Facebook Rant

Although this post from Trevin Wax is two years old it still deserves consideration, especially during this month of being thankful. Too many of us are full of rage and rant; some express it behind the wheel of a car, others, through their RANTs on FaceBook, instagram and twitter. When Christians RANT…, it goes to prove just how wide the division is between “us & them” really is.

When you look at your friends list, are you only seeing people who agree with you? People who will pat you on the back every time you say something? Maybe its time to think about the people who stopped being “friends” with you, or the people you have unfriended. Challenge yourself to be love-able to someone you don’t agree with today.

Unlike Jesus, we have lost the ability to walk among people who disagree with us and love them. Sad.

Gary

Pope Francis in America

Alfredo BorbaAs only the fourth Pope to set foot on American soil, Pope Francis has sparked an interest in not only the Christian faith, but in all religion across this land. Questions like, What do I believe? Do I really believe what I say I believe? What parts of those beliefs affect my life on a daily basis? And on a larger scale, What is our responsibility to the poor, the displaced, the strangers in our midst, and those of other faiths? Or, yet again, What is our responsibility to climate change? How can we handle the economic inequity across the globe?

On September 23^rd, in his speech before a joint session of Congress (http://time.com/4048176/pope-francis-us-visit-congress-transcript/), Francis graciously summarized & tackled two major areas of concern we need to address— CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT and CULTURAL WASTE.

On the matter of Cultural Engagement, he encouraged all Christians, everyone in the United States, and everywhere, to solve the world crises in immigration, of refugees in the Middle East and Europe, to seek solutions to seemingly unending regional conflicts, and to learn that differing cultural perspectives can actually serve to improve the human race rather than to further divide it. We all must engage people who are different from us, for our own sake. Otherwise our differences will lead to misunderstanding and misunderstanding to mistreatment and war. We must end our isolationism.

On the matter of Cultural Waste, Pope Francis’ deep concern was not only what we all are doing to our environment through national industrial pollution and waste byproducts, his concern was primarily with our attitude toward the humanity of humans. He called for an end to treating illegal immigrants as numbers, and called for an attitude where they are simply people, seeking a better life. He called for governments worldwide to find a solution to the massive migration of people from the Middle East and Northern Africa fleeing for their lives and for safety to European and Western borders. We dare not turn our backs on them because of their massive considerable numbers; they are people.

His admonitions should move all of us to contact our Congressmen and Representatives to STOP ignoring these tragedies as if time will simply take care of them. It will not. WE must take care of them as if God is demanding that we do it. I couldn’t agree more.

What are you being called on to do to make a difference?

Tolerance, Not what you think it means

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German born 19^th Century philosopher who speculated on the nature of Being and Nothingness (“To Be or Not To Be…? Hamlet?). He concluded that for every thesis, a statement about some idea, there is an opposing antithesis, an opposing idea. These two opposing positions would battle it out and result, most of the time, in a synthesis of the two. Hegel used this formulation only once, but it formed the basis for many of his subsequent hypotheses.

So today, 200 years on, what does this have to do with anything?!?

In these last few weeks/months/years our society has become so reactionary that people are neglecting the common courtesy of thinking before they act. Too many of us are jus’ letting” it all hang out, blowing up, accusing each other, not even listening to the other group’s full thesis. Thus do tempers flare, stereotypes flourish, and a kind of seething hatred takes over, further widening the gap between people and positions. Winning is all that matters. Being right. It’s always tit for tat: thesis vs. antithesis. We never seem to grow into a synthesis beyond all our posturing.

The recent Supreme Court rulings for gay-marriages, Bruce Jenner becoming Caitlyn Jenner, and our President striking a nuclear pact with Iran, Confederate Flag waving, have all contributed to the further polarization of the Left & the Right, Conservative vs. Liberal, Bible Belt/Wheat Belt vs. East/West Coasts & our larger cities. E pluribus unum still means Out of many, One; but we are hardly definable by that precept any longer.

It would be more accurate to admit that we are a nation of individualists, of special interest groups, of political parties & sub-parties, of religious and non-religious groups all seeking dominance in the dance of democracy. One group wins over another, then another group triumphs: thesis- anti-thesis; we never arrive at a synthesis for the common good.

