Old Adages

29 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by Seeking Peace in Life, politics, Uncategorized

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I’ve often heard (and probably guilty of saying) “they got what they deserved” when something bad happens to someone not well liked or looked down upon. Whatever bad thing happened to them…well, they deserved it.

I wonder if people ever say that about me.

I wonder if people say it about the United States.

I watch Donald and Ted and Marco digress into name calling while our country suffers and can’t help but wonder if we aren’t getting what we deserve. When shows like “The Real Housewives of Wherever” and a slew of other trashy, conflict-driven offerings continue to collect viewers is it any wonder we get the Theater of the Absurd from the people running to be the “leader” of our country?

I wish we had great debates about the needs of this country. Instead Donald calls Ted and Marco names and they fire right back…because too many people enjoy it. We wonder why we battle over #BlackLivesMatter and #CopsLivesMatter. We wonder why there are so many people living on the streets and so many others living in poverty who need health care. We wonder why there are so many problems with our country and then we see so many encouraging the junk we see on TV from people who want to “make America great again.” Really?

Sadly, it seems love and concern for our fellow man is quickly evaporating while I want a nicer car, bigger house and more of everything grows.

In a conversation about political correctness yesterday, one wise gentleman made the comment that our failure to know each other, to enter into meaningful relationships with people we don’t know or don’t agree with is the cause for political correctness and spending time with each other is what will eliminate it.

We have a country that is deeply divided in so many area and this is what we get for folks who want to be President. We may just be getting what we deserve.

Grace and peace.

Heart of Flesh?

26 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in Cain, Perry, politics

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I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned my earlier life’s fascination with politics, even a brief consideration of playing along, and my current complete and utter disdain for our political system and state of our government. Saturday night while trying to occupy my time to keep from watching the Rangers get slaughtered, I ran across this Rick Perry post referring to Herman Cain and Mitt Romney. var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

“When it comes to faith, it is the core of who I am. It is an essential act as much as breathing is an essential act,” Perry said. “I found the true source of hope and change, and that is a loving God who changes hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.”

Now, in the letter to the Romans “flesh” is referred to as our sinful nature a couple of times (Romans 7 & 8). So is Perry saying God changes hearts of stone to hearts of sin? Well, I’m sure it isn’t what he meant but it’s one reason I get queasy so often when politicians start referring to faith. The fact that Perry holds high his stance on capital punishment makes me question what kind of God wants us killing other people to remain faithful. I’m of the opinion that most politicians have a high level of faith as long as it works for their political future. If that makes me judgmental, I hope the Lord will forgive me.

I’m not a fan of government legislating faith. I really believe that if we emphasize reading the Bible, prayer and doing the will of God, we won’t need government to “legalize” prayer in schools, tell us abortion is wrong or what marriage looks like. I think the most dangerous thing a Christ-follower can do is turn over the will of God to government.

I’m no fan of Rick Perry and I think he would be the last Republican I would vote for if it came down to that decision. In the meantime, I hope his heart will continue to be turned into a heart of love, mercy and grace. I hope that for myself all the more.

Grace and peace to you.

Voting For The Lesser Evil

13 Friday May 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in Catalyst, catalystdallas, politics

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Voting for the lesser evil is the way I view the democratic process in our country these day. Maybe I’m cynical, maybe I don’t pay close enough attention, maybe I’m right.var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

I heard Obama was in Austin attending two fundraisers-one for 750 people at $1,000 each and one at a private home costing $35,000 per person (and Obama is no different than the Republican candidate). Now, I wonder how much publicity the candidates would get if they encouraged people to take all the campaign money and give it to charities that help the poor, the hungry, the homeless and got out to help promote those organizations. Would they get enough press to let me make a decision on who to vote for based on how much they tried to help those who needed the most help?

I don’t know the answer but I know the current solution gives me a great disdain for poli-ticks.

I’m at the final day of Catalyst Dallas today (www.catalystdallas.com) and I hope I’m having as much fun as I did last year. Catalyst is a Christian leadership conference and something I’ve been looking forward to since I left the previous Catalyst conference I attended outside of Atlanta.

God loves you. Wherever you are. Whatever you are doing. God love you.

Grace and peace to you.