Category: Michael D
Advent: Comfort or Challenge?
December rushes toward Christmas. For those that profess Christian faith we are supposed to be waiting, anticipating, a kind of mosey toward Bethlehem as the pageant changes scene by scene from annunciation, to angelic choir to dusty shepherds, to pondering. The visitors from the East and escape to Egypt are New Year events. I’ve been pondering this year the question: “Is Advent supposed to comfort or challenge?” I’m also pondering how I’m practicing Advent or better, “What does it look like to practice Advent?”
First Christian Church in Hennessey has this on their website. It helps me with my questions to ponder.
If your journey with Christ has left you with questions or doubts, we cannot promise you the answers you seek. If your journey through life has dealt you pain and heartbreak, we cannot promise to take away your pain. We CAN promise to walk with you, side by side, through all of life’s struggles, lifting you up in prayer and love.
Through faith, hope, and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, as children of God, we promise to share in your sorrow as well as your great joy that comes through a deep relationship with God.
The Day After Midterms 2014
Disappointed, but not surprised. That is the emotion I experience as I watched the returns from elections all across the country. Jon Stewart and the Daily Show got it right about who really won last night: Money.
I’ve been wondering if there are still reporters in this country that have the character of Morrow and realized that is the wrong question. Yes, there are reporters for print, TV and digital media that can investigate, report without passion, and not entertain. The question is: are there outlets for this reporting that can garner the trust of those that watch MSNBC and Fox? Who is the Morrow or Cronkite in our context? Answer, no one person or outlet. That is both good and bad. CNN mostly, or at least at one time, did straight reporting and then it had to compete and went Hollywood. The four or so corporations that OWN the media outlets and newspapers in our Nation don’t profit from asking the hard questions unless it helps their stock price or their political party of the month. Fear and Money won the day without RPG’s or sniper riffles. This is how the patriarchy keeps control and profits from it. And this is somehow “good” for our Nation. The Democrats bent to the fear of self preservation and lost rather than loudly proclaiming what they had done to benefit the common good. They allowed themselves to be defined by what they are not rather than what they stood for.
I guess we can safely trust the Federal government now that Republicans are in charge of 2/3rds of it again. This morning I ran across this article, A Minister from Thom Tillis’ State Tells Us What to Expect After the Election Results. It is worth 5 minutes.