Friday, December 25, 2015

"When Man Forgets His Creator, He Forgets How To Create"

In his review of the most recent chapter in the celluloid operas of Star Wars, John C Wright offers some wise words. I would encourage you to read the whole thing at his blog. Be warned. If you have not seen the film, there are some apparent spoilers. For the record, I have not seen it and I will not see it. The Star Wars franchise has become a tool of the elite, one worlders. I will not go into that now.

Anyhow, in the midst of his review, Mr. Wright says this:

"Why can’t the modern Leftist tell a decent story? Even when he is copying a good and healthy-minded original scene by scene in a paint-by-numbers fashion, it turns out sick-minded.
The answer is ultimately where all ultimate answers reside, in the deep places of the soul.
When we forget God, we forget how to tell tales. I submit that when a man forgets his Creator, he forgets how to create. Anyone raised in the Church is raised with compelling and impressive stories from childhood, from the tragedy of Eden to the epic of Exodus to the divine comedy of the Resurrection to the awesome high-tech special effects extravaganza of the Apocalypse.
We conservative Christians live inside a story, and we are curious about pagan stories, seeing even there glimpses of the universal light. Pagans are never curious about any Christian story, but repelled, for darkness hates the light. Political Correctness is not a story but a political manifesto, a complaint, a call for political change, a boring sermon we’ve all heard endlessly.
Our modern story tellers live in this arid and airless and lunar landscape of lifeless policy statements. Their characters are wooden puppets, merely stand-ins for whatever current political figures are they wish to mock or applaud. Their plots are borrowed without understanding what it is they borrow."

Mr. Wright is right. Maybe you have not noticed, but prior to the early 1960's Americans were the most prolific creators and inventors on the planet. Now all we seem to be able to do is drag out what was once old and try to remake it and we do not even do a good job at that.

Look at the arts, movies, music and entertainment. Everything is a rehash of the original. Modern paintings look like they belong on Mom's refrigerator and not in a museum. Popular Music has changed very little with only occasional aberrations. Movies are remakes. TV is a vast waste land. No one writes books that will one day be classics.

Our left brains are dying. It's that place where our souls reside. We have abandoned it for a mess of technical and politically correct pottage that strangles creativity and stifles the natural urge to seek God.

Western culture needs an enema. I think God will be giving it one shortly.

     

Know Jesus, Know Peace; No Jesus, No Peace

I am aware of the bumper sticker nature of today's post title, but for me and millions of others, it is true.

Jesus gets me through the day. No matter how manic or depressed I may be, He is there encouraging me with eternal hope. Frustrations come and go. Grief visits occasionally. Feelings of dread or angst or anger or injustice or guilt plague me from time to time. But when I refocus on Jesus, when I put my hope in Him and live moment to moment in His grace, then I begin to live again.

He is my anchor in this life. Without Him I would be lost. I am so glad that He stopped by 2000 years ago to show us the way out of the weeds and into the high and fertile ground.

It's true that Christmas is not my favorite holiday. I am not convinced that it is Jesus' birthday. It is however, a good time to reflect on what He did for us while He was here.

1.) He taught us how we should live, how we should treat each other, what it means to be truly righteous and then He lived that life.

2.) He showed by His own example what it means to to sacrifice in this life for others and for God.

3.) He taught us that to be loved, we must love first.

4.) He brought us eternal hope; the knowledge that we would one day again see those we loved here that have gone on before us.

5) And He showed us His grace for the poor choices that we all make from time to time in this life.

You see, faith in Christ is not all a "pie in the sky", suffer here, glory in eternity type of thing. We can have those moments here and now. Victory is as much a state of mind or a location for the soul whether we are in the body or out of the body. We can and do enjoy that peace that passes understanding in the here and now.

This becomes a mystery passing strange to those that know us and do not believe. All I can say to you is turn your eyes toward Jesus. I do not care what your problems are with the church or with the Bible. Start with Jesus. Go to Him in prayer. Seek Him out. Find some peace and hope. Over time your tears will become tears of joy and not tears of loss.

Merry Christmas