But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.’” Luke 15
The father didn’t demand an exhaustive or embarrassing confession from the Prodigal. He didn’t even wait for the confession to be over. As soon as the boy started, he said, “Enough, bring me a robe and a ring. Put them on my son.” Not only are we not forced to get our act together before we are embraced by God’s gracious love, all we need to do is turn from pride and approach as a child. May we never make it hard for anyone to repent.
Two Encouraging Reads: I was surprised and encouraged by two things this week.
- The Surprising Discovery About Those Colonialist, Proselytizing Missionaries is a report about the very unexpected findings made by Dr. Robert Woodberry. After nearly a decade of exhausting research, he has stunned political scientists (and others) by showing that the main difference between those countries that recognize human rights, treat women well, have a growing economy and favor democracy and those that do not is…the healthy countries were visited – and impacted – by evangelical missionaries back in the 19thcentury. Needless to say, this is not welcome news on most college campuses.
- Following the election of Nelson Mandela and the end of Apartheid in South Africa, that nation decided to choose a third path. Rather than pursue the offenders as the world did with Nazi leaders (and hold their version of the Nuremberg trials) or brush everything under the rug as if atrocities didn’t happen – as some have tried to do, they passed the Truth and Reconciliation Act. This piece of legislation said, if those guilty of apartheid-based crimes will make a public confession, they will be given amnesty. Desmond Tutu’s 1999 book, No Future Without Forgiveness, unpacks the radical thinking that led them to adopt this path and the surprising results.
Trending Now: No one looks to me for fashion advice or updates on popular culture, but I do periodically note trends on other fronts. Two things are suddenly hot.
- Aristotle: The Stoics are big again. A growing number of NYT contributors, Silicon Valley moguls and NFL stars now look to Marcus Aurelius and his ilk for advice on how to regulate passions, do the right thing and accept the things we can’t change. I even saw advertisements for Stoicon – an annual conference for those who want to spend a week learning to “think like a Roman emperor”.
- Habits: More and more research – or perhaps more and more books and articles based on the same research – are highlighting: 1) how weak our will-power is; 2) how determinative our habits are. “Pick your ruts carefully.”
Sign that the Apocalypse is Upon Us: I’ve been traveling. Travel means hotels, and hotels mean access to TVs with a lot more channels than we have at home. On three different nights I watched political commentary from both sides of the aisle. I was prepared to hear radically different accounts of the same events. That is not what I got. With a few exceptions – the Government Shut Down, the ruckus involving Catholic high school boys at the Lincoln Memorial – they were not even reporting on the same events.
Quotes Worth Requoting:
- Politics is our religion and Twitter is our daily devotional reading. Michael Brendan Dougherty.
- We may rest fully assured of this – a man’s influence in the world can be gauged not by his eloquence, or his zeal, or his orthodox, or his energy, but by his prayers. Albert Ernest Richardson
Biblical Correction to Western Metaphysics: I believe, but tend to forget, that life is often a struggle between three parties, not two. While the secular West does not acknowledge God (or anything spiritual), Western Christians often acknowledge a tension between the fallen human condition and God’s holy design. Those same Christians, however, often overlook the third actor in the drama – evil.
Closing Prayer: O you who are everywhere present, filling yet transcending all things; ever acting, ever at rest; you who teach the hearts of the faithful without noise of words: teach us, we pray you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Augustine (354-430)