Samson

Unless you’ve been living in a cave in outer Mongolia for the vast majority of your life, you’ve probably heard the story of Samson and Delilah. Just in case you are fresh off the boat from Mongolia, let me summarize the story for you. Samson was born in the age of the Judges which was that period in the Israeli history between Joshua leading the Israelites into Canaan and the birth of the Kingdom of Israel under Saul. During this era, there was no king in Israel. Instead there were a succession of men and women empowered by the Spirit that acted as “judges” over the Israelites.

Now it so happened that before he was born, Samson’s mom was barren, which was a big deal in the ancient world since it was assumed that barrenness was a punishment from the Eternal for some terrible sin that the mother must have committed. Then one day, while the mom was working in the field, the Angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her that she would bear a son that would begin the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines, and that he was to be a Nazirite for life which meant he would be wholly dedicated to serving the Eternal. A Nazirite was required to follow VERY strict dietary rules and, at least in Samson’s case, was NOT allowed to EVER cut his hair. Sure enough, she delivered a boy and named him Samson.

Samson wasn’t just your run of the mill Nazirite however. The Lord imbued Samson with supernatural strength as long as he did not break his Nazirite vows. Consequently, when Samson grew into a man, he became a mighty warrior. No man could stand against him. Now at that time, the Philistines were the chief enemy of the Israelites and were causing no end of grief for them. Once Samson came along however, the tide was turned. He cut down Philistines like a scythe through wheat. He was a veritable one man army. He was so strong, that at one point when his enemies tried to trap him in a Philistine city by locking the city gates on him, he just tore the gates off the hinges and walked away with them. And we’re not talking little dinky privacy fence gates here. We’re talking huge, massive, meant to withstand a battering ram city gates that would have weighed an enormous amount. This guy was flat out strong.

The problem was that he was also rather arrogant and had a major weakness: foreign babes. You see, a good Israelite boy was never even supposed to LOOK at a foreign girl, never mind marry one. But that didn’t stop Samson. To make things worse, the particular foreign babes he was most interested in were, of all things, Philistines! Good grief, Charlie Brown!

That’s where Delilah came into the picture. She was the hottest of the hot Philistine valley girls. One look at her, and Samson was smitten. Next thing you know, they’re shackin’ up (he was already married to another Philistine gal) and she starts in pestering him about where his strength comes from. At first, Samson thinks this is amusing and proceeds to feed her all sorts of lies about being tied up with fresh thongs (no, not THAT kind of thong), or new ropes, or weaving his braids on a loom. Three times he lies to her and ALL THREE TIMES she believes him and tries to use what he’s told her to strip him of his strength so he can be captured. All three times, Samson breaks free from the bonds she has placed upon him showing that he had not lost his strength. You’d think at this point he would figure out that Delilah is not exactly to be trusted. But she pesters him some more and astoundingly, Samson actually TELLS HER THE TRUTH!!!!!! So, while he’s sleeping she snips off his hair and out jump the nasty Philistines to capture him. Samson wakes up and thinks to himself that it’s time to kick some Philistine butt…uh oh. What’s wrong? I’m as weak as a lamb! DOH!!!

They captured him with ease. They gouged out his eyes (OW! OW! That’s got to hurt.) and bundled him off to prison. Samson is in prison for quite some time being used like an ox to push a mill stone and the whole of that time his hair is growing back. All the lords of the Philistines decide to throw a big shindig to celebrate the capture of Samson and parade him out into a big arena to entertain the crowd, but at one point during the performance, Samson asks his handler to allow him to rest against a couple of huge stone pillars that supported the stadium. While he’s standing there, Samson gets over his arrogance and asks God to restore his strength one last time so that he can, literally, bring down the house. (I’ve always wondered if that is where the phrase came from.) God grants him his request and Samson, the mightiest man who ever lived, broke the pillars of the stadium and the whole lot came tumbling down. His story ends with the poignant phrase, “Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.”

