"I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one."
-1 John 2:14
I try to read the Bible as if each passage were written for me because, well, thanks to the Holy Spirit it is. Nevertheless, it's nice when a passage seems very clearly written for me compared to a list of Jesus's ancestry, for example. Of course, only some of us are fathers and young men, but we are all children. So we all know the Father and cannot blame any of our sins on ignorance for his laws are written on our hearts. Some try to argue the letter of the law to find loopholes to serve their own purpose, like Wisconsin's middle-of-the-night law abolishing collective bargaining until it was struck down by the courts. With God's law written on our hearts, there are no loopholes because God is judge and jury. No matter what you want a passage to mean, deep down you know what it means, and that is how you will be judged.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Fridays at the Pentagon
Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of its street. On either side of the river grew the tree of life that produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month; the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations.
-Revelation 22:1-2
Given how much the above quote relates to an email I just received, I decided to give the rest of this space to it:
Mornings at the Pentagon
By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
McClatchy Newspapers
Over the last 12 months, 1,042 soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air Force personnel have given their lives in the terrible duty that is war.
Thousands more have come home on stretchers, horribly wounded and facing months or years in military hospitals.
This week, I'm turning my space over to a good friend and former roommate, Army Lt. Col.. Robert Bateman, who recently completed a yearlong tour of duty and is now back at the Pentagon.
"It is 110 yards from the "E" ring to the "A" ring of the Pentagon. This section of the Pentagon is newly renovated; the floors shine, the hallway is broad, and the lighting is bright. At this instant the entire length of the corridor is packed with officers, a few sergeants and some civilians, all crammed tightly three and four deep against the walls. There are thousands here.
"This hallway, more than any other, is the `Army' hallway. The G3 offices line one side, G2 the other, G8 is around the corner. All Army. Moderate conversations flow in a low buzz. Friends who may not have seen each other for a few weeks, or a few years, spot each other, cross the way and renew.
"Everyone shifts to ensure an open path remains down the center. The air conditioning system was not designed for this press of bodies in this area.
"The temperature is rising already. Nobody cares. "10:36 hours: The clapping starts at the E-Ring. That is the outermost of the five rings of the Pentagon and it is closest to the entrance to the building. This clapping is low, sustained, hearty. It is applause with a deep emotion behind it as it moves forward in a wave down the length of the hallway.
"A steady rolling wave of sound it is, moving at the pace of the soldier in the wheelchair who marks the forward edge with his presence. He is the first. He is missing the greater part of one leg, and some of his wounds are still suppurating. By his age I expect that he is a private, or perhaps a private first class.
"Captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels meet his gaze and nod as they applaud, soldier to soldier. Three years ago when I described one of these events, those lining the hallways were somewhat different. The applause a little wilder, perhaps in private guilt for not having shared in the burden ... Yet.
"Now almost everyone lining the hallway is, like the man in the wheelchair, also a combat veteran. This steadies the applause, but I think deepens the sentiment. We have all been there now. The soldier's chair is pushed by, I believe, a full colonel.
"Behind him, and stretching the length from Rings E to A, come more of his peers, each private, corporal, or sergeant assisted as need be by a field grade officer.
"11:00 hours: Twenty-four minutes of steady applause. My hands hurt, and I laugh to myself at how stupid that sounds in my own head. My hands hurt. Please! Shut up and clap. For twenty-four minutes, soldier after soldier has come down this hallway - 20, 25, 30.. Fifty-three legs come with them, and perhaps only 52 hands or arms, but down this hall came 30 solid hearts.
"They pass down this corridor of officers and applause, and then meet for a private lunch, at which they are the guests of honor, hosted by the generals. Some are wheeled along. Some insist upon getting out of their chairs, to march as best they can with their chin held up, down this hallway, through this most unique audience. Some are catching handshakes and smiling like a politician at a Fourth of July parade. More than a couple of them seem amazed and are smiling shyly.
"There are families with them as well: the 18-year-old war-bride pushing her 19-year-old husband's wheelchair and not quite understanding why her husband is so affected by this, the boy she grew up with, now a man, who had never shed a tear is crying; the older immigrant Latino parents who have, perhaps more than their wounded mid-20s son, an appreciation for the emotion given on their son's behalf. No man in that hallway, walking or clapping, is ashamed by the silent tears on more than a few cheeks. An Airborne Ranger wipes his eyes only to better see. A couple of the officers in this crowd have themselves been a part of this parade in the past.
