct our vices through practice of their corresponding virtues. I bring this up because it seems to me that many of us fail to use the brains God gave us...literally. God gave us the use of reason to keep us from being mislead by empty promise or blown around with the winds of the current zeitgeist. But do we use our reason? Do we "test the spirits" as instructed in I John 4?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Are we "those" kinds of christians?
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. Luke 8:14 (New International Version)
I have noticed an odd trend in the catholic blogoshpere. There are many "liberal" or "conservative" or "post-vatican II" or "traditional" labels out there. But in reality it boils down to heterodox and orthodox catholics arguing about our mutually claimed faith.
Now the odd thing is that many of the heterodox catholics are always claiming to be orthodox right before pushing their heterodoxy. For example: "I am completely in agreement with the church's teaching on sexuality but I think that we should allow artificial birth control and/or abortion in certain circumstances". This is not the statement of one who is actually in agreement with the churches teaching on these issues.
Now, I never hear the opposite of someone saying: "I think that the church is wrong in its teaching on abortion and artificial birth control, but it is still a good idea to unilaterally outlaw both in all circumstances".
Why is it that so many on the heterodox side of doctrine and dogma want to claim to be on the orthodox side? The reason may lay partly in the fact that they do, in their hearts, believe that the church is correct. But for various reasons cannot openly admit that to themselves.
Often we shy away from the sacrifice and effort required by God to fully live the faith. Its not that we fear martyrdom, so much as we fear being labeled as one of "those kinds" of christians. You know, the ones who stand outside of abortion clinics. The ones who are just a little bit odd. We all know at least one of them. Every conversation with them comes back to religion and God's Truths as taught by the Church. It makes us uncomfortable to be around people like that so it stands to reason we would not want to become "those kinds" of people.
Still, that is exactly the "kind" of person that Jesus calls us to be. Where we set our minds, our hearts will follow. Where our treasure is there is our hearts. Well, what is our greatest treasure? Shouldn't our hearts, minds, souls be focused on God? And if God is our center, shouldn't the spirit that flows our from us be all about God?
It seems that, lived out in our ordinary existence, that both the orthodox and the heterodox have shied away from living "in the fullness" of their faith. The heterodox are just more honest about it.
If this were not true, there would be more of "those kinds" of Catholics out there.
I have noticed an odd trend in the catholic blogoshpere. There are many "liberal" or "conservative" or "post-vatican II" or "traditional" labels out there. But in reality it boils down to heterodox and orthodox catholics arguing about our mutually claimed faith.
Now the odd thing is that many of the heterodox catholics are always claiming to be orthodox right before pushing their heterodoxy. For example: "I am completely in agreement with the church's teaching on sexuality but I think that we should allow artificial birth control and/or abortion in certain circumstances". This is not the statement of one who is actually in agreement with the churches teaching on these issues.
Now, I never hear the opposite of someone saying: "I think that the church is wrong in its teaching on abortion and artificial birth control, but it is still a good idea to unilaterally outlaw both in all circumstances".
Why is it that so many on the heterodox side of doctrine and dogma want to claim to be on the orthodox side? The reason may lay partly in the fact that they do, in their hearts, believe that the church is correct. But for various reasons cannot openly admit that to themselves.
Often we shy away from the sacrifice and effort required by God to fully live the faith. Its not that we fear martyrdom, so much as we fear being labeled as one of "those kinds" of christians. You know, the ones who stand outside of abortion clinics. The ones who are just a little bit odd. We all know at least one of them. Every conversation with them comes back to religion and God's Truths as taught by the Church. It makes us uncomfortable to be around people like that so it stands to reason we would not want to become "those kinds" of people.
Still, that is exactly the "kind" of person that Jesus calls us to be. Where we set our minds, our hearts will follow. Where our treasure is there is our hearts. Well, what is our greatest treasure? Shouldn't our hearts, minds, souls be focused on God? And if God is our center, shouldn't the spirit that flows our from us be all about God?
