Society's Gray Morality

A while ago I was invited to participate in an informal survey on marriage. The basic purpose was to determine if marriage was becoming or had become obsolete, particularly as it relates to health care and social security benefits.

I find surveys in determining issues of morality intriguing. When we formulate moral standards based upon the opinion of society’s simple majority we leave ourselves at the mercy of that majority and their ever changing whim. For example, euthanasia may be rejected by the majority today as cruel but in five years it may be accepted as merciful to the individual who is terminally ill. In ten years it may be accepted as merciful to the individual who is a stroke victim and in fifteen years accepted as merciful to the individual living in depression. In twenty years it may be required as merciful to the society at large to euthanize all people who are over 83 for economic survival. In twenty-five years it may also be required of all who are downs, have cerebral palsy, MS or cancer as merciful to the world to avoid economic drain and produce a stronger, healthier humanity.

Economics, societal norms, preferences, prejudices, comfort, personal gain can all play a factor in the shaping of the opinions of a society in determining what is morally acceptable or unacceptable at any given time. In the end we come up with a very unsure, uncertain and unclear gray morality. I would prefer we make moral decisions based upon a moral code, moral law, moral truth that supersedes public opinion and is unchanging and absolute. (Granted this moral law can be misinterpreted, misconstrued and misused but does not diminish the viability of its truth.)

For me personally, I believe marriage is a God-given institution that is timeless and therefore incapable of becoming obsolete regardless of economic, social or personal factors. Far from being a tyrant I think God gave marriage as a beautiful gift and only within the marriage vow do we fully find the partnership, purpose, sexuality, procreation and dreams for which our hearts long.

And for you who have a philosophical bent here’s a thought from Francis Schaeffer:

"Why has our society changed? The answer is clear -- the consensus of our society no longer rests upon a Christian basis, but upon a humanistic one…Humanism is man putting himself at the center of all things, rather than the creator God. The humanists push for ‘freedom,’ but having no Christian consensus to contain it, that ‘freedom’ leads to chaos or to slavery under the state (or under an elite). Humanism, with its lack of any final base for values or law, always leads to chaos. It then naturally leads to some form of authoritarianism to control the chaos. Having produced the sickness, humanism gives more of the same kind of medicine for a cure. With its mistaken concept of final reality, it has no intrinsic reason to be interested in the individual, the human being. Its natural interest is the two collectives: the state and society.”

Mexico Revisited – A Photo Journal

My all time favorite photo of the Puebla Cathedral – taken in 2005

The strong character written in his face makes a compelling subject – it’s my “people need the Lord” shot

This takes the bread delivery business to a whole new level

I love the lighting on these xylophone players in Cuernavaca

This mesmerizing shot of Popo was unexpected but worth backtracking for the camera

The market experience was not your normal grocery stop

I wanted to capture the same fabulous shot my buddy Keith took at the San Francisco Convention Center but this multi-color shot had to do

Oh, here’s Keith hanging out with St. Francis of Assisi

Typical Mexican candies from “Sweet Street”

In honor of my dad who is a first rate mechanic

Outdoor cafés in winter are the bomb

Young girl stands before the beatitudes

Change Who?

For most of my adult life I have been a professional minister. It’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do. An opportunity to love Christ, study the Bible, tell others about Jesus were all simple and compelling reasons to pursue ministry vocationally. And so I did. I can’t imagine myself having done anything else.

While caring for souls is an honorable profession, danger looms for one’s own soul. For what begins as a pure motivation to help others can over time deteriorate into the mentality to fix others. As professional ministers it’s easy to see our “job” as evaluating a life and then…encouraging…helping…exhorting…fixing. All the while forgetting or at least ignoring that the most important changes need to be taking place in our own hearts.

“Lord, change Jim. Use me to show him his self centeredness and bitterness. His wife is suffering because of it, and it’s hurting the reputation of the church. Thank you, Lord, that I’m not like Jim. I read my Bible every day, take my wife on a date once a week and serve you faithfully.” Okay, maybe that is a reach, but somehow it has a familiar ring to it.