"These are our men, broken in body they may be, but they are our brothers, and we welcome them home. This parade has gone on, every single Friday, all year long, for more than four years."
-Revelation 22:1-2
Given how much the above quote relates to an email I just received, I decided to give the rest of this space to it:
Mornings at the Pentagon
By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
McClatchy Newspapers
Over the last 12 months, 1,042 soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air Force personnel have given their lives in the terrible duty that is war.
Thousands more have come home on stretchers, horribly wounded and facing months or years in military hospitals.
This week, I'm turning my space over to a good friend and former roommate, Army Lt. Col.. Robert Bateman, who recently completed a yearlong tour of duty and is now back at the Pentagon.
"It is 110 yards from the "E" ring to the "A" ring of the Pentagon. This section of the Pentagon is newly renovated; the floors shine, the hallway is broad, and the lighting is bright. At this instant the entire length of the corridor is packed with officers, a few sergeants and some civilians, all crammed tightly three and four deep against the walls. There are thousands here.
"This hallway, more than any other, is the `Army' hallway. The G3 offices line one side, G2 the other, G8 is around the corner. All Army. Moderate conversations flow in a low buzz. Friends who may not have seen each other for a few weeks, or a few years, spot each other, cross the way and renew.
"Everyone shifts to ensure an open path remains down the center. The air conditioning system was not designed for this press of bodies in this area.
"The temperature is rising already. Nobody cares. "10:36 hours: The clapping starts at the E-Ring. That is the outermost of the five rings of the Pentagon and it is closest to the entrance to the building. This clapping is low, sustained, hearty. It is applause with a deep emotion behind it as it moves forward in a wave down the length of the hallway.
"A steady rolling wave of sound it is, moving at the pace of the soldier in the wheelchair who marks the forward edge with his presence. He is the first. He is missing the greater part of one leg, and some of his wounds are still suppurating. By his age I expect that he is a private, or perhaps a private first class.
"Captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels meet his gaze and nod as they applaud, soldier to soldier. Three years ago when I described one of these events, those lining the hallways were somewhat different. The applause a little wilder, perhaps in private guilt for not having shared in the burden ... Yet.
"Now almost everyone lining the hallway is, like the man in the wheelchair, also a combat veteran. This steadies the applause, but I think deepens the sentiment. We have all been there now. The soldier's chair is pushed by, I believe, a full colonel.
"Behind him, and stretching the length from Rings E to A, come more of his peers, each private, corporal, or sergeant assisted as need be by a field grade officer.
"11:00 hours: Twenty-four minutes of steady applause. My hands hurt, and I laugh to myself at how stupid that sounds in my own head. My hands hurt. Please! Shut up and clap. For twenty-four minutes, soldier after soldier has come down this hallway - 20, 25, 30.. Fifty-three legs come with them, and perhaps only 52 hands or arms, but down this hall came 30 solid hearts.
"They pass down this corridor of officers and applause, and then meet for a private lunch, at which they are the guests of honor, hosted by the generals. Some are wheeled along. Some insist upon getting out of their chairs, to march as best they can with their chin held up, down this hallway, through this most unique audience. Some are catching handshakes and smiling like a politician at a Fourth of July parade. More than a couple of them seem amazed and are smiling shyly.
"There are families with them as well: the 18-year-old war-bride pushing her 19-year-old husband's wheelchair and not quite understanding why her husband is so affected by this, the boy she grew up with, now a man, who had never shed a tear is crying; the older immigrant Latino parents who have, perhaps more than their wounded mid-20s son, an appreciation for the emotion given on their son's behalf. No man in that hallway, walking or clapping, is ashamed by the silent tears on more than a few cheeks. An Airborne Ranger wipes his eyes only to better see. A couple of the officers in this crowd have themselves been a part of this parade in the past.
"These are our men, broken in body they may be, but they are our brothers, and we welcome them home. This parade has gone on, every single Friday, all year long, for more than four years."
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Cowards
"But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
-Revelation 21:8
I wouldn't typically consider cowards as sinful as murderers. How often do we not do the right thing because we are afraid of ridicule? It serves as a reminder that there is always something that needs to be improved in us with the help of Christ and if we stop looking to Christ for help (for something we may consider minor like cowardice), that may be what prevents us from entering heaven.
-Revelation 21:8
I wouldn't typically consider cowards as sinful as murderers. How often do we not do the right thing because we are afraid of ridicule? It serves as a reminder that there is always something that needs to be improved in us with the help of Christ and if we stop looking to Christ for help (for something we may consider minor like cowardice), that may be what prevents us from entering heaven.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Rapture
"Then there were lightning flashes, rumblings, and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake. It was such a violent earthquake that there has never been one like it since the human race began on earth."
