I'm Not The Only One

Guess I feel like a dreamer. I really thought the supreme court was going to try it's best to wait out the final years of Bush. As much as I disliked Reagan's foreign policy and secret wars; I really liked some of his domestic ideas (not all - obviously I would dislike his union busting policies, etc). And he made a wise decision with Sandra Day O'Connor. She wrote the dissenting opinion for the stupid decision made by the Supreme Court about eminent domain a few days back. I have respect for her wisdom.

Unless Bush makes a huge error in his usual judgement, I doubt if he'll pick anyone with true integrity to sit on the supreme court. Hopefully the senate will be able to keep his radicalism out of the supreme court; but since there seems to be so little public discussion in the senate about how radically the country has changed because of Bush, I feel like they're all asleep, and I'm just a dreamer along with them.

I don't know. My hope is of course that Bush will rise to the occassion and choose a person of wisdom to be on the court. But when I look at his choices for his cabinet and advisors, it just seems hopeless.

I'm still angry about the eminent domain decision that was the theme of my last post. I don't really want to post about something while I'm angry; but where does that leave me? I seem to be angry a lot - so I'd really have nothing to post about. I seem to post only when something really upsets me.

That ideal doesn't seem to answer to my original purpose - to be able to look back and see where me head is at, and how it got there. Of course to do that, this should be more like a diary than a diatribe about political stuff that I have no possibility of influencing anyway. I know a bit over 1/2 of the country agrees about Bush, and even Sandra Day O'Connor, whom I sorta praised above, thought he should be given the opportunity to rule the roost for awhile. Her retirement could very well mean she doesn't feel she made a mistake when she gave him the nod.

Anyway, today we finished our Serengeti Trek. The credo was simple: Know God, Talk To God, Tell About God, Love God, and today: Work For God. Well, my take on working for God is pretty well known in these parts - I choose to believe in what Jesus said when asked what God requires of men in regards to work: "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. John 6:29." Of course, I used a modern translation for the kids, but it conveyed the same meaning, this time. (Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. -NKJV)

I had the opportunity for a brief 25 minutes in the morning to tell the kids NOT to listen to anyone who tried to convince them that Got had something they were "supposed" to do for God. Jesus made it quite clear all need to do to keep God happy with us is to believe (see also 1 John 5). Well, lo and behold the kids had to visit 5 other classes today. The outside fun stuff was run by a cool guy whom I trust with God's word. But there's no way to control everyone - even Bush has learned that lesson =:-) So the kids heard from the other 4 teachers things they were "supposed to do". By the "Main Event" (last meeting) they were totally confused.

I don't regret doing what I did - I'd rather have a confused kid who goes home and asks questions than a kid totally brainwashed into thinking God has unreasonable expectations of them and no longer wants them to be a child. I made all those mistakes as a young parent - not pretty. Can really turn kids off of God completely if they feel his expectations are for us to be perfect little robots.

I think the worst example of legalism I heard was from a teacher who said: "It's not enough that you ask Jesus into your life. If that's all you do, then you've made a big mistake. You have to go tell the Pastor or myself or some other adult so we can tell you what else you need to do." Arrrggghhhh. It's a mantra, of course: 'Let's do something for God'. Yep, like God really needs our help.

Like I told the kids, Jesus said that in the Bible shortly after he walked on the water - and explained that the faith we have is really no faith at all. Only the faith he gives us is faith he recognizes. We don't do anything to deserve, nor do we do anything to keep it. Sure, as we walk in faith, we learn more and more about how much more faith we've been given than we realized - but we didn't earn that faith - it was already there, we simply don't utilize it. The lesson of Abraham.

Anyway, I was a good boy and didn't interrupt the legalists (funny, it seems to me, but they're also supporters of George Bush - wonder if that means anything?). My take on life is that my insisting that Jesus was right and the legalists are wrong is just as bad as being a legalist. Let the kids hear both versions - the Bible version and the "churchified" version. They'll grow knowing there are choices, which is good. To only hear one or the other without being given the opportunity to think for oneself will create an incomplete person who is unable to reach God on a personal level.

We all have to experience the truth that Jesus was right, and "churchified" traditions are neither historically correct, nor biblically correct. It simply takes a lifetime to keep that understanding growing deeper and deeper. I love the way Jesus set it up so I can grow more and more in the knowledge of him each and every day, and that knowledge helps me understand myself and my own motivations better.

Meandered all over the map with this entry, so I feel great. Time to snooze.