Recently a friend of mine went on a spiritual quest. She wanted to feel the presence of God to enrich her soul. When she went to the nearest Catholic church she found the doors locked. She rang the bell at the rectory and nobody answered. The next day she called the church and was told the mass times and that she could make an appointment to meet the pastor and tour the church. This was a bit more than she was ready for. She became dismayed that she couldn't just walk into the church at any given time to sit and contemplate. When she shared her experience with me I listened patiently and then chuckled. "Someone stole the lantern outside the door, I can't imagine what would be missing if they left the doors open 24/7." I said as she began her litany of excuses why it was wrong for the church to turn away those seeking spiritual enrichment.
I found it symbolic of many people's attitudes toward faith enrichment. So many are quick to use a locked door, a negative news item, or a bad experience as an excuse to make an effort to let God into their heart. I don't recall any stories of Jesus going door-to-door asking for followers. Jesus spoke and people listened and followed. There is no magic that happens when you walk into a church. It is merely a reminder of what we hold sacred. A place to join others in praise and thanksgiving. It's just a building.
When we search for our true faith we need not look far. While it can be locked away from those who want to steal it, the key is always available. God is always there waiting, listening and loving. The place we seek is in our hearts. And to enrich our faith we need only to open our hearts and let God and others in.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, December 17, 2010
It's a Wonderful Christmas
Many movies are made to inspire us by showing us the strength and incredible endurance of the common man. No one has portrayed this better than Frank Capra. And no film typifies this with such heartwarming lessons as "It's a Wonderful Life", a holiday staple and a treasured movie that makes my top five favorites.
The lesson we get from George Bailey is that no man's life is worthless. Every one of us touches many other lives. But to delve into the story deeper and to analyze Mr. Bailey, we see that George Bailey is hardly the common man. From the beginning of the story we see that George makes ethical choices and gives to others before taking for himself. It's easy to go through life grabbing everything for yourself. Climbing corporate ladders over the backs of those who aren't as cut throat. Discarding those who need a little extra help because they aren't as strong as you. Preying on the weakness of others to build up your own wealth. We read about these people everyday. Mostly when they are on trial or are being sent to jail. We also see these people all around us. The ones who expect the world to turn around them. In reality, it's these people who wouldn't be missed if they were never born because they don't touch lives, they expect lives to touch theirs.
When I watch "It's a Wonderful Life" I think of the old adage "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Most people think that it is a natural progression. It's not. It's a choice. George Bailey made choices to do what is good and right and many others benefited from his kindness. To me, that is the greatest inspiration of the movie. Accepting the hardships of life and using them as tools to strengthening and enriching our lives.
Like the character of George Bailey, I will probably never have buildings named after me, statues or paintings made of me or volumes of books written about me. Instead I will go to my rest knowing that I reached out to those in need. Pulled up those who were down. And made life a little simpler for those who face hardships. It truly is a wonderful life. But only if you make it one!
May the holiday season bless us all with a Wonderful Life!
The lesson we get from George Bailey is that no man's life is worthless. Every one of us touches many other lives. But to delve into the story deeper and to analyze Mr. Bailey, we see that George Bailey is hardly the common man. From the beginning of the story we see that George makes ethical choices and gives to others before taking for himself. It's easy to go through life grabbing everything for yourself. Climbing corporate ladders over the backs of those who aren't as cut throat. Discarding those who need a little extra help because they aren't as strong as you. Preying on the weakness of others to build up your own wealth. We read about these people everyday. Mostly when they are on trial or are being sent to jail. We also see these people all around us. The ones who expect the world to turn around them. In reality, it's these people who wouldn't be missed if they were never born because they don't touch lives, they expect lives to touch theirs.
When I watch "It's a Wonderful Life" I think of the old adage "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Most people think that it is a natural progression. It's not. It's a choice. George Bailey made choices to do what is good and right and many others benefited from his kindness. To me, that is the greatest inspiration of the movie. Accepting the hardships of life and using them as tools to strengthening and enriching our lives.
Like the character of George Bailey, I will probably never have buildings named after me, statues or paintings made of me or volumes of books written about me. Instead I will go to my rest knowing that I reached out to those in need. Pulled up those who were down. And made life a little simpler for those who face hardships. It truly is a wonderful life. But only if you make it one!
May the holiday season bless us all with a Wonderful Life!
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Morality of Freedom
The road to heaven is a path of choices. Choices between right and wrong. Of doing what is good for ones self or what is good for others. The choice to serve God or to wait for God and others to serve you. But these choices cannot be faced if they are taken away, restricted or made for us.
When the Soviet Union loomed over Asia and Europe, the communist regime attempted to portray a Utopian society of equals who relinquished their belief in the final judgment of a creator for a state run benefactor who treated all as equals. Choices were made for those who capitulated. Those who didn't were made to suffer the consequences of one who betrays their benefactor. The end result was, of course, a financially and morally bankrupt shell of a nation which fell to the opportunity of freedom and choice. The Russian Orthodox religion came out of their seventy years of hiding to flourish as the statues of false gods such as Lenin, Marx and Stalin were toppled by the power of the people.
As a nation whose roots run deep with the promise of a freedom to worship, to choose and to grow, we Americans often find ourselves having to decide if the state should usurp our choices so we don't have to make them. While we may have made the moral decision, we have a tendency to want to make that same decision for others. Rather than doing God's work by offering the answers, we opt for the easy way out by dictating through our legal system.
Our nation's greatest offering of freedom is at the ballot box when we put our over reaching politicians in check by taking away some of their power. The responsibility comes when the choices are given back to us. A government with less social outreach requires a greater individual conscious toward helping those in need. History shows that we have always opened our hearts and wallets when public funding through taxes is reduced. But when our government takes away our choices and our financial ability, we are left with a struggling populace and a government with more people to serve that is ever financially possible.
In our two party system we see evidence of both side's trying to take away our choices. To dictate their own morality on us. Neither sides 'social issues' has proven to be popular among the majority, though they seem to think a party victory is a validation of 100% of their ideals. And thus we make our choice at the ballot box, causing the pendulum to swing in the opposite direction.
Freedom with the weight of responsibility or restriction and the inability to create our own moral path? In our democracy, we should weigh the consequences of this question every time we cast a ballot. And the real results of our vote comes on reckoning day.
When the Soviet Union loomed over Asia and Europe, the communist regime attempted to portray a Utopian society of equals who relinquished their belief in the final judgment of a creator for a state run benefactor who treated all as equals. Choices were made for those who capitulated. Those who didn't were made to suffer the consequences of one who betrays their benefactor. The end result was, of course, a financially and morally bankrupt shell of a nation which fell to the opportunity of freedom and choice. The Russian Orthodox religion came out of their seventy years of hiding to flourish as the statues of false gods such as Lenin, Marx and Stalin were toppled by the power of the people.
As a nation whose roots run deep with the promise of a freedom to worship, to choose and to grow, we Americans often find ourselves having to decide if the state should usurp our choices so we don't have to make them. While we may have made the moral decision, we have a tendency to want to make that same decision for others. Rather than doing God's work by offering the answers, we opt for the easy way out by dictating through our legal system.
Our nation's greatest offering of freedom is at the ballot box when we put our over reaching politicians in check by taking away some of their power. The responsibility comes when the choices are given back to us. A government with less social outreach requires a greater individual conscious toward helping those in need. History shows that we have always opened our hearts and wallets when public funding through taxes is reduced. But when our government takes away our choices and our financial ability, we are left with a struggling populace and a government with more people to serve that is ever financially possible.
In our two party system we see evidence of both side's trying to take away our choices. To dictate their own morality on us. Neither sides 'social issues' has proven to be popular among the majority, though they seem to think a party victory is a validation of 100% of their ideals. And thus we make our choice at the ballot box, causing the pendulum to swing in the opposite direction.
Freedom with the weight of responsibility or restriction and the inability to create our own moral path? In our democracy, we should weigh the consequences of this question every time we cast a ballot. And the real results of our vote comes on reckoning day.
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