Revelation 16:18
I find it interesting that the Church has me in the middle of Revelations leading up to one's prediction of the end of the world. Before I looked into it, I thought that no one knows the time and place and anyone who claims to is a false prophet, but the guy predicting it now had already predicted it before in 1994. He says he made a mathematical error last time, but this time he's sure he got it right. To save you the time, skipping over the fuzzy math and supposed biblical references, the Rapture is supposed to happen with an Earthquake on the Pacific Rim at 6 PM local time and move across each time zone acordingly. All the good people will be assumed into heaven (about 200 million or 3% of the population) and the rest will be left behind with worse things to worry about later.
The point is, if there is one, if we live every day as if it is our last, eventually we are going to be right. If I knew someone who believed this, I thought it would be a good practical joke to rent a car and disappear for a few days vacation, but alas, no one close to me believes in this, so there's no one to play the practical joke on.
Revelation 16:18
I find it interesting that the Church has me in the middle of Revelations leading up to one's prediction of the end of the world. Before I looked into it, I thought that no one knows the time and place and anyone who claims to is a false prophet, but the guy predicting it now had already predicted it before in 1994. He says he made a mathematical error last time, but this time he's sure he got it right. To save you the time, skipping over the fuzzy math and supposed biblical references, the Rapture is supposed to happen with an Earthquake on the Pacific Rim at 6 PM local time and move across each time zone acordingly. All the good people will be assumed into heaven (about 200 million or 3% of the population) and the rest will be left behind with worse things to worry about later.
The point is, if there is one, if we live every day as if it is our last, eventually we are going to be right. If I knew someone who believed this, I thought it would be a good practical joke to rent a car and disappear for a few days vacation, but alas, no one close to me believes in this, so there's no one to play the practical joke on.
Monday, May 16, 2011
666
"Wisdom is needed here; one who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six."
-Revelations 13:18
Part A caught my attention because wisdom and understanding is always helpful and can never be said too often. However, I also thought it was neat to show where the relationship between the devil and the number 666 originated.
-Revelations 13:18
Part A caught my attention because wisdom and understanding is always helpful and can never be said too often. However, I also thought it was neat to show where the relationship between the devil and the number 666 originated.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Guardian Angels
"Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven."
-Revelations 12:7-8
I pray the St. Michael Chaplet ( http://www.ewtn.com/library/prayer/mikechap.txt ) daily to protect my family against what I can't protect them against. I think the evidence would indicate that it works. It does involve saying some Hail Mary's, which most Protestants don't pray, so perhaps it could be adapted accordingly. The most important thing, as always, is to pray with faith and have less concern for the specific words used.
-Revelations 12:7-8
I pray the St. Michael Chaplet ( http://www.ewtn.com/library/prayer/mikechap.txt ) daily to protect my family against what I can't protect them against. I think the evidence would indicate that it works. It does involve saying some Hail Mary's, which most Protestants don't pray, so perhaps it could be adapted accordingly. The most important thing, as always, is to pray with faith and have less concern for the specific words used.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Don't celebrate yet
"The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and be glad and exchange gifts because these two prophets tormented the inhabitants of the earth. But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them. When they stood on their feet, great fear fell on those who saw them."
-Revelations 11:10-11
Too often we celebrate the battle as if we won the war. It has been a roller coaster recently for Pennsylvania teachers. We have always contributed to our defined benefit pension, but almost had it taken away this summer while Governor Rendell was still in office, who was relatively supportive of education. Now we have Governor Corbett, who does not support education as much as he thinks he supports taxpayers, as if education does not benefit taxpayers. Most expected small cuts across the board, but what he proposed was huge cuts to K-12 and higher education and pay raises for his personal staff, while still emphasizing that all must give and all must sacrifice in these hard times.
So school districts are trying to make plans based on how low their budgets might be come July 1. The legislature is trying to restore some money because schools are laying off 15% of their teachers, cutting foreign language, music, and other programs. My district was preparing to furlough 41 teachers on top of the 10 already retiring out of 289 teachers total. Fortunately, enough teachers at the top of the pay scale decided to retire early and take a long-term penalty to save jobs for their friends. Most will get other jobs because the defined benefit does not increase with inflation like social security. Some teachers that retired a long time ago are trying to live off of $8,000/year. It's what they signed up for, so few complained, but it's frustrating when Governor Corbett says that teachers' pensions are extravagant.
