Sunday Morning Musings

Grandmothers are often underappreciated, especially if they live great distances from their grandkids.

I was looking through some old letters that my mother had saved from my childhood and came across a treasure trove of cards and letters from my grandmother in Bermuda. Many of them came on birthdays and holidays such as Easter and Christmas—she never missed any of them—not one. And every one of the birthday cards carried a crisp new five-dollar bill. She must have gone broke trying to enrich her dozens of grandchildren!

Why Evil?

If God is good, why does he allow evil to exist?

Evil doesn't come from God—it comes from us. It grows inside the human soul like a cancer, turning us against ourselves and slowly corrupting and consuming us. The first step is recognizing and accepting the truth of our fallen nature. We humans might be rational problem solvers, but without help from beyond this life, we can't overcome the spiritual weaknesses that overpower our physical abilities.

The Hall of Mercy

"I hope no reader will suppose that 'mere' Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the existing communions. . . It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think, preferable. It is true that some people may find they have to wait in the hall for a considerable time, while others feel certain almost at once which door they must knock at. I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do get into your room you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling. In plain language, the question should never be: 'Do I like that kind of service?' but 'Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me towards this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular door-keeper'

[Editor's Note: The image was too large, so it is posted at the end in PDF format and it has some spelling errors.]

At the dawn of the 20th century, the Progressive movement promised to uplift the American spirit through science, education, and reform. It was a time of optimism—of settlement houses, food safety laws, and the belief that enlightened governance could cure society's ills. But as I have said before, good intentions without humility can become a prescription for tyranny.

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive."—C.S. Lewis

That quote could serve as a keystone. Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Ag, and Big Insurance might be seen as the unintended heirs of Progressive paternalism. They do not bind us with chains, but with corn syrup, statins, and bliss-point engineering. They do not silence dissent but drown it in advertising and subsidized addiction.

Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me. — John 14:5–6

When was the last time you stopped and truly smelled the roses—not just the scent, but the staggering miracle of nature and our awareness of it?

Take the lowly honeybee. Its complex society has thrived for at least 14 million years—long before God breathed the spirit of self-awareness into another of His creatures: human beings. And it’s only in the smallest fraction of that time that we’ve managed to live together in large societies.

Image by CoPilot
"In the beginning, God created heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

All this is to say that in the first day, or era if you will, there was an unfolding of the universe and eventual formation of the earth. It is easy for me to imagine the tumultuous vision that Moses had under the influence of the Holy Spirit. His words, though they mix the order of the creation days, adequately describe what physics tells us in our own time. This vision continues on to include, in the second through the sixth day, the beginnings of life and the ascension of man to whom God gives dominion over the earth.

God and Community

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it, I see everything else."

My musing today is inspired by the above quote from C.S. Lewis. He once argued that Christianity is inherently communal, not a solitary pursuit. The New Testament emphasizes shared worship and mutual belonging, portraying the Church as the Bride of Christ and believers as members of one body. Yet in modern times, religion is increasingly treated as a private, leisure-time activity—an idea both dangerous and ironic, given the rise of collectivism in all other areas of life. Society now wages war on solitude through constant stimulation, organized activity, and intrusive technology. As a result, we are starved of silence, reflection, and the deep friendships that solitude once nurtured.