This story makes me cry. This is the story of so many men. But the part of this story that bothered me the most for many years was the question: why would Samson have given away the secret of his strength to a woman that had already demonstrated on three separate occasions her strong desire and willingness to destroy Samson by acquiring and using that very information? Was Samson a half wit? I mean come on. What is the deal?

And then one day while I was pondering this question, the Spirit lightly whispered the answer in my ear…he didn’t believe it was true. There it was. That was the only plausible answer. Samson was no dummy, but he was…arrogant. Samson was just like so many of us. He had been told all his life how much the Lord loved him and how the Lord had blessed him with this great strength…as long as he didn’t cut his hair. And so Samson had never cut his hair. But the more he went through life displaying this amazing blessing of supernatural strength, the more everyone around him must have told him how great and wonderful he was. He answered to no man because no man could stand before him. He could have whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it. Hmmm. Kinda sounds like our modern day celebrities. How many of our rock/sports/tv/movie heroes end up believing they are indestructible…that they can do whatever they want…that they ARE all that. Just like so many of the modern day Samsons, he started to believe that it was all him…that HE was all that. So WHAT if they cut my hair. Surely you don’t believe that some mythological being is actually responsible for my amazing strength. I mean, come on. Give me a break.

He thought he would arise and kick some Philistine butt…

Where do you put your trust? How often do you fall on your face before Yeshua and thank Him with every ounce of your being for your very existence? Do you believe that he IS your strength? Or will you have to come to a place where you have hit the absolute bottom before you finally realize that it was really Him all along?
…What if Samson HAD believed. What if he lived His entire life thanking the Eternal with a humble heart…seeking to know and do His will. What if…but instead…”Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.” It just makes me cry.

Goodbye to Twiddle Dee or Twiddle Dum

During the 2004 presidential campaign, I was living in London. Many of my British friends were flabbergasted that Americans would even consider putting “W” back in office. Time and again I was asked the same question: “How is it possible that Americans would even consider keeping Bush as president?” I tried explaining to them the nature of American politics, mired in its two party system, that often presented the voters with little more than the task of choosing the lesser of two evils. I finally settled on the pat answer: “When your choices are Twiddle Dee or Twiddle Dum, it’s not really much of a choice at all. You may as well flip a coin.” My Brit friends were invariably mystified by my answer and would simply shake their heads and mumble something about “crazy Yanks.” In a country where there are almost as many political parties as there are days in the month, it seems inconceivable that a major power in the free world would have such an insane and restrictive process for selecting its chief executive. All I could offer is a shrug of the shoulders and the observation that “it is what it is.”

That experience stuck with me, however. Ever since that election I have pondered the question of “Why”. Why do the citizens of this country continue to allow the two major parties to dictate who will run for the presidency, not to mention the other national offices. (The state offices do not suffer quite so much from this syndrome, but are not entirely immune at the governor / lieutenant governor level.) It really is insane. The two major parties seem Hell-bent on destroying this country, while we the citizens sit by like a bunch of cattle, docilely munching our cud, waiting to be led off to the slaughter house.

Why, you may wonder, do I hold such a low opinion of the Democrat and Republican parties? Simple. Over my lifetime, those two parties have lost sight of who the enemy is. They each think that the other party is the enemy. They seem to forget that we are ALL Americans and that the real enemy has no convention, casts no votes, and could care less about gay marriage, evolution taught in the schools, whether it is allowable to display the Ten Commandments on government property, whether abortion should be illegal, the war on drugs, Islamic extremists, China, North Korea, Iran, the World Bank, illegal immigrants, the “liberal press”, Fox News, or even the Illuminati. None of these fear inducing “enemies”, cited so frequently by the spin-masters employed by both parties, is the real enemy. There is only one real enemy. Franklin Delano Roosevelt identified that enemy with the simple and eloquent phrase “…the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” At least, that is the way that it is most usually quoted, but allow me to place that quote in both historical and literary context. The source of this quote is Roosevelt’s first inaugural address in 1933. A good case can be made that 1933, the ground zero year of the Great Depression, marked the gravest threat to our nation that has ever come to pass. In the midst of those dark and pessimistic times, FDR took office and delivered the speech that has ever after been considered by many as one of the greatest feats of oratory ever delivered by an American president. Here is an excerpt from that speech placing the above quote in its broader literary context:

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.

Now, before I dissect these words, let me lay down a disclaimer. I am not now, and never will be, a proponent of big government. I have very strong objections to many of the “New Deal” programs championed by FDR. But, as much as I may disagree with his approach to “stimulating the economy”, I nonetheless agree with every word in the above quote. Let me specifically direct your attention to the last sentence, and most specifically to his mentioning a “leadership of frankness and vigor” and the “support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.” There it is. FDR has identified both the enemy, fear, and the key to victory.

But if fear is the enemy and frank and vigorous leadership supported by the people is the key to victory, then what does that say about the current state of our union? What does it say when our “leaders” rarely, if ever, display “a leadership of frankness” and in fact, often do precisely the opposite?!? And not only do we suffer from a lack of frankness and honesty, but those in power in both parties avoid addressing the real issues by engendering fear and division among the citizens of this country with blatant disregard to the fact that the more divided we become, the greater the peril we find ourselves facing. This is a state of affairs so blighted and poisonous to the health of our nation that I personally regard the actions of our “leaders” – and by leaders I am referring not to the actual elected officials, but to the real power behind the parties, the ones that run our parties and have bought our government – as acts of treason far surpassing the actions of any spy that ever worked for a foreign power. It’s time the citizens of this country awoke to the perils of our current situation. We are under attack! An attack on a scale against which Pearl Harbor dims by comparison! (Don’t get me wrong. Pearl Harbor was a villainous and cowardly act of evil. I do not mean to diminish it, but rather mean to defend the nation whose very heart and soul was torn by it.)

Make no mistake about it. The biggest single threat to the future of the United States is the fear being wielded against her by her own political parties. This nation used to stand united around the common belief that individual liberty was sacred and that any among us who would support attempts to pass laws that eroded that liberty were no less than enemies of the state. But over time, fear was used to manipulate the minds of our citizens so that, little by little, they handed over their sacred rights for nothing more than the illusion of security. This process has continued for so long that we have all but abandoned the notion of individual responsibility. Fear has been the venom used to poison the minds of the American people, convincing them that the answer to all their problems is to simply give the government an ever increasing amount of power. After all, they only want to help. We can trust them. Right?

So how have they engendered this fear? Simple. Have you ever noticed that whenever politicians want to control something, they almost always find a way to make that something a “danger” to our children, even when there is practically no hard evidence to support their claims? Funny that. Even funnier yet is the fact that “we the people” fall for it every time. How pathetic.

Time and again fear has been used to increase the power of government at the expense of the individual liberties granted to the citizens by our constitution. Just look at the record. Fear was used to create the Federal Income Tax, a “temporary measure” that somehow morphed into a permanent fixture. Fear was used to create Social Security, the War on Drugs (one of the biggest boondoggles that ever existed), the invasion of Iraq under the guise of the “War on Terror”, the Patriot Act, and the TSA. The saddest truth about the above list of boondoggles sold by fear is that many of you reading this have so bought the “company line” used to convince you of your need for these things that you probably can’t understand why I would even mention them in any sort of negative context. If you fall into this category, please read my future political posts as I will explore the proper role of government and then reflect on the items in this list in detail. You, of course, may not agree with my assessments, but I hope you will at least keep an open mind and give my ideas a chance.

It is time we identified the enemy and stopped letting it win. It is time we rose up and confronted fear. It is time we stopped letting the will of the few control the destiny of the many, for that is what truly endangers our children. I sincerely believe that the greatest danger to our children is that we will sell out their civil liberties before they get a chance to voice an opinion. I hope that we the people can find the courage and wisdom to prevent that from happening before it’s too late. After all, aren’t you ready to say goodbye to Twiddle Dee or Twiddle Dum?

