"Not a hair on your head will be destroyed" ~Luke 21:19
Jesus promises that we will be persecuted, and that some of us will actually die for Him, yet not a hair on our heads will be destroyed. Even the tiniest member of the body is precious to Him and in the resurrection we will be restored to His image and likeness, right down to the hairs on our heads!
It's funny that he mentions hair, because in our culture hair is such a big deal.
People pay a fortune to have their hair cut, colored, permed, and yes, restored.
In our world today the body is treated as something to be fixed, to meet a certain standard, but it is nature that we are trying to beat into submission. The fallen nature of our lives here in this world, at this time, means that we have to constantly battle the things that nature throws at us.
Disease, disorders, aging, injury, and ultimately death, are all problems that afflict our bodies as we journey through this life. It's a battle, and unless Jesus comes back, our bodies are ultimately going to be sidelined by death. We will breathe our last breath on this earth. Some people will breathe their last because someone has decided that they need to die because of their Faith.
So what does Jesus mean when He says that not a hair on our head will be destroyed after He has just finished saying that some people will be killed?
Because our bodies are us. If we die with Him we will also rise with Him, scripture promises, and in the fullness of time we will be glorified in our bodies.
We are going to be renewed.
What is there on this earth to be concerned with if our eternity is to be a new creation in Christ?
How do we go about our days if this is a reality?
We do certainly need to be taking care of our bodies, because good health in the body makes it much easier to glorify God! We should try to eat right, get good sleep and some exercise, so that when He calls on us for whatever task, we are capable.
However, spiritual health is something that we often don't incorporate into our self-care, and it is so important! The soul is probably the most neglected part of average human being, and that's going some because a whole lot of people are neglecting their physical health.
The soul is what animates the body, and the soul filled with the Spirit can do signs and wonders, and bring other souls to Christ to share in eternal life with Him!
So, one thing is for sure, Jesus is coming and you are going to meet Him one way or another.
This Advent, maybe it is a good time to start that program of better self-care.
Add something heathy to your diet, and leave out something unhealthy, give up a bad habit, add in a little exercise. That's for the body.
Start your day with 5 minutes of prayer. Get to Confession once a month. Add a Mass to your week, if possible. Pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit into your heart. That's for the soul.
We are going to be renewed in the end, but there's no reason not to make ourselves as much like that new creation as we can, right now!
Friday, November 29, 2019
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Identity Catastrophe
We live in almost impossible times.
It is almost impossible, in our time, to live as human beings have lived for most of human history.
Our food, daily movements, interactions, environments and even the most intimate of relationships are pressed on all sides by things that could never have been forseen, or prepared for, even fifty years ago.
Granted, there have some been some profoundly prophetic warnings, but for most people those warnings were either unbelieved or unheard because of their outlandish or unpalatable nature.
There was "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. Arguably one of the most prescient novels of the twentieth century, and one of the most disturbing.
There was Humanae Vitae, an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI, at the advent of the sexual revolution. It was resented and rebelled against, and yet one by one the predictions that were made regarding the effects of unbridled sexual license have come true.
There was "1984" by George Orwell, a novel about the logical conclusion of a culture that depends on, and defers to, "big" everything; big government, big tech, big pharma, big macs, all the result of a population that has decided to roll over and accept the slavery that goes hand in hand with convenience.
All of these dire prophesies came decades before the scientific and cultural infrastructure was in place to allow them to come true.
Those who might have expessed concern or caution were quieted by the majority who said that such outlandish events would never actually be possible, and even if they did become possible, people would never be so callous, heathen and stupid as to accept them.
Now here we are living in the impossible.
We have fulfilled every dire expectation and then some.
Beyond Pope Paul VI wildest imaginings, we have gone beyond a sexual revolution to something of a sexual evolution. Sex is turning into something that is sold, twisted and used, but fewer and fewer people are engaging in the marital embrace within the union that God intended.
Fewer and fewer babies are being born, not just in Japan and Germany, but all over the world.
In Japan, the young are becoming the "sexless generation", and a lack of interest in sex across the globe is more than troubling. It's pathological.
Lack of interest in basic needs is one sign of depression. What does that say about our culture?
Another deeply disturbing problem is the across-the-board identity crisis that the west seems to be experiencing.
It used to be that people spent some period of their lives "finding" themselves, but then when it was time to grow up, they would get the job, get married, have the kids, and get back to church.
In our culture the most fundamental roots of identity are in question.
