"Religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together."
Pithy excellence once again! The purity of religious institutions depends greatly on their independent influence and their independence from undue influence on each other.
"Conscience is the most sacred of all property; other property depending in part on positive law, the exercise of that being a natural and unalienable right. To guard a man's house as his castle, to pay public and enforce private debts with the most exact faith, can give no title to invade a man's conscience, which is more sacred than his castle, or to withhold from it that debt of protection for which the public faith is pledged by the very nature and original conditions of the social pact."
Man's capacity to choose his course in this life and hold to it in the face of threat and force is sacred. Yet what animates conscience, according to Madison?
"The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities to be impressed with it."
Madison builds a sound fundamental political (and moral) order on the main argument of the Declaration of Independence, which asserted to wayward King George III and the capricious British Parliament that the rights of the American colonists were not of English origin, but of divine inspiration:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,[75] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Besides its essential and essentialist holding, a belief in a Higher Power, and His crafted moral order is the essence of natural right, the firm assertion of the Continental Congress validating their claim to self-rule.
Madison's boldness contrasts with the sharp misunderstanding of modern secular pundits, who not only demand a stark separation of church and state (an effort not outlined in the Constitution), but the eradication of any deference or reference to the Almighty in the public square. A sad state of affairs, indeed.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
James Madison: Seer of Innocent Encroachments of Malevolence
"Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged against provisions against danger, real or pretended from abroad."
"Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant." -- James Madison
"Never let a good crisis go to waste." -- Rahm Emmanuel
President Obama, a Progressive with a capital P and a vanity that would near-embarass Napoleon Buonaparte, has used domestic and foreign crises afflicting this nation as a rampant excuse to expand the federal government beyond its proper constitutional bounds.
Need one note anymore?
"Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant." -- James Madison
"Never let a good crisis go to waste." -- Rahm Emmanuel
President Obama, a Progressive with a capital P and a vanity that would near-embarass Napoleon Buonaparte, has used domestic and foreign crises afflicting this nation as a rampant excuse to expand the federal government beyond its proper constitutional bounds.
Need one note anymore?
James Madison: The Man, the Mind, the Magnitude of Constitutional Genius
In the following series, I will be commenting on quotable quotes from the Father of the Constitution, which will put to rest much of the made-up controversy about the Constitution, its meaning, its intent, its implications, and its legacy and growing import in a time when its sense and sensibility are so crucial, so easily maligned, and so easily misunderstood.
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
Madison made this statement in direct references to the appropriate made for French refugees from the Haitian Revolution.
Congress was never intended to be a grand piggy bank or purse for easy perusal of the public.
As a matter of principle, he refers to the Document he helped shepherd into ratification, demanding to know where it gives Congress authority to spend any money on any matter not clearly delineated in the Constitution.
The dangerous precedent, which Madison attacked so succinctly, is the very vice which has bled this nation dry with entitlement spending, annual deficits, and a crushing national debt, all of which are threatening the solvency and freedoms of this country.
It is both fitting and discomfiting to find that the chief Framer of the Constitution foresaw the fraudulent and foolishly fiduciary shenanigans that Congress would force upon the American People.
Another quote touching on extensive, read, indeterminate, read, interminable, federal spending:
"If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the general welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one subject to particular exceptions. It is to be remarked that the phrase out of which this doctrine is elaborated, is copied from the old articles of Confederation, where it was always understood as nothing more than a general caption to the specified powers, and it is a fact that it was preferred in the new instrument for that very reason as less liable than any other to misconstruction."
A government that can spend tax revenue on whatever it wants will eventually be able to do whatever it wants, at the heinous expense of the freedom of the people, no less.
Is it too late for the United States to respectfully heed his foreboding warning?
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
Madison made this statement in direct references to the appropriate made for French refugees from the Haitian Revolution.
Congress was never intended to be a grand piggy bank or purse for easy perusal of the public.
As a matter of principle, he refers to the Document he helped shepherd into ratification, demanding to know where it gives Congress authority to spend any money on any matter not clearly delineated in the Constitution.
The dangerous precedent, which Madison attacked so succinctly, is the very vice which has bled this nation dry with entitlement spending, annual deficits, and a crushing national debt, all of which are threatening the solvency and freedoms of this country.
It is both fitting and discomfiting to find that the chief Framer of the Constitution foresaw the fraudulent and foolishly fiduciary shenanigans that Congress would force upon the American People.
