Yesterday a neighbor reminded me of an important lesson: to hear the voice of God we have to get very quiet and very alone.
It has not been that way for me lately. I am an information junkie. With my lap top computer connected wirelessly to the internet I can receive and send information all day any day. It is convenient.
Perhaps that convenience is part of my current problem. You see, there is a lot going on right now and I should be really focused on discerning how to accomplish the things ahead. Most days I find myself overwhelmed. So, when overwhelmed I escape. And with my computer and the world wide web at my finger tips I can lose myself in a game, book, videos, or countless other distractions right there. After these distractions I rarely find myself fulfilled. Rather, I am more often disappointed that I am even further behind.
Here is the place for discipline. Francis Bacon said
If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master
For me, my computer, TV or just mindless conversation can take over and monopolize my time. Even if I know there is something pressing I ought to do and really desire to do it, I often slip into time-wasting habits. Discipline -- teaching my self to do the right thing -- is so very important. When I get ready to go to a time-waster is when I am going to go to something that helps me tune in to that voice these distractions often tune out. Some things that help me tune in are
taking a stroll
writing notes
prayer and meditation
exercise
power nap
I'm not giving up my computer. No, it is the primary tool for me to get work done! But when I am drawn to use it for distractions rather than production it becomes my "master". So, I am tuning out the distractions of instant information and entertainment and tuning in to those practices that get me closer to the answers I need in this time of transition.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, distinguished military general and President of the United States, in the wake of World War II, presented a speech that rings ominously true today. In it he proposed the dangers that could occur if our nation relied on an intimate relationship between the government and the defense equipment industry. I cannot add to his words without taking away from their poignancy, so here I present section IV of his speech.
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.
Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.
In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.
It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.
I am tired of the Elliot Spitzer mess. Really! It was a big story and has important implications for the state of New York. It is an historic moment. It is a situation we could all learn from.
What gets me is the political posturing and finger pointing. People are actually gloating over the fall of the governor. Nobody likes their laundry aired in the public, and these folks are all in it! Like driving past a train wreck, we get caught up in the carnage.
I want to scream THIS IS A PERSON! He is hurting. His wife is hurting. His girls are hurting. Jesus stood up for a woman who was caught in adultery. The religious leaders had humilliated her and were going to throw rocks at her untill she bled to death. Jesus told them
Let he who has no sin cast the first stone
The news folks are wrong. The politicians are wrong. The commentators are wrong. Every one of us making judgements about this man's conduct are wrong. No one is perfect. No one deserves a lick of the blessings we enjoy.
Our words are the stones we throw and a person's spirit is the target. A man who has been caught in sin does not need condemnation, but restoration. Sure, we want o see justice and he deserves the punishment for his crimes. But Mr. Spitzer and his family need to know that they're no worse than any of us. Just broken people trying to make it in a messed up world.
Some of us happen to find the mercy of God in spite of it all.
Pretty much any blog can make it nowadays. Even with cheesy content, a blog can gain a following if it is updated regularly and invites interaction. Unfortunately, maintaining a blog can be a handfull. It's my pickiness that keeps me lagging. When I do something, I want it done right... okay, that's probably just an excuse... I confess: I'm guilty of negligent Blogocide. Looking to revive something that is neglected is pretty tough. But here goes again.
