Taking the Witness Stand

Our lives in time consist of witnessing ever-changing, never-to-be-repeated events and experiences and our reaction to each in turn.  Events as objectively unspectacular as seeing the smiling face of a child, the touch of a cool breeze on a hot summer afternoon, the rich and clear song of an oriole; or as potentially heartwrenching as seeing the aftermath of a natural disaster, hearing the cries of the poor, or feeling grief over the loss of a loved one.

We can witness a crime or a beautiful sunset, an athletic achievement or an injustice, an accident or a miracle.  We obtain understanding and personal knowledge by way of these experiences, and in most cases, this is where our witness ends: our personal knowledge.  But our witness turns from passive to active when we attest to what we've seen or heard or come to know -- when we choose not to keep it to ourselves but use it as a conduit for change.

Going public isn't always easy.  Change isn't always welcomed.  Speaking the truth, testifying to the truth, often exacts a price.  Family, friends, job, reputation.  What may we be asked to give up by our testimony to the truth?

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It is more blessed to give than to receive. Take 2.

We have all been blessed with talents and the free will with which to share them.  They are not meant to keep hidden for ourselves, but to distribute freely to those in need.  This, in a nutshell, is the spirit of the volunteer.  Not a sense of duty or obligation, or even "giving back to the community," but a realization that we are all part of a very large family - a "brotherhood of man" - and as such when one family member is in need, we are all in need; when one suffers, we all suffer.

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I Have Come to Realize ...

... that our lives consist entirely of choices.  We spend each waking minute, whether at work, at play, study, or rest, deciding whether we’ll follow God’s will for us or not.  Each and every one of these moments are intersections, forks in the road of life.

As an adult, I can look back down the road which I've traveled and see how these countless little decisions, from the time I could reason until the present day, for right or for wrong, have formed me into the person I've become.  Habits, good and bad, virtues, vices.  I try to keep ever in mind that at the end of the road, it's those countless little decisions I've made throughout life, that have mapped and paved my way to my eternal destiny.

So sure, we take the wrong path sometimes, but do we learn from it?  Do we humble ourselves by getting up and begging forgiveness -- of both God and ourselves -- then take hold of His hand and start again?  If so, we’ve gained a greater understanding of ourselves and a greater perspective on God.  If not, we continue on our dark and winding path away from Him.

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It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Although that phrase is often heard in our modern culture in and around the Christmas season, few people seem to take it seriously.  Even fewer recognize its origin: oddly enough, (the only?) words of Jesus not found in the four gospels.  Paul's recollection of the phrase was faithfully recorded by Luke the Evangelist in Acts 20:35.

So, what does it mean?  More blessed to give than to receive?!  That must have sounded strange to the Jewish audience who had historically interpreted an abundance of possessions as a sign of God's blessing and favor.  It probably sounds even stranger today.  But if we really stop and think about the times in our lives when we witnessed or participated in true, unconditional and selfless charity, we know it to be true.

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A Change of Heart

Why did God create us?

The old Baltimore Catechism says we were created to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this life and be happy with Him forever in the next.  Or perhaps we can sum it up even more simply: we were created to give God the glory He is due.

All of creation gives glory to God by being most fully what the Creator intended.  Inanimate objects and creatures without free will give glory to God simply by being.  We creatures, with intellect and free will, can either choose or choose not to be what the Creator intended.

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The Love of a Father

Sometimes it's not easy being a father. Our children imitate what they've learned from us -- both the good examples, and unfortunately, the bad.  We try to pass on the wisdom we've learned by experience -- to help them avoid the same pitfalls that we've fallen into ourselves -- but often see them following the same paths.  We try to discipline but often exercise it imperfectly.

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Lost Sheep

A friend of mine used to tend sheep on his parent's farm as a boy.  He explained to me once some of their curious habits, such as never drinking from running water, and always following the sheep directly in front of them.  Somehow our discussion turned to the image of the shepherd from Matthew and Luke's gospels -- the shepherd who leaves the flock of 99 sheep to find the one that strayed.

He asked if I'd ever noticed that in some of the paintings of Jesus as the shepherd, the lamb hoisted upon His shoulders has a bandage around one leg.  He told me that in some cases, a young lamb will habitually stray -- no matter how many times the shepherd brings it back to the flock, it soon runs off again.  And it leads others astray as well.

So the shepherd breaks the leg of the wandering lamb.

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