The Simple Life

I was listening to the news reporter asking some tough questions of one of our leaders in Washington D.C. She asked if the choices this administration made were unethical, illegal, or just normal for Washington. The answer was that it was normal for Washington, and therefore the “crime” wasn’t really anything that needed further investigation. The Washington insider was saying that there was a “normal” in Washington that was less ethical, less transparent, less legal than in other places, but that everyone knows that is how Washington operates, so since it is in line with their normal, it is fine. In fact, he said, it is so normal, that this issue will be forgotten in three days. I was amazed as I listened and watched and saw that everyone accepted this answer. Then I began to wonder.    Is there a new normal? If there is a new normal, how did the old (ethical, transparent and legal) become unacceptable? This is interesting and somewhat distant from me, but the concept of living in a n

Recently we observed a national day of prayer.   During that day there were several news reports that interviewed those who were opposed to a national day of prayer. There reasons were varied, but most of them were promoting a national day of “reason”.   One, who seemed to be acting as a spokesman for the group called prayer evil and talked about how prayer did more harm than good and should be eradicated from society. The response of the news media was sad in that they gave credibility to such thought.   The man who was interviewed was indicating that “man” was the beginning and the end. He made it clear that he did not need or want any God and that he was convinced that mans reason was all that was necessary. So If I were a reporter, I   would have had a few questions for him. “Where were you when God laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.   Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?   What supports its foundations, and who laid

Psalms 4:4-5 (NLT)  4  Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. Interlude 5  Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the Lord. It is sometimes easy to allow sin to control me, to think about things I should not think about, to be angry with someone, to sow seeds of hate and disgust. More often than not, I want to speak first and think later. I would much rather run into the situation, rather than walk away from it. I would much rather solve it, than live with it. This is good to a degree, but there is another side to the coin. In some ways, the problems in my life are problems that could have been set up by God to allow me to let Him work them out. It could be that the best course of action is one of silence. It could be that I need to meet with God, go to bed, and ponder what is going on, rather than spewing my thoughts out the instant they arise. There are times in my life where my desire for "resolution" outwe