ICHABOD
The word 'Ichabod' is my bumper sticker right now as I travel so I'm bringing these two past posts back. The first is only a month old...the second is from February :
By God's grace I never experienced it....but many parents have....a child....a son in this instance....he chooses the wrong friends....they're troublemakers. At an age when he should be learning not only his studies....but learning how to think....he wastes all of his time. He ignores all the warnings....his life falls apart....his future in dire jeopardy. He becomes an angry young man....angry at the world he does not understand....angry at his parents who point him to areas that he will never go. He breaks the law and goes to jail....or worse....he causes the death of someone. The parents ask God why....he was such a good young boy....with a smile that captivated everyone. What mistakes did they make? Would God have mercy on him after all the pain that he caused? The parents plead mercy for themselves....for failing....for not seeing the problem early enough....for their lives are destroyed also.
This is America.....and we are the parents. I'm not speaking of today's youth. I'm speaking rather of America and the metaphor of a troubled young man who will not listen to anyone with authority.....who will not pay attention to their studies....who will not give up the friends who always get them into trouble. Will God have mercy on America....will He have mercy on us?
We are violent....and we are hedonistic....we hate God....we drink in the entertainments until we vomit.....we don't honor our forefathers......we don't honor the home that they gave us......we don't appreciate the many sacrifices made so that we can play the fool and laugh at those who admonish us.....and we strike out in total ignorance at those who try to stop....to even attempt to make sense of the chaos.
There is no happy ending.....there is no making America great again. Whether we are fighting in the streets....or worrying at home....we brought all this pain and sorrow....and confusion.....upon ourselves. Like Eli we did not raise our sons to respect God....we valued 'today' over giving glory to God.....and as with Eli-our heritage is gone.....the glory has indeed departed from America..
Florence Foster Streep.......February 2017:
Florence Foster Jenkins was a New York heiress, socialite and philanthropist whose love and passion for opera resulted in those around her encouraging her to sing on stage herself even though she had no singing ability. I watched the recent Meryl Streep/Hugh Grant film Florence Foster Jenkins and a couple of times walked out of the room...for the embarrassment portrayed was so thick. In what is sometimes thought of as the irony of life or a quirk of fate, Meryl Streep herself seems again to be acting out farce, only this time in the realm of politics.
Here is Ms. Streep, not only an accomplished actress but one of the finest actresses in film today, being given the stage to display what she obviously considers to be her keen intellect for social justice, but as in the case of Florence Foster Jenkins she has become a living witness to how so many celebrities ply their particular craft so well yet cannot comprehend the most basic concepts of liberty or our constitution or communism or tyranny in general.
This week's Lord's Day special televised event is the Grammy Awards where America will hear from celebrities in the music industry. Sunday in America has become a day of dual religious worship services. The morning hours are usually reserved for Christian services while the afternoon and evening are set aside for other religious services such as the Super Bowl of the Academy Awards.
America itself has been nominated for an altogether different award to be announced in the near future. Judah and Israel were past winners, as was Rome and Germany and England and the Netherlands. It's the Ichabod Award.....given for outstanding achievement demonstrating renunciation of Almighty God...the gift of wisdom...and the hope of glory.....for the glory has surely departed.
The word 'Ichabod' is my bumper sticker right now as I travel so I'm bringing these two past posts back. The first is only a month old...the second is from February :
By God's grace I never experienced it....but many parents have....a child....a son in this instance....he chooses the wrong friends....they're troublemakers. At an age when he should be learning not only his studies....but learning how to think....he wastes all of his time. He ignores all the warnings....his life falls apart....his future in dire jeopardy. He becomes an angry young man....angry at the world he does not understand....angry at his parents who point him to areas that he will never go. He breaks the law and goes to jail....or worse....he causes the death of someone. The parents ask God why....he was such a good young boy....with a smile that captivated everyone. What mistakes did they make? Would God have mercy on him after all the pain that he caused? The parents plead mercy for themselves....for failing....for not seeing the problem early enough....for their lives are destroyed also.
This is America.....and we are the parents. I'm not speaking of today's youth. I'm speaking rather of America and the metaphor of a troubled young man who will not listen to anyone with authority.....who will not pay attention to their studies....who will not give up the friends who always get them into trouble. Will God have mercy on America....will He have mercy on us?
We are violent....and we are hedonistic....we hate God....we drink in the entertainments until we vomit.....we don't honor our forefathers......we don't honor the home that they gave us......we don't appreciate the many sacrifices made so that we can play the fool and laugh at those who admonish us.....and we strike out in total ignorance at those who try to stop....to even attempt to make sense of the chaos.
There is no happy ending.....there is no making America great again. Whether we are fighting in the streets....or worrying at home....we brought all this pain and sorrow....and confusion.....upon ourselves. Like Eli we did not raise our sons to respect God....we valued 'today' over giving glory to God.....and as with Eli-our heritage is gone.....the glory has indeed departed from America..
Florence Foster Streep.......February 2017:
Florence Foster Jenkins was a New York heiress, socialite and philanthropist whose love and passion for opera resulted in those around her encouraging her to sing on stage herself even though she had no singing ability. I watched the recent Meryl Streep/Hugh Grant film Florence Foster Jenkins and a couple of times walked out of the room...for the embarrassment portrayed was so thick. In what is sometimes thought of as the irony of life or a quirk of fate, Meryl Streep herself seems again to be acting out farce, only this time in the realm of politics.
Here is Ms. Streep, not only an accomplished actress but one of the finest actresses in film today, being given the stage to display what she obviously considers to be her keen intellect for social justice, but as in the case of Florence Foster Jenkins she has become a living witness to how so many celebrities ply their particular craft so well yet cannot comprehend the most basic concepts of liberty or our constitution or communism or tyranny in general.
This week's Lord's Day special televised event is the Grammy Awards where America will hear from celebrities in the music industry. Sunday in America has become a day of dual religious worship services. The morning hours are usually reserved for Christian services while the afternoon and evening are set aside for other religious services such as the Super Bowl of the Academy Awards.
America itself has been nominated for an altogether different award to be announced in the near future. Judah and Israel were past winners, as was Rome and Germany and England and the Netherlands. It's the Ichabod Award.....given for outstanding achievement demonstrating renunciation of Almighty God...the gift of wisdom...and the hope of glory.....for the glory has surely departed.
