President Reagan's Normandy Speech (1984)

 

As we approach the 80th anniversary of D-Day this year, I thought it might be beneficial to view President Ronald Reagan's thoughts on this famous battle in history. 

The Story of Job - Revisited

The story of Job is one of the great mysteries of the faith and one that most of us, if honest, really struggle with.  It’s tantamount to asking your dad “why” only to hear him respond, “because I said so”.  

We in our selfish nature want to attach to this story our understanding of justice and fairness.  Our finite comprehension of God wants to ask the same questions Job’s friends did.  We who read carefully want to inquire of God why it is the He pointed out Job to satan and why He removed His hand of protection from a man that the Bible describes as the most righteous man in all the earth at the time. Surely if Job was not spared what chance do we stand who would hardly be labeled as righteous?  

You see, we've barely even stepped off the porch to wade into the weeds and we have already raised massive theological questions about the character of God. And yes, it is true that when God finally answers Job, He almost taunts Him with his lack of knowledge and wisdom, daring him to try to counter a point that God has made. Such is the price for worshipping that which we cannot truly understand, as portrayed by C.S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia, when confronted by the idea of Aslan, the lion, who is a picture of God, Lucy asks, "Is He safe?"

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

Mr. Tumnus also says, "He's wild, you know. Not a tame lion."

— C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55: 8-9)

The Second Coming (by William Butler Yeats)

Turning and turning in the widening gyre   

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst   

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.   

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out   

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert   

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,   

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,   

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it   

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.   

The darkness drops again; but now I know   

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,   

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,   

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

by William Butler Yeats

Six Verses Later . . .

The life of Jesus seemed to disappoint, at times, almost everyone. For instance, the authority figures of His day, Herod and Pilate couldn't get Him to answer most of their questions. Then we have the Pharisee's - who were the spiritual leaders, who grew tired of Him always answering their questions, and in fact, even most of His own family didn't understand who He was and the message He was teaching. 

His closest confidantes, His disciples, who spent an extraordinary amount of time with Jesus, even a great number of them became disillusioned and eventually fell away, except for a diminished few. 

So lets recap. 

The greatest person who has ever walked the face of the earth, God's very own Son, perfection personified, and human beings still found fault and reasons to prevent them from giving Him their devotion.

People are fickle. (And sometimes worse . . . )

Loyalties change.

Obedience is difficult.

Faith, without God's help, is impossible.