Author Archives: Dave

I’m consistently bemused by how intelligence leads to a sincere lack of common sense.

I have some friends who are in grad school with me, or working on other advanced degress, and I have to laugh at them sometimes (in a friendly way). Because, God bless them, they’re so intelligent that they have no common sense. No idea of how to interact in public, or dress with some sense of fashion. I guess you could say they’re nerds. An innocent status of nerd-dom is one thing. But refusing to recognize something that’s just logical and practical for the sake of the fact that someone behind a desk had too much time on their hands and was thinking too much is another.

Symbols of the Christian faith have become under attack lately. The California suit against having “under God” in our pledge of allegiance, for example. I suppose it stands to reason that the next thing to be assaulted would be “Merry Christmas,” because that’s too faith-specific a way to wish good tidings during a holiday that, as many are, was named after its Founder.

The ACLU, bastions of intelligence that they are, has once again spent far too much time and energy pushing a “politically correct” alternative to the way things have traditionally been done. Now, I’m really not into tradition, don’t get me wrong. But forsaking it just for the sake of forsaking it, when it makes no sense? That’s stupid. But, I shouldn’t be surprised, because that’s what “political correctness” (aka, “carefully disguised bigotry”) specializes in.

Reducing “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays” is an affront to many faiths. If you celebrate Hannukah, has it ever occurred to you that “Happy Holidays” is a way of neutralizing your faith as well? This isn’t tolerance, it’s intolerance. Intolerance of not only Christianity, but of other faiths, as well.

To look at Christmas logically, the holiday was created as a memorial of the birthday of Jesus Christ. Whether you believe in Jesus’ divinity or not, you kind of have to recognize that He has been the most influential and controversial Person in history. His birth is the reason the holiday is commemorated. He is truly, to entertain the cliche, “the Reason for the season.” His birth, life, and death were turning points in human history. Santa Clause…well…somewhat less significant, wouldn’t you agree?

So I guess my question is, if we’re able to call Martin Luther King, Jr. day by its official name, why can’t we call Christmas by its offical name? Because it’s the same prinicple. Christmas was named after the Christ. Even if you’re not a Christian, that just makes sense. Its not an insult to anyone to wish them a “Merry Christmas,” regardless of their faith. It’s not an insult to me if I wish someone “Happy Hannukah.” Why would we presume the reverse?

I guess because the ACLU are experts at assuming the burden of an insult that doesn’t exist. Get over it, guys. We’re all adults, here. It will all be okay, I promise.

By the way, there’s this really cool grassroots movement called Operation: Just Say “Merry Christmas.” It’s kind of nice to see someone taking a stand on this whole issue. Check out their website and support them if you’re so inclined:

http://www.operationjustsaymerrychristmas.com

Whomever may be reading this, permit me to be among the first to wish you a Merry Christmas.

A Washington Post article on Monday alluded to the fact that Louisiana Governor Blanco was essentially in a position where she was struggling to keep her image in the face of federal government bullying just prior to Hurrican Katrina’s catastrophic landfall in New Orleans. I was having a conversation with a friend over lunch today about this very article, and the appearance that appropriate federal aid was delayed entering New Orleans in order for the Governor to protect her political image. Now, granted, that’s a pretty heavy assertion. But you have to admit, this is certainly what it looks like.

Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Katrina’s aftermath (there’s a phrase we’re sick of hearing) still held major time on CNN this morning. Many hurricane survivors were being given the mic in public forums, and they were, as they have over the past few weeks, accusing the powers-that-be of racism in delaying their response to help the disaster area.

Here we go again.

I will confess that I don’t know the exact demographics of New Orleans. I am certain, however, that there were Caucasians involved in the disaster. I would be willing to bet money that there were white people in the shelters as well as people of color. I have difficulty seeing officials in FEMA and the Bush administration setting around their desks saying, “hey, let’s stick it to black people.” I just seriously doubt that it went down that way.

So I guess what really jerks my chain here is this: why are we insistent upon being so juvenile as to create an issue here that doesn’t exist?

The survivors of Katrina went through hell, and I’m not saying that they didn’t. But there people of all different races and colors and backgrounds going through that hell, regardless of the primary demographic population of the Lower 9th. Whether or not the image battle that the Washington Post alluded to is true (I’d hope it’s not, but let’s face it, they are politicians), the fact is that the feds did screw this one up. But my point is that it was an equal opportunity screw-up, not a racially motivated one. To try to play the racist card in this situation is just wrong.

Should we be placing blame here? Absolutely, because lives were lost, many needlessly. We need to avoid that in the future. But let’s place the blame accurately. The feds let New Orleans down. The whole city. Not just one ethnic population. It was a poorly-managed trainwreck.

Let’s not make it out to be anything other than that.

The fact that Christians spend way too much time judging each other is one of my biggest soapboxes. It’s no wonder the lost don’t want what we have when they see us looking down on them in some condescending way because we somehow have gotten the impression that we’re better than they are.

So, I’ve always considered myself to be a very open-minded person. But last night, God took me to school.

I have this acquaintance at my second job. He’s a good guy. I knew he went to church, but I didn’t know about his relationship with Christ. About how real his Christianity is. I struggled to see substance.