The Root of the Problem

© Copyright 2012 by Joel R. Hall – All Rights Reserved

Up until now, I have chosen to remain silent concerning my political views. Knowing how divisive and emotionally charged this topic can become has led me to simply steer clear of it… up until now.

I simply can not remain silent any longer as I watch the political debate in this country grow ever increasingly bitter and partisan leading to our elected federal officials wasting their time squabbling in the most undignified manner over what amounts to the symptoms of a grave disease eating away at our nation while steadfastly avoiding even a hint of addressing the root cause of the disease itself. Washington politicians would have you believe that the pressing issues facing our nation are:

• the budget / national debt
• abortion
• “defending marriage”
• immigration
• the war on drugs
• the war on terrorism
• health care
• energy
• global climate (It’s a stretch to add this to the list)

Don’t get me wrong. These issues are important and do need to be dealt with, but the deeper problem is much more fundamental, and as long as the deeper problem persists, we will never be able to effectively deal with any of the listed issues. It is this deeper problem that results in a government that actually thrives on perpetuating problems instead of solving them. Our current system actually encourages politicians to muddy the waters, by posturing and grandstanding or by using scare tactics concerning the “ill advised” stance of opponents, in order to hide the fact that the majority of legislation is written, not to promote the good of the common citizen, but rather to protect the economic interests of the most wealthy among us and most especially the wealthiest corporations and industries.

Rarely do you see any debate about the questionable role of political action committees, rampant lobbying, or other organizations that use money to buy influence. Even more rarely do you see any debate about the fundamental role of government or the erosion of our liberties. Most rare of all do you see anyone exhibiting the characteristics of a true leader.

I submit to you that our founding fathers would be appalled at the current state of our federal government. Indeed, many of them are probably spinning in their graves at this very moment. (There is even a joke circulating attributing the autumn 2011 east coast quake to this violent spinning.)

Why is it that no one points out the obvious: the reason there are so many problems and so few solutions coming out of our Federal Government is that the Federal Government is our problem. While many would nod in agreement with this statement, I must make it clear that the intended scope of culprits included under the term “Federal Government” in this statement is not limited to elected officials, appointees, bureaucrats, and civil servants. While these are all certainly included, there is a much larger group that must needs be included as well: the citizens. This is necessary since, under our form of government, the ultimate power of the Federal Government rests solely with the citizens. Harry Truman was wrong. The buck does not stop in the oval office. The buck only stops among the American Citizens that are responsible for not only electing our leaders, but are also responsible for holding those leaders accountable for their actions. So the ultimate blame for the current mess in Washington must be laid wholly at the feet of the entire citizenry.

We only get the government we insist on, and Americans have been sorely lacking in this duty for a long time. This is actually to be expected. Humans have a strong inclination for narrow self interest so that any issue that does not directly and immediately affect an individual will typically be ignored by that individual. This is a mentality that tends to view decisions made at the federal level as involving issues too complex or too distant for the average citizen to even hope to understand, and should, therefore, be left to our “leaders” in Washington. After all, isn’t that what we “pay” them for?

I’m not stating this based on suppositions either. Over my life, I have heard that comment from many different citizens coming from the full range of socioeconomic, cultural, and philosophic backgrounds. This mentality can best be summed up with a statement made to me years ago by a friend: “I don’t have time to keep track of the issues in Washington. It’s everything I can do to simply take care of my own life. That’s why we send those guys to Washington. They take care of the big stuff, so we can take care of ourselves.”

I understand where he was coming from with this statement. Life does have a tendency to feel like a whirlwind blowing us around like leaves. I get it. There is a reason we elect representatives. In fact, his statement is somewhat true. That is why we send them to Washington. The problem with this view of the role of government is that it fails to account for the roles and responsibilities of the citizens intended by the framers of our constitution. They knew that the only way to safeguard the citizens from the abuse of power on the part of the government was to endow the people with the responsibility to hold elected official responsible for their decisions. The problem with this is that the only way we the people can fulfill this responsibility is if we care enough about the issues facing our nation to keep ourselves educated about those issues. Therein is the problem. That simply is not happening in this country.