The point is: a thousand years are like a watch in the night to God, so whatever the success or failure is today, keep it in perspective. We kept our pensions this summer, but they could just as easily be taken away in the future. We may have to take some losses next year, but we can win those gains back for the students in other years.
-Revelations 11:10-11
Too often we celebrate the battle as if we won the war. It has been a roller coaster recently for Pennsylvania teachers. We have always contributed to our defined benefit pension, but almost had it taken away this summer while Governor Rendell was still in office, who was relatively supportive of education. Now we have Governor Corbett, who does not support education as much as he thinks he supports taxpayers, as if education does not benefit taxpayers. Most expected small cuts across the board, but what he proposed was huge cuts to K-12 and higher education and pay raises for his personal staff, while still emphasizing that all must give and all must sacrifice in these hard times.
So school districts are trying to make plans based on how low their budgets might be come July 1. The legislature is trying to restore some money because schools are laying off 15% of their teachers, cutting foreign language, music, and other programs. My district was preparing to furlough 41 teachers on top of the 10 already retiring out of 289 teachers total. Fortunately, enough teachers at the top of the pay scale decided to retire early and take a long-term penalty to save jobs for their friends. Most will get other jobs because the defined benefit does not increase with inflation like social security. Some teachers that retired a long time ago are trying to live off of $8,000/year. It's what they signed up for, so few complained, but it's frustrating when Governor Corbett says that teachers' pensions are extravagant.
The point is: a thousand years are like a watch in the night to God, so whatever the success or failure is today, keep it in perspective. We kept our pensions this summer, but they could just as easily be taken away in the future. We may have to take some losses next year, but we can win those gains back for the students in other years.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Change your ways...or else
"Locusts came out of the smoke onto the land, and they were given the same power as scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or any tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them but only to torment them for five months; the torment they inflicted was like that of a scorpion when it stings a person. During that time these people will seek death but will not find it, and they will long to die but death will escape them.
"The first woe has passed, but there are two more to come.
"Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the [four] horns of the gold altar before God, telling the sixth angel who held the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the banks of the great river Euphrates." So the four angels were released, who were prepared for this hour, day, month, and year to kill a third of the human race. They wore red, blue, and yellow breastplates, and the horses' heads were like heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur. By these three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that came out of their mouths a third of the human race was killed. The rest of the human race, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, to give up the worship of demons and idols made from gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic potions, their unchastity, or their robberies."
-Revelations 9
I know some parts of the Bible are never read in Church and this chapter must be one of those selections. Now it wouldn't be better to die if you are being punished for wrongdoing, unless you have repented. However, I can't imagine that it would be pleasant to be in the other two-thirds that witness a third of humanity being wiped off the face of the Earth even if it is justified. I guess we should do our best (pray) to make sure ourselves and our loved ones aren't among the damned.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Signs
"Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."
-Revelations 7:3
Some believe that some of the signs we see today are pointing to 12/12/2012 being the end of the world, but people from the past have wrongly predicted dates that have already come and gone, so there's little reason to be certain that date is it. Either way, it shouldn't matter because we should always be doing what we are supposed to be doing because we don't know when our life is going to end (which is infinitely more important than when the world is going to end because each of us has a soul and the world does not). I could even see the argument for God showing people things that may be interpreted as the signs if it gets more people to convert before they die, whether the world ends then or not.
I saw a rerun of Taxi once when the hippie cab driver Jim made all these predictions about fellow cab driver Alex, some of which seemed to be coming true like a beautiful girl falling into his arms - she got knocked over in a crowded restaurant. The trouble was the end of the dream was also the end of Alex: Thursday, 8 PM in his apartment. Now Alex didn't believe in superstition, but their boss Louie was concerned and didn't want Alex to be home at 8 PM that night. Alex wasn't planning on being there anyway because he had a date with the girl, but then she cancelled at the last minute. Still, as Louie tried to convince him otherwise, Alex was set on doing what he would have done if there was no prediction, which was watch TV at home, especially since the other predictions leading up to his death seemed so ridiculous: being mistaken for a girl and then wearing a dress doing the can-can. Of course, a wrong number asking for "Susan" put Louie over the edge. Alex was so fed up about trying to convince Louie that there was no such thing as fate, that he was going to tempt fate: he put on a dress and started the can-can when his clock chimed 8 PM and nothing happened. Louie was about to apologize when there was a slow, but firm knock-knock-knock at the door. Despite Louie's pleas, Alex opened the door only to find a girl scout selling cookies. There was nothing to the predictions.
