Happy Friday
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3)
A Pill Against Evil: A friend went to a lecture by Sam Harris, one of the four prominent and vocal atheists (along with Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett). During the evening, Harris claimed that in twenty years, there will be a pill to prevent evil. Wow. I’m not sure where to start. I do not think he means better meds to help with mental illness, because I do not know of anyone equating mental illness with evil. Does he mean we might be able to take a pill and stop pride, greed, envy? Will there be pills for each one? And if I take too much of the anti-greed, do I give all my money away? Today’s society has a very hard time even defining evil, let alone curing it. This claim reminds me of those being made by Kurzweil and company, who suggest that soon we’ll be able to download our soul onto a computer and achieve immortality. Setting the science aside, it represents a profound misunderstanding of what it means to be a person.
Super Bowl: Commercials > The Half Time Show > The actual game. And as favorite commercials, I liked the Elevator (Hyundai) and Harrison Ford’s dog (Amazon). BTW, I promised a life-long Pats fan that I wouldn’t pray against his team, but enough already. BTW, I got an email on Monday morning promoting “Five Things Pastors Can Learn from Tom Brady.” Go Bears (and anyone the Pats are playing).
The Basics: I have been working on a book for those new to faith or those stalled and needing a re-start. That has me thinking about “the basics”, which – of course – are basic, but not simple. The introduction to most topics is simple. With reading you learn the ABCs and then move on to words like cat and dog. With math, you learn to count to ten and then progress to equations like 2 + 2 = 4. Christianity is different. The “basics” of the Christian life are bold and disruptive ideas that challenge and upend just about everything. God became a man; it’s not about us; the way up is down; the first are last; we are going to live forever.
Too Earthly Minded to be of Any Good: One of the more effective ploys of our enemy has been the pitch that Christians are “too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good”. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The way to be of value on earth is not to be more earthly minded. As C.S. Lewis wrote:
If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one.
The Gospel: The operating principle of religion is, “I obey, therefore I am accepted.” The operating principle of the Gospel is, “I am accepted, therefore I obey.”
Most Shoplifted Items: According to a retail magazine, the most shoplifted item in the world is: a pack of cigarettes, followed by home pregnancy tests. Number four is: hair extensions. And the most shoplifted book? You guessed it, the Bible.
Quotes Worth ReQuoting:
- I am the tadpole of an archangel. (Victor Hugo, who’s theology was off but his sentiment was right)
Closing Prayer: We ask you, almighty God, let our souls enjoy this their desire, to be enkindled by your Spirit, that being filled as lamps by your divine gift, we may shine like burning lights before the presence of your Son Christ at his coming; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Gelasian Sacramentary