Category: Christianity in America

Capitalism? Socialism? Communism?

My husband and I just went to an excellent play at the Guthrie called, “The Lehman Trilogy.” It is about the Lehman brothers who came to the United States as immigrants from Poland in the early 20th century. They came with nothing and started a little fabric store in Alabama, working hard just like most American immigrants then and now.

After five years, they finally broke even. Then they started expanding their business into other things besides fabric. They became cotton brokers, and eventually bankers. The family business got sucked up into the American Dream and eventually lost it all in 2008.

The director of the play wrote in the Playbill how this family is an example of how capitalism is bad.

But is capitalism bad?

Capitalism, Communism, Socialism. I believe that none of those economic systems are good or bad on their own. If good people use those systems, then they can be good and helpful to all around. If bad people use those systems, then they will cause destruction for many and benefit for only a few, who lose their souls in the process.

The Bible is very clear that only God is good. So, any person not allowing God’s goodness to determine their decisions, will make bad choices using whichever economic system is in place. And any person allowing God’s goodness to direct them, will make choices that benefit others, no matter the economic system.

It’s not the economic system that matters, it is what is in the hearts of those who are bringing life to that system that matters.

Are you thinking more highly of others than yourself as Jesus asks? Then you will bring life to others in any system.

Bible Defies Human Description

The past several Sundays our pastors have tried to teach us what the Bible is and where it gets its authority. And basically, I have come away with the understanding that, as humans, it is not possible to do that beyond stating the obvious – God wrote it through people and we are to obey what it says.

And I guess that makes sense. Since it was written by God’s Spirit through people, it, as an entity, is above our understanding. Yet, its teachings are simple enough that even the youngest child among us is able to understand it.

God says that His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours. And God asks us to become like little children to follow Him. So it makes sense that the Bible is above definition, yet is useful for teaching, rebuking and instructing in all righteousness.

It, as always, comes down to faith. Do you believe it? Do you plan to follow it?

As the old song goes, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Life was not created for death

On my way to work out this morning I started thinking about how there just seems to be no truly environmentally friendly way to deal with a deceased person.

Why was I thinking about that?!?!

Someone on the radio was talking about the importance of justice and that we need to be about justice, personally, not just support others who do it.

And how does that relate to the effects of death on the environment?

The two subjects have truly nothing to do with each other, at least in my mind. But the idea that we should do something, not just mean to do something was what triggered the following rabbit trail:

I was thinking about how environmentally conscious individuals try to be environmentally friendly in our approach to burial, but are often not any more successful at it than those who don’t try. As a matter of fact, sometimes we do more damage, accidentally.

And maybe I’m just not in the know enough; it isn’t a subject I spend a lot of time researching.

However, the last I heard, crematoriums are releasing all sorts of horrible chemicals into the air, not to mention carbon dioxide, because of all of the chemicals we have inside of us, many based on the marvels of modern medicine. Chemically cremating people also creates environmental hazards. And water cremation isn’t without its drawbacks – first and foremost, the use of water. I’m not saying that people should stick with caskets and huge holes in the ground. Those, of course, also have their drawbacks. It’s just that getting rid of remains seems to be very costly to the natural environment,

It got me to thinking about what the Bible says about the earth and its inhabitants:

God created the world to not experience death – to live eternally.

It’s human sinfulness that introduced death into the world, and we have been paying the price ever since.

No wonder it is so hard to deal with death. No wonder dead, decomposing organic matter creates so many environmental hazards.

My husband and I try our best to make environmentally friendly decisions; I think that’s the right thing to do. But I’m so thankful that this world is not my final home – and it doesn’t have to be yours, either!

Jesus came to earth, lived the perfect life we were all supposed to live, then died as a sacrifice for our sins, and came back to life so that he can forgive our sins and resurrect us, too, to life in heaven.

So let’s do our best to steward the earth He has given us while we are here, but also, make sure to love God and love your neighbor so that all of us can experience life as it was meant to be – with no death.

Lots of Opposites

I had never really paid attention to the fact that the Holy Spirit in Christianity is also referred to by very opposite-seeming symbols in the Bible.

Jesus, of course, is famously referred to as both a lion and a lamb.

God, the Father, is referred to as a mother hen who wants to gather her chicks under her wing, and also the Great Judge who will condemn to hell those who choose not to follow His Son.

But I hadn’t picked up on, until this past Pentecost Sunday, that the Holy Spirit is referred to both as a dove when Jesus is baptized, and a tongue of fire when He comes to fill the disciples after Jesus went back to heaven.

We serve a complex God who is able to be who He needs to be to help us in all situations.

You want me to make what?

A day or so ago I was watching a video on how to make a fun-looking greeting card from one of the talented women that I purchase card-making products from. Inspired, I pulled out some paper and began cutting, scoring, folding and gluing.

Then it came to stamping.

I pulled out the ink that would coordinate with the papers I had chosen. But what image to put as the centerpiece?

I knew I wanted this to be a birthday card. I have several friends who have birthdays soon, so began thinking through what makes each friend unique and which stamp set I have that could best speak to that quality.

Strangely, God kept insisting that I use a set that features a cute, cartoon alligator with a huge grin. Both friends I was considering have wonderful senses of humor, so I thought, “Well, I suppose this could work.” But it still felt like a very juvenile choice. We are all getting older, but we aren’t that old, yet! Well, don’t ask our kids’ opinions…

So I stamped the alligator on a piece of white card stock, colored him in with alcohol markers and cut him out. Then I carefully popped him up on the front of the card with the help of double-sided adhesive, foam hexagons. I stamped some fun birthday sentiments next to him and added a few colored resin dots to spiff everything up.

I was very pleased with how it had turned out. But it still seemed like it wasn’t the correct card for either friend.

While straightening up my crafting desk I ran into something that I had forgotten about. One of the children we sponsor through an international organization had a birthday coming up and I had put the reminder letter on my crafting desk so that I would remember to make a birthday card for her.

Now I knew why God had asked me to make a fun children’s card!

I have noticed over the years that sometimes God is trying to direct me to do something, but I just don’t understand the whole picture at first. Sometimes it is because He knows that if He told me the whole picture, I would freak out or freeze up and be scared to continue, so He just reveals bits at a time.

Other times it is more like this situation where I should have been able to see the whole picture, but had forgotten a piece of it along the way.

I don’t like doing things that don’t make sense to me, so there are plenty of times that I don’t cooperate with God’s nudgings.

But I have experienced the pain of not following His lead enough now that I more and more try my best to do what seems crazy in the moment because I know it just means that I am not seeing the whole picture.