music :: worship :: life
I was reading Psalm 20:7 today where it says “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” And the footnote in my Life Application Bible said “David knew that the true might of his nation was not in weaponry but in worship; not in firepower but in God’s power.”
Alexis de Tocqueville in his travels through America was impressed by the morality of the American people, by the churches, and temples. He wrote, “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
Whenever I turn on the TV and flip through the channels, noticing the stuff the public views as entertainment, or read the news (lately debates among politicians over whether we should be allowed to torture people, or imprison them indefinitely because someone thought them suspicious), I wonder whether that time has come: the time when America has ceased to be good.
How come I can instantly transfer money anywhere in the world by internet or automated phone banking, but I can’t transfer money to myself at a different account in the same bank without physically going to the bank and signing papers?
How come after millions of dollars and a year-and-a-half of construction, Highway 69 is still just one lane north and one lane south and it takes me an hour to get home?
Another example of the decline of civilization. People don’t know mythology anymore, or much of what once made a person culturally literate.
They don’t know the meaning of the phrase, “loosing the dogs of war.” Therefore they don’t know why the moons of Mars are named Phobos and Deimos. Therefore, they don’t know what Hunter S. Thompson was saying when he titled his books, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail.
So much of the richness and many-layered depth of life is lost when education declines. This was a language of symbols universal to western culture that crossed language barriers, spanned continents and millennia, and connected generation after generation to a thousand generations that went before. These ancient symbols contain the wisdom that millions lived and died to obtain, and communicate it in super-concentrated form. When we lose the wisdom of the past, we cannot see the truth of the present.
The rapid deterioration of our culture should surprise no one with what was once called an education. File this under the end of civilization.
You always hear the saying, “The optimist sees the glass as half full, and the pessimist sees the glass as half empty. Which one are you?”
My answer is, “Neither.” Both answers are correct. The glass is half empty and half full. There may even be several other correct answers. If you settle for the first right answer, you’ve seriously short-changed yourself. Always look for the next right answer. Then you have choices. You can pick the one that best suits the circumstances.
To promote the notion that it is best to see the glass as half full is foolish and irresponsible. It leads to the absurd attitude that things are getting better and better. But things are not going to get better unless you have identified the needs and are prepared to address them. The glass is not going to fill itself. Unless you have recognized that the glass is half empty and are prepared to remedy the problem, it will never be filled.
Furthermore, not only may there be more than one right answer, there may be more than one desirable goal. Do you want the glass to be full, or do you want the glass to be empty? Or do you want the glass to be partly full and partly empty? All of these may be desirable objectives for different people or in different circumstances.
And if you’ve been mowing the lawn on a hot day, will you be happier with a full glass of ice cold lemonade, or an empty glass of ice cold lemonade? If you have a full glass, you are still thirsty. If what you desire is relief from your thirst, then what you want is an empty glass. You want that lemonade inside you.
This is a common problem in American culture. People seem to be obsessed with having the full glass. What if we lived our lives in search of the empty glass? Think of the old Zen parable “If you want me to fill your cup, you must first empty it.” Why don’t we drink every glass that comes to us. Drink it to the full. Drain it dry.
How do we approach God. Do we come to Him with our glasses full, our glasses empty?
Ever notice what people are buying in convenience stores?
Alcohol, tobacco, lottery tickets, junk food, porn. Today I noticed that they had Porn Cards for sale. They looked like phone cards, but they said Porn Card. I guess you buy it and call the number on the card and listen to porn. At any rate, the convenience stores are in the business of catering to people’s addictions. Alcohol is addictive, toxic, poisonous. Tobacco is addictive, poisonous. Gambling is addictive and destructive to your mind, your body, your whole life. Junk food is addictive and toxic. Porn is addictive and toxic. How are these convenience stores any different from the crack dealer on the corner?
Breeding a generation that believes anything worth communicating ought to be able to be said in five words or less. Unfortunately that leaves out almost everything.
Breeding a generation that cannot communicate in complete sentences, and sequential paragraphs.
It comes to this: If you can only communicate in sound-bytes you are no better off than a dog.
Fetch.
Lie down.
Roll over.
Play dead….
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