It’s time we brought divergent groups, parties, & whoever to the table of human decency and admitted we live in a pluralistic society. We are bound together not to fight only for our own rights, but to fight for each other’s right to exist and to have a voice. We owe it to one another to learn NOT to tolerate one another, but to defend each other, to care about the prosperity and happiness of people who are not like us. We may not be “under God” any longer (probably never were), but at the very least we owe it to ourselves and to our children to work on a resolution to all the brawling for self-aggrandizing superiority.

IF we do not, this reactionary positioning will have reverberations well into many future generations.

Synthesis.

God help us all

Gary

We the People…

The Charleston murders last night are reflective of an America that has fallen deeply into the abyss of the rights of the individual to shape the core beliefs & common respect due us all. “We the people…, in order to form a more perfect union.” Has degenerated into “I will assert my rights, my values, my individual dominance, and my anger against anyone I chose…, screw you.”

Following World War II (1945) America was so tired of war we simply withdrew from Korea and allowed the country to divide. (1952) We know how well that worked out. Through our war in Vietnam (‘60s-70s) we grew weary and skeptical that any war was worth entering. Then came the Gulf War followed by the War in Iraq, and finally our world-wide war against Terrorists and ISIS. According to my son-in-law, a military strategist, that is a Stage 1 war that can never be won, and will never be over.

The effect of this history has been that American individualism has focused on our own individual rights and a return to isolationism. We don’t want to get involved.

It took almost 100 years following our Civil War for African Americans to be recognized as decent human beings. Our LGBTQ Americans fared much better in a mere 40 year struggle to gain national recognition.

Why should we be surprised that a white supremacist attends a Wednesday Bible Study and murders nine African-Americans!?! His goal? “To reignite the race wars.” American individualism has supplanted any core value with the values of whatever fringe activist group seeks to assert over the common good. This is wrong on any moral, civil, and human decency level you can find throughout history.

Which groups will face eradication next? My guess is any semblance of the Judean-Christian religious tradition. Religious types are a threat because they believe in an external reference point on which all human dignity and morality is based. They threaten those fringe philosophies that challenge the common core’s right to exist. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, are a threat to our nation and must be kept in check. There is no common decency, there is no moral code, there is no respect for “WE the people.. .”. There is only I.

Thus, the murders in Charleston last night.

And yes, I am mad that we have come to this.

Dr. Gary Davis

Bench Players

There are a lot of bench players out there. You know the ones; they are on the team, but they are never quite in the game. Oh, they will cheer the players on the field with great gusto, but they never seem ready to enter the game as much as others.

We find them in all walks of life— sports teams, churches, business departments, etc. Some “players” would rather sit/stand on the sidelines and cheer rather than getting into the game. They never quite measure up.

In my line of work I find many bench players who cheer the team on; they just don’t want to play. What they settle into is a critical spirit that rains down on their fellow team members who are giving it all they’ve got. These bench players know how to get things done, of course, even better than those embroiled in the game, even better. They just never do it. And if they do have a better solution, we’ll never know it. Ah, if only they would play.

So, what kind of player are you? It’s easy to tell. If you are in the game, you are battered, bruised, dirty; discouraged one minute, elated the next. If you sit on the side and merely criticize those in the game, your uniform is spankin’ clean; you may have a great perspective on the overall game, but you are just not invested in it enough to get roughed up by the other team.

Real life needs players who play. Churches need players who play; and who are not afraid of getting beaten down every now & then. We need genuine Christians who are invested in the game. They are invested in their church and its goals. We already have too many bench players as it is.

Which kind of player do you think you are? Hint— look for wounds, cuts & abrasions.

Bleeding a little here,

Gary

Partly Innocent

Gary, Davis, Judge, Christian, Condemn, Innocent, Pure The Christian process of sanctification, being drawn by God from darkness to brilliance, is a life journey. Yet far too frequently do we judge those who are lagging behind, or who struggle with the same thing year after year. We tend to condemn them more oft than we do forgive them.

Therein lays the puzzle. God has forgiven them yet we continue to pronounce and enforce our own Christian judgement upon them. So…, God may have forgiven them, but we do not? Well, not yet at least. They need to prove themselves worthy of our approval, not just God’s; then maybe we might consideration restoration.

Think of the innocence of a young child—so pure and blameless; so simple in their outlook on life; impressionable, formative in their earliest days. So what impressions do they have of our Christian lives? Do we come across as Holy, Righteous, completely Moral and Upright? I doubt it; but that is the image we want our children to aspire to. Adult Christians can more easily hide their true selves.