Another quote touching on extensive, read, indeterminate, read, interminable, federal spending:
"If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the general welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one subject to particular exceptions. It is to be remarked that the phrase out of which this doctrine is elaborated, is copied from the old articles of Confederation, where it was always understood as nothing more than a general caption to the specified powers, and it is a fact that it was preferred in the new instrument for that very reason as less liable than any other to misconstruction."
A government that can spend tax revenue on whatever it wants will eventually be able to do whatever it wants, at the heinous expense of the freedom of the people, no less.
Is it too late for the United States to respectfully heed his foreboding warning?
President's jobs plan may not be enough
"President's jobs plan may not be enough" ---
Another stunning understatement by the Mainstream Media!
How many more jobs plans is it going to take before the American People realize once and for all that there is only one person who needs to get a job, a real job, a better job -- and that would be President Obama.
He is a disgrace to the office that he holds. He had no skills when he took the oath of Office, he insisted on imposing an obtuse liberal agenda on a center-right country, which has steadily repudiated his out of touch agenda since his first year, electing two stalwart Republican challengers to the Governor's mansion in Virgina and New Jersey, followed by the Scott Brown upset in Massachusetts to replace Ted Kennedy.
Of course, there was also the grand shellacking of 2010, turning the House of Representatives Bright Republican Red, with the Senate soon to follow in 2012.
Even if President Obama survives another stunning electoral rebuke, he will no longer have a quasi-compliant legislature to push his partisan agenda on the United States, which is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the statist status quo of Big Government.
Another stunning understatement by the Mainstream Media!
How many more jobs plans is it going to take before the American People realize once and for all that there is only one person who needs to get a job, a real job, a better job -- and that would be President Obama.
He is a disgrace to the office that he holds. He had no skills when he took the oath of Office, he insisted on imposing an obtuse liberal agenda on a center-right country, which has steadily repudiated his out of touch agenda since his first year, electing two stalwart Republican challengers to the Governor's mansion in Virgina and New Jersey, followed by the Scott Brown upset in Massachusetts to replace Ted Kennedy.
Of course, there was also the grand shellacking of 2010, turning the House of Representatives Bright Republican Red, with the Senate soon to follow in 2012.
Even if President Obama survives another stunning electoral rebuke, he will no longer have a quasi-compliant legislature to push his partisan agenda on the United States, which is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the statist status quo of Big Government.
Reflection on Hawthorne, California
The more that I visit Hawthorne, the more things I find to enjoy.
I love going to Hollyglen, especially the quaint Wiseburn library. It feels very welcoming and cozy there.
A few days ago, I ate out near Imperial Avenue and Hawthorne Blvd. I ran into some visitors from Denmark, then I took a nice stroll down the street. It was night outside, but I felt safe, and I may come back.
I feel sad, though, when reading about people who prize the city primarily because of the Beach Boys, a band which has disbanded, despite the wealth of wonderful tunes they produced for the world.
It seems to me like a great, and sad, disconnect, when one constituency of a community is hearkening back to the good times that used to be, while the younger generation does not have anything to connect to in the city.
This growing disconnect between the older minority of long-time residents and a growing majority of minority citizens deserves to come together. If only there were a way to establish common ground, not just celebrating the unique legacy of the city’s past, but also promoting the current diversity and opportunities to be found in Hawthorne, from Hollyglen to the Northside.
I love going to Hollyglen, especially the quaint Wiseburn library. It feels very welcoming and cozy there.
A few days ago, I ate out near Imperial Avenue and Hawthorne Blvd. I ran into some visitors from Denmark, then I took a nice stroll down the street. It was night outside, but I felt safe, and I may come back.
I feel sad, though, when reading about people who prize the city primarily because of the Beach Boys, a band which has disbanded, despite the wealth of wonderful tunes they produced for the world.
It seems to me like a great, and sad, disconnect, when one constituency of a community is hearkening back to the good times that used to be, while the younger generation does not have anything to connect to in the city.
This growing disconnect between the older minority of long-time residents and a growing majority of minority citizens deserves to come together. If only there were a way to establish common ground, not just celebrating the unique legacy of the city’s past, but also promoting the current diversity and opportunities to be found in Hawthorne, from Hollyglen to the Northside.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Faith is the Sixth Sense
We all know about the five senses:
Vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
To what degree that we retain these senses is a matter of usage, custom, and self-care.
