5/19/2019
The SIMH has been missing. Not missing in my head, just missing being written about. Today it is “Into the Heart of Jesus—deeper and deeper I go, seeking to know why he loved me so,” a beautiful song by Oswald Smith in 1915. This song was a favorite of the pastor’s wife in the first church we joined right after I was saved in 1964. She (Virginia) was our choir director and was so very fond of this beautiful song. If she is still living today, she would be about 93-94. I’d bet she can still remember the words to this song if she’s alive. Thanks, Oswald and Virginia for the influence on a newly saved man who was so naive about so many things. The love of Jesus sustains me still.
When we place ourselves in certain situations involving possible risks to life and limb, etc., does this mean we shouldn’t ask for prayer for these occasions? I don’t know. I don’t mean to diminish the effect of prayer on, to, for, or about anything or anyone, but sometimes I think, “what if I just don’t pray—is something bad going to happen? Will the bad thing, then, be considered my fault?” Is that a sin of “omission,” which could have been avoided? How shall our Lord, who said “time and chance happeneth to us all,” how shall He account this sort of thing? With the difficulty in having the answers to this questions, I see no alternative but to pray in the manner of Phi.4:4-7: Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Summation: worry about nothing, ask God for anything, thank God for everything! Doesn’t that sound easy?
I’m sometimes appalled by what I see or hear in public in regard to 1.) what people wear in public, and 2.) for their disregard to what other people hear coming from their mouths. About what they wear in the view of 99.9 % of strangers and only .1% people they know, it seems a complete and utter failure of understanding the presentation of themselves. Each of us has a responsibility to look (at the least) presentable. Yes, there are a lot of jokes about what one might see people wearing in Walmart, but unfortunately it bleeds over into general public dress.
Two days ago, I saw a 20-something male good-looking young man wearing a dirty T-shirt and a pair of some kind of short pants, with, thankfully some sort of shorts on under the pants. The elastic waistband of the short pants was just above his knees….What?! What was he trying to say about who he was? Can this be acceptable to 99.9% of the people who walk up to or along side of this young man? Or seeing a woman, a bit to a lot overweight wear her pajamas and flip-flops and apparently nothing else into a public place with her two little girls 3-5 years old with her! What would that say to those girls? Is there no regard to what is being taught?
Secondly, how the general public talks? As I write this, I’m sitting in a Starbucks and I have to listen to one mother explain to another mother wha is wrong with the kindergarten system (at what school, no one knows), but her voice is so loud and insistent that I nor the other 8-10 people can avoid knowing more than we need to know about her and her friend’s problems with people not here nor in the discussion. Besides that, I once was forced to listen to the early morning banter between two male wait-staff in a restaurant, gloating about their Saturday night prowess! Someone should have taught them “discretion is the better part of valor.” Why would this be acceptable for the public?
…And these two examples are just a tip of the iceberg as to what’s wrong with American society—please notice I didn’t even have to get to weightier subjects to rant. I could have talked about the evil of abortion (have you seen the 9 year old confront his city counsel?), or ridiculous mandatory vaccine laws being written, or the fantom threat of all the world being destroyed in 12 years by our wastrel attitudes, or the refusal to examine the border crisis for what it is. But all I talked about was appearances and vocabulary.
Thanks for reading, the Elder
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