O Come, Thou Lord of Might

 Here's the Great "O" antiphon for December 18.  (In case you don't know what an antiphon is, see my December 17 post.)

O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel, 
who appeared to Moses in the burning bush 

and gave him the law on Sinai,

 Come with outstretched arm and redeem us.

The verse of my favorite hymn which is based on this:

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,

Who to thy tribes on Sinai's height

In ancient times didst give the law

In cloud and majesty and awe.

  Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. 

The Great O's: Number One

 Okay, I'm going to try to take a break from the crazy politics.  One week from today is Christmas Eve.  In the Medieval Church, the evening service, called Vespers, was held nightly.  For the week before Christmas there were special antiphons written for each of these 7 days leading up to the celebration of Christ's birth.

Antiphons, short verses, often from the Bible and set to music, are still used in many traditional church liturgies.  In the Medieval Church, they were all in Latin.  With the Protestant Reformation, churches began shifting to the native languages of their people, whether German, English, etc.

These "Great O's" are so named because each starts with the word  "O".  In the early 1400s a haunting tune was in use with them in France, which has been carried on today.  Our English text translation was done by John Mason Neale in the 1800s, adding the refrain, "Rejoice, rejoice...".   The result is one of my favorite Christmas songs, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel".

For December 17, here is the antiphon:

 O Wisdom proceeding from the mouth of the Most High,
pervading and permeating all creation,

mightily ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

And here is the verse of the hymn:

O Come, Thou Wisdom from on high, who orders all things mightily;

To us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

When Will This Insanity End?

I have a Christian friend who says he's stopped going to church because so many people there have bought into the Far Right conspiracy theories that they won't listen to reason any more.  This makes me sad and angry.  I can certainly relate because there are people like that at my church, too.  Most of the time I've managed to avoid them.  It's gotten to the point that's all I can do.

Four years ago, the Democrats were crying foul when Trump defeated Clinton, especially since Clinton won the popular vote.  Now the Republicans are doing the same and worse, despite the fact that Biden won the popular vote and the electoral vote.  At one time Trump said he would concede if the Electoral College vote was against him,  But like all the other shifts in what he says, he's gone back on that statement, too.  How can people trust someone like that, who changes with the wind of his own opinion?

I've heard many Republicans who say, "The courts will decide."  Well, the courts have decided, but not in their favor.  Not what they wanted to hear, and so they vow to fight on, continuing to divide our country.

In my mind, sending death threats to election official and electors who are just doing their job is unconscionable.  How can people justify this?  It appears the Far Right has pushed the party do far Right that they believe, "Might makes Right."  They've been taking lessons from Machiavelli--or Hitler and Stalin.

People talk about Russian plots to overthrow us and set up a police state.  Actually, the first hints of this showed up in Portland, Oregon last summer, when unmarked Federal Agents began arresting people indescriminatly on no grounds.

I don't argue that Russia (and perhaps China) would like to see our democracy fall.  And by inciting so much division and fear in our country, a lot of politicians are playing right into their hands.  I see evidence of this standing on the street corners right here in remote Kalispell, Montana--flags waving for the candidate who soundly lost, using four-letter words I refuse to even print, insinuations of Chinese and Russian influences in the Democratic Party.  How ironic that four years ago it was the Democrats saying that the Russians conspired to get Trump elected!   It's becoming clearer all the time that they are succeeding in dividing and conquering us.

A few lonely voices, including the President-elect, are begging us to unite and stand together, even if we don't agree on everything.  But somewhere along the way, certain news agencies and politicians on both sides have convinced us that we must despise the people who disagree with us.  Unfortunately, some of those people are even waving the Bible in our faces.  Have they really taken to heart what it says?  I see too many who Talk the Talk but aren't Walking the Walk.

Once in a while, one of the Republican supporters or appointees sees the light and takes a stand for the truth.  Most recent example is Attorney General Barr.  One after another, these former "Yes men" have heard the word, "You're Fired!"  We've seen it repeatedly for the past four years.  Isn't that enough?

I know I'll lose friends over this, but I've decided it's time to stand up with these few brave, persecuted people.   I pray that we won't forget what Christ told his followers, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."   

Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself

 Nearly all the world's religions have some basic tenet of caring for our neighbors.  I ran across a quote this morning from Eugene Peterson, a fellow Montanan and Christian who died recently.  He said, "Freedom is a delicate and subtle gift, easily perverted and often squandered."

How often recently have we witnessed people of all persuasions using "freedom" as an excuse to foster hatred, rioting, looting, prejudice, or even just refusing to wear a mask?  None of these things, whether done by the Right or the Left, show "Love" to our neighbors.

Who is my neighbor?  You may ask, the very way someone asked Jesus this one day.  He told a story many of us know of The Good Samaritan.  What most have forgotten is that to the Jews who were his audience the Samaritans were the Enemy with a capital E.  To tell them this was their neighbor was a challenge to their whole belief system.

I often see bumper stickers that say, "Freedom Isn't Free."  And I absolutely agree.  Freedom is actually beyond price.  It cost Jesus his life.  But he's also the one who said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."  Are we remembering that one of the prices of freedom is responsibility?

Is The System Broken?

 Now that I'm 68, I've lived through some interesting times.  The election of Kennedy, his assassination, the presidency of Johnson and dreams of his "Great Society", the Vietman War, the rise and fall of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford the unelected president, Carter and the long siege of the embassy in Tehran, the rise of Reagan, Clinton, the Bushes, Obama, and now the illustrious narcissist Trump.  Each and every time a new president took office, there was a shakeup, but people always managed to say, "The System Worked, the great system of democracy."