I suppose the first paragraph would have served the purpose of this entry, but I really enjoy telling the Taxi story. In any case, I hope all of us get that seal on our foreheads if we are around for the end times. I know the mark that they used to indicate the chosen in Ezekiel was a Tau. Franciscans, like me, wear a Tau as a sign that we are Franciscan (which should mean we are part of the chosen just like others who wear traditional crosses or other signs of their faith).
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Bin Laden
"But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool."
-Hebrew 10:12-13
This has definitely been one of the longer gaps between posts in quite a while for me. A lot has happened in the greater world. Yet my world remains the same. If news had not reported 9/11, I still would not know about it. No one I know was affected by it, or if they were it has never come up in conversation with me.
Of course the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are due in great part to 9/11 and I do know some relatives that went over there and came back seemingly the same as they did when they left. Because of the media though, I realize their service is far from nothing and provides the level of freedom that we enjoy and subconsciously take for granted. Sometimes I think we take what God provides us for granted as well.
Bin Laden took a lot away from people, but he didn't do it single-handedly. Capturing him would have been little reason to celebrate because he didn't carry out any attacks himself and the kinds of people that acted on his plans are still out there. Some say the numbers are even greater than before, but whether that's true or not is of little consequence.
I was angry when I saw certain Muslims watching the towers fall in New York and celebrating. I was not as angry when I saw Americans celebrating the death of Bin Laden, but I wasn't celebrating either. Being pro-life, I am against the death penalty, but I am more offended by abortion because that is taking innocent life. Bin Laden took innocent life. His life was far from innocent.
In all fairness, I don't believe Bin Laden would have ever repented, so taking his life likely didn't change anything, but I still don't believe that any person had the right take it from him. Perhaps the plan was to capture him alive and his death could be considered self-defense since he was moving towards a weapon and not surrendering. On the other hand, if one had the ability to incapacitate his wife in the leg and then put a bullet in his eye, did they have the ability to incapacitate him as well? I give the SEALS the benefit of the doubt like I give the police the benefit of the doubt. Pittsburgh especially has seen more than its share of police officers killed or wounded on duty, so I feel if they shot to kill in the line of duty they would be justified.
Typically, my posts have a clear message, but even with the time I have had to reflect since my last post, I feel left with more questions than answers. Like the quote above suggests, maybe we don't have the answers yet because we are still waiting for our enemies (if we are on God's side) to be put under his feet.
-Hebrew 10:12-13
This has definitely been one of the longer gaps between posts in quite a while for me. A lot has happened in the greater world. Yet my world remains the same. If news had not reported 9/11, I still would not know about it. No one I know was affected by it, or if they were it has never come up in conversation with me.
Of course the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are due in great part to 9/11 and I do know some relatives that went over there and came back seemingly the same as they did when they left. Because of the media though, I realize their service is far from nothing and provides the level of freedom that we enjoy and subconsciously take for granted. Sometimes I think we take what God provides us for granted as well.
Bin Laden took a lot away from people, but he didn't do it single-handedly. Capturing him would have been little reason to celebrate because he didn't carry out any attacks himself and the kinds of people that acted on his plans are still out there. Some say the numbers are even greater than before, but whether that's true or not is of little consequence.
I was angry when I saw certain Muslims watching the towers fall in New York and celebrating. I was not as angry when I saw Americans celebrating the death of Bin Laden, but I wasn't celebrating either. Being pro-life, I am against the death penalty, but I am more offended by abortion because that is taking innocent life. Bin Laden took innocent life. His life was far from innocent.
In all fairness, I don't believe Bin Laden would have ever repented, so taking his life likely didn't change anything, but I still don't believe that any person had the right take it from him. Perhaps the plan was to capture him alive and his death could be considered self-defense since he was moving towards a weapon and not surrendering. On the other hand, if one had the ability to incapacitate his wife in the leg and then put a bullet in his eye, did they have the ability to incapacitate him as well? I give the SEALS the benefit of the doubt like I give the police the benefit of the doubt. Pittsburgh especially has seen more than its share of police officers killed or wounded on duty, so I feel if they shot to kill in the line of duty they would be justified.
Typically, my posts have a clear message, but even with the time I have had to reflect since my last post, I feel left with more questions than answers. Like the quote above suggests, maybe we don't have the answers yet because we are still waiting for our enemies (if we are on God's side) to be put under his feet.
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