TOO HIGH FOR JESUS…COME DOWN!
Sermon delivered November 1, 2009
By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman
At Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church
Rev. Clinton Stancil, Pastor
Advice comes in many forms. Some good, some not so good.
Some advice is solicited. Other advice is unsolicited.
Some advice we readily recognize, and appreciate. But, other advice we misinterpret and therefore reject, thinking we know better.
Sometimes, we are prepared to receive advice for the good it contains. At other times, we can’t receive it till years later.
Today, Church, we going to talk about advice. Heavenly advice.
We’ve all given advice, sometimes to a fault. Help me Holy Ghost! And we’ve all received advice, whether we asked for it or not.
In my day job, as a lawyer, people pay me to give advice. Praise God. Whether they follow it or not is up to them. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink!
The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, advises us continually, in a “still, small voice.” 1 Kings 19:12. It gives us advice 24/7, 365.
But many times, we choose not to hear; or, if we hear, we choose not to heed what we hear.
In our message today, we examine advice which our Savior Jesus Christ gives and how recipients treat that divine dispensation.
Today, Church, we examine the subject:
TOO HIGH FOR JESUS…COME DOWN!
Let us pray.
In Luke 19, we find the following:
1AND [Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through it.
2And there was a man called Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, and [he was] rich.
3And he was trying to see Jesus, which One He was, but he could not on account of the crowd, because he was small in stature.
4So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass that way.
5And when Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.
6So he hurried and came down, and he received and welcomed Him joyfully.
7And when the people saw it, they all [a]muttered among themselves and indignantly complained, He has gone in to be the guest of and lodge with a man who is devoted to sin and preeminently a sinner.
8So then Zacchaeus stood up and solemnly declared to the Lord, See, Lord, the half of my goods I [now] give [by way of restoration] to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I [now] restore four times as much.(A)
9And Jesus said to him, Today is [[b]Messianic and spiritual] salvation come to [all the members of] this household, since Zacchaeus too is a [real spiritual] son of Abraham;
10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
In this account, we have a little short despised tax collector, named Zacchaeus, who desired to see Jesus. But the crowd was too big, for him to get close enough to see. So, he ran ahead, along “the way” he perceived Jesus would come, and climbed up a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus. When Jesus looked up into that tree, and saw Zacchaeus, Jesus said: “come down, Zacchaeus.” You too high. He said come down. I need to stay at your house.
Sometimes, church we too can get too high. Too full of ourselves, to self-important to come down. But, only when we come down, only when we humble ourselves, can we be of any value to our Savior, or mankind.
Zacchaeus came down, hurried down. Joyfully. This was too much to hope for. We went from climbing a tree just to be able to see Jesus, to having Jesus see him, and then call him by name. Then, to be able to host Jesus at his house: What a blessing!
Now, Zacchaeus was a rich man. As this example shows, there is nothing necessarily bad about rich people. Jesus looks beyond the artificiality of riches and sees the man behind the riches. Even the rich are capable of redemption through Christ Jesus, who is no respecter of persons.
On top of his riches, however, Zacchaeus was also a tax collector for the Roman overlords—a publican. These folks were hated and despised by the Jews. So Christ’s staying with Zacchaeus caused more than a few murmurs.
But, Zacchaeus told Jesus that he was a super-duper tither. He gave one-half of his goods to the poor, and if he had defrauded any man, he’d restored it four fold.
Jesus said today is salvation come to the household of Zacchaeus. Jesus said he came to seek and save the lost.
This hated and despised man was redeemed by Jesus.
When the bride groom comes, will you be ready church?
Will your house be in order? Will your lamp be found full of oil and will your wick be trimmed.
Will you open your door, when the bridge groom comes?
Will you be able to receive Jesus?
Will you be able to receive Jesus, Church?
Or will you be TOO HIGH FOR JESUS TO COME DOWN!
My Lord and My God!
Let me give you one other illustration from God’s word. Turn back one chapter to Luke 18:18-30, if you will. There, it is written:
18And a certain ruler asked Him, Good Teacher [You who are [m]essentially and perfectly [n]morally good], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah's kingdom]?
19Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me [[o]essentially and perfectly [p]morally] good? No one is [[q]essentially and perfectly [r]morally] good--except God only.
20You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not witness falsely, honor your father and your mother.(A)
21And he replied, All these I have kept from my youth.
22And when Jesus heard it, He said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell everything that you have and [s]divide [the money] among the poor, and you will have [rich] treasure in heaven; and come back [and] follow Me [become My disciple, join My party, and accompany Me].
23But when he heard this, he became distressed and very sorrowful, for he was rich--exceedingly so.
24Jesus, observing him, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
25For it is easier for a camel to enter through a needle's eye than [for] a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
26And those who heard it said, Then who can be saved?
27But He said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.(B)
28And Peter said, See, we have left our own [things--home, family, and business] and have followed You.
29And He said to them, I say to you truly, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
30Who will not receive in return many times more in this world and, in the coming age, eternal life.
This account of the rich young ruler is a well known passage of scripture.
In it, we have another man who sought Jesus. Having lived an exemplary life, by obeying the commandments, he still wanted to know, what he must do to gain eternal life. Jesus told him to obey the commandments. The young man said, I’ve always done that. No murders, no adultery, no stealing, no lying. And he’d honored his father and his mother, and on top of that had treated his neighbors as he treated himself. A good man.
But Jesus hit him with a haymaker. Jesus said sell all that you have and give it to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Then, come and follow me.
The word says the young man went away sorrowfully.
Jesus then commented upon how difficult it was for rich men to enter the kingdom of heaven, comparable to a camel going through the eye of a needle. What that means is that people hold onto earthly things, rather than open their hearts to spiritual things. These are they who trust in riches, in things of this world, rather than the spirit.
Naturally, Peter, being Peter, interjected. Who then can be saved? We’ve left everything to follow you!
Jesus of course had a ready answer. There’s no question Jesus cannot answer, Church. Jesus pointed out that those who follow him shall receive on this earth many times more than they give up, and, as a bonus get eternal life. Eternal life is the lagniappe! That’s a Louisiana word meaning “bonus.”
So, you see church there is a present reward for those who follow Jesus. Who are not too high to come down, like the rich young ruler—who only heard half the story!
If he’d a stuck around. If he hadn’t been too high for Jesus, caught up in his own self-righteousness, he would have heard Jesus say, that whatever he gave up for the Kingdom of God, he’d have gotten back, many fold on this earth, AND, AND—THE BIG, also obtain eternal life.
Praise God for Jesus. Amen.
The rich young ruler was
TOO HIGH FOR JESUS TO COME DOWN!
In his case, he didn’t have to come out of a tree, he had to relinquish worldly possessions and trust Jesus if he wanted to obtain eternal life.
TOO HIGH FOR JESUS…COME DOWN!
“If religion was a thing that money could buy, the rich would live and the poor would die. I’m counting up the costs every day of my life.”
Thank You and God Bless you!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
“JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED”
“JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED”
By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Delivered at Gilbert A.M.E. Church
Kansas City, Missouri
Rev. Brenda Smith, Pastor
Bible study is a wonderful thing. A good thing. A wholesome thing. A necessary thing.
Our discussion today arises from a wonderful Bible study held right here in this church, under the auspices of your fine pastor, my sister-beloved, Rev. Brenda Smith, which I attended several weeks ago.
In that Bible study, we covered the 38th chapter of Genesis. That account involved Judah and his daughter-in-law, Tamar. Who all was here for that Bible study? Raise you hands. Thank you.
If you didn’t raise your hand, you missed it. But, fortunately, today we’ll address it again, in Jesus’ name.
Let us pray.
In Matthew 7: 1-5, we find these words--
1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Our subject today is “JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED.”
You know, self-righteousness can be a dangerous thing. A lot of times you can get caught up, swallowed up, in your own righteousness. You can find yourself in your own trick bag.
In Proverbs 11: 5-6, we find--
5The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
6The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.
“JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED.”
Turn with me, now, to Genesis 38:1-26
1And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
2And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.
3And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.
4And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
5And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.
