Reflections on God … Man … Life
There’s a world of difference between real humor and cocky snarkiness. I think C. S. Lewis caught that distinction well in The Screwtape Letters as senior devil Screwtape instructs junior devil Wormwood on how to twist the character of the human he is trying to drag into hell: Flippancy is the best of all. In the first place it is very economical. Only a clever human can make a real Joke about virtue, or indeed about anything else; any of… Read more »
When writing on domestic policy and the Obama administration, I continually point out the overreach: Obamacare, IRS, ruling by executive fiat. If one were to concentrate wholly on the domestic side, it would seem as if everything Obama does lends itself to an incipient tyranny. Shifting to foreign policy, however, sheds a different light—not an admirable one, mind you, but different. Benghazi was/is an exercise in utter incompetence and cluelessness (coupled with a determined coverup, of course). Responses to nations… Read more »
I’m hardly the first or only person to comment on how we seem to have lost a sense of shame. There’s rarely, at least among the political leadership, the news media, and the entertainment segments of our society, any embarrassment over actions that used to bring public disgrace. The opposite now seems to be happening: outrageous, disgusting behavior is either ignored or rewarded. Yet how can one feel shame if one has no sense of guilt over that behavior? Why… Read more »
There are times when one “goes to church”; then there are times when one enters into a type of worship that provides a taste, even a glimpse, of what eternity may contain. I had that experience last night—one of those moments when the veil of this earthly existence is lifted to some extent, and one can feel what it might be like to be standing in the assembly of the redeemed, pouring out their love, gratitude, and appreciation for the… Read more »
Charles Finney had many exhortations concerning prayer. That’s because he was a man of deep prayer himself, so he had grounds on which to instruct others. He urged Christians to get together for prayer for many reasons. The first one he lists is this: One design of assembling several persons together for united prayer is to promote union among Christians. Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well… Read more »
Do we really understand what is meant by the word “humility”? There is a popular misconception about that word that C. S. Lewis identifies well in Mere Christianity. He also paints an alluring portrait of how true humility appears: Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call “humble” nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody…. Read more »
Politicians from all countries throughout all ages have lied. That’s nothing new. Neither is it unexpected. The power that comes with political position brings all latent arrogance/pride to the surface more easily perhaps than other professions. While lying is pandemic (one of the Ten Commandments forbids giving false witness), some politicians have taken the practice to a higher level. Take the Obama administration and the Democrats as a whole, for example (you knew I was going there, right?). To what… Read more »