Yes, it mostly did.  Studies have found that the delayed transition of George W. Bush in 2000-2001, because of the Florida voting debacle, led to a weakened communication among our national security agencies, which led to the disaster of 9/11/2001.  The system wavered that time.

This year has been the worst year of my life, and probably has for many others.  I'm still trying to figure out why the Almighty decided to send Covid-19 in our election year.  And why Trump is being such a sore loser that he's willing to let our country go down the toilet, just to assuage his ego.   He's busy playing popularity games while thousands are dying and the economy is crumbling.  The country is a gaping wound, and all he does is throw salt into it.

I can't understand why otherwise good-hearted, conscientious people can see anything Christian and worthy in this man.  He has no redeeming qualities unless you count his big mouth.  I know he claims to be pro-life.  But is that the only litmus test there is?  What about his attitudes toward toe needy among us, blacks, Hispanics, or women, for God's sake?  What about his arrogance?  Is he producing any Christ-like fruit?  In the Old Testament, God repeatedly warned the nation of Israel about their arrogance and ungodly behavior.  When the refused to listen, he allowed their enemies to destroy them  A sobering example.   

I have so-called friends who scold me for watching the "wrong" newscasts.  For their information, I don't watch any of them.  I just happen to read my Bible and see multiple verses scolding humans for being arrogant, selfish, and greedy.  I read verses that say we're supposed to love and care for our neighbors, feed the poor, even to love our enemies, not despise them just because we disagree with them. I see verses that say, "By their fruits you shall know them.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit." No, I don't watch the news stations, any of them.  I just happen to be able to still think for myself, for I haven't been brainwashed by either extreme.

Sorry people, but we're in the midst of national crisis like our country hasn't seen since the Spanish Influenza  of a hundred hears ago.  And The System is broken, folks.

God help us.

Whoever the "Leader of the Free World" Is, Christ is Still the King

 I remember my dad often saying, "Quit your belly-aching" when my complaints got to him.  Yes, I admit I have a pessimistic streak.  Now as I hear Trumpites doing this, I've decided not to stoop to their level.  My son said it well a couple of days ago:

"It's about character, Mom.  Now I can teach my students that character does matter after all.  It's about not being vindictive, but about trying to promote healing in a fractured nation."

I'm not sure it will work, but it shows that the spirit of Abraham Lincoln still lives in some hearts.  (See another of my blogs for thoughts on the man I consider to be our Best President Ever.)  I often wonder if we would be this bad off if Lincoln hadn't been assassinated.  Perhaps the reconstruction of the South would have gone better for all people.  

It's very ironic to me when I realize Lincoln was a Republican.  It was Southern Democrats who instituted Jim Crow laws and segregation.  I know it firsthand for I was born in southern Arkansas in the early 1950s.  I saw it with my own eyes.  When I was eleven, we moved to northern Illinois, where there was supposedly no segregation, but it was there, too-- if 'unofficially.'

The Southern Democrats came over to the GOP when Reagan was elected, but instead of becoming Republican, they drew the Republican Party into being Southern Democrats.  I think we're reaping the harvest of this today.  It's especially sad to see how far the GOP has fallen in the past four years--losing its soul in a Faustian deal with the Devil.

There may be a chance for healing, but the wounds are very deep, and by refusing to concede, Trump (in my opinion) is throwing salt on those wounds.  He's apparently forgotten that we're still a democracy (or at least a semblance of one) and the people have spoken.

I'm reminded of a story in the Bible book of Daniel, when mysterious handwriting appeared on the palace wall in Babylon.  No one could read this supernatural message, so Daniel had to interpret what it meant:  "Your regime has been measured in the balance and found wanting."  This signaled the end of the Babylonian Empire, at that time the most powerful the world had ever seen.

Several empires have risen and fallen since then--the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and more.  I pray that we're not next.  But only God knows, because He's still in charge.

Might Makes Right?

 It's November 4, 2020 as I write this blog.  Some things I just need to share.  In my opinion, the problems and divisions in our country have been with us for generations, perhaps from the very beginning.  The past few decades have seen increasing polarization, though.  

Who's at fault?  Probably both sides.  They just keep pulling farther apart with each passing year.  People wave their flags and guns and holy books.  Not just Christians, but Isis, too.  Hmm... 

Our country used to have statesmen in the middle who knew how to compromise when necessary for the greater good of the nation.  But I don't think there are any of them left.  President Carter, in my opinion, was among the last true statesmen.  He was defeated after one term by Ronald Reagan 40 years ago today.  ( I remember it vividly because as Carter was conceding, my water broke, and I gave birth to my first child about an hour later.)

It seems that ever since then we've been on a long downhill slide.  For some reason, God has permitted this.  He's chosen not to send us any more statesmen.  Just politicians.  Perhaps this is part of God's plan to wipe America off the map.  Like the nation of Israel was conquered as punishment for their sins.

There was a song on the radio back in the 1960s called "The Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire.  It upset a lot of people by saying things I just did.  But as the years of my life have gone by, I see it turning into an eerie prophecy.

I don't want this to happen, but I'm beginning to wonder if the Great American Experiment is failing, and one day we'll have to look back and realize it was all a pipe dream.