In the immortal words of Walt Kelly’s cartoon protagonist, Pogo, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” We do indeed have the government we deserve. We have allowed our government to overstep the bounds established by our constitution, resulting in an ever tightening restriction of our civil liberties. We have allowed our government to engage in fiscal policy that flies in the face of even the most basic principles of economics. We have failed to reevaluate long standing laws and policies based upon cultural biases existing hundreds of years in the past. We have failed to reevaluate the “business as usual” mentality of the two major political parties. We have allowed our elected officials to enact policies placing themselves into a position where unethical influence is the norm instead of the exception. We have behaved like the proverbial frog that, upon being placed in a pot of cool water over low heat, ends up boiled as the temperature of the water slowly increases.

I, for one, am ready to jump out of the pot. This is our country. This is our government. It’s high time that we the people woke up. It’s high time that we took up our proper role, so long neglected, as the watchdog of our elected officials. More, I believe it is high time that we the people reexamined every single aspect of our government from top to bottom, stem to stern. It’s time to stop trying to treat the symptoms of our nation’s disease, and, instead, address the actual illness. The time is now. Any further delay and we may indeed end up as one big boiled frog.

With this in mind, I am going to write a series of posts on this blog discussing my views on what I believe must be done to reinvent our government. I don’t expect everyone to agree with my opinions. In fact, I suspect some of my readers may find themselves in violent disagreement with my views. Be that as it may, my goal is to provoke thought and discussion, so please feel free to comment, but understand that I will not tolerate rudeness or personal attacks. Please attempt to put your emotions aside and speak to the issues at hand in as logical and objective manner as possible. Any comment that I deem as being rude or which does not address the issue raised in the blog post will be blocked or deleted.

As a warning, let me say in advance that no topic concerning government is off limits. I will specifically address topics that have not been actively debated in this country in many, many years. I do not believe in sacred cow issues. Instead, I believe in examining every aspect of government in the light of what we may have learned in the two hundred thirty plus yeas since our founding fathers drafted the constitution. So buckle your seat belts and get ready for a wild ride.

© Copyright 2012 by Joel R. Hall – All Rights Reserved

Revelations of a Glory Passing – Chapter 11

© Copyright 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 by Joel R. Hall – All Rights Reserved

Micro vs Macro – The Importance of Perspective

Before I continue, let me address a few corollary questions raised by what I have related in the previous chapters. If I am going to claim that these revelations provide a means to unify the creation account found in Genesis one and two with the current scientific theories concerning the origins of the universe and man, then I must acknowledge that, despite the answers provided by my Revelations, there are still some apparent discrepancies and gaps regarding the specific sequence in which lifeforms appeared between the two accounts.

One of these discrepancies has to do with the way Genesis accounts for the creation of plants. The account reads:

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. (Genesis 9-13, NIV)

As you can see, this account places the creation of all trees and vegetation immediately after dry land appears on Earth. On day four of creation, the text describes the appearance of the Sun and the Moon in the sky, and then goes on to describe how on day five, God commands, “Let the water team with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” (Genesis 20, NIV)

The problem with this description is that it appears to disagree with the accepted sequence documented in the fossil record. The fossil record is clear in showing that life in the sea began very early in the history of our planet, well before land plants appeared. While this may appear to directly contradict the text of Genesis, I would maintain that there is no contradiction based upon my experience in watching a portion of the scene as seen by Moishe. The occurrence of contradiction is almost certainly due to the perspective of Moishe while observing the creation passing before him from his position in the cleft of the rock. From his perspective, created things could only be observed at the macro level, whereas the fossil record is studied at the micro level. From the macro point of view, there would be no observable life in the ocean before the time when plants appeared on the earth. Consequently, Genesis accurately reports the sequence from the macro level.

