As I was posting my last blog entry, I caught sight on what I'd written in my sidebar:
One thing I know...
In the end, the very end, Jesus wins.
He's the Victor.
And His grip on me is way, way stronger and more sure than my grip on Him.
In the end, He wins. And His victory will be final and everlasting and good and righteous and just and merciful. My hope is that, because of His grace and His grace alone, I will be there to celebrate that final victory. That is real hope. And, on that glorious day, we will all be changed...in the twinkling of an eye.
And I...even I...shall be utterly and forever transformed by His presence.
May Jesus, tonight and at this very moment, work His transforming power in my life. May my hope rest in Him and in Him alone. May what breaks His heart break mine.
To share in His sufferings...even though the thought frightens me...
To be found in Him...
To be like Him...
To be obedient, even unto death...
Thank God that His grip on me is so much stronger than my weak and feeble grip on Him.
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Just in case I have one pro-Obama reader left, please read the potential consequences of voting him into office: Side Effect of FOCA. Remember that Obama has promised that his first priority as President will be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act. Make sure you are comfortable, before voting for him, with all that this entails.
I know. I know. Obama supporters have told me that FOCA "will not mean that many more abortions", and they seem untroubled by the thought of more infants dying in the womb. But I'm not ready to see the demise of Catholic hospitals, and I hope this would matter even to those who are pro-choice. One of my sons owes his life to the grace of God and the wonderful staff of a Catholic hospital. I know of towns whose only hospitals are Catholic. I don't think Obama, persuasive as he may be, will be able to convince the Pope and the Catholic Church that it is their duty to provide abortions as a fundamental right that cannot be infringed.
If you truly care for the poor, many of whom rely on Catholic hospitals and charities, please do not elect a president who is so adamant about making FOCA the law of our land. Even if you are anti-Catholic to an extreme, and welcome this as a blow against the Catholic Church, please put aside your own prejudices for the sake of the weak, the poor, the sick, and those without a voice.
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One of the somewhat odd side effects of training in the martial arts is that I started watching movies and TV shows I would have previously avoided. So it was that "Walker, Texas Ranger" became regular fare for my husband and me, despite the fact that I thought Chuck Norris wasn't much of an actor, and I found the plots repetitive and predictable. But the good guys were good, and the bad guys were very bad, and my instructor was known to call people in the middle of the show and quiz them along the lines of, "Did you see what Chuck Norris did to that guy? Do you think he stole that technique from us?" To which I was always tempted to reply, "He certainly didn't steal the put-away-your-gun-so-you-can-do-a-jumping-spinning-flying-kick technique from us."
But I digress.
I have yet more connections with Chuck Norris, besides watching his TV show and having an instructor who has met him on more than one occasion:
1. Once upon a time, while working a summer job at a car dealership, I saw Chuck Norris walk away from the cashier's window on the way to pick up the car he had just had serviced.
2. Chuck Norris and I shared a pastor. Of course, Chuck Norris knew Pastor Kuester quite a number of years before I did, and I had no idea of this connection until I read Against All Odds.
3. We're both martial artists.
So, we're practically best buds. Despite that, I hardly keep up with what he says and writes. So someone else had to draw the following to my attention: "I'm Voting for Those Not Yet Born".
Whether or not you're a Chuck Norris fan, you should read the article. There's a lot more to Mr. Norris than just punching and kicking. A lot more.
This post, along with my entire blog, is copyrighted. Please read and honor the copyright notice at the bottom of the sidebar. Thank you.
For any stray visitors who may have stumbled across my blog: I am not Roman Catholic. There is much with Roman Catholicism and its theology that I find problematic. But there is much that I believe, despite its flaws, the Catholic Church has gotten right.
I am old enough to remember the Roe v. Wade decision, and to remember the deafening silence, apathy, and ignorance within Protestantism. I am old enough to remember going to pro-life events and having my Catholic brothers and sisters greet me warmly, sometimes tearfully, and say, "We have praying for years that Protestants would finally join us in concern for the sanctity of life."
I remember Catholic acquaintances who were shocked when I was happy about my third pregnancy. One blurted out, "But I didn't think Protestants liked children!" She went on to say, "It's really difficult to get Protestants interested in pro-life issues and, besides, most of you don't even allow children and babies in your church services. Plus, you're the first Protestant I've ever met who wanted more than one or two kids."