The problem with that is that we often fake our righteousness, our faithfulness to the cause of Christ. Want proof? Easy. What percentage of your income do you tithe? Have you been completely pure in your devotion to your husband, your wife? Ever lust? Or maybe you simply judge those who don’t measure up to your standard of outward Christian faith. Quietly, of course. Until there comes a time when you just cannot hold back from sharing something you saw on Facebook or twitter about so&so. Bless your heart!

Our children are certainly partly innocent. In contrast, we are partly guilty. This is not meant to be a condemnation— rather, it is an obvious fact of growing toward maturity in Christ. In the end we must all rely on Christ’s grace and mercy alone.

So the next time you are in a sharing mode, think again about your own stance before the Throne of Grace. Recall that you are still partly guilty yourself. You are, like me, a work in process. Seeking that great day when you find your own sin disgusting.

One finger pointing out the sin in another’s life: three fingers pointing back toward yourself. Remember?

⁵You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye,

and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

~Matthew 7:5

For what it’s worth,

Gary

(PS, And if you need a reminder, here’s some wisdom from a toddler. )

Fast Faith

Let’s see…, how to be a Christian in the 21^st Century—

· Go to school.

· Clean the house.

· Shopping.

· Go the plant, the office, wherever.

· Shovel the snow.

· Shovel more snow.

· Drive the kids to Saturday sports practice.

· Pick up the kids from sporting events.

· Attend a small group with other Christians.

· Maybe, if there’s time, have personal devotions each morning.

· Oh, and go to church Sunday morning for an hour, maybe an hour & a half.

Now, back to the beginning…, repeat.

Is there anything missing? Probably. You’re thinking of something right now, aren’t you; and that made you think of something else!?! Is there no end to the things that chomp away at our lives?

We are moving too fast and our faith is having a hard time keeping up.

Just following my conversion to Christianity I remember a chapel speaker saying “There is enough time in each day for you to do all of God’s will.” Although my life often mocks this axiom it still raises a consideration at the end of every day. Did I make a difference today? Did I come any closer to fulfilling God’s design on my life? Most days…, yes. But there are some days I would rather forget.

Being a genuine Christian in our post 9/11, postmodern, postChristian world is no simple matter. You need to find your “Christian-self” in the midst of the normal people who surround you. What visible aspects show others that you are genuinely a follower of Jesus Christ? How did you matter today for the sake of Christ’s glory and the Kingdom of God? What do normal people think about your “Christian side?”

Answering these questions will be different for all of us. But one similarity will run through every answer— and that is our need to slow down to allow our Lord to catch up to us. Give up on a fast-faith. It’s not worth it. “Be still… .”

For what it’s worth,

Gary

After the Resurrection

Goin’ fishin’.” In essence, that is what Jesus’ closest disciples opted to do after His crucifixion. It was over. But Jesus asked them to wait— to wait for 3 more days. Three days of asking— What went wrong? What do we do now? Why wait to get on with our lives?

Have you ever felt that emptiness that follows the death of someone close to you— a mother, a dear friend, a child? It’s an emptiness that has no resolution, no closure; just a, flat, raw, void. It does pass; eventually.

Then the resolution to keep-on-keeping-on sets in; one foot in front of the other; another day to face. And you do it with a big hole in your life.

Sometimes it feels like Christ’s Church is still waiting. Waiting for something to happen. We say we’re looking forward to our Lord’s return, but we hardly live like it. We’ve established a new-normal. Faith without vibrancy, expectation, or longing—a settled faith that gives little regard to Christ’s commission to “make disciples” and to declare that He has conquered death and opened the door of heaven.

In too many ways, we have established a wrote-religion. You know what I mean— it’s what we do on Sundays. Same thing— week after week.

Isn’t it time somebody tackles our boredom and shakes things up a bit. Jesus certainly did. Ask yourself these questions—

What difference is my faith making to people outside the church?
What challenges me to make a difference?
What can I do to overcome my uncomfortable feelings when I am surrounded by normal people?
How can my life matter to others?
What do I need to do to change?

The Resurrection took the Jesus’ disciples by surprise. May He surprise us still, today. Be afraid!

For what it’s worth,

Gary

Cinderella

If you have not seen the 2015 version of Charles Perrault’s book, Cinderella, you need to drag your family to see it as a super family outing. It is amazing. And if you don’t fall head over heels for Lily James there is something wrong with you. ‘Nough said.

