Tag: God

My Favorite Economic System

I’m sure some of you thought I was crazy when I posted last week that I think capitalism, socialism and communism are all fine economic systems, depending upon the moral fabric of the people engaged in them.

Some of you think capitalism is the only way. Others think it is the ruin of the world. Most of us consider communism to be untenable, while a few believe that it is the only way to fairness for everyone. Socialism, somewhere in the middle of the two, also has proponents and adversaries.

My favorite economic system is what I would call, compassionate capitalism. Here’s where I get it from. The Bible says that people need to work to eat and that workers should be paid fair wages. The Bible says that each family must work to provide for itself, but that farmers should not harvest all of their fields, but leave some food behind for those less fortunate.

The Bible asks people to give a tenth of what they make to the church, who then is to distribute some of that to those who are truly in need. The Bible says to set up a roll for those who are in need, but only those who are truly unable to work are allowed on the list.

The New Testament Christians lived somewhat communistically, having everything in common. But it was done as one wished, not required.

The Bible repeatedly decries laziness, but also continually admonishes those who have to share with those who are poor.

A recent example in my life is this. I work about 24 hours a week, and decided to use some of that money to go to a conference several weeks ago. Unfortunately, that conference ended up being canceled due to severe weather. I did cancel my airline tickets in hopes of using them another day. However, I told the hotel, the person I was renting my car from, and the conference host organization that they could keep the money that I had already paid them, as I knew that they were suffering greatly because of the destruction the weather wrought.

That is compassionate capitalism. I work hard and get paid fair wages (sometimes a little on the low side, but that is because my husband makes plenty of money to keep our family afloat, so I can afford to get paid a little less as a way to bless those I am working for). I then spend my money to support others who are working hard. And when tragedy strikes, I am able to bless them with money that I had already planned to spend, even though I will no longer reap the benefit, sort of like the farmer who leaves behind some of the harvest for those less fortunate. I also do donate to organizations who help people during natural and human-made catastrophes.

Let us truly love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We love ourselves plenty most of the time.

If we work and spend as a way of loving others, the perfect economic system will naturally form.

Only by the Grace of God

The older I get the more amazed I am at all of the good things that happen around me.

I know how lazy and evil I can be. And I know how just plain inept I am, even when I am trying my best. And I was voted, “Most Likely to Succeed,” by my high school classmates. If I, who am considered successful by others, am this incompetent, how does anything good get accomplished?

I was talking to my daughter about this last Saturday evening, realizing how much God must fill in for our lack.

Then, Sunday morning, our first hymn was this:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
  the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy
  health and salvation!
    All ye who hear,
Now to His temple draw near;
Sing now in glad adoration!

Praise to the Lord, who o’er all
  things so wondrously reigneth,
Who, as on wings of an eagle,
  uplifteth, sustaineth.
    Hast thou not seen
How thy desires all have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully,
  wondrously, made thee!
Health hath vouchsafed and, when
  heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
    What need or grief
Ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper
  thy work and defend thee,
Who from the heavens the streams of
  His mercy doth send thee.
    Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
Who with His love doth befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that
  is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come
  now with praises before Him!
    Let the Amen
Sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

We all, like cats, have gone astray

I feed my cats a little bit of food many times throughout the day. Supposedly that is healthier for them – especially for the one that likes to gorge herself.

Feeling tired of so many trips to the cat food bag, I was considering bringing the timed feeders up from the basement – the ones that we are supposed to use when we are on vacation, but, for a number of reasons, don’t.

Well, really, it is just one reason. Our little cat, Pippin, is afraid of going into the box her feeder gets put into. The feeders each have to go into a box with a controlled entrance so that the big cat, Nemo, doesn’t eat Pippin’s food. But since Pippin refuses to cooperate, we need neighbors to feed her. So they might as well feed Nemo, too. But I digress.

Right now the cats love to interact with me. Yes, they do just want a snuggle sometimes or a buddy to nap near. However, they usually come padding over with a chirrup to let me know that it’s time for lunch, supper, snack, you get the picture.

Several years ago, we had just gotten back from vacation. We had let Nemo use the timed feeder in her entrance-controlled box and had a friend stop by to feed Pippin. Rather than empty out the feeder, I decided to let the feeder keep running and feeding Nemo.

At first, it seemed like a big relief. I could give Pippin all of her food at once in the morning, letting her munch on it throughout the day. And Nemo would run down to her box whenever she heard the food falling into her dish.

But after a couple of days I noticed a big change in Nemo.

She no longer hopped up on my lap at least once a day to mash her head against my hand, twisting and shoving with the full force of her 17 furry pounds in what my family had nicknamed, “The Super Snuggle.”

Now she kept her distance, peering at me from behind a couch or door frame with just one eye visible.

So I emptied the timed feeder and began feeding her myself again. She still kept her distance, running to the opposite side of the kitchen until I had her dish on the ground and had walked a few steps away.

I needed to come up with another plan to re-domesticate her.

I stopped allowing her to eat until after she permitted me one pat on her back or head. At first I would have to slowly pursue her around the kitchen table. Eventually she caught on that she wasn’t going to get anything to fill her grumbling tummy until she stopped dodging me.