I've been thinking lately that my prayers for others might also include phrases like, “pour out Your grace in their life; bless them; may they live as Your beloved child; continue the work You have already began in them.” And those for myself, “control me; reveal my blind spots; transform me; change me.”

The Times of London once invited G.K. Chesterton (his writings influenced the conversion of C.S. Lewis) and other notable authors to write essays on the question, “What’s wrong with the world?” His response went right to the heart of the matter: Dear Sirs, I am. Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton. And in spirit of that response we have the answer to our own question, “Change who?” Change me.

American See Saw

The window is closing quickly for having first impressions of the USA. After eight months what seemed so vivid at the time is now dimming as we are immersed back into our home culture. What we saw in May seems almost normal now.

We saw a country of affluence and indulgence. We like things BIG - big screen TV’s, super-sized meals, big houses, wide aisles, overstuffed furniture, large portions, wide streets, big rooms, big trucks, big yards. Why in comparison we are even big people. I don’t think prosperity makes us an evil empire as some seem to want to paint us, but as indulgent consumers we sure could use a good dose of compassion for others and simplicity for ourselves.

We saw a divergence into designer spirituality that adheres to individualistic comfort and wishes. Any given conversation may reveal an atheist searching for universal intelligence through UFO’s…….a post-modern urbanite wiccan communicating with a spirit guide……..a “recovering” Christian practicing Yoga and transcendental meditation….a Native American blending ancestral beliefs and Buddhism. While all of these are far reaching, they are not farfetched. Relative truth is coming of age in America.

In Mexico one of the common concerns expressed was machismo. As defined it is a strong or exaggerated sense of masculinity stressing attributes such as physical courage, virility, domination of women, and aggressiveness. Machismo dictated a narrowly prescribed behavior for both men and women. Returning from that culture, we saw a mingling and confusion of sexual identity that stood out in stark contrast.

Here are three other quick observations: 1) We like to be comfortable and casual whether shopping, working or attending services 2) Christian information is readily available from conferences to books to radio stations to churches…makes me wonder how much our faith is market driven 3) We tend to politeness. Maybe we noticed that because of our Texas entry, where almost everyone is southernly polite.

That’s what we saw when we first returned to America. Just wondering if you see some of the same things we saw?

Significant Dates of 2010

I often wonder if these journals are more to bring some clarity to my thoughts and to have a written account, too. That is never more true than when posting about significant happenings in our previous year as we take a backward glance in the rearview mirror. But, oh well, here goes anyway.

January 1st – We were sitting in a cold (relatively speaking) airport in Mexico City waiting to send Daniel back with his grandparents to live. He came back to the worst snow winter in West Virginia history.

February 19th – It was a treat to travel with friends to Michoacán and see the “king” of butterflies, the Monarch. Amazingly these little dainty creatures can travel up to 2500 miles.

February 27th-28th – About as unlikely and refreshing as finding an ice cold root beer in the middle of the jungle was finding ice skating lessons in Mexico. These dates mark the culmination of their hard work with a competition in one of the local ice parks.

April 28th – Crossed the border from Mexico into the US after a 13 hour marathon that began at 3:30 a.m.

May 11th -12th – We arrived at the Grand Canyon to snow flurries, but the day broke clear allowing us to be inspired by its magnitude. The Colorado Rockies stood majestically before us the next day as we completed a two day extravaganza of natural wonders. These places make having a spirit of reverence for the Creator very easy.

May 20th – Driving back into our hometown for the first time in four years was a pretty surreal moment. Lots of memories came flooding back as West Virginia lived up to the state motto of “Wild & Wonderful.”

September 8th – Daniel begins school at Timberline Lodge in Fraser, Colorado. There are so many good things going on here for him that I cannot begin to recount them all. Suffice it to say we are encouraged and recommend Dan Thomas and the staff of Timberline.

October 2nd,8th,23rd – Autumn in Vermont, Autumn in Lancaster County, Autumn in the Smokies. It was so nice to see the colors of fall again.

December 31st – We met with long time friends to celebrate 2010 and to ring in the New Year. Now I’m working really hard to get this posted on 1/1/11. May the Lord’s grace and peace overflow your cup this coming year.