There is much talk of the sixth sense. What is it?
Faith!
Faith that moves mountains, faith that sees the end with the beginning, even before the task has begun. Faith that informs the despondent that there is far more than meets the eye.
Faith that trumps the lie that the Promised Land is not yours.
Faith that overrides every sense, when every feeling and fact screams failure.
Faith that connects the dots when nothing seems to make sense.
Faith that moves a nation to be born, then be born again.
Faith that moves a man to be born, than born again, for all eternity.
Faith that shrinks the enemy and expands your strength.
Which magnifies the One who made you, who loved you, who died for you, that you may live with Him forever.
Faith is the sixth sense to a dying world which has gone senseless.
Yet to those who believe, it is the only sense that makes sense to cultivate, above all others.
Vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
To what degree that we retain these senses is a matter of usage, custom, and self-care.
There is much talk of the sixth sense. What is it?
Faith!
Faith that moves mountains, faith that sees the end with the beginning, even before the task has begun. Faith that informs the despondent that there is far more than meets the eye.
Faith that trumps the lie that the Promised Land is not yours.
Faith that overrides every sense, when every feeling and fact screams failure.
Faith that connects the dots when nothing seems to make sense.
Faith that moves a nation to be born, then be born again.
Faith that moves a man to be born, than born again, for all eternity.
Faith that shrinks the enemy and expands your strength.
Which magnifies the One who made you, who loved you, who died for you, that you may live with Him forever.
Faith is the sixth sense to a dying world which has gone senseless.
Yet to those who believe, it is the only sense that makes sense to cultivate, above all others.
"Where's the Rest of Me?", or The Revision of the Reagan Revolution Part IV
"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other." -- The New York Times Magazine (14 November 1965), p. 174
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." --Reason Magazine (1 July 1975)
"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."--Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981.
"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself."
--Joke at the Gridiron Club annual dinner. (24 March 1984)
"A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not." --(Testimony to the Tower Commission) (4 March 1987)
Like Drake McHugh, the amputate football player whose character made actor Ronald Reagan a star, the 40th President of the United States advocated a conservative strong on style, weak in substance.
Even his rhetoric inadvertently exposed his sloppy thinking, which would veer from visionary vanity to outright irresponsibility.
Conservative without anxiety, as George Will characterized Reagan's conservatism, an ideology which permitted the United State to vocally despise government, yet at the same time still enjoy its extensive benefits.
For example, his outright disdain for government, like the hobbled Drake McHugh, ignored the necessary systems and procedures necessary for a nation state to function.
"Government is like a baby," Reagan quipped. A telling insult, considering the painstaking erudition and discussion that crafted the Constitution for ratification. Rather than being a bilious baby, the federal government is an intentionally complex system, not designed to create immediate legislation for emotional or purely partisan ends.
Reagan further insults government per se as "an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other." Sadly, this repartee would apply aptly to the Gipper's Presidency, in which he with like-minded Democrats passed extensive tax cuts, yet continued deficit-spending, only to thrust the economic consequences on his successor.
Continuing with the theme of incomplete conservative agenda and missing body parts, Reagan made a profound analysis of conservative, both revealing and pithy, yet also lacking:
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism."
Libertarianism is a visionary economic philosophy, an ideal which fails to take into account the greater context of language, custom, and society. Though many pundits would love to undo the Civil Rights Act of 1964, for example, as a useless encroachment of the state into the private lives of its citizens, the political and social fallout of attacking a mainstay of the Civil Rights Movement would offend too many in the Beltway and throughout the country. And the dialogue which would have to ensue to make the repeal understandable and viable would not survive the sound-bite scrutiny of Internet media cycles.
Free markets loosed from unnecessary government regulation, even if the heart and soul, cannot function without a brain, the mind of concerted government process, drafting laws in concert with deliberating agents of one nation. Legislatures and executives direct the limited energies of the state to protect the rights of its citizens and secure the nation's borders. Reagan wanted to lead with the heart, but the head -- and the rest of the body, including political traditions and factional interests, also had to be taken into account.