Now we are back to super snuggles several times a day, even after she has had her midnight snack, which occurs at about 8:30 pm because I am too old to enjoy staying up until midnight anymore!

My interaction with Nemo made me think about how God has to interact with me, sometimes. There are moments when He won’t allow blessings in my life until I settle down and allow him to commune with me.

But unlike my interactions with my cats, which are based on my selfish need for furry companionship, God isn’t selfish. While God does desire my companionship, He doesn’t withhold blessings as a way to control me, but as a way to lead me into my best life.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33

The Ultimate GMO

*Image is from Rodale’s Organic Life

Genetics. We can’t get away from them. Pretty much everything we eat, unless you are a strict geophagist, has a genetic component. And what constitutes a genetically modified organism? People have been modifying the genomes of plants and animals for millennia. Just look at all of the varieties of apples we have, or man’s best friend.

It seems that the term, GMO, is reserved for creatures whose genome has been altered by means that are beyond natural cross-breeding; alterations that would never happen in nature, by any stretch of the imagination.

And what about our genomes? We are finding that things people once thought were simple choices, like alcoholism, lesbianism, being socially insensitive most of the time (now known as autism) have very strong genetic components.

I, of course, struggle with autism, and I am certain I could very easily become an alcoholic, which is why I am very careful about how much and when I drink.

So why does God tell me through the Bible,

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18)?

God does not say I shouldn’t drink alcohol at all, but I shouldn’t let it take me over, instead, I should let Him take me over. But for someone who is a candidate for alcoholism, I can understand how that would be a very tough statement for someone who actually does struggle with alcoholism.

And why, when God knows it is extremely difficult for me to think of the perspective of others (actually it is impossible, on my own, without a lot of coaching, first), does he say this in Philippians 2:1-4:

(1) Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, (2) then make my joy complete by being of one mind, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.

(3) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. (4) Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

As I was talking with a friend about this the other day, suddenly the following flowed out of our conversation. Now, keep in mind that I have a biology minor, so I am somewhat well-versed in the scientific perspective of biology in general, and genetics in particular. But as we were talking, God seemed to pour this through us:

Yes, we are all genetically predisposed to various things, be it singing, stealing, dancing, dealing, cooking, cheating, making things, murder, smiling, smoldering, you get the picture. It is impossible for us, on our own power, to follow what the Bible says, to even want to follow what the Bible says, without this:

(5) Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. (6) Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. (7)So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ (8) The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you it is with people born of the Spirit.” (John 3: 5-8)

So, Jesus is saying that to be part of His kingdom, I need to be genetically modified. I need to be unnaturally changed by the supernatural to even be interested in living life to the fullest.

Does God actually change our physical genome, or does he just give us the supernatural power to overcome our genome, I don’t know.  I just know that I want that!

Jesus, later in that chapter tells us how we can experience being born again:

(16) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16 -17)

Believe in Jesus, and God will genetically modify you by giving you his Holy Spirit to help you do the impossible.

Wow! I want to be the ultimate GMO! How about you?

I didn’t choose to be gay

This phrase has baffled me for some time.

As you may have gathered from previous posts, I interpret the Bible to say that heterosexuality or abstinence is the way that has God designed people to interact.

However, I also believe the Bible says that God is a just and loving God, so He would not expect people to behave in ways that are against the way they were designed to behave.

For instance, people who are left-handed used to be vilified in the worst sorts of ways, being thought of as spawn of the devil, himself. But a quick read of the scriptures (ok, so maybe it isn’t the most talked about story in the Bible, but it is in there) finds a story about a left-handed judge of Israel. Judges were selected by God to rule, so clearly, it is not against God’s design to be left-handed:

15 Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

So I kept asking God,”How is it that you seem to say that we should not be homosexual, yet so many people who claim to be homosexual say that they did not choose to be so? I know you do not ask people to be something that they are not able to be.”

After a few years of pondering that question, He brought to mind an incident that I had totally forgotten about:

Many years ago I had just gotten home from spending some great time with friends. As I was thinking about how wonderful it was to have such a fabulous support system to laugh with, cry with, study with, just live life with, a thought I had never had before ran through my head. I don’t remember the exact wording of the thought, because I dismissed it so quickly. But it had something to do with the idea that I could become homosexual, if I wanted.

As I said, I quickly dismissed that thought as something from I don’t even know where and went on with life as a heterosexual. I did not choose to think that thought. None of my friends had ever done anything to induce that thought. It just was a random thought.

But now I understand how people can truly believe that they did not choose to be homosexual.

And I also understand how God can ask something of us that we initially may think isn’t very fair.

Just because a thought runs through our head, doesn’t mean that we have to accept it or act on it. We must always hold it up to the Bible to see if it is what God would have for us. If it is not, we can dismiss it. If it is something God wants for us, we, with His help can make it a part of us.

Oh, and we don’t need to be embarrassed by an errant thought – everyone has them:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

It’s what we do with those random thoughts that matter. Here’s to a great day corralling the unhelpful random thoughts, and acting on the good ones in all areas of our lives! Blessings, everyone.