Thursday, October 11, 2018

Moving Forward

Thursday, October 11, 2018

“My spirit is crushed, and my life is nearly snuffed out.  The grave is ready to receive me.  I am surrounded by mockers.  I watch how bitterly they taunt me.  “You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me.  You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph.  They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.  “God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.  My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self.  The virtuous are horrified when they see me.  The innocent rise up against the ungodly.  The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.  Job 17:1-9(NLT)

Over the last few weeks I have watched (too) many hours of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee (now Justice) Brett Kavanaugh.  The process has been steeped in the leveled accusations of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford claiming she was sexually-assaulted by Kavanaugh in high school.  Among the takeaways from all the accusations, counter-accusations, moving and shifting of alleged facts by assembled lawyers, politicians, judges, FBI secret investigations, and media pundits, is my severe and growing nausea.  What a mess!
Another takeaway is a sense of hopelessness; how can we move forward after this drama?  The anger rising up with all the “who’s in control” posturing of Republicans vs. Democrats, men vs. women, conservative vs. liberal, old vs. young, law vs. anarchy, racial bias, grass roots movement vs. entrenched establishment (a.k.a. the sewer), and others (ad nauseum) is too great to contain; it spills into everyday life like the running of the bulls at Pamplona, a stampede that can only lead to destruction.
In the wider view, all of it means very little to God.  Those things we consider monumental and critical to getting it right in the 21st century are like flies on a water buffalo’s back; as inconsequential as the solemn decision a 4-year-old makes as he sits in his sandbox and decides the real meaning of life is to resist potty training forevermore!
Another takeaway, a whole lot closer to eternal reality, is sadness for the participants, in particular Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh.  The pathos of broken spirits, family trust, and eternal souls, as the resultant cost of these sandbox political machinations reminds me of how Job got into the mess he experienced.  It was a sunny day in Uz as Job’s kids were planning to have a party under the outdoor pavilion.  In the space of just a few hours Job’s servants, livestock, and family were all taken from him.  He had boils raise up to cover his entire body, and he was left with a harping wife who encouraged him to commit suicide.  To rub salt in these wounds, a committee from his community showed up to deliver the news that the town council had voted on the matter and decided it was all Job’s fault; he must have done some really evil thing to tick God off that much!
And like Job’s friends, we can only look at Dr. Ford and Justice Kavanaugh from the outside, not knowing who did what, when, or why, to whom!  But judge?  The whole world votes on it.  And their children and families are devastated.
To the point:  I don’t know if Bret Kavanaugh ought to sit in one of those nine chairs, or if Christine Blasey Ford is telling the truth; and neither do you.  But we can all sense the loss in this, no matter if you’re stuck on the right, calling the woman a liar, or stuck on the left, wanting to bypass a trial and hang the man.  Had Kavanaugh not been confirmed and sworn-in, there would have been another, and the left and right would still be hurling mud missiles at each other.
In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote:
Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory or one of unthinkable horror.[2]
What is true for an individual is sometimes true of a culture.  This is one of those times. May God have mercy on our children if they are to follow our example.
For You Today
I would suggest we all find a way to put the swords down and learn to plow together; that seems the only way to actually move into fruitful kingdom territory!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: By CSPAN (U.S. Congress) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons and United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
[2] C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity” (1952), Source: Deseretnews

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