Roadblocks

***Doggone it, I've been wanting to blog all week and just haven't been able to carve out the time. I'm going to take a few minutes now and hope I don't get interrupted with a stat or something.

***James preached another "right between the eyes" sermon Sunday. I wanted to blog about it while it was fresh in my mind, but see above. <g> I certainly remember the gist, though, because I've been trying to practice it. We're in II Timothy right now, but he referred back to Acts and spoke for a few minutes about how we aren't to be contentious, but respond in love to those who don't share our faith. Man, that is my biggest weakness, I think. When I see somebody mock or attack my faith, my first instinct is not love and compassion, but anger and resentment. Exactly what I should not be feeling, and I definitely should not respond in that way. I'm getting better at just letting it go and not responding with a sarcastic comment.  I do want people who are mean-spirited about Christianity to be saved, of course, but why isn't that my first reaction? They are the ones who need my prayers the most. I'm tellin' ya, it ain't easy bein' me...

***I also have to tell you about the special music Sunday. It was one of those fun songs that you just kinda be-bop to, but I paid attention to the words this time. It was "The God I Know" by Love & the Outcome. Here's the chorus:

And then I threw my hands up, worries down
I remember when He showed me how
To break up with my doubt
Once I was lost, but now I'm found
No strings attached, when He saved my soul
I want you to know, the God I know
Oh, you gotta know, oh, the God I know

I love the line, "No strings attached when He saved my soul."

Thank God for that.

***Saw this on Daily Focus, Jim Daly's blog. He called it "A Tale of Two Marches." It shouldn't surprise us that the March for Life was much larger than the Women's March the next day, but it received less than a third of the coverage. The writer was actually there, these are some of his observations.

Last week’s massive March for Life rally on the Mall unfolded in familiar fashion. Just before noon, pro-life stalwarts from every state convened to stand in solidarity, many of them carrying signs declaring life as the better choice. It was the 45^th consecutive gathering and the longest-running demonstration of its kind. The crowd was its usual winsome self – earnest, hopeful, optimistic and spirited. The speeches were both inspirational and aspirational, including addresses delivered via video from the White House by both President Trump and Vice President Pence. Prayers were said. Songs were sung.

In contrast, the Women’s March was held on the same Mall the next day. The weather was equally good, a mild and beautiful winter Saturday in our nation’s capital. The crowd size was significantly smaller than the March for Life. I’ve seen some estimates suggest it was “in the thousands” – a figure that seems about right.
As it was, the rally, which was replicated in cities across America, felt less like a demonstration championing women and more like an occasion to denounce and protest President Trump. Profanity and vulgarity were everywhere. Merchants on street corners were selling t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase, “F&*# Trump!”
One of my colleagues, who encountered the crowd while touring with his son, said the anger in the audience was palpable.

The bias in the media couldn't be more obvious; it has been that way for a long time, but it is brazen now that Trump is president. They don't even try to be objective any more.

***


***"The New Colossus" by Emily Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Meaning of the Poem
Inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, this sonnet may have the greatest placement of any English poem. It also has one of the greatest placements in history. Lazarus compares the Statue of Liberty to the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Like the Statue of Liberty, the Colossus of Rhodes was an enormous god-like statue positioned in a harbor. Although the Colossus of Rhodes no longer stands, it symbolizes the ancient Greek world and the greatness of the ancient Greek and Roman civilization, which was lost for a thousand years to the West, and only fully recovered again during the Renaissance. “The New Colossus” succinctly crystallizes the connection between the ancient world and America, a modern nation. It’s a connection that can be seen in the White House and other state and judicial buildings across America that architecturally mirror ancient Greek and Roman buildings; and in the American political system that mirrors Athenian Democracy and Roman Republicanism.

In the midst of this vast comparison of the ancient and the American, Lazarus still manages to clearly render America’s distinct character. It is the can-do spirit of taking those persecuted and poor from around the world and giving them a new opportunity and hope for the future, what she calls “the golden door.” It is a uniquely scrappy and compassionate quality that sets Americans apart from the ancients. The relevance of this poem stretches all the way back to the pilgrims fleeing religious persecution in Europe to the controversies surrounding modern immigrants from Mexico and the Middle East. While circumstances today have changed drastically, there is no denying that this open door was part of what made America great once upon a time. It’s the perfect depiction of this quintessential Americanness that makes “The New Colossus” also outstanding.

I thought that was really interesting.

***Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. ~~

Francis of Assisi