The Light of the World

‘…”I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”’

(John 8:12)

This is one of the great “I am” statements that Jesus made in John’s Gospel.  Notice that Jesus is saying that he is the light of the world.  It is hard to realize sometimes that our world largely lies in darkness.  This darkness is not an absence of lighting, but rather the darkness of sin, rebellion and of the spirit.  Our world lacks the light of true life; God’s presence.

As we go through our days, are we in the light as Jesus used the term; the light of God’s truth?  When we walk with Jesus we are…  The question is, are we walking with Jesus?

I recently spoke to a guy who was complaining that life wasn’t going well.  He was upset because nobody appreciated his efforts, his work and his contributions.  It seemed that everyone around him overlooked everything that he was doing for them.  I asked if he was concentrating his attention of his relationship with Jesus, and he told me that he was! Yet, all he was concerned about was what other people were thinking, and whether or not they appreciated him.  I hate to say so, but this poor guy is living in darkness.  If we are walking with Jesus that is, in His light, we don’t even notice that we are being slighted, because our attention is illuminated by the light of His truth. If we are not walking in the light of His truth, it is very easy to be consumed by slights and snubs…

Reflections 70 years after Pearl Harbor

Even though I was not alive on December 7, 1941, I have a memory of December 7… only it was 1991.  I can well remember that it was a cold and snowy Saturday, the 50th anniversary of the “Day of Infamy”.  I asked my 8-year-old if she knew what Pearl Harbor was, thinking that since it was the 50th anniversary maybe her teacher had talked about it.

She had absolutely no idea what I was talking about…

So I thought I might prompt her memory and said, “Did your teacher say anything about what this is the anniversary of?”

“Oh, you’re talking about the day the rotten Americans dropped the Bomb on the poor Japanese!”

Reeling, I asked, “Is that what your learned in school about today?”

“Yes, you see 50 years ago today, Americans nuked the Japanese for no reason!”

Growing up, I had a different understanding of December 7th!

On that day, my Dad had recently returned to California from Hawaii where he had served in the Army Air Corps.  Some of the USAAF facilities that had been hitt were places he had known very well; those who had been killed and maimed were his buddies… he could speak of the attack as though it were yesterday. The emotions and regrets were fresh and alive, even 25 years later when he spoke of these things.  My mind was ablaze at the contrast between the way I had learned about Pearl Harbor and the way my daughter had been sold a bill of goods on the occasion of the 50th anniversary…

I can only imagine what it would have been like to have been there in 1941; I can only imagine what it would have been like to be in the States hearing the news.  Of course we all got an education of sorts in September of 2001…

There are some historical events that must be remembered and taught accurately, where we cannot allow political correctness and revisionism to ‘change’ things for whatever ‘good’ reason.  These events are just too important; just too basic to National survival to let the truth be trampled by political mischief.  December 7 and September 11 are things like that.  There are many others as well.

Needless to say, I set my daughter straight about her history lesson, starting with just who the terrible Americans are!  The next Monday, hoping that she had just misunderstood, I had a little chat with the teacher, who gave me a lecture on diversity, racism and jingoism… she  didn’t seem to like me much after our visit….  I felt that I owed at least that much to my Dad, not to mention all of his buddies who were still on post back in Hawaii on that terrible day,  and to all of those who served and gave their all in defense of Freedom in the years that have followed.

Remember Pearl Harbor, and all of those who sacrificed that we might live in freedom, so that idiots can feel free to change history to advance a political point of view no matter how ridiculous.

Quote of the Week

“The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.”

 Herbert Spencer

Isn’t it fun to read remarks made by intelligent people who were lucky enough to be able to speak before there was “Political Correctness”?