from the constant, faithful, Sovereign One, in whom there is no shadow of turning,
from the One from Whom all blessing flow,
from Israel’s Champion who assures , “…fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand, (Isaiah 41:10)
from the One who forgives, redeems and restores those who call upon Him in faith alone,
from the One who moves insurmountable mountains, turns weakness into strength, changes difficulties into joy, and fills trials with grace and mercy,
from the One who makes life into “good” as it conforms to the image for which He created it to be,
from the God of perfect gifts and of
all comfort, hope, peace, joy and love,
from the One who promises never to leave or forsake those who seek His Kingdom!
from the constant, faithful, Sovereign One, in whom there is no shadow of turning,
from the One from Whom all blessing flow,
from Israel’s Champion who assures , “…fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand, (Isaiah 41:10)
from the One who forgives, redeems and restores those who call upon Him in faith alone,
from the One who moves insurmountable mountains, turns weakness into strength, changes difficulties into joy, and fills trials with grace and mercy,
from the One who makes life into “good” as it conforms to the image for which He created it to be,
from the God of perfect gifts and of
all comfort, hope, peace, joy and love,
from the One who promises never to leave or forsake those who seek His Kingdom!
It’s breezing up, and these day sailors are heading out where nothing but ocean waters and vast skies stretch from horizon to horizon; out where human insignificance and fragility become a reality; out where our imaginations reach to God’s greatness.
“There’s a wideness in God’s mercy/like the wideness of the sea…,” are words from a hymn written in by Frederick Faber in 1862. A half century later, Frederick Lehman, realizing how limited and meager our imaginations and vocabularies are, grappled with the indescribable, immeasurable love of God and penned the words to another hymn: “The love of God is greater far/Than tongue or pen can ever tell/It goes beyond the highest star/And reaches to the lowest hell…//Could we with ink the ocean fill/And were the skies of parchment made/Were every stalk on earth a quill/And every man a scribe by trade/To write the love of God above/Would drain the ocean dry/Nor could the scroll contain the whole/Though stretched from sky to sky.”
The Apostle Paul was equally convinced “that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 (NLT2)
Such sentiments may seem emotional, poetic, embellishments, and hyperbole! However, the incarnate Christ is the greatest expression of these truths about God’s deep love. His teaching, wisdom, promises, life, death and powerful resurrection embody God’s amazing, intentional, unconditional, redeeming, restoring mercy. With the persistent wind of faith, we can sail that ocean of amazing grace and divine love to the distant horizons of eternal hope.
Sometimes we resist change, often for good reasons or for reasons that not everyone understands. Other times we embrace and aggressively exploit innovations, “advances,” and different ideas with delight. Discoveries intrigue, and technologies lure. However, time changes “things” for all of us; generations come and go with different ways and tools for dealing with life.
What drives us to think or do, or not think or not do, what we think or don’t think or do or do not do? The answers lie buried somewhere within the complexities of our natures, our varied personalities which are formed by heredity, experiences, and personal motivations which may arise from needs, desires, and beliefs. But the substrata for how we approach life is the search for happiness. We strive for an internal calmness, a sense of peace and wholeness, and a socially acceptable self image. We want to feel good about who we are and what we do. We want to be happy! So, we make life about us. We create our own images from what we think we deserve and who we should be. In that process, we easily forget that we are intended to be images of God.
Perceptions of how to achieve a good life may differ, but we often try by seeking success, garnering wealth, attaining power, achieving acclaim, expressing our intellects, displaying our talents, finding acceptance, developing comforting, encouraging relationships, and doing good things. We hope our values will bring us peace, joy, and contentment.
Achieving and accumulating do have temporary emotional highs and social benefits. We proudly accept the accolades and adulation and enjoy the glory and good feelings which our efforts bring. Often God is not found in the credits! However, King Solomon, a man of enormous wealth, considerable intellect, wonderful advantages and opportunities, grand hobbies, worldly pleasures, and benevolent work, concluded that all his life’s works added up to nothing but vanity without God in the mix. (Ecclesiastes) Myriads of other successful men and women testify to the self-buoying but transitory and eventual meaninglessness of human glory and honors. When our attempts don’t satisfy, despair, depression, anxiety, addictions and rebellious, self destructive behaviors rob us of the peace we desperately seek.