Are you male or female?
When parents are having problems deciding whether or not to "label" their children with one of two choices where gender is concerned, we have reached a new level of confusing.
Are you a member of the human race, made in the image and likeness of God, or are you one of an invasive species that has taken over and is doing irrepairable harm to the planet?
This is now a serious question. There are some very serious and powerful people that believe the latter and are working to solve the "problem".
Are you willing to reproduce?
Another basic need. The lack of sex plays a role, but in the "old days" when people had the job, and the house, they would usually have the kids. It was the natural order of things. Now they get the dog, call it a "fur-baby" and they are ok with that. Our society is OK with that. It's beyond "waiting for the right time", or "putting it off", it's not even on the agenda.
Is this loss of a basic understanding of who we are a passing phase? Is it something that we just need to awaken to and correct?
What are the signs that it will be corrected?
Who is seeing the insanity for what it is?
Where will the societal will to change come from?
I don't see it.
I see communities that may decide that it's not OK for them. Church communities, compound-ish places off the grid, perhaps some localized action in fly-over country, but I can't see where a cultural shift is going to come from. Where will the realization that this is not good for us, that we can't be healthy without knowing who we are , actually come from?
I'm waiting.....
It is almost impossible, in our time, to live as human beings have lived for most of human history.
Our food, daily movements, interactions, environments and even the most intimate of relationships are pressed on all sides by things that could never have been forseen, or prepared for, even fifty years ago.
Granted, there have some been some profoundly prophetic warnings, but for most people those warnings were either unbelieved or unheard because of their outlandish or unpalatable nature.
There was "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. Arguably one of the most prescient novels of the twentieth century, and one of the most disturbing.
There was Humanae Vitae, an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI, at the advent of the sexual revolution. It was resented and rebelled against, and yet one by one the predictions that were made regarding the effects of unbridled sexual license have come true.
There was "1984" by George Orwell, a novel about the logical conclusion of a culture that depends on, and defers to, "big" everything; big government, big tech, big pharma, big macs, all the result of a population that has decided to roll over and accept the slavery that goes hand in hand with convenience.
All of these dire prophesies came decades before the scientific and cultural infrastructure was in place to allow them to come true.
Those who might have expessed concern or caution were quieted by the majority who said that such outlandish events would never actually be possible, and even if they did become possible, people would never be so callous, heathen and stupid as to accept them.
Now here we are living in the impossible.
We have fulfilled every dire expectation and then some.
Beyond Pope Paul VI wildest imaginings, we have gone beyond a sexual revolution to something of a sexual evolution. Sex is turning into something that is sold, twisted and used, but fewer and fewer people are engaging in the marital embrace within the union that God intended.
Fewer and fewer babies are being born, not just in Japan and Germany, but all over the world.
In Japan, the young are becoming the "sexless generation", and a lack of interest in sex across the globe is more than troubling. It's pathological.
Lack of interest in basic needs is one sign of depression. What does that say about our culture?
Another deeply disturbing problem is the across-the-board identity crisis that the west seems to be experiencing.
It used to be that people spent some period of their lives "finding" themselves, but then when it was time to grow up, they would get the job, get married, have the kids, and get back to church.
In our culture the most fundamental roots of identity are in question.
Are you male or female?
When parents are having problems deciding whether or not to "label" their children with one of two choices where gender is concerned, we have reached a new level of confusing.
Are you a member of the human race, made in the image and likeness of God, or are you one of an invasive species that has taken over and is doing irrepairable harm to the planet?
This is now a serious question. There are some very serious and powerful people that believe the latter and are working to solve the "problem".
Are you willing to reproduce?
Another basic need. The lack of sex plays a role, but in the "old days" when people had the job, and the house, they would usually have the kids. It was the natural order of things. Now they get the dog, call it a "fur-baby" and they are ok with that. Our society is OK with that. It's beyond "waiting for the right time", or "putting it off", it's not even on the agenda.
Is this loss of a basic understanding of who we are a passing phase? Is it something that we just need to awaken to and correct?
What are the signs that it will be corrected?
Who is seeing the insanity for what it is?
Where will the societal will to change come from?
I don't see it.
I see communities that may decide that it's not OK for them. Church communities, compound-ish places off the grid, perhaps some localized action in fly-over country, but I can't see where a cultural shift is going to come from. Where will the realization that this is not good for us, that we can't be healthy without knowing who we are , actually come from?
I'm waiting.....
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