The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous,
the sensible man hardly anything.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(icicles along the fence / Julie Cook / 2017)
Tears.
One of the various lubricants disbursed throughout the bodies of most mammals.
A physiological function to keep the eyes from drying out.
A physiological reaction to dust and debris.
A natural wash to help rid the eye of any invasive object, particle or fume.
A bodily function that is in direct reaction to a trigger that is perceived as invasive.
Very similar to that of a reflex or a contraction…
as in a response to something else…
Yet this reaction or reflex, for humans, may actually be both physiological
as well as psychological…as in emotional.
As in tears may be shed not only as a defense or mere physiological reactionary necessity,
but they may be shed due to a psychological stimuli such as pain, sorrow or even joy.
A dual action.
And whereas other living creatures cry out, howl or groan when in pain or traumatic suffering,
humans appear to be the only living creatures who shed tears due to emotional distress.
And for those who see no correlation between tears serving a dual purpose in humans verses
other living creatures, caring not to question or even wonder as to the apparent distinction…
preferring rather to eschew the obvious, this one more unexplainable nuance of human beings…
as a result of something merely developmental or evolutionary…
denying any sort of Divine touch….
I simply respond,
poppycock.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more,
neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away
Revelation 21:4
It sets apart one from both the ordinary and the average.
It denotes special,
It becomes recognition,
It is to venerate,
It is to worship
and it is to heap praise.
It is to set above.
Entertainers, politicians, leaders and athletes each receive accolades and honors galore.
And yet what of our Creator…
What of the author of all that was, all that is and all that is to come?
That unseen entity that is quickly forgotten and flippantly relegated to the periphery of consciousness?
We dishonor God most deeply when we give honor to people and receive honor from them.
We should give each other love, not honor.
All honor belongs to God alone in Christ.
Eberhard Arnold.
Truly an earth shattering thought….
And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under
the earth and on the sea, and all things in them,
I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,
be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
Revelation 5:13
Yesterday as I was reading over a few of my favorite blogs, I came across a video clip under the title of “Slouching toward tyranny” on the blog Dover Beach.
My curiosity was piqued as I wondered what slouching, as in drooping, toward tyranny
and a smiling young lady with Down Syndrome had in common with one another.
It was soon very evident what brought these two seemingly polar opposite entities
catastrophically crashing into one another.
I’ll let you click on the brief French Television advert that never was…
before I continue our conversation….
“Slouching toward tyranny.
25 NOVEMBER 2016
“This is how a free people slouch toward tyranny. Here is an excerpt from a Catholic News Agency article. The short commercial mentioned in the article is below.
“On Nov. 10, the French Council of State, a body of the French government, ruled that the short video was inappropriate for broadcast on French television as a commercial.
In a decision upholding the French Broadcasting Council’s earlier ban of the video, the Council of State said it failed to meet the criteria for a public service announcement. In its reasoning, it pointed out that the happiness of the children shown in the video was “likely to disturb the conscience of women who had lawfully made different personal life choices.””
If you are like me, after watching this clip, there are probably tears flowing down your cheeks.
Tears of joy and tenderness and hope…
always hope…
I taught high school art for 31 years before retiring 4 years ago.
During the course of three decades, I had the pleasure of working with all kinds of kids.
I taught in a public city school system for my entire tenure.
I worked with every color of kid you can imagine and a myriad of nationalities–
and yes, even illegal immigrants…
I taught kids with all levels of intellect…
those who were considered and tested gifted as well as those kids with both
physical and cognitive disabilities and deficiencies.
All mixed in within one class…
no separation, no division, no segregating, no distinction.
Simply kids…
This is not the first encounter I’ve had in recent weeks with an article or
video clip highlighting Down Syndrome children and the alarmingly and rapidly
growing cultural clamoring over the rising questions of should such pregnancies,
where by various testings an at risk child in utero has been identified,
should that pregnancy be allowed to come to term or should such a pregnancy be terminated,
as in aborted…
Sally Phillips is a British actress and a woman of deep Christian Faith.
She is featured in a documentary on the BBC raising the question about a world without Down Syndrome.
If you do not already know, I am the product of adoption.
I was adopted during a time when abortions, all though preformed were done so very clandestinely.
It was a very taboo back ally sort of affair…so adoption was much more prevalent,
as homes for unwed mothers were numerous.
There are those who would then take that notion and use it as a rallying cry for the legality of such, keeping it from being back ally clandestine.
But I would disagree.
There is no justification for itemized death.
I have very strong feelings about pregnancies and the bigger picture that far transcends
that initial act of sex–
For you see I don’t look at sex as merely sex,
as an act of satisfaction…
but rather always as, depending upon age and health,
the potential act of procreation.
And how our culture has disregarded such an intimate union of two individuals as something as trite,
the fulfilling of the physical, something causal or even wanton is beyond my soul.
And now we enter a new arena—where man enters the realm of God—
deeming who may live and who may not…
I have problems with that.
Shame on the French for deciding not run that advert letting both women and men
know that it’s ok to see the pregnancy of a child with Down Syndrome to completion.
The fact that they felt the showing of such an ad would trouble the conscious of those
women who had opted to “lawfully” abort their babies,
is one more reminder that we have ferried ourselves across the river Styx as we have
left the realm of the living opting to cross the river while embracing the realm of death…
“Choices once unanimously considered criminal and rejected by the common moral sense are gradually becoming socially acceptable,”
Pope John Paul II
“Many people are concerned with children of India, with the children of Africa where quite a few die of hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned about the violence in this great country of the United States. These concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned with the millions being killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is the greatest destroyer of peace today- abortion which brings people to such blindness.”
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
“There may be a time in life when one is tired of everything
and feels as if all one does is wrong,
and there maybe some truth in it-
do you think this is a feeling one must try to forget and to banish,
or is it ‘the longing for God,’ which one must not fear,
but cherish to see if it may bring us some good?
Is it ‘the longing for God’ which leads us to make a choice which we never regret?
Let us keep courage and try to be patient and gentle.
And not mind being eccentric, and make distinction between good and evil.”
Vincent van Gogh
“No people is fully civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office
and stealing a purse”
Theodore Roosevelt
(turban squash / Julie Cook / 2016)
God does not draw a distinction between the beautiful verses the plain
The haughty verses the lowly…
the well to do verses the insufficient…
We are the ones who have drawn the line between inviting verses common
extravagant verses meek…
slick verse slow,
powerful verses humble…
Preferring always the greater verses the lesser
the influential to the simple
the rich to the poor…
As we are left to wonder who is the better for this distinction of choice….
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you:
Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,
but rather think of yourself with sober judgment,
in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
Romans 12:3
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