The passage from Genesis 20 also contains a reference to birds flying across the vault of the sky at a point in the account before the mention of land animals. Once again, this does not appear to match the fossil record. However, this apparent contradiction may well be due to an issue of translation from the original Hebrew. In his book, ” The Science of God”, Gerald Schroeder explains that the Hebrew word translated as “birds” can more literally be translated as “winged creatures”, and may refer to the appearance of flying insects which would match the fossil record. While I cannot confirm this absolutely, the impression I got while watching the very accelerated snippets of the creation Glory would certainly not exclude this interpretation.

Another question that can reasonably be asked concerning the creation narrative of Genesis, is why is there no mention of the dinosaurs? This question is more difficult to answer as I was only shown a scattering of snippets from the seven day observation. I personally did not witness any scene containing dinosaurs, but that certainly does not mean that they were not present in the entire scene as viewed by Moishe. I simply don’t know. However, my suspicion is that Moishe did indeed observe dinosaurs, but either did not consider them worth mentioning since he did not recognize them, or he failed to mention them because he did not have words to describe them. Another possibility is that the text does contain a reference to them using words that have been translated to mean animals existent in the time of Moishe. Whatever the reason, the failure to mention dinosaurs does not in any way represent a failing on the part of the description of creation found in Genesis.

This chapter is not an attempt to make excuses for what some see as deficiencies in the creation account of Genesis, but is rather an attempt to clarify the perspective of the narrator so that the narration not only makes sense literally but also scientifically.

Read next chapter

Relationships – Part II

© Copyright 2006, 2011 by Joel R. Hall – All Rights Reserved

This is a follow on to Relationships – Part I.

This is another entry inspired by an email conversation with someone. (Wouldn’t you LOVE to know who? Bwahaha. I’ll never tell.)

One of the most common maladies experienced by people that are trying to start up a relationship with someone they are interested in, is a tendency to either clam up or to suffer a chatter splatter. This rather embarrassing behavior usually results in the person of interest expressing a sudden need to leave for some unforeseen, totally lame emergency (That was my mom on the phone. I gotta rush home. My goldfish is sick) while reassuring you that they “had a wonderful time…we’ll have to do it again some time real soon…I’ll call.”

This is followed immediately by the self doubts and questions: “Why, oh why, do I DO that?”; “What is WRONG with me?”; “I’m SO stupid!!!”; etc ad nauseum. So, let’s examine this behavior. What IS wrong with you? Nothing. Are you stupid? No…at least this is not a symptom of stupidity. Then WHY DO YOU DO THAT? That’s THE big question, and I’ll try to supply some insight into a possible answer, but first, let me set the record straight about my goal in addressing this behavior: even if I could, I WOULDN’T TRY TO FIX THIS BEHAVIOR IN YOU. Why, you may ask? Simple: you’re not broken. This is simply a part of you: a necessary part for your journey in life.

Now that I’ve established that, I will say this much to help you understand WHY YOU DO THAT. You do it because you feel things VERY strongly and you are afraid of getting hurt. The more you care about someone, the harder it is to relax and just be yourself when you are around them until you are confident that they feel the same way about you. You don’t have to worry, though. That’s actually a good thing. It’s like a built in litmus test for finding the right partner. You’ll know you MAY have found the right person when that special someone smiles at you after you have just put on your best worst show and tells you how glad they are that God created you “just that way”. When that happens, you know you’ve met someone that is able to look deep, past the surface jumble of nerves, to the inner you. Don’t get me wrong. This is not a SURE FIRE signal that you are DESTINED to marry this person. It simply means that you should at least give this person strong consideration as a candidate.

As for now, I know none of you want to hear it, but the truth is that there really is no rush. Enjoy this present leg of life’s journey. Just because you are headed to the mountains doesn’t mean that you should ignore the beauty of the dessert as you pass through. Each step of the journey has it’s own unique and special value. Be careful not to miss a single thing by straining too much toward the horizon.

To be honest with you, I think one of the greatest treasures in the current leg of life’s journey for most of you is the priceless gift of wonderful friends. I see the strong bonds so many of you share and it makes me smile – no, smile is not big enough – it makes me laugh with utter joy. Friendships like that don’t come along very often. Savor each second that you spend with your good friends this year, because, like all living things, friendships grow and evolve and if not properly tended to, can even die. I pray that will never happen for any of you. I do believe the world would grow a shade darker if it did. But nothing stays the same. You graduate. You move on. You can remain friends, but odds are you will always look back on this year, this season of your life, as one of the best times of your life. So, stop worrying about what you don’t have (boy/girl friend) and start enjoying the wonderful thing you do have: true friends.

Shalom

P.s. If you are currently in a dating relationship, the gist of this blog still applies to you: don’t be in a hurry. In fact, this probably is even more relevant to you than to your “single” friends.

© Copyright 2006, 2011 by Joel R. Hall – All Rights Reserved

Dropped Stones

© Copyright 2011 by Joel R. Hall – All Rights Reserved

See the dropped stones?

They came with stones in their hands…
They were ready.
He could see the anticipation in their eyes.
They were excited!

She lay naked on the ground before Him…
Just a blanket wrapped loosely around her
Thrown on as they dragged her from the bed of her lover!
She was humiliated and scared.

He did not stare at her…
All the others did, but not Him.
He simply lowered His eyes as he drew in the sand.
He was calm.

They demanded a judgement…
He returned the demand upon them
By asking them to judge themselves first.
They dropped their stones.

He set her free…

I was humiliated and scared..
A judgement was demanded.
He took the stone intended for me.
I dropped my stones.

He set me free too.
I love Him for that.
I love Him with all my heart.

See the dropped stones?
Which ones are yours?

© Copyright 2011 by Joel R. Hall – All Rights Reserved

The Power of Authenticity

© Copyright 2011 by Joel R. Hall – All Rights Reserved

I recently read an excellent article on The Huffington Post by Akoshia Yoba entitled “She’s Always Watching: The Impact of Fathers on Daughters’ Self Esteem“. I highly recommend taking the time to read it as she sheds some keen insight onto the topic of a father’s role in forming the body image of his daughters. While her comments in this arena are dead on and should be heeded by every father (and mother for that matter), it was her comments concerning the effects a parent’s infidelity has on children that I found most powerful. My only complaint is that the article did not explore this topic deeply enough.

Coming from a home where I saw the effects of this first hand, I speak with the authority of both a witness and a victim. Additionally, the devastating effects this had on my mother, my siblings, and me, led me to research this topic in far more depth than the average person. So much so, I could write an entire book about the topic, but it’s already been done. Just open your Bible and read about the effect David’s infidelity had upon his children, and their children, etc. Infidelity has devastating effects, not only upon the spouse, but upon the children of that union. Speaking as one that has been there, let me put this very plainly: when you cheat, you aren’t just cheating on your marriage, you are cheating on your family. Further, if you were married in a Christian ceremony, then you are rebelling against God before whom you swore to be faithful.

But this article is not intended to focus on marital fidelity. It’s intended to focus on the more general question of spiritual fidelity. Spiritual fidelity is defined as living your beliefs so completely that you need never speak them out loud for a person familiar with you to know what they are. This is often referred to in the church as being “authentic”. I like that word. It is the opposite of phony. Phony is another word for hypocrite. In this context, authenticity is defined as consistency in word and deed. I have more respect for an atheist that lives his disbelief in God then I do for the most passionate preacher of the Gospel that does not live according to his teachings.

Consistency, or authenticity, matters. Nothing reveals your heart so truly. Living a lie, a.k.a. being phony, strips you of all moral authority, and when it comes to children, it is practically impossible to live a lie without them knowing it. And what is worse, nothing devastates them quite so completely.

As a parent, your children look to you for answers to the deep questions of their hearts: “Why am I here?”, “What is true?”, “Am I important?”, “Am I loved?”, etc. They are a reflection of you to some degree and feel a connection with you that no one else can ever hold so completely. Consequently, your opinions of them aren’t just important – they are EVERYTHING, and nothing reveals your opinions so certainly as your actions.