And on this divide between the heart and the head, the desire of conservatism with the necessary rules and guidelines for its effective practice, no inference more indicts Reagan's irresponsible conservatism without perceived anxieties than his non mea culpa following the Iran-Contra scandal:
""A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not." --(Testimony to the Tower Commission) (4 March 1987)"
Truth is a necessary condition to functioning conservatism, beginning with the sober reality that human nature is inherently conflicted and troublesome, seeking its own at the expense of one's neighbor. A policy of good intentions can never suffice to lead a free people, securing their rights and persons. In his half-hearted admission of wrong-doing, Reagan evinces his insistence on trusting his heart and intentions, the ideal optimism which propelled him to the Presidency and galvanized a weary electorate, yet will not steer the United States of today out of the terrible economic morass of crushing national debt and deficit spending.
No longer will the benign humor of style without substance suffice. Reagan's dismissive attitude: "I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself," somewhat laughable in 1984, will not do away with the dire problems of today.
One of the core rebuttals of the conservative movement against the left is the liberal insistence not to consider the facts and traditions already in place, but rather to arrogantly assume that one may dismiss the present conditions and dream up a better world. However, facts are stubborn things, which cannot be so easily dismissed. The hard facts and hardened traditions must not be so easily dispense with either. As quoted above, the facts plainly implicated Reagan in illegal arms-dealing, and real conservatism cannot dispense with the facts on the ground, nor the evidence which puts to shame the growth of government as the greatest threat to an individual's liberty.
"Where's the rest of me?" A fitting question for conservative stalwarts who want to advance a limited government, free market agenda defined primarily by Reaganite rhetoric. Reagan's antipathies to govern remove the necessary power to restore government to its constitutional boundaries.
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." --Reason Magazine (1 July 1975)
"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."--Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981.
"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself."
--Joke at the Gridiron Club annual dinner. (24 March 1984)
"A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not." --(Testimony to the Tower Commission) (4 March 1987)
Like Drake McHugh, the amputate football player whose character made actor Ronald Reagan a star, the 40th President of the United States advocated a conservative strong on style, weak in substance.
Even his rhetoric inadvertently exposed his sloppy thinking, which would veer from visionary vanity to outright irresponsibility.
Conservative without anxiety, as George Will characterized Reagan's conservatism, an ideology which permitted the United State to vocally despise government, yet at the same time still enjoy its extensive benefits.
For example, his outright disdain for government, like the hobbled Drake McHugh, ignored the necessary systems and procedures necessary for a nation state to function.
"Government is like a baby," Reagan quipped. A telling insult, considering the painstaking erudition and discussion that crafted the Constitution for ratification. Rather than being a bilious baby, the federal government is an intentionally complex system, not designed to create immediate legislation for emotional or purely partisan ends.
Reagan further insults government per se as "an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other." Sadly, this repartee would apply aptly to the Gipper's Presidency, in which he with like-minded Democrats passed extensive tax cuts, yet continued deficit-spending, only to thrust the economic consequences on his successor.
Continuing with the theme of incomplete conservative agenda and missing body parts, Reagan made a profound analysis of conservative, both revealing and pithy, yet also lacking:
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism."
Libertarianism is a visionary economic philosophy, an ideal which fails to take into account the greater context of language, custom, and society. Though many pundits would love to undo the Civil Rights Act of 1964, for example, as a useless encroachment of the state into the private lives of its citizens, the political and social fallout of attacking a mainstay of the Civil Rights Movement would offend too many in the Beltway and throughout the country. And the dialogue which would have to ensue to make the repeal understandable and viable would not survive the sound-bite scrutiny of Internet media cycles.
Free markets loosed from unnecessary government regulation, even if the heart and soul, cannot function without a brain, the mind of concerted government process, drafting laws in concert with deliberating agents of one nation. Legislatures and executives direct the limited energies of the state to protect the rights of its citizens and secure the nation's borders. Reagan wanted to lead with the heart, but the head -- and the rest of the body, including political traditions and factional interests, also had to be taken into account.
And on this divide between the heart and the head, the desire of conservatism with the necessary rules and guidelines for its effective practice, no inference more indicts Reagan's irresponsible conservatism without perceived anxieties than his non mea culpa following the Iran-Contra scandal:
""A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not." --(Testimony to the Tower Commission) (4 March 1987)"
Truth is a necessary condition to functioning conservatism, beginning with the sober reality that human nature is inherently conflicted and troublesome, seeking its own at the expense of one's neighbor. A policy of good intentions can never suffice to lead a free people, securing their rights and persons. In his half-hearted admission of wrong-doing, Reagan evinces his insistence on trusting his heart and intentions, the ideal optimism which propelled him to the Presidency and galvanized a weary electorate, yet will not steer the United States of today out of the terrible economic morass of crushing national debt and deficit spending.
