DECEMBER - 2014
BELIEVER OR NOT
In the interest of full disclosure as a child I was raised in the Presbyterian church. In my teens, twenties, and early thirties I infrequently attended church services, most often for weddings or funerals. In the 1980s I married a Lutheran and I was actively involved in church life until my own children reached their teens in the mid-1990s. I have taken no active part in organized religion since those days.
Yet no one may ignore the power and influence of religion.
Again we are in the holiday season. Yet any wonder, mystery, awe or devotion that may be experienced by a Christian seem distant and almost deluged by the incessant wave of commercial advertising which is only occasionally tempered by the reminder that we should help with donations to those who provide for the needs of the poor.
According to the King James version of the Bible,
These are the words of Jesus:
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”
And these are the words of Jesus:
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you . . . “
Believer or not, few have succeeded in living by these principles.
Christian or not, should we try harder?
Or are we destined to conquer, to pillage and to destroy until the very end?
