January 20, 2009

Today is a day that will go down in history! I am excited that our nation has come to a point that we have felt free to elect a black man to the highest office of our nation. It is a day that I hope men like Frederick Douglas, Booker T. Washington, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are looking down on our nation rejoicing in knowing that a small part of the fulfillment of "the dream" is now reality. Perhaps, somewhere in the great unknown, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth are hugging each other and praising God that, perhaps, we are closer to the understanding that the equality of humanity is not based upon skin pigmentation but upon the sacred image of God endowed by man's Creator. I believe that is great news for America...God wept for our future when we rejected the black man as our brother and passed laws that enslaved him and designated him as one with "no rights that any white man was bound to respect."

I remember the frustration in my mind as a little girl visiting a man in my home state of Texas. As he sat in the filthy, unkept house that he had provided for his family through the on-again, off-again jobs he had managed to acquire and lose in rapid succession, he told me that I needed to understand that "all black men are lazy and are only after our white women." History shows us that the ability to be lazy and a scoundrel is not dependent on one's skin color. I have known black men who were wretched and I have known white men who were wretched...when God looks at them he doesn't see a wretched black man or a wretched white men...He simply sees a wretched man in need of a Savior...and so should we.

But I also wonder if Douglas, Washington, King, Tubman, and Truth did not also weep as they saw the divided country that this man has been appointed to lead. We are fully aware that there were those who voted for Obama because he is a black man...is that any different than refusing to vote for him based on the color of his skin? Either way we are still judging a man by his color rather than by his character. We are still a divided nation as we continue to reap what was sown so many years ago - we sowed seeds of division, hatred, and bitterness and we will continue to reap it until we have fully repented as a nation of our continued refusal to see each human, - male or female, black or white, Asian or Hispanic, born or unborn - as a Creation of God Almighty and, therefore, worthy of respect, honor, dignity, and protection of law. We obviously are not at that point with our view of unborn babies, be they black, white, male or female. And our new president has sworn to make it easier to discriminate against these members of humanity based, not on their color, but on their residence: the womb. Nope, we're not at that place of full equality based solely on being an Image Bearer just yet.

Let's pray for our new president...God alone knows what the future holds for the nation that he is leading.

Unpack that Camel!

My friend, Rhonda, put this note on her facebook recently:

"This is an excerpt from a teaching by Perry Stone. I thought it worthy of sharing.

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” - Matthew 19:23-24

In the English language we see a “needle’s eye” as the small opening in a sewing needle through which a piece of thread is pulled. Can you see a camel attempting to go through such an opening? Actually Jesus did not have a sewing needle in mind.

In the Ancient time every city had gates. Some were made of wood but many were iron or a combination of wood and iron (Isaiah 45:1). These large gates were shut at night and no one was permitted to enter or exit unless it was an important person. There were also watchmen placed on the wall to guard against invading armies. A small door was placed within the large doors that would permit someone to enter or exit in the event of an emergency or because of a definite need or purpose. This small door was called the “needle’s eye.” Jesus said it was difficult for a camel to go through the eye of the needle. Camels are a very tall animal with a very long neck and were often laden down with large bags to transport wheat, charcoal, wood and other important commodities into the town every day.

A burdened down camel carrying these loads cannot possibly enter the eye of the needle without unloading its burdens! Jesus was saying that those who are extremely rich are so burdened down with the cares of life and riches that unless they unload themselves from the many cares of life, they will have difficulty entering the kingdom, just like a camel who is burdened down with its load cannot enter into the narrow opening in the city gate.

A camel needs a BROAD road to carry its load but Jesus taught the road leading to life is very narrow. This is just one of many examples of understanding the unusual and difficult words of Jesus."

I think that too many times we don't think of ourselves as "rich" because, by American standards, most of us are just "middle class." But if we viewed ourselves by world standards...we are all very rich. We each have our own home, cars, hobbies, etc. For much of the world these things are available to only the wealthy.

I know that I find myself so burdened down with carrying all the "things" that I have to do because of my wealth - the house must be cleaned, the car maintained, all the work that comes from the hobbies (since my hobby is books...they must be organized, cared for, and , on occasion, I need to read them. LOL) These are the kinds of things that I often find pulling me away from my time with God and intimacy with Him. Once again I need to "unpack this camel" and lay down the burdens of life to enter into the presence of God...or I will find myself outside the gate...with nothing to show for it except burdens. Ouch.