No longer will the benign humor of style without substance suffice. Reagan's dismissive attitude: "I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself," somewhat laughable in 1984, will not do away with the dire problems of today.
One of the core rebuttals of the conservative movement against the left is the liberal insistence not to consider the facts and traditions already in place, but rather to arrogantly assume that one may dismiss the present conditions and dream up a better world. However, facts are stubborn things, which cannot be so easily dismissed. The hard facts and hardened traditions must not be so easily dispense with either. As quoted above, the facts plainly implicated Reagan in illegal arms-dealing, and real conservatism cannot dispense with the facts on the ground, nor the evidence which puts to shame the growth of government as the greatest threat to an individual's liberty.
"Where's the rest of me?" A fitting question for conservative stalwarts who want to advance a limited government, free market agenda defined primarily by Reaganite rhetoric. Reagan's antipathies to govern remove the necessary power to restore government to its constitutional boundaries.
Response to "A canopy under which to pray" by Ronald Rolheiser
Father Rolheiser,
I have been an avid reader of your columns for some time.
I feel moved, not necessarily compelled, to comment on your views on prayer and intimacy with God.
I believe that many believers in the Body of Christ are not living by the grace of God, which Paul exhorts us to live by -- see 1 Corinthians 15:10. They still feel compelled to work for the blessings which God wishes to freely give us, just as He freely gave us His Son (Romans 8:32)
Also, the faith that we live by is not even our own! It is the faith of the Son of God (see Galatians 2:20), his unshakeable trust lives and dwells in us when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, receive his Holy Spirit, which leads us into a life of complete, restful, righteousness.
The life of faith is a walk, not a work -- Paul even comforts us with the knowledge that all the good words which God has for us are already preordained -- we just have to let the Lord release them in us (Eph. 2:10)
Even the fruit of the Spirit are that, the product of the Holy Spirit working in our lives, not our striving to produce them on our own (Galatians 5:22-23)
Prayer is not a work, either; it is not something that we have to master. Prayer is life itself, and even the Holy Spirit makes intercession fo for us.
I believe now, more than ever, that many believers get bored with prayer because they are trying too hard. They are trying to get something which God is more than willing to give to us. Jesus comforts his hearers: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom [of heaven]." (Luke 12:32) Scripture is manifest: the Kingdom of Heaven is the Holy Spirit, who lives and reigns in us when we are born of the Spirit!
The reason why religious leaders like St. Teresa de Avila and Mother Teresa struggled with a deep loneliness is that they were trying to earn, to work for the presence of God in their lives. Yet even the writer of Hebrews boldy writes:
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." We sit in high places with Jesus Christ, who God the Father resurrected by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:6)
Rather than approaching prayer and intimacy with God as a work that we must strive for, every believer in the Kingdom of Heaven need only believe on Him, the one work Jesus told his disciples to do (John 6:29).
I would further submit in the case of Mother Teresa, whose private journals exposed the deep loneliness and dryness in her spiritual life, she struggled in prayer because she was focused on her works, on her piety, on herself. With God, it is all about receiving His Finished Work, His Holiness, His Sanctification (See 1 Corinthians 1:30)
We need to stop telling believers that they have to strive for something which God the Father has already given to his children, through the death of His Son and the never-ending ministration of the Holy Spirit. By grace we are saved, through faith, not by works, that no man may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Consider also Paul's joyful exhortation to the Philippians:
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure."
God has done everything! Our part as members of the Body of Christ is to let Him work through us, and that includes prayer.
We would do well to take Jesus Christ at his word:
"Come unto me, ye who are heavy-laden and I will give you rest [lit. "I will rest you] (Matt 11:28)
and
"Without me, you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
Let us stop focusing on what we the believers must do. Let us rejoice in the Finished Work that Jesus has done, receive the blessing of His Holy Spirit, and release His power into a dying dark world, desperate to hear the Good News!
I have been an avid reader of your columns for some time.
I feel moved, not necessarily compelled, to comment on your views on prayer and intimacy with God.
I believe that many believers in the Body of Christ are not living by the grace of God, which Paul exhorts us to live by -- see 1 Corinthians 15:10. They still feel compelled to work for the blessings which God wishes to freely give us, just as He freely gave us His Son (Romans 8:32)
Also, the faith that we live by is not even our own! It is the faith of the Son of God (see Galatians 2:20), his unshakeable trust lives and dwells in us when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, receive his Holy Spirit, which leads us into a life of complete, restful, righteousness.