Well, I ended up hanging out with he and his wife last night (at IHOP until the wee hours of the morning…go figure), and eventually, the conversation drifted toward church and spriritual matters. And I was absolutley blown away by how real this guy is, how completely genuine in his relationship with Christ.

So I started thinking about why it was that I struggled so much to see the substance. Because I quickly discovered last night that it was there. So why hadn’t I seen it?

It occurred to me that it’s because my mind has been poisoned, and I had, in some small way, fallen victim to the very closed-mindedness that I hate so much. I’m currently working on my master’s degree at a Christian university. As with any Christian university, there’s a lot of rules about appearance and so forth. But it occurred to me that I had allowed myself to get sucked into that narrow-minded idea of how you know a Christian. Because people in an educational setting talk about their faith all the time. I’m surrounded by people who talk about their faith. And they talk about it well. We know all the right words and phrases to use when talking about our Christianity, all the buzz words.

And I had never heard this guy say any of that. So I assumed his relationship with God wasn’t so deep.

Well, shame on me, because the more I’ve reflected on our conversation last night, and on the way I see this guy live his life, the more impressed I am with the fact that he lives his faith instead of talking about it. He’s real. Nothing fake about him. He makes mistakes. He does some things that would make “proper” Christians gasp and cover their mouths. But he never claimed to be perfect. He claimed to be who he is. And he lives God’s love.

Now, eventually the silent witness loses its effectiveness, and we must all be vocal about Jesus. Not everyone has the gift of evangelism, however. And the bottom line is that I know all kinds of people who can talk about their faith all day, and then not live it worth anything. I’m sick of that, to tell you the truth. I think a lot of people are, especially the lost.

So, that’s why I’m so impressed to see someone do it in the opposite order.

So, I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that, it doesn’t matter how you look, or what kind of clothes you wear, or the way you wear your hair, or the music you listen to, or how much Christian jargon you color your speech with. Your piety isn’t what God’s intrested in. He’s intrestested in how real you are. Who you are when you’re alone in your bedroom at night, who you are when no one but Him is looking around. The person you really are. Because if that’s solid, if your heart is right, then Christ will show in your life. To judge by appearance is legalism, and God hates that. To pay attention to someone’s heart coming out in their life…that’s true evidence of their relationship with our Savior.

I had a great time hanging out with someone that I’m sure will become a close friend last night. And when I got home, I spent several minutes apologizing to God. Because I had stereotyped. I had judged. I had done one of the things that I hate supremely.

Thank God He chose such a pleasant way in which to wake me up.

This morning in my devo time, I was reading I KIngs 17:7-24. I know you guys remember the story. Elijah is told by God to go this lady’s house during the famine, and she has just enough food to bake a cake for herself and her son, so they can eat it and die, because they had given up hope. Elijah, totaly just rolling on what God told him to do, tells this lady, on his authority as a prophet, to bake food for him. And, as you remember, God multiplies the food and they all eat and eat and eat with no end to the food.

And we all think, awesome, she obeyed, and gave, and was blessed.

But look at the rest of the story. The lady’s son get ill. Very ill. So ill he’s almost dead. And Elijah, no understanding, prays over the kid and cries out to God, “My Lord God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?” (I KIngs 17:20). And he begs God to restore life to her son, and He does.

And they all live happily ever after.

So the church I’ve been going to listed this passage in a devotional for the week, and as I read it this week, what jumps out at me is, what if the lady hadn’t given sacrificially. Elijah wouldn’t have eaten, right? No. Her son would have died. God told her, give all you have for a reason you can’t see the logic in, because I told you to. Trust me.

And she does. And because she does, when her son becomes ill, Elijah is there, and his intercession persuades God to spare her son.

Would that have happened if he hadn’t been there?

I guess there’s no way for us to really know, but I would say that it might well not have.

Being pretty open will in my theology, I have no problem saying that God changes His mind. But I think that He had this planned out. He wanted Elijah there to interecede for the lady’s son. It wasn’t Elijah that saved her son, it was God.

She gave, and she received more abundantly than she could have imagined. Just like He promised through Malachai. Actually, in Micah, He told us to “test” Him on this (Malachai 3:10). At the risk of sounding cliche, you can’t outgive God. But it’s almost like He’s telling us to try.

I certainly need to work on this. But I’m trying.

Hit me back and let me know what you think.

As my joggled brain finds its way to my blog, in the realization that I haven’t posted anything on here in a really long time, it occurs to me I have nothing profound to write this evening (not that I claim to ever have anything profound to write…maybe it’s because it’s too early…something will strike me about 1 tomorrow morning, since I’ll still be up…see below)

I do however, feel the unexplainable need to emphatically state the following:

Term papers suck!!!!

(now that that’s out of my system)

I hope all of you have had a terrific Monday. The weather has been horrible here, and I swear I haven’t seen sunlight in 3 days, which contributes to my less than favorable outlook on my current assignment (that and the fact that I happen to be juggling a major deadline for an article tomorrow)

Oh well, I should say that I’m thankful to be in school and have the work…and as soon as I see some sunshine, I’ll probably be thinking just that.

Hopefully, I’ll write again soon…assuming I survive this project without permanent brain damage. Until then, God Bless!