From The Deacons' Desk
July is a time to celebrate the birth of our nation and a month, as in all months, of sunrises and sunsets. Both are a marvel of beauty.
In 1787, at the Constitutional Convention, there was a painting of a rising sun behind George Washington’s chair. At the end of the convention, Ben Franklin looked towards the painting and remarked to James Madison, “I have often looked at that painting behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising, and not a setting, sun.”
A few years from now it will be America’s 250th year anniversary. But, will the sun have already set on America?
There are so many people who have no religion, or who have turned away from it. Is the sun setting on religion, on God? Many do not know Him, and many more have turned away from Him. Is the sun setting on God?
How could this be happening in this world, a world created by God, in our country, a country that was founded in Judeo-Christian roots. (Here is a bit of interesting trivia - The founding fathers wanted to have on one side of the official seal of the US, a portrayal of ancient Israel going through the wilderness, led by God’s pillar of fire, but it proved too difficult to achieve.)
We, as humans, as Christians, can only do so much because of all our weaknesses and frailties. It can be said that we do our greatest work when we do not hinder God from doing His. Let us step aside and pray, cry out, petition God for His presence. The world has lost its common sense, and sense of sound reasoning. Let us call on God to send His Spirit into this world, His creation, and instill in all humanity common sense (even “an iota” would go a long way)!
Good, sound reasoning would follow, the knowledge of right from wrong, the difference between good and evil, and from there the law of Moses and the Ten Commandments. Who with common sense and sound reasoning can find fault with the Ten Commandments? And from there it is a short leap to the two great commandments - love God, love your neighbor. Who can disagree with that?
We listen for God and let Him lead. We look towards the Risen Son, and let His light shine and reflect off us and on to all of God’s children, the lost, the wayward. God is calling us back. We need to listen. We need to keep our faith and trust in God. Take out a coin and read the motto our Founding Fathers adopted, “In God we trust” (Editor’s note: it was actually adopted in 1956 to replace E pluribus unum [from many, one] which had been part of the Great Seal of the United States adopted in 1776.)
We go through life looking for hints from God, like road signs pointing the way to where God wants us to be. In the end, we hope that we did the best we could and not miss the big ones. One thing we do know is that we are all created in God’s image and that all life is precious, from the infant in the womb to the one lying in a hospice bed, and all in-between.
Perhaps, when we ask the same question about sunrise and sunset again, we can answer that there is a new sunrise on America, on the world, on religion, and on God.
Our time in this world is both precious and short. Enjoy the beauty of the daily sunrises and sunsets. There will come a time when our own personal sunrise and sunset will go hand in hand, the time when we will join the Risen Son.
In 1787, at the Constitutional Convention, there was a painting of a rising sun behind George Washington’s chair. At the end of the convention, Ben Franklin looked towards the painting and remarked to James Madison, “I have often looked at that painting behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising, and not a setting, sun.”
A few years from now it will be America’s 250th year anniversary. But, will the sun have already set on America?
There are so many people who have no religion, or who have turned away from it. Is the sun setting on religion, on God? Many do not know Him, and many more have turned away from Him. Is the sun setting on God?
How could this be happening in this world, a world created by God, in our country, a country that was founded in Judeo-Christian roots. (Here is a bit of interesting trivia - The founding fathers wanted to have on one side of the official seal of the US, a portrayal of ancient Israel going through the wilderness, led by God’s pillar of fire, but it proved too difficult to achieve.)
We, as humans, as Christians, can only do so much because of all our weaknesses and frailties. It can be said that we do our greatest work when we do not hinder God from doing His. Let us step aside and pray, cry out, petition God for His presence. The world has lost its common sense, and sense of sound reasoning. Let us call on God to send His Spirit into this world, His creation, and instill in all humanity common sense (even “an iota” would go a long way)!
Good, sound reasoning would follow, the knowledge of right from wrong, the difference between good and evil, and from there the law of Moses and the Ten Commandments. Who with common sense and sound reasoning can find fault with the Ten Commandments? And from there it is a short leap to the two great commandments - love God, love your neighbor. Who can disagree with that?
We listen for God and let Him lead. We look towards the Risen Son, and let His light shine and reflect off us and on to all of God’s children, the lost, the wayward. God is calling us back. We need to listen. We need to keep our faith and trust in God. Take out a coin and read the motto our Founding Fathers adopted, “In God we trust” (Editor’s note: it was actually adopted in 1956 to replace E pluribus unum [from many, one] which had been part of the Great Seal of the United States adopted in 1776.)
We go through life looking for hints from God, like road signs pointing the way to where God wants us to be. In the end, we hope that we did the best we could and not miss the big ones. One thing we do know is that we are all created in God’s image and that all life is precious, from the infant in the womb to the one lying in a hospice bed, and all in-between.
Perhaps, when we ask the same question about sunrise and sunset again, we can answer that there is a new sunrise on America, on the world, on religion, and on God.
Our time in this world is both precious and short. Enjoy the beauty of the daily sunrises and sunsets. There will come a time when our own personal sunrise and sunset will go hand in hand, the time when we will join the Risen Son.