It seems that, lived out in our ordinary existence, that both the orthodox and the heterodox have shied away from living "in the fullness" of their faith. The heterodox are just more honest about it.
If this were not true, there would be more of "those kinds" of Catholics out there.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Eyes and ears to see?
11 "But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices. Psalm 81:11-13 (New International Version)
How often have we scratched our heads because someone was denying a (to us anyway) obvious truth? Now, perhaps I am more into the demands of truth than some, but I have always believed that denial of the truth was a willful act. Someone who did not hold themselves to the standard of their rhetoric was in my mind nothing less than a liar. "Say what you mean and mean what you say" was my unofficial motto.
But a funny thing happened on my way to righteousness. I was forced to note in my own life those instances where I too failed to live up to my own rhetoric. It seems that much of my life (ok most of it) has been spent bending my behavior to my will with only moderate success. The rest seems to have been spent bending my will to God's as revealed in and through His Church. This last part is perhaps the hardest because it involves humility and that has just never been my strong suit. To be honest, humility is for me a total gift from God because it just doesn't seem to be a foundational part of my temperment.
In a certain way, this only reinforced my belief that failure of others to own up to their mistakes or act in accord with their stated values was willful. Because I am always aware of where I was failing and I am always aware of where I was elevating my will above God's. But lately, I have come to view this awareness as not any ability on my part but rather as a gift from God. It seems that most people do not have that self-knowledge and this is not a deficiency or disability on their part.
But what about the cases where the truth is made manifest? For example when someone makes a good argument for faith, or perhaps more mundanely, when your debt or weight indicate an obvious lack of temperance or prudence? Now, when I say I see my failures and strive to bring them in line with my will, I do not want to give the impression that either the decision to change or the process of change is easy. It is not. First, it requires meditation on the failure and a request that God illuminate the error. Our paths in gaining virtue are as individual as our particular vices.
So first we must understand the vice behind our failure. (mind the weight example is for me, for many being overweight is just a health issue and has nothing to do with the state of their spiritual lives) The narcissist cannot make it past this stage because it requires admitting our weakness and fault. This is perhaps where many in our current society get lost. They look at themselves but not with the idea of finding ways to grow in holiness, but rather they look to see what they desire.
So acknowledging failure is a stumbling block for many, including myself. But it is better to be looking for failure when the failure is small than to wait for God to hit you upside the head with His call to lead a holier life. God never stops calling us, but our ability to hear Him is lessened every time we hear his call to grow in holiness and say "not today".
It becomes harder for us to stay on the narrow path because sin decreases our ability to percieve reality as it is and ourselves as we are and thus decreases our ability to act prudently toward a wise end. Perhaps it is the Good that we become blinded to. Maybe we become so enamored with attaining a percieved " good" that we willingly persue that good in an evil manner, excusing our behavior by citing our good intentions. As the proverb has it, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. However we prefer to assert our own will over God's, the fact is that as we do so, the path we are on widens. And we all know where the people on the wide path are headed.
Because we are intellectual creatures, we must operate within reason, which informs and upholds our faith. But reason can be clouded. Hence in order to be free, we must control our passion through our correct use of reason (fortitude, temperance) Not until we understand this does the idea that freedom consists in the freedom to make the correct choice, rather than the commonly held belief that freedom consists in the freedom to make the choice we want to make simply because we want it and without any constraints put upon us by the necessity of having a "correctly informed world view".
I think that bending our will to God is perhaps the harder part of conversion. But if we don't, we risk hardening our hearts. Every time we say "I know better than the church" or "the Church is out of touch or doesn't understand", we put ourselves ahead of God. Docility is a lost virtue, but one that is desperately needed in our age of hyper individualism. Perhaps a mistake has been made in this or that doctrine, but I am willing to bet that 99.99% of the time, such claims are a cover to hide our failings. To paraphrase Jesus: it is much easier to see the error in someone else than the error in our own lives.
So the next time you feel that you are wiser than the Church or upset at some of her teachings, consider that it may be God calling you to greater understanding, but more likely, it is just an excuse.