6And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
7And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
8And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
9And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.
11Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
12And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
13And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
14And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
15When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.
16And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
17And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?
18And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
19And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.
21Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.
22And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.
23And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
24And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
25When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.
26And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.
(Talk to them directly for explanation of Judah’s hypocrisy and how he ended up judging his daughter in law and getting caught up himself in his own snare.)
Now, let’s look at another example of hypocrisy. This familiar passage of scriptures comes from John 8:
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Notice, the eldest led the way, in sneaking away, for they, themselves were guilty of sin. They were convicted by their own conscience.
The word is true, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. So, before you point your finger, remember, you’ve got three pointing back at you, and a thumb pointed toward heaven.
“JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED”
Romans 2:21-24
21Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
People talk about the waywardness of our youth, how do you think they got that way…pull from “young boy”: Poppa’s on the slip and momma’s on the slide, young black boys facing homicide. The adults are the ones who should lead the way, by word, by deed, by night. By day. That they have failed is evident. That inspired this poetic lament!
“JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED.”
Thank you and God bless you! Amen.
By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Delivered at Gilbert A.M.E. Church
Kansas City, Missouri
Rev. Brenda Smith, Pastor
Bible study is a wonderful thing. A good thing. A wholesome thing. A necessary thing.
Our discussion today arises from a wonderful Bible study held right here in this church, under the auspices of your fine pastor, my sister-beloved, Rev. Brenda Smith, which I attended several weeks ago.
In that Bible study, we covered the 38th chapter of Genesis. That account involved Judah and his daughter-in-law, Tamar. Who all was here for that Bible study? Raise you hands. Thank you.
If you didn’t raise your hand, you missed it. But, fortunately, today we’ll address it again, in Jesus’ name.
Let us pray.
In Matthew 7: 1-5, we find these words--
1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Our subject today is “JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED.”
You know, self-righteousness can be a dangerous thing. A lot of times you can get caught up, swallowed up, in your own righteousness. You can find yourself in your own trick bag.
In Proverbs 11: 5-6, we find--
5The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
6The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.
“JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED.”
Turn with me, now, to Genesis 38:1-26
1And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
2And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.
3And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.
4And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
5And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.
6And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
7And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
8And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
9And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.
11Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
12And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
13And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
14And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
15When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.
16And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
17And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?
18And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
19And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.
21Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.
22And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.
23And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
24And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
25When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.
26And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.
(Talk to them directly for explanation of Judah’s hypocrisy and how he ended up judging his daughter in law and getting caught up himself in his own snare.)
Now, let’s look at another example of hypocrisy. This familiar passage of scriptures comes from John 8:
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Notice, the eldest led the way, in sneaking away, for they, themselves were guilty of sin. They were convicted by their own conscience.
The word is true, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. So, before you point your finger, remember, you’ve got three pointing back at you, and a thumb pointed toward heaven.
“JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED”
Romans 2:21-24
21Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
People talk about the waywardness of our youth, how do you think they got that way…pull from “young boy”: Poppa’s on the slip and momma’s on the slide, young black boys facing homicide. The adults are the ones who should lead the way, by word, by deed, by night. By day. That they have failed is evident. That inspired this poetic lament!
“JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE NOT JUDGED.”
Thank you and God bless you! Amen.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
THE SPIDER WEB AND THE LASER BEAM
THE SPIDER WEB AND THE LASER BEAM
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
By Larry Delano Coleman, Esq.
A laser beam lives at the base of my garage door. So does a spider.
The laser beam is dormant until I activate the electronic garage door
opener. The spider, meanwhile, does what it does, quite indifferent to
me, my electronic garage door opener, or my latent laser beam.
This arachnid blithely spins its web, spreads its net, in search of food
at my garage door’s base--apparently oblivious to all else.
In spreading it net, however, its arachnid membrane occasionally
bisects the path of my laser beam. There’s no intent involved here,
and, as far as I can discern, no obvious harm to the spider’s spindle nor
to the laser’s beam. The spider’s web and the laser’s beam seem to
coexist placidly and peacefully. Harmoniously. All is well.