The life of faith is a walk, not a work -- Paul even comforts us with the knowledge that all the good words which God has for us are already preordained -- we just have to let the Lord release them in us (Eph. 2:10)
Even the fruit of the Spirit are that, the product of the Holy Spirit working in our lives, not our striving to produce them on our own (Galatians 5:22-23)
Prayer is not a work, either; it is not something that we have to master. Prayer is life itself, and even the Holy Spirit makes intercession fo for us.
I believe now, more than ever, that many believers get bored with prayer because they are trying too hard. They are trying to get something which God is more than willing to give to us. Jesus comforts his hearers: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom [of heaven]." (Luke 12:32) Scripture is manifest: the Kingdom of Heaven is the Holy Spirit, who lives and reigns in us when we are born of the Spirit!
The reason why religious leaders like St. Teresa de Avila and Mother Teresa struggled with a deep loneliness is that they were trying to earn, to work for the presence of God in their lives. Yet even the writer of Hebrews boldy writes:
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." We sit in high places with Jesus Christ, who God the Father resurrected by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:6)
Rather than approaching prayer and intimacy with God as a work that we must strive for, every believer in the Kingdom of Heaven need only believe on Him, the one work Jesus told his disciples to do (John 6:29).
I would further submit in the case of Mother Teresa, whose private journals exposed the deep loneliness and dryness in her spiritual life, she struggled in prayer because she was focused on her works, on her piety, on herself. With God, it is all about receiving His Finished Work, His Holiness, His Sanctification (See 1 Corinthians 1:30)
We need to stop telling believers that they have to strive for something which God the Father has already given to his children, through the death of His Son and the never-ending ministration of the Holy Spirit. By grace we are saved, through faith, not by works, that no man may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Consider also Paul's joyful exhortation to the Philippians:
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure."
God has done everything! Our part as members of the Body of Christ is to let Him work through us, and that includes prayer.
We would do well to take Jesus Christ at his word:
"Come unto me, ye who are heavy-laden and I will give you rest [lit. "I will rest you] (Matt 11:28)
and
"Without me, you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
Let us stop focusing on what we the believers must do. Let us rejoice in the Finished Work that Jesus has done, receive the blessing of His Holy Spirit, and release His power into a dying dark world, desperate to hear the Good News!
Fresno County Superintendent: State Official as Philanthropist
Despite the sad economic state of education in California, at least one bureaucrat is making news for giving more to the state than taking.
School Superintendent Larry Powell is giving back $800,000 to his employer, the Fresno County Office of Education.
Yet his philanthropic move is more than altruistic, as he wishes to secure the funding for pet projects which he initiated.
Sadly, pet projects are part of the reason why there is so much waste in public education to begin with. Then there is the Anti-bullying initiative Powell champions, a state-mandated program which does not attack the political correctness preventing school site administrators and teachers from stopping student harassment and disruption of pupil instruction.
In spite of the heart-warming context for this philanthropic act, Powell's desire to rekindle "faith in the government" is misguided. The last thing that we should be seeking to reinstate in our body politic is "faith in the government", nor should we inculcate it in our youth.
It was faith in government which overwhelmed the state with exorbitant, expensive, and overburdening social programs, all of which have impoverished the core mission of the state of California: protect our rights and secure our borders. As for education, public schooling is the proper domain of local communities, which are better positioned to evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of local schools.
The state capitol will never be in the best position to supervise and reform education, nor can far-removed superintendents who pursue a lofty, progressive vision for their constituents without according greater oversight to parents, teachers, and local school leaders.
School Superintendent Larry Powell is giving back $800,000 to his employer, the Fresno County Office of Education.
Yet his philanthropic move is more than altruistic, as he wishes to secure the funding for pet projects which he initiated.
Sadly, pet projects are part of the reason why there is so much waste in public education to begin with. Then there is the Anti-bullying initiative Powell champions, a state-mandated program which does not attack the political correctness preventing school site administrators and teachers from stopping student harassment and disruption of pupil instruction.
In spite of the heart-warming context for this philanthropic act, Powell's desire to rekindle "faith in the government" is misguided. The last thing that we should be seeking to reinstate in our body politic is "faith in the government", nor should we inculcate it in our youth.