If those statements are true, they draw us back to the age old question raised and answered by the prophet Micah: “O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:6-8) That very much sounds like Jesus’ summary of the meaning of the moral code of loving God with all one’s being and one’s neighbor as one’s self.
As relational beings, our joy resides in loving relationships- never in achievements and accumulations alone. Deep satisfaction is a function of a relationship with God first and then with others. One stated purpose for Jesus’ incarnation is to make life a joyful possibility. (John 15:11) He showed up to heal our broken relationship with God, to redeem and restore us, and to show us the path of deeply spiritual, sustainable, God-given blessedness despite the fact that his list of happy people is counterintuitive and countercultural: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted. (Matthew 5) Those are scarcely the “happy” people or attitudes we would naturally seek or counsel others to seek.
However, If we dissect Jesus’ self-effacing, happiness criteria, they focus on repentance, sacrifice, self denial and love which is without self absorption or self benefit. He knew and modeled the deep joy of seeking and obeyed God’s purposes for his life. He loved others with the ultimate love even while suffering the worst misunderstandings, rejections, mockeries, and cruelty mankind could conger up. Within those tough circumstances and with that purposefulness, he could say that if we believe him and follow his teachings “… you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:10-11)
Those thoughts reorient us away from ourselves to God, away from self-reliance to dependence upon what God has done and does to give us peace and hope, away from urgent and frenetic self promotions to satisfaction with God’s love and care and perfect guidance, and away from self-righteous arrogance to a humble, believing faith which lives God’s grace. In the words of the Psalmist: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” ( Psalm 16:11) Happiness is the gift of knowing God.“Whoever gives thought to the (scripture) will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:20) Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Shakespeare’s Macbeth said life is but a shadow! Philosophers, writers, and poets of all generations lament that same lament about the brevity of life and the elusive search for meaning. King David once prayed, “We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.” (1 Chronicles 29:15 (NLT2) (The long ,complex genealogical records chronicled in those Bible books of history vividly convey that truth!)
We all seek purpose, hope and joy within our life’s short timespan. For many, life is not only brief but is unhappy! We assume that achieving happiness is our struggle to win, but Scripture teaches that seeking and relying upon God, His merciful, saving grace, His transforming power, and His good purposes for our characters will change our thoughts and attitudes and lead to inner peace.
Not all who seek fulfillment and happiness will agree. We may resist God, but if we miss Him, we will have missed life’s deepest meaning and ultimate hope! God “satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Psalm 107:9)
Sometimes we resist change, often for good reasons or for reasons that not everyone understands. Other times we embrace and aggressively exploit innovations, “advances,” and different ideas with delight. Discoveries intrigue, and technologies lure. However, time changes “things” for all of us; generations come and go with different ways and tools for dealing with life.
What drives us to think or do, or not think or not do, what we think or don’t think or do or do not do? The answers lie buried somewhere within the complexities of our natures, our varied personalities which are formed by heredity, experiences, and personal motivations which may arise from needs, desires, and beliefs. But the substrata for how we approach life is the search for happiness. We strive for an internal calmness, a sense of peace and wholeness, and a socially acceptable self image. We want to feel good about who we are and what we do. We want to be happy! So, we make life about us. We create our own images from what we think we deserve and who we should be. In that process, we easily forget that we are intended to be images of God.
Perceptions of how to achieve a good life may differ, but we often try by seeking success, garnering wealth, attaining power, achieving acclaim, expressing our intellects, displaying our talents, finding acceptance, developing comforting, encouraging relationships, and doing good things. We hope our values will bring us peace, joy, and contentment.
Achieving and accumulating do have temporary emotional highs and social benefits. We proudly accept the accolades and adulation and enjoy the glory and good feelings which our efforts bring. Often God is not found in the credits! However, King Solomon, a man of enormous wealth, considerable intellect, wonderful advantages and opportunities, grand hobbies, worldly pleasures, and benevolent work, concluded that all his life’s works added up to nothing but vanity without God in the mix. (Ecclesiastes) Myriads of other successful men and women testify to the self-buoying but transitory and eventual meaninglessness of human glory and honors. When our attempts don’t satisfy, despair, depression, anxiety, addictions and rebellious, self destructive behaviors rob us of the peace we desperately seek.
