A Tale of Two Sons

Carlos had more blessings than he would probably ever realize. He was born in the finest hospital in the large city he would call home. The most renowned doctors attended him. He left the hospital in a late-model automobile and taken home to a prosperous neighborhood. He had a room of his own. He attended a school known for its high academic standards. His attentive mother and father loved him very much and made sure he knew it. He attended Bible School and Worship. He said his prayers every night with his loving mother in attendance to tuck him in and kiss him goodnight. In his early teens, he was immersed into Christ by his father. The future held bright promise for this loved and privileged child of a Christian home.

Broken Down in Break Week

The best-laid schemes o’ mice an ‘men
Gang aft agley,
An’lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

(Robert Burns, To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough)

It is Break Week at Sunset (and, consequently at Charamon in Abilene) which includes Thanksgiving. I was looking forward to getting a bunch of stuff done (won’t bore you with the details) but Brenda and I are reluctantly entertaining the worst cold (bacterial, apparently, as opposed to viral) we’ve had for years. Our doctor kindly saw us both and has given us the requisite antibiotics and steroid shots and a breathing treatment for your’s truly.

It would have been satisfying to leave some shamefully neglected tasks in our powerful wake as we plowed through the murky waters of waiting work. But, truly, as Robbie Burns warned, our plans have gone “agley” (whatever that means) and we are left with “nought but grief an’ pain / For promis’d joy!” Oh, we’ll weakly eke out some effort and put paid to a few of the more impatient chores. But a much more glorious and joyful outcome had been anticipated. Bummer!

THE POLITICALLY CORRECT HOLIDAY GREETING

I’m not sure where I got this but had this insane urge to share it with you, Dear Reader.  Enjoy! Laugh! Ridicule!

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all . . .

And a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2001, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “AMERICA” in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

(By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.)

 

How to Keep from Breaking Faith

First, let me get you to read an article by my friend and brother Ron Carlson.  This is a great article about the simple ways marriages can be made strong and unbreakable.  While you’re at it, you might want to subscribe to Grace Centered Magazine.  Lots of wholesome, helpful articles.

Let me add something to the above article.  I have found that if I can get couples to read and practice the characteristics of love found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, they can get their marriage off the rocks.  I require that they read it to each other each evening before bedtime…one reads it to the other in turn…and then pray for God’s help in practicing these characteristics.  It hasn’t failed yet.  There you have it…free marriage counseling!

Breaking Faith

“…you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant” (Malachi 2:14). In the last 18 months, I have had personal dealings with two beloved men. In addition to other associations with me, they are my brothers in Christ. They have broken my heart and the hearts of those who love them, their children and their extended families. I am putting this on my blog for them and for others who may be involved in similar circumstances.

It is addressed to these men but I am aware that women are often bogged in the same tragic muck. To all of you I say: there is no need to stay stuck in this morass. You can get out. If you do it quickly and decisively you can, with God’s help, find some measure of true joy. I have personally offered to help you both…that offer still stands.

 

My dear loved one,

So, you’ve decided to leave your wife…maybe for another woman…maybe just to explore other options. And, you are doing this in spite of the fact that your wife still loves you, has been faithful to you and, perhaps most importantly, children are involved. Well, I have a few things to say about that.

The Disappearance of Stacy Peterson

This is Stacy Peterson.  Attractive woman.  But what’s the matter with this picture? A 19 year old woman marries a man in his late 40s who’s been married three times before and whose last wife, who feared for her life, drowned in a bathtub. If your answer is “everything,” then you and I are seeing this debacle the same way.

As I listened to the news this morning a flock of questions took flight through my mind. What causes ordinarily responsible people to lose touch with reality? How could she think that this man was a good marriage prospect? Even if he was, shouldn’t she have checked him out more thoroughly? Didn’t she know about the bizarre death of his third wife?  Did her parents/family/friends/confidants warn her about marrying a man twice her age? What was she thinking? Was she thinking at all?

Now, four years later, this young mother has gone missing under suspicious circumstances and is probably decomposing in a shallow grave in some woods. How horrible is that?

I like Joe Muir’s words to young women quoted in Wendy Shalit’s blog Girls Gone Mild he writes:

I…want to encourage each of you to never, ever settle for second best in a relationship, as you deserve the best. It is far better to not be in a relationship, wishing you were in one, than to actually be in one, wishing you weren’t. Be willing, I pray you, to be single for the rest of your life, if that’s what it takes to not settle for second best; as that would be far better than marrying a man who cannot love you.

Amen.

The Storage Files of Life

     Three laborers were working on a rock pile at a construction site. A passer-by asked each laborer what he was doing. One replied, “Breaking rocks.” Another replied, “Earning my living,” while the third said, “I’m helping to build a cathedral.” (Lee Strobel, Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary, Zondervan, 1993) His point is that “Christians who live a life of adventure are able to see themselves as cathedral builders…people who are part of a greater vision of building God’s kingdom.”