It was faith in government which overwhelmed the state with exorbitant, expensive, and overburdening social programs, all of which have impoverished the core mission of the state of California: protect our rights and secure our borders. As for education, public schooling is the proper domain of local communities, which are better positioned to evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of local schools.
The state capitol will never be in the best position to supervise and reform education, nor can far-removed superintendents who pursue a lofty, progressive vision for their constituents without according greater oversight to parents, teachers, and local school leaders.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Illegitimacy -- Focus on the Family
Further Comments on "The Border Between Them", from "SoCal Connected"
Aside from the political and economic implications of illegal immigration unchecked, there are the societal consequences, which create instability within families and jeopardize the well-needed cohesion of communities.
Parents who have entered this nation illegally do not enjoy the rights found in the Constitution, which is drafted for citizens -- see United States vs. Verdugo-Irquidez, see dicta. At any time, if they are arrested, they are automatically at risk for deportation.
Children of such parents also exploit this precarious problem. If parents attempt to discipline their children, for example, many times they threaten to call immigration and report on their own parents! In other cases, when certain families engage in corporal punishment, the children call the police, knowing the rules of this country better, knowing full well how to manipulate the system, oftentimes simply because they speak English and their parents do not.
This instability within the family engenders a host of problems, from gang affiliations to delinquency among minors--unintended pregnancies, venereal disease, physical abuse. In many cases, the local schools are greatly afflicted, having to deal with minors who show no respect for authority because they easily manipulate their parents to their own benefit, discrediting school teachers and administrators who rely on parental support. Teachers cannot be the parents for a massive number of students year after year, for children who become more unruly and defiant on the face of any authority.
Juvenile facilities are stressed by the growing number of youth from illegal immigrant parents who are unable or unwilling to raise their children, either for fear of inciting their children's ire or for lack of any proper parental training.
The fallout from illegal immigration is the immigrant illegitimacy which rears itself in the gang activities which afflicted poorer, ethnic neighborhoods. The lack of a stable home with proper parenting for children contributes to the criminal instability in local communities, resulting not just in higher crime rates, but a growing underclass of youth who are inadvertently raised within the confines of the state--juvenile halls, half-way houses, foster homes, where they received very little upbringing, if any.
Illegal immigration creates familial illegitimacy, which harms the children, whatever their status may be. It create undue harm for the illegal immigrants themselves, and strains the resources of intervention and social control which cannot serve as adequate parents for children brought into this nation illegally and raised by illegals who out of fear or lack of knowledge cannot be proper parents.
Aside from the political and economic implications of illegal immigration unchecked, there are the societal consequences, which create instability within families and jeopardize the well-needed cohesion of communities.
Parents who have entered this nation illegally do not enjoy the rights found in the Constitution, which is drafted for citizens -- see United States vs. Verdugo-Irquidez, see dicta. At any time, if they are arrested, they are automatically at risk for deportation.
Children of such parents also exploit this precarious problem. If parents attempt to discipline their children, for example, many times they threaten to call immigration and report on their own parents! In other cases, when certain families engage in corporal punishment, the children call the police, knowing the rules of this country better, knowing full well how to manipulate the system, oftentimes simply because they speak English and their parents do not.
This instability within the family engenders a host of problems, from gang affiliations to delinquency among minors--unintended pregnancies, venereal disease, physical abuse. In many cases, the local schools are greatly afflicted, having to deal with minors who show no respect for authority because they easily manipulate their parents to their own benefit, discrediting school teachers and administrators who rely on parental support. Teachers cannot be the parents for a massive number of students year after year, for children who become more unruly and defiant on the face of any authority.
Juvenile facilities are stressed by the growing number of youth from illegal immigrant parents who are unable or unwilling to raise their children, either for fear of inciting their children's ire or for lack of any proper parental training.
The fallout from illegal immigration is the immigrant illegitimacy which rears itself in the gang activities which afflicted poorer, ethnic neighborhoods. The lack of a stable home with proper parenting for children contributes to the criminal instability in local communities, resulting not just in higher crime rates, but a growing underclass of youth who are inadvertently raised within the confines of the state--juvenile halls, half-way houses, foster homes, where they received very little upbringing, if any.
Illegal immigration creates familial illegitimacy, which harms the children, whatever their status may be. It create undue harm for the illegal immigrants themselves, and strains the resources of intervention and social control which cannot serve as adequate parents for children brought into this nation illegally and raised by illegals who out of fear or lack of knowledge cannot be proper parents.
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