Reflection: I
have a friend who has become cynical about our country and how our system
works. Another friend asked me why he
might feel that way. I have given that
question a lot of thought and have come to something of a conclusion: Our
country is built on a set of beliefs and assumptions that are basically
biblical principles. The success of our
system depends on the majority of the people ascribing to those values, rules
and beliefs. We used to indoctrinate our
children on these beliefs and values through our social institutions being the
church, the education system, government and even business. There has been a calculated effort to alter
that indoctrination to something other than what was originally taught. The schools and government (in an
interrelated process) long ago stopped teaching our traditional values. Many churches have abdicated their teaching
duties, and many are even teaching against traditional values. My friend may be cynical because he has
watched our system stop functioning as it was designed to function, beginning
to break down, and is not seeing any signs of the system self-healing as it
once did.
Today in church at the Willis, Tx, First United Methodist
Church, I took heart and gained hope! The
children’s sermon had a gang of kids at the front of the church interacting
with the leader in a loud and joyous teaching session. The minister was shepherding his congregation
through a multi-week process of understanding how to gain closeness with God
through various spiritual disciplines with today’s sermon focusing on scripture. There were two young men there one might have
expected to see in a bar last night; boots, jeans and t-shirts, taking
communion with the rest of the congregation.
During the greet your neighbor session, it was obvious that these
Christians liked and loved one another, and they certainly welcomed us. While I
certainly don’t claim to know where and when God comes and goes, it sure felt like the
Holy Spirit was there. I have been in Willis, TX, to shop at Kroger, go to the
Ace Hardware, buy propane from the feed store and go to church. Nevertheless, I cannot believe this church is
not “salt and light” in this town. We need to have our children growing up and being indoctrinated in this type church. I do
not believe that our schools or government will change our direction or fix
anything. After going to church in
Willis, TX, I have hope that the church may do what it must do in fixing our
country. The other day I saw an
Interstate Battery advertisement that talked about the power of loving each
other and depicted what I believe was intended as the Spirit of God in a stream
of flame. Maybe business can contribute
to this process.
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