If those statements are true, they draw us back to the age old question raised and answered by the prophet Micah: “O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:6-8) That very much sounds like Jesus’ summary of the meaning of the moral code of loving God with all one’s being and one’s neighbor as one’s self.
As relational beings, our joy resides in loving relationships- never in achievements and accumulations alone. Deep satisfaction is a function of a relationship with God first and then with others. One stated purpose for Jesus’ incarnation is to make life a joyful possibility. (John 15:11) He showed up to heal our broken relationship with God, to redeem and restore us, and to show us the path of deeply spiritual, sustainable, God-given blessedness despite the fact that his list of happy people is counterintuitive and countercultural: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted. (Matthew 5) Those are scarcely the “happy” people or attitudes we would naturally seek or counsel others to seek.
However, If we dissect Jesus’ self-effacing, happiness criteria, they focus on repentance, sacrifice, self denial and love which is without self absorption or self benefit. He knew and modeled the deep joy of seeking and obeyed God’s purposes for his life. He loved others with the ultimate love even while suffering the worst misunderstandings, rejections, mockeries, and cruelty mankind could conger up. Within those tough circumstances and with that purposefulness, he could say that if we believe him and follow his teachings “… you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:10-11)
Those thoughts reorient us away from ourselves to God, away from self-reliance to dependence upon what God has done and does to give us peace and hope, away from urgent and frenetic self promotions to satisfaction with God’s love and care and perfect guidance, and away from self-righteous arrogance to a humble, believing faith which lives God’s grace. In the words of the Psalmist: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” ( Psalm 16:11) Happiness is the gift of knowing God.“Whoever gives thought to the (scripture) will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:20) Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Shakespeare’s Macbeth said life is but a shadow! Philosophers, writers, and poets of all generations lament that same lament about the brevity of life and the elusive search for meaning. King David once prayed, “We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.” (1 Chronicles 29:15 (NLT2) (The long ,complex genealogical records chronicled in those Bible books of history vividly convey that truth!)
We all seek purpose, hope and joy within our life’s short timespan. For many, life is not only brief but is unhappy! We assume that achieving happiness is our struggle to win, but Scripture teaches that seeking and relying upon God, His merciful, saving grace, His transforming power, and His good purposes for our characters will change our thoughts and attitudes and lead to inner peace.
Not all who seek fulfillment and happiness will agree. We may resist God, but if we miss Him, we will have missed life’s deepest meaning and ultimate hope! God “satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Psalm 107:9)
Sunset over the Courthouse and the Congregational Church spires, Machias, Maine
Once, villages were the repositories of cultural values. Families, neighbors, home grown school teachers, community leaders, small churches and their pastors, or other worship centers and their religious leaders were the most important “influencers” in a child’s life. Over time, the number of “influencers” competing for the minds of our children has significantly increased.
The family farm and the one room school house have long vanished in the rear view mirror! Our society has moved from agrarian and industrial phases into a highly paced technological era. Higher educational achievement levels, increased mobility, affluence, highly developed technology, the internet and social media, general acceptance and indoctrination of scientism and humanism, and broader interpretations of freedom of speech have widened and transformed the” village”. Media, celebrity personalities, advertisers, video game producers, college professors, special interest and extremist groups, and powerful politicians wield vast influences over individual and national mindsets. Unfortunately, their motivations are not always altruistic or in line with the common good but include greed, people pleasing, personal political power and status, and the indoctrination of extreme ideologies and twisted moralistic agendas that create a self absorbed divisiveness.
But—it still only takes a small, intentioned, moral community to protect and raise a healthy child. Our true champions of integrity remain unheralded and tucked away in the hamlets and villages and cultural communities spread across our great country. Amidst the humdrum of simple lives, they are the visual and verbal mentors who show how to live beyond themselves and are the ones upon whose shoulders our nation stands. Imperfect but resolute, they are the present day village blacksmiths about whom H. W. Longfellow wrote in “The Village Blacksmith.”