They watch everything you say and do. Nothing is entirely hidden from them. They may not know the details of all your secrets, but they will certainly know if you have secrets. If they are the apple of your eye and the delight of your heart, they will know it and they will be filled with a deep sense of security and strength. On the other hand, if you are more focused on other things – fame, fortune, addictions – they will know it and will be filled with a deep sense of insecurity and fear and possibly even resentment or anger.

If you feel unhappy in your marriage, they not only will know it, but they will personalize it. You can tell them all you want that it is not about them, but the truth is that it IS about them. Everything in your life is about them, and nothing is more about them than your feelings toward their other parent. The reason for this is simple: they are a product of you and your spouse. Children are the physical manifestation of Genesis 2:24, which reads, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” One flesh. Our children are that one flesh, and just as our children represent a blend of our fleshly traits, they also represent a blend of our personality traits, consequently, for one spouse to reject the other feels to the child as if a part of their own person is being rejected. Obviously, this is an oversimplification of the situation, but it is not completely without merit. How do you think a  child feels when one parent criticizes something about the other parent that the child has in common with that parent?

Again, I am not trying to focus on marital fidelity, but when it comes to authenticity in our walk with Christ, few things test us quite so completely as marriage. Marriage is difficult. It requires a level of sacrificial love beyond every other relationship known. Marriage is not a 50/50 proposition. It is a 100/100 proposition. It requires love even when love is not felt. It requires a willingness to examine your own selfishness and seek to allow the Spirit to destroy those strongholds of self that lead you down paths of destructive behavior. And we all have such strongholds.

The Creator calls us to be conformed to Christ, therefore authenticity entails the willingness to die to self, taking on the image of Christ. This is not easy. Our flesh rebels against this. Our minds excel in finding excuses for our selfishness and sin. Unfortunately, we can not have it both ways. We can not claim Christ as savior, while refusing Him the rightful role of Lord. If we are to be authentic, we must lay down our “rights” at the foot of the cross and surrender completely, unabashedly to Him. It is only in surrendering that we begin to take up the power of authenticity.

Few things in human experience are as powerful as encountering an authentic Christian. When Christ reins in the heart of a believer, there is an obvious congruity between every action and word. This aura of congruity has the effect of engendering a sense of trust in others. When an authentic person says something, you simply know they mean it. You know they are as good as their word. They are trustworthy.

You also know them by their kindness. An authentic Christian serves others humbly and constantly. They are generous, patient, sincere, and compassionate. They are, in short, becoming conformed to the image of Christ.

When it comes to moral authority, they have it in spades. If you see your parent constantly seeking to please God and see that effort resulting in an abiding peace and joy, it changes how you view morality. You realize that morality is not a set of rules to be blindly obeyed in an effort to please God, but instead, morality is the result of living an authentic walk with Christ which transforms you into a loving, Christlike being. This is the only effective way to live a “good” life, for only in the Spirit do we grow into a new creation that has a “good” nature which, over our lifetime, destroys and replaces the sinful nature of our birth.

One of the earmarks of an authentic walk is a humble heart, willing and able to confess the ongoing struggles of the fleshly nature as it fights the work of the Spirit. In a family setting, this means that parents have to be totally honest with their children even to the point of humbly apologizing when they make mistakes in regard to them. This builds respect, since respect is a two way street. I have to be willing to respect my child if I wish for respect in return. Similarly, parents must show respect to one another. In fact, an authentic Christian must show loving respect to everyone. The moment we disrespect another, we cease to conform to Christ.

The source of moral authority is authenticity. Do as I say and not as I do simply does not work. Simply trying to be good on your own power does not work either, since we are all born with a sinful nature. Only in earnestly seeking a relationship with Him do we have any hope of ever being transformed into the Christlike being we were intended to be from the beginning. Only then do we fulfill our purpose. Only then are we authentic, and only then will others want what we have which will automatically steer them away from the ways of the world.

Shalom.

© Copyright 2011 by Joel R. Hall – All Rights Reserved