Our actions --- and lack of actions --- and our silence have spoken volumes. No matter how opposed to Catholicism you might be, I would urge you to set aside those differences, if you are a follower of Jesus, and prayerfully consider what part of the following message might apply to you:
Yesterday I received an email containing a link to The Judeo-Christian View. Some of what they write might seem alarmist, disturbing, and a bit over the top. But please do not discount it out of hand. Read it prayerfully:
Our nation faces a fork, a divergence between the high road and the low road -- and you and your congregation could very well determine the direction we take. The high road upholds America's peaceful tradition of Judeo-Christian tolerance and morality. The low road marches us toward militant secular-paganism, militant Islam, or both.
The high road upholds traditional marriage between one man and one woman, and the sanctity of innocent human life that springs from such unions. The low road favors homosexual "marriage" and child sacrifice (we're not referring to familiar abortion here – see below).
The high road upholds the rights of pastors, priests and rabbis to "speak truth to power" in the tradition of Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, (and for Christians) John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Stephen and Jesus. The low road would officially censor the Judeo-Christian view from the public square.
There are those who accuse people who speak out against Obama of fear-mongering. I will agree: there is some of that. There is also fear-mongering among those who become somewhat hysterical at the thought of another four years of a Republican in the White House. But that doesn't mean that there is no cause for fear, or that we should plug our eyes and ears and refuse to think about the fact that Obama stands for much that we, as followers of Jesus, should oppose.
Some of us are accused of being ignorant and narrow-minded one-issue voters. We are told that the abortion issue doesn't really matter as much as we claim. We are told not to worry about the fact that Obama has publicly promised that, as his very first act as President, he will sign the Freedom of Choice Act. We are told, as if this will assure us, that this will not result in that many more abortions. We are also told that same-sex marriage is not that big of a deal either. After all, does it really impact, in a negative way, our own marriage? If not, what's the big fuss?
What really matters is the economy, and Obama's plans to redistribute the wealth, and the fact that he talks about hope and change. And isn't hope oh so Christian? Isn't that what really matters?
My grandfather was a bold voice in a time when many thought he was alarmist, over the top, concerned about peripheral issues rather than about a nation's economic survival. People thought he was a fear-mongerer when he attempted to warn them. They saw no danger. They saw only hope...and change. Eloquent words, which my grandfather did not possess, persuaded them. Some...way too many... paid with their lives. They thought they were safe. They were not.
We may be safe. Today. We may feel completely unthreatened. We have grown callous to the abortion issue. We have watched so many movies and TV programs, and perhaps even laughed along with Will and Grace, that we are jaded about homosexual unions, just as we are jaded about adultery and pornography and pre-marital sex. We don't see how far our nation has drifted away from what is right and decent. We don't even see how far we ourselves have drifted away. Do we have the mind of Christ? Are we truly concerned about the least of these? Do we even care about rescuing those who are being led away to slaughter? Has holiness become just a religious word to us?
There is no candidate that I can enthusiastically support in this race. But there is one who stands, openly and unashamedly, for things that I simply cannot accept. I fear --- and I believe there is good reason for fear --- that the change that Obama will bring is not a change that the followers of Jesus should find acceptable or pleasing. But it may be the change we, as a sleeping and disobedient Church, fully deserve. May God have mercy.
Please pray. My daughter is planning to join with many others, in California and across the country, to intercede earnestly on behalf of our nation. She has been fasting and praying. Some may just think this is just youthful zeal. Please do not despise it. Please pray for some of that zeal for yourself.
My father has been praying that God might show us mercy...yet again. Mercy is, by definition, undeserved. Please join him in that prayer.
Pray that we might all be awakened, that the change and hope we seek may come from Christ, rather than from those who oppose His Words, and that God might make our hearts tender towards Him and towards the least among us.
May God have mercy.
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Has it already been six years since that morning when a phone call from my mother prompted me to turn on the news, since that morning when everything stopped as we watched, riveted...horrified...?
I remember the shock.
I remember the fear: for my country most of all, but also the fear that many of us mothers of teenage boys felt on that day --- or any day when war threatens.
In the days, weeks, and months that followed, I was surprised at the intensity of my feelings of patriotism and sense of solidarity with my fellow Americans. As someone who was raised bi-cultural and who often felt out of step with other Americans, this was a new awakening for me.
I remember driving "down south" (southern California) on a weekend soon after September 11 and seeing people with American flags on just about every freeway overpass. I had never experienced anything like this.
I remember praying, as I have often done before, that my mother would be spared having to experience another war raging around her home.
and you and your congregation could very well determine the direction we take. The high road upholds America's peaceful tradition of Judeo-Christian tolerance and morality. The low road marches us toward militant secular-paganism, militant Islam, or both.