Stay on the narrow path and if today you hear His voice, harden not your heart.
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices. Psalm 81:11-13 (New International Version)
How often have we scratched our heads because someone was denying a (to us anyway) obvious truth? Now, perhaps I am more into the demands of truth than some, but I have always believed that denial of the truth was a willful act. Someone who did not hold themselves to the standard of their rhetoric was in my mind nothing less than a liar. "Say what you mean and mean what you say" was my unofficial motto.
But a funny thing happened on my way to righteousness. I was forced to note in my own life those instances where I too failed to live up to my own rhetoric. It seems that much of my life (ok most of it) has been spent bending my behavior to my will with only moderate success. The rest seems to have been spent bending my will to God's as revealed in and through His Church. This last part is perhaps the hardest because it involves humility and that has just never been my strong suit. To be honest, humility is for me a total gift from God because it just doesn't seem to be a foundational part of my temperment.
In a certain way, this only reinforced my belief that failure of others to own up to their mistakes or act in accord with their stated values was willful. Because I am always aware of where I was failing and I am always aware of where I was elevating my will above God's. But lately, I have come to view this awareness as not any ability on my part but rather as a gift from God. It seems that most people do not have that self-knowledge and this is not a deficiency or disability on their part.
But what about the cases where the truth is made manifest? For example when someone makes a good argument for faith, or perhaps more mundanely, when your debt or weight indicate an obvious lack of temperance or prudence? Now, when I say I see my failures and strive to bring them in line with my will, I do not want to give the impression that either the decision to change or the process of change is easy. It is not. First, it requires meditation on the failure and a request that God illuminate the error. Our paths in gaining virtue are as individual as our particular vices.
So first we must understand the vice behind our failure. (mind the weight example is for me, for many being overweight is just a health issue and has nothing to do with the state of their spiritual lives) The narcissist cannot make it past this stage because it requires admitting our weakness and fault. This is perhaps where many in our current society get lost. They look at themselves but not with the idea of finding ways to grow in holiness, but rather they look to see what they desire.
So acknowledging failure is a stumbling block for many, including myself. But it is better to be looking for failure when the failure is small than to wait for God to hit you upside the head with His call to lead a holier life. God never stops calling us, but our ability to hear Him is lessened every time we hear his call to grow in holiness and say "not today".
It becomes harder for us to stay on the narrow path because sin decreases our ability to percieve reality as it is and ourselves as we are and thus decreases our ability to act prudently toward a wise end. Perhaps it is the Good that we become blinded to. Maybe we become so enamored with attaining a percieved " good" that we willingly persue that good in an evil manner, excusing our behavior by citing our good intentions. As the proverb has it, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. However we prefer to assert our own will over God's, the fact is that as we do so, the path we are on widens. And we all know where the people on the wide path are headed.
Because we are intellectual creatures, we must operate within reason, which informs and upholds our faith. But reason can be clouded. Hence in order to be free, we must control our passion through our correct use of reason (fortitude, temperance) Not until we understand this does the idea that freedom consists in the freedom to make the correct choice, rather than the commonly held belief that freedom consists in the freedom to make the choice we want to make simply because we want it and without any constraints put upon us by the necessity of having a "correctly informed world view".
I think that bending our will to God is perhaps the harder part of conversion. But if we don't, we risk hardening our hearts. Every time we say "I know better than the church" or "the Church is out of touch or doesn't understand", we put ourselves ahead of God. Docility is a lost virtue, but one that is desperately needed in our age of hyper individualism. Perhaps a mistake has been made in this or that doctrine, but I am willing to bet that 99.99% of the time, such claims are a cover to hide our failings. To paraphrase Jesus: it is much easier to see the error in someone else than the error in our own lives.
So the next time you feel that you are wiser than the Church or upset at some of her teachings, consider that it may be God calling you to greater understanding, but more likely, it is just an excuse.
Stay on the narrow path and if today you hear His voice, harden not your heart.
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