The most amazing thing about the production are the two themes that screen writer Chris Weitz has chosen to emphasize— courage and kindness. These two tracks run throughout the movie as Cinderella tries to cope with the death of her mother, and then her father. Her evil step-mother, played brilliantly by Cate Blanchett, is ‘Ella’s constant nemesis; she remorselessly tries to belittle Ella and turn her into the family servant-girl. Nonetheless, Ella is resilient, and rebuffs her step-mother’s assaults with a silent (mostly) inner determination. In the end, Cinderella marries the Prince and they move into the castle and turn her former domain into a homeless shelter for wayward girls…, or, something like that. Just go see it.

As for Cinderella’s two guiding principles, bequeathed to her by her dying mother, we would all do well to incorporate them into our own life-principles— courage and kindness. There is so much pain and suffering in our world at present that those who exhibit courage are the ones who will press beyond the hurt and overcome life’s daily adversity. This courage is not just those living in Iraq or Syria, the Ukraine or Libya; many of us in more stable society also suffer from broken lives, broken promises, deaths, and betrayals. We have a choice set before us— to give into the painful experiences and live a beleaguered life, fraught with disappointment and depression, OR, to face our fears and circumstances with that inner strength we didn’t know we had. That’s courage.

Then there is kindness. Many Christians can muster the wherewithal to become courageous: but to remain imbued with kindness toward others, that comes from a totally different source of strength. Maintaining an active position of kindness in life is no simple task. There are so many things, and people, who can unnerve us, rattle us, and piss us off that we find it almost impossible to be kind to everybody; maybe some, but not to all. Frankly, some people are just plain unlovable; others aren’t worth the effort, let alone treating kindly. But aren’t they exactly the people Christ has called us to love? Aren’t they exactly the kinds of people who need it most?

Just to reinforce this point, you will only need courage when you face genuine adversity. If you remain in a place of safety it is unlikely that you will ever need to call upon Christ for courage. If you surround yourself with people who are nice to be around, you will never need to exhibit true kindness to those less likable, let alone to the mean and difficult to be around.

So, please, let’s not hide in safe, clean castles (or churches) while the world outside is in such filth and pain. We can do so much if we put our hearts and minds to the task. “And lo, I am with you always… .”

For what it’s worth,

Gary

Centenarian

Today, March 16^th, would have been my mother’s 100^th birthday. She exited this life just two months shy of her 98^th birthday, January 19, 2012. She lived a valuable and influential life, teaching prisoners, caring for the poor, and moving among high ranking governmental officials, even Presidents.

But her real value was at home, to my sister and me as “mom.” Just mom. We did not know her in her other, more public roles; nor did we know our father, Earl Carlton Davis, as the founder of our present-day mega-ton maritime industry. For us, he was just “dad.” Never mind that he drank with Presidents and stevedores alike, and ran the gamut from the FBI to the Mafia members. He was, at home, just dad.

Now that they are both gone, my sister, Carol, and I reflect on their lives often. What they gave us was immeasurable.

Dad gave me his horrible sense of humor; a malady I suffer even to this day. My mom simply mixed up the punch-line with the joke. We forgave them both for these gifts years ago.

My mother’s consistent tenacious character has formed my character in deep ways. It is hard for me to let go, to give up, or quit. My dad passed along his toughness to fortify my determination.

My dad’s meanness taught me how not to be a father. Although, I’m not that sure I was that great of a father anyway.

Dad’s congenial character taught me diplomacy. I learned to compromise and still get things done right. That was an art, his art, and I am glad I’ve inherited so much of it.

But it was my mom’s personal Christian faith that most informed my early years, teen years, and throughout college & graduate school. Though I had my father’s personality, I definitely had my mother’s faith. She rarely passed it along to us through words; rather, it came to us through her attitudes and actions; and through prayer— lots of prayer. She was the embodiment of Jesus Christ Himself for us! Her prayers even drew dad back to God, through years of disappointment & anger.

Has there been someone in your life who has had a rich, deep impact on you? Thank God for them! Get in touch with them. Thank them yourself, before you miss the chance.

We kids are a dumb lot, often unable to see the love and care of those closest to us. It’s probably time we tuned-in a tad more and appreciated what God has given us.

Thanks mom, for everything…, & Happy Birthday!

For what it’s worth,

Gary

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