Disney's Half Marathon

We made a weekend trip down to Orlando to Disney’s Princess Half Marathon over the weekend. Our two daughters joined together to run the thirteen (13.1) mile race. There was a minimum time limit that each mile had to be completed or they removed the runner from the race. I’m glad to say that both daughters stayed ahead of the time barrier for the entire thirteen miles. Our oldest daughter finished in the top 14 percent and our youngest finished in the top 68 percent of 17,000 runners. Yes, that is not a typo; that is 17,000 runners. The race took the runners through Disney World, the Castle, Downtown Disney, and Epcot. The crowd watching the runners was very large; there must have been thousands of them too. Anyway, we had a great time; our runners are a bit sore; and we’re very proud of their accomplishment. It’s quite a mental and physical feat to complete a thirteen mile race and I’m sure its memory will sustain them in other ventures in life which require perseverance.

Moral Authority Part II

It would be nice if authority wasn’t needed. Children wouldn’t have to listen to parents; workers wouldn’t have to listen to employers; we wouldn’t have to obey laws; and we wouldn’t have to listen to God. Whether we like it or not, authority is part of God’s order; there is chaos without it. Furthermore, in all true authority there is an element of fear. We somewhat fear those who are over us because they have some sort of leverage over our lives, paychecks, liberty, or eternal life. In this case, fear modifies our behavior to be compatible with the authority figure. It would be wonderful to loftily say that there should be no fear in the world. But fear keeps children and adults from doing wrong against authority and fear keeps despots from doing wrong too. Without moral authority, there is no fear to keep them in line. As we said yesterday, call it deterrence if you like. Some say that it is not our place to be the moral authority to the world. Well, someone is going to be an authority over the world; it’s either going to be a moral authority or a tyrannical authority but there will be one or the other. We can’t be all things to all people but we can be something good to some people. Without our projection of moral authority, evil and chaos fills our voids in this world. In essence, we will either be a force for good or a provocation for evil. The same is true in regards to our domestic issues. Either good people will exert moral authority or our country will be left in the hands of those who are provoked at our weakness.

Moral Authority Part I

We’ve all likely heard the saying, “Evil prevails when good people do nothing.” Look at our world today; what are the good people doing? If we look at America as part of the good people, we are primarily appeasing evil. It seems that we are afraid to be viewed as a powerful nation, a people who stand for good. We seem to want the playing field to be the same for all countries regardless of how tyrannical they may be. We seem to have a complex about being powerful. Yet, it’s important that a moral authority figure have clout or power. This is true whether we’re talking about parents, teachers, police, the Church, a nation, or even God. There is no true authority, even moral authority, which doesn’t wield influence to one degree or another. The moral authority of this nation has long kept many despots in line... call it deterrence if you’d like. However, without righteous moral authority, evil prevails. Said another way, moral authority creates fear in adversaries. A lack of moral authority provokes them. Do we not see what happens when America reduces its profile around the world to being just one of the guys? Our perceived weakness is not a neutral energy. For many oppressors, weakness is an actual provocation; the perception of weakness of another stirs the evil within them into action. It seems that we are on an ideological path that believes no country should exercise moral authority upon or over others. While this sounds sweet and nice, it is saying that we believe no country should exercise goodness over others…which takes us right back to where we started: “Evil prevails when good people do nothing.”

D.O.M.A.

On Wednesday, President Obama, not even the courts, decided that the Defense Of Marriage Act ( DOMA) was unconstitutional. In other words, the Justice Department will no longer defend “marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman for purposes of all federal laws, and provide that states need not recognize a marriage from another state if it is between persons of the same sex.” Here we go again: Another provocative decree has been issued by the government…another divisive ruling has been made. So, what are those who hold to the traditional values and definition of marriage supposed to do? Is this one more item that we are supposed to turn a blind eye to and just accept? If we don’t accept it but instead speak out against it, are we homophobic, divisive, and uncivil? Is that what I am by blogging about it? The Judeo-Christian values of this nation are quickly disappearing; it’s time for America to awake from its slumber. We were a Christian nation because we stood for Christian values. Look at what is methodically happening to those values.

THE GREAT DIVIDE

I realize that I am relatively young; my kids would say that I’m relatively old!! Either way, I’ve only seen America in the last handful of decades. Even so, there is an unprecedented divide in our country. I hear about it on TV, radio, and in casual conversation. The whole world seems to be in a state of great division. In America, the overwhelming consensus is that we can’t keep being divided like this. Something has to give. But, what is it that is going to give? How do we close the divide? Well, I don’t like what I’m hearing as a solution. Really, are we supposed to stop resisting the “change” which is sweeping this nation? Are those who believe in the fundamentals that this nation was built on supposed to abandon them? Are those who believe in the Judeo-Christian tenets of this nation supposed to adopt a more civil position? Are those who believe in the sanctity of traditional marriage supposed to abandon those values? Are those who believe in protecting the unborn supposed to align with abortionists? For those who don’t want God taken out of the pledge, public grounds, and our lives supposed to wink-and-nod to those who are determined to make it happen? Just what are we on this side of the equation supposed to do to heal this great divide, besides forgo everything this country has Divinely stood for? Maybe the answer should be that those who are so bent on change should back off and leave us alone. Maybe they should quit trying to remake this country into the mirror image of Europe or the Middle East. Maybe God, family, honor, and character should be the standard of this nation once again. But here is the heart of my position: Mixing bad with good always makes the good more bad. Did you get that? Mixing light color with dark color always makes less light color. Mixing good with evil always makes the good less good. We can’t stand on the side of righteousness and open the door to evil…all in the name of “peace, peace,” civility, and lessening the great divide, and then say: “All is good.” The untold truth is, in reality, one side is going to win and one side is going to lose. The great divide swallows those who are in the middle; the middle is “lukewarm” and is only suitable for being spewed out. The question is are you going to stand your ground, try to live in the middle, or leap to the “progressive” side so that there can be civility, harmony, no divide, and we all can hold hands and sing Kumbaya? Finally, in the end, will you be found to have been a “good and faithful servant” or will you have burned all the oil in your lamp? Indeed, there is a great divide; which side of it will the Lord find you on?