My fellow residents of the planet earth:
I can no longer appeal to anyone as "countryman" as our world shrinks with the spread of technology. The days have opened where the fortunes or misfortunes of one country cause a ripple effect throughout the economies of the rest of the world. The tragedies of a genocide in world war two Germany or present day Rwanda are felt half a world away. Our world has become a world where starvation, famine and disease have become the responsibility of those in a country far away from such pains and the victims of such woes will likely never see the promised land of the wealthy. It is a time when technological breakthroughs made by one man can benefit the whole of mankind.
We are in a time that requires delicate attention to the line that we walk. The path we are on is leading us to destruction, but if we deviate too far in the other direction we will fare no better. We have in our country grown into a society of greed and fear. We have lost sight of God and his promise to raise us into life eternal. We are clinging to our bodies as though we really believe that they will last forever. We have substituted trust in he who created us and governs our destiny for momentary comforts and gains. We have oppressed, taken advantage of, killed, stolen from and slandered many, if not all, to give ourselves a sense of stability and safety.
We have edged away from responsibility and replaced common sense with legislation. We have replaced compassion with fear and love with retribution. What has become of Jesus commands to love our enemies? To fear not the ones who can kill the body but not touch the soul? To tend to widows and orphans, and care for the poor? To turn the other cheek and pray for those who persecute us?
Our economy of consumption must end. The day is dawning when we must live and act in love, not as though the world exists for us, but that we exist for God and to serve one another.
The twentieth century, only a blip on the radar of human existence, was one of the most destructive on mankind of any period in history. Beginning with the industrial revolution we gained comfort and ease, but we lost our connection to the land, our connection to our food, toward the end of our century the connection to our families, our connections to our neighbors, our dependence on our eternal God has been replaced by our momentary ingenuity, until now we are consumed by our new social doctrine of self-reliance and militant individualism. Our foods have to be packaged and processed until we no longer recognize them. We have given up work and renewable resources for convenience and non-recyclables that poison our environment. We have sacrificed family and the struggles of love for the sake of "me and my life". We have sacrificed communion with friends and neighbors for an affair with our televisions and internet connection where we can stay connected to people we will never know.
We talk of solutions but take no steps make them happen. We are the solution. The answer lies with us. We sacrifice liberties, making the government legislate necessary changes, because we do not possess the will to make the changes ourselves, and then we complain when the government robs us of our freedoms.
"All things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial."
Our lives are not even the length and breadth of blink against the backdrop of history. Neither history, nor the universe, nor life revolves around us. In fact in a matter of generations unless by some amazing act we alter history in a profound way, we as individuals will not even be a memory. The time has come to love our brothers and sisters, our descendants, and to honor God and his commandments, to live in community with one another in an economy of equality where no man is more privileged than his brother, and to live in balance with the earth. God commanded us to subdue and tend the earth, not abuse and plunder it. It is the time in history when we should take up the yolk, and set the example for our leaders, making an ever growing government all but obsolete. There will be no need for legislation when we the people abide by a code love, tending to the needy, caring for our brothers and even our enemies before ourselves. We can preserve the environment for our children and their children, and improve our own health and the quality of living, by practicing a policy of consumption of necessity, using only what we need and recognizing and eliminating unnecessary waste and reconnecting with the earth.
The only way to be liberated; to loose our fear of death and sense of self preservation is to acknowledge that we are not separate from creation, but that we are part of creation. We must recognize that we were created with the intent to love and be loved, by a loving God, and that He is good and true, and that we are not confined to these failing bodies, but that we are eternal beings. We have the option of heaven or hell and need only choose. Our death is merely bodily and not eternal. We will continue and we need not fear loss because after the death of the body the spirit, that makes us who we are, will continue to live. With no fear of death we will have nothing to impede our love; we can give of ourselves to the point of death . . . just like Jesus.
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Reconciliation.tougas.net
Saturdaynightwalk.blogspot.com