In its entirety, the poem reveals the “smith” to be mighty in spirit as well as body. He worked hard, found meaning in what he did, and was kind and sensitive and brave and purposeful. He loved his family, led them in religious matters, and modeled how to live through life’s tough demands to the children in his town. We would think of him as an upstanding, principled guy, a man of integrity, who displayed his good character in every day living.
“His brow is wet withhonest sweat/He earns what’er he can/ And looks the whole world in the face/For he owes not any man…Toiling, — rejoicing, — sorrowing/Onward in life he goes/ Each morning sees some task begin/Each evening sees it close/Something attempted, something done/Has earned his night’s repose…Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend/For the lesson thou has taught! Thus at the flaming forge of life/Our fortunes must be wrought/Thus on its sounding anvil shaped/Each burning deed and thought. (Excerpts from “The Village Blacksmith”)
Even though we tend to believe and behave as though morality is relative to the circumstance, we all have the knowledge of and capacity to do good, to value not just what works for ourselves but what is best for another or for the common good, to contribute in some way to someone else’s physical, emotional, or spiritual wellbeing. We may selfishly ignore or deny the Moral Law, which has existed ever since humanity has. However, it remains intuitive and unchanged.
Unfortunately, that moral standard does present a very uncomfortable problem for us. Sourced in God’s holiness, the Law sets the bar of goodness far beyond our experience or even capability. It demands of us what we can’t do because of our corrupted natures. However righteous we may be in our own eyes and in comparison to others, a brief tally of our personal attitudes and behaviors should easily convince us that we fall short. Our imperfections don’t even register on the scale of holiness defined by selfless love for God and our “neighbors”. Thus, we need forgiveness and redemption and the enablement to progressively learn and live out the grace God freely offers us.
What a wonderful legacy that would be—to be shaped at the “flaming forge of life” by faith into the image which God intended, to be transformed through the “sounding anvil” of the Gospel into loving forgiving, caring, understanding, generous spirits, and to selflessly contribute some “burning deed and thought” to help another person, community, nation, or even the world to know the eternal benefits of the Gospel’s power for redemption, meaning, purpose, and hope.
Sunset over the Courthouse and the Congregational Church spires, Machias, Maine
Once, villages were the repositories of cultural values. Families, neighbors, home grown school teachers, community leaders, small churches and their pastors, or other worship centers and their religious leaders were the most important “influencers” in a child’s life. Over time, the number of “influencers” competing for the minds of our children has significantly increased.
The family farm and the one room school house have long vanished in the rear view mirror! Our society has moved from agrarian and industrial phases into a highly paced technological era. Higher educational achievement levels, increased mobility, affluence, highly developed technology, the internet and social media, general acceptance and indoctrination of scientism and humanism, and broader interpretations of freedom of speech have widened and transformed the” village”. Media, celebrity personalities, advertisers, video game producers, college professors, special interest and extremist groups, and powerful politicians wield vast influences over individual and national mindsets. Unfortunately, their motivations are not always altruistic or in line with the common good but include greed, people pleasing, personal political power and status, and the indoctrination of extreme ideologies and twisted moralistic agendas that create a self absorbed divisiveness.
But—it still only takes a small, intentioned, moral community to protect and raise a healthy child. Our true champions of integrity remain unheralded and tucked away in the hamlets and villages and cultural communities spread across our great country. Amidst the humdrum of simple lives, they are the visual and verbal mentors who show how to live beyond themselves and are the ones upon whose shoulders our nation stands. Imperfect but resolute, they are the present day village blacksmiths about whom H. W. Longfellow wrote in “The Village Blacksmith.”
In its entirety, the poem reveals the “smith” to be mighty in spirit as well as body. He worked hard, found meaning in what he did, and was kind and sensitive and brave and purposeful. He loved his family, led them in religious matters, and modeled how to live through life’s tough demands to the children in his town. We would think of him as an upstanding, principled guy, a man of integrity, who displayed his good character in every day living.
“His brow is wet withhonest sweat/He earns what’er he can/ And looks the whole world in the face/For he owes not any man…Toiling, — rejoicing, — sorrowing/Onward in life he goes/ Each morning sees some task begin/Each evening sees it close/Something attempted, something done/Has earned his night’s repose…Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend/For the lesson thou has taught! Thus at the flaming forge of life/Our fortunes must be wrought/Thus on its sounding anvil shaped/Each burning deed and thought. (Excerpts from “The Village Blacksmith”)
Even though we tend to believe and behave as though morality is relative to the circumstance, we all have the knowledge of and capacity to do good, to value not just what works for ourselves but what is best for another or for the common good, to contribute in some way to someone else’s physical, emotional, or spiritual wellbeing. We may selfishly ignore or deny the Moral Law, which has existed ever since humanity has. However, it remains intuitive and unchanged.
Unfortunately, that moral standard does present a very uncomfortable problem for us. Sourced in God’s holiness, the Law sets the bar of goodness far beyond our experience or even capability. It demands of us what we can’t do because of our corrupted natures. However righteous we may be in our own eyes and in comparison to others, a brief tally of our personal attitudes and behaviors should easily convince us that we fall short. Our imperfections don’t even register on the scale of holiness defined by selfless love for God and our “neighbors”. Thus, we need forgiveness and redemption and the enablement to progressively learn and live out the grace God freely offers us.
What a wonderful legacy that would be—to be shaped at the “flaming forge of life” by faith into the image which God intended, to be transformed through the “sounding anvil” of the Gospel into loving forgiving, caring, understanding, generous spirits, and to selflessly contribute some “burning deed and thought” to help another person, community, nation, or even the world to know the eternal benefits of the Gospel’s power for redemption, meaning, purpose, and hope.
Fort Knox in the background; replica of the Santa Maria in the front.; Bucksport, Maine
Fort Knox, the first granite fort in Maine, was constructed in 1844 and was strategically positioned along the Penobscot Narrows across from Bucksport village. Built to guard the Penobscot River from unwanted intruders and to protect access to the ship building trade in Bangor, it stands as a reminder that our nation and its communities need protection from those who would push their will upon others.
So, who keeps careful vigilance over our nation today? Who defends our freedoms- our rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness as stated in the Declaration of Independence? Who is responsible for and will pay the price to keep our national priorities? Who or what guides us? Is it our elected authorities? Our judicial system? Our warriors?
Our Constitution says that “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity …”
“We the people” hold the power and responsibility for assuring ongoing common good for our nation. That tall order requires us to guard our character as well as our “rights”—to be watchful and protective against the intruders of apathy, selfishness, greed, lust for power, ingratitude, extremism, and divisions. That level of morality demands adherence to a standard greater than a document, greater than a guiding Constitution.
King Solomon implored his readers to keep “ your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life… Let (God’s words) penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them… look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (Proverbs 4:18-27 (NLT2)
The idea that God’s wisdom is protective and beneficial does not seem to be in the collective, cultural thinking of this day and conjures up Pete Segar’s haunting question, “when will we ever learn?” (Where have all the flowers gone… Pete Segar’s 1950’s song)
Whether Christian or not, there has never been a better moral guideline for an individual or nation than Jesus’ summation of the Moral Law. It will never be equaled by any other statute or tenet or creed: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:35-40) Possessing that mentality would save us from the increasing idolatry of selfish “rights”, philosophic relativism, and injustices and return us to civility in speech and behavior.
Most certainly, caring for the our nation’s “soul” will require understanding of an accurate and truth filled historical context, continuity of good values, the desire to be and to do better, and diligent adherence to what is good for all. Scripture gives us the antidote to recalcitrant ways and angry cries and divisive demands for “rights.” It promises that a people who are humble before God and who will seek His face and ways will have a healed land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 )
If we as individuals and as a nation honor God and His time tested and very sensible moral guidelines of self control and love, we will “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. …looking not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others…( Philippians 2:1-11)
Our peace and stability will be protected when we discover the meaning of the humility that Christ taught and modeled… a love for God and a selfless, sacrificial, considerate, caring attitude toward all.
Fort Knox in the background; replica of the Santa Maria in the front.; Bucksport, Maine
Fort Knox, the first granite fort in Maine, was constructed in 1844 and was strategically positioned along the Penobscot Narrows across from Bucksport village. Built to guard the Penobscot River from unwanted intruders and to protect access to the ship building trade in Bangor, it stands as a reminder that our nation and its communities need protection from those who would push their will upon others.
So, who keeps careful vigilance over our nation today? Who defends our freedoms- our rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness as stated in the Declaration of Independence? Who is responsible for and will pay the price to keep our national priorities? Who or what guides us? Is it our elected authorities? Our judicial system? Our warriors?
Our Constitution says that “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity …”
“We the people” hold the power and responsibility for assuring ongoing common good for our nation. That tall order requires us to guard our character as well as our “rights”—to be watchful and protective against the intruders of apathy, selfishness, greed, lust for power, ingratitude, extremism, and divisions. That level of morality demands adherence to a standard greater than a document, greater than a guiding Constitution.
King Solomon implored his readers to keep “ your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life… Let (God’s words) penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them… look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (Proverbs 4:18-27 (NLT2)
The idea that God’s wisdom is protective and beneficial does not seem to be in the collective, cultural thinking of this day and conjures up Pete Segar’s haunting question, “when will we ever learn?” (Where have all the flowers gone… Pete Segar’s 1950’s song)
Whether Christian or not, there has never been a better moral guideline for an individual or nation than Jesus’ summation of the Moral Law. It will never be equaled by any other statute or tenet or creed: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:35-40) Possessing that mentality would save us from the increasing idolatry of selfish “rights”, philosophic relativism, and injustices and return us to civility in speech and behavior.
Most certainly, caring for the our nation’s “soul” will require understanding of an accurate and truth filled historical context, continuity of good values, the desire to be and to do better, and diligent adherence to what is good for all. Scripture gives us the antidote to recalcitrant ways and angry cries and divisive demands for “rights.” It promises that a people who are humble before God and who will seek His face and ways will have a healed land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 )
If we as individuals and as a nation honor God and His time tested and very sensible moral guidelines of self control and love, we will “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. …looking not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others…( Philippians 2:1-11)
Our peace and stability will be protected when we discover the meaning of the humility that Christ taught and modeled… a love for God and a selfless, sacrificial, considerate, caring attitude toward all.
“Two Lights”, Penobscot Bay, Mark Island, Stonington, Maine
Of the reportedly 65 lighthouses along the Maine Coast, 57 are active, 55 of which are managed by the Coast Guard. As shining sentinels guarding harbor entrances and standing on rocky shoals, these beacons guide fishermen and sailors safely home through the darkness hiding Maine’s hazardous waters and cliff lined shores.
The Genesis story of creation states quite simply that God created light: “God made the two great lights… and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:16-18)
That same narrative also reveals that God merely spoke and light appeared. Today, His voice enlightens our darkened, broken world and disperses spiritual darkness just as His words took away the darkness of the physical world. King David sang, “You are my lamp, O Lord, You turn my darkness into light.” “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”“I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (2 Samuel 22:29) (Psalm 119:105) ( Psalm 119:11) And in his letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul claimed that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. (2 Timothy 3:15-16)
God’s message for humanity is so crucial, so loving, but so misunderstood that He personified it. He gave us Jesus. (John 3:16) His Word became more than oral or recorded or transcribed words. “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthian 4:6) Jesus, as the expressed image of God, became the living Word of God to give us redemption and hope. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (Colossians 1:15) (John 1:14) (Philippians 2:7) (John 1:4-5)
Through the life and redemptive activity of Christ, God’s voice speaks clearly and loudly. There is no mistaking that humanity is in extreme need of forgiveness and spiritual restoration and that God offers amazing grace to those who will believe. He delivers “ us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son…” (Colossians 1:13) “
Jesus, “the Light of the World” came to shine through life’s hazards and pitfalls. He guides our souls to the safety of God’s Kingdom through the confusing darkness which invades humanity’s minds and spirits .“If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness because you will have the light that leads to life, “ Jesus said. (John 8:12)
Sweet Words from Maine 