All is well, that is, until I attempt to lower my garage door after
exiting, on certain random occasions. Sometimes, my garage door
will not shut. That is to say, it won’t go all the way down. It descends
to the level of the laser beam and then goes back up. Whenever I
depress the electronic garage door opener to close the garage door, on
those occasions, it won’t go down. It goes back up, no matter the
number of attempts I make to override the problem.
The first several times this happened, I had to get out of my car and
investigate. “Dear, dear, what could the matter be?” I wondered.
Unable to readily ascertain the source of the problem, and impatient
to depart, I called the garage door repair folks for help. Their answer
surprised me. Among other things, dust could impair the head of the
laser beam‘s light, or even spider web strands, they explained. They
suggested that I clean the laser head with a soft towel. I did, and the
door closed, thankfully. But that was not the end of my dilemma.
How, I marveled, can a spider web impair the path of a laser beam?
Yes, I had read of birds, especially Canadian geese, being the bane of
jet engines. Witness the miracle on the Hudson River with American
Airlines’ Captain Chesley Sullenberger, after birds were sucked into
his passenger plane’s engines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesley_Sullenberger
Geese, at least, are flesh and bone and blood--in short, mass, and
one messy mass, at that, once emulsified by turbine engines!
But, how a single, diaphanous strand of a spider’s silky web can impair
something as cutting edge as laser light, baffles me?
Lasers “have been widely regarded as one of the most influential
technological achievements of the 20th century… A laser (light
amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) is a device which
uses a quantum mechanical effect, stimulated emission, to generate a
coherent beam of light from a lasing medium of controlled purity,
size, and shape.” http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Laser
Spiders, after all, are lowly creatures, whose antiquity certainly
antedates our own, by four hundred of million years, some say.
http://www.australianmuseum.net.au/Spider-Origins
What possible affinity, then, can lasers have with spiders. And what
affection for them? The internet discloses that spiders have an
irresistible “thing” for lasers. Spiders, in fact, appear to lust after laser
light, following and chasing laser pointers all about, as these you-tube
clips demonstrate. The spiders are most persistent, indeed, downright
incessant. But why?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrARj57-3yM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q3bgMaD8bA&feature=related
Adding to this quixotic serendipity, one application of laser beam is
even nick-named “spider:”
“We report a new version of spectral phase interferometry for direct
electric field reconstruction (SPIDER) requiring only a single phaseshaped
laser beam. A narrowband probe pulse is selected out of a
broadband ultrafast laser pulse by a phase pulse-shaping technique
and mixed with the original broadband pulse to generate a secondharmonic
generation (SHG) signal.”
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-33-13-1404
There is certainly some kind of “harmonic generation signal” between
lasers and spiders and my garage door. Lest you think I’m just a poor
housekeeper (or garage-keeper) with a profusion of spiders, Proverbs
30:28 provides: “The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in
kings’ palaces.”
If, upon inspection, you also discover that a spider’s strand has
randomly obstructed your laser beam’s path, marvel at the
harmonious merger of the 400 million year legacy of the humble
arachnid, with the recent invention of the laser beam, and rejoice that
you, too, are blessed to witness and to participate in such a wonderful,
awe-inspiring pageantry, at the humble base of your garage door.
#30
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
By Larry Delano Coleman, Esq.
A laser beam lives at the base of my garage door. So does a spider.
The laser beam is dormant until I activate the electronic garage door
opener. The spider, meanwhile, does what it does, quite indifferent to
me, my electronic garage door opener, or my latent laser beam.
This arachnid blithely spins its web, spreads its net, in search of food
at my garage door’s base--apparently oblivious to all else.
In spreading it net, however, its arachnid membrane occasionally
bisects the path of my laser beam. There’s no intent involved here,
and, as far as I can discern, no obvious harm to the spider’s spindle nor
to the laser’s beam. The spider’s web and the laser’s beam seem to
coexist placidly and peacefully. Harmoniously. All is well.
All is well, that is, until I attempt to lower my garage door after
exiting, on certain random occasions. Sometimes, my garage door
will not shut. That is to say, it won’t go all the way down. It descends
to the level of the laser beam and then goes back up. Whenever I
depress the electronic garage door opener to close the garage door, on
those occasions, it won’t go down. It goes back up, no matter the
number of attempts I make to override the problem.
The first several times this happened, I had to get out of my car and
investigate. “Dear, dear, what could the matter be?” I wondered.
Unable to readily ascertain the source of the problem, and impatient
to depart, I called the garage door repair folks for help. Their answer
surprised me. Among other things, dust could impair the head of the
laser beam‘s light, or even spider web strands, they explained. They
suggested that I clean the laser head with a soft towel. I did, and the
door closed, thankfully. But that was not the end of my dilemma.
How, I marveled, can a spider web impair the path of a laser beam?
Yes, I had read of birds, especially Canadian geese, being the bane of
jet engines. Witness the miracle on the Hudson River with American
Airlines’ Captain Chesley Sullenberger, after birds were sucked into
his passenger plane’s engines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesley_Sullenberger
Geese, at least, are flesh and bone and blood--in short, mass, and
one messy mass, at that, once emulsified by turbine engines!
But, how a single, diaphanous strand of a spider’s silky web can impair
something as cutting edge as laser light, baffles me?
Lasers “have been widely regarded as one of the most influential
technological achievements of the 20th century… A laser (light
amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) is a device which
uses a quantum mechanical effect, stimulated emission, to generate a
coherent beam of light from a lasing medium of controlled purity,
size, and shape.” http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Laser
Spiders, after all, are lowly creatures, whose antiquity certainly
antedates our own, by four hundred of million years, some say.
http://www.australianmuseum.net.au/Spider-Origins
What possible affinity, then, can lasers have with spiders. And what
affection for them? The internet discloses that spiders have an
irresistible “thing” for lasers. Spiders, in fact, appear to lust after laser
light, following and chasing laser pointers all about, as these you-tube
clips demonstrate. The spiders are most persistent, indeed, downright
incessant. But why?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrARj57-3yM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q3bgMaD8bA&feature=related
Adding to this quixotic serendipity, one application of laser beam is
even nick-named “spider:”
“We report a new version of spectral phase interferometry for direct
electric field reconstruction (SPIDER) requiring only a single phaseshaped
laser beam. A narrowband probe pulse is selected out of a
broadband ultrafast laser pulse by a phase pulse-shaping technique
and mixed with the original broadband pulse to generate a secondharmonic
generation (SHG) signal.”
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-33-13-1404
There is certainly some kind of “harmonic generation signal” between
lasers and spiders and my garage door. Lest you think I’m just a poor
housekeeper (or garage-keeper) with a profusion of spiders, Proverbs
30:28 provides: “The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in
kings’ palaces.”
If, upon inspection, you also discover that a spider’s strand has
randomly obstructed your laser beam’s path, marvel at the
harmonious merger of the 400 million year legacy of the humble
arachnid, with the recent invention of the laser beam, and rejoice that
you, too, are blessed to witness and to participate in such a wonderful,
awe-inspiring pageantry, at the humble base of your garage door.
#30
Saturday, October 10, 2009
DIRT BETWEEN THEIR TOES
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
DIRT BETWEEN THEIR TOES
By Larry Delano Coleman, Esq.
Back in Howard Law School in the 1970’s, I remember opining that the best way to reform the younger generation of black youth was to make it possible for them to get some “dirt between their toes.”
By that I meant to expose them to rural life, and to get them out of the cities, away from viral influences which distort their development, which undermine their values, and which alienate them from nature, from God and from themselves.
At that time, I did not have any scientific evidence, only personal experience, and anecdotal testimony, to support this assertion.
Now, in a study published in the journal, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 35, No. 10, 1315-1329 (2009), http://psp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/35/10/1315, my latent intuitions have been confirmed. In four studies involving 370 people, those immersed in nature were more “prosocial.”
“Antisocial,” as opposed to “prosocial” is what threatens to overwhelm them, now. Crass materialism promoted through media and society combine with low self-esteem, poverty, and hooliganism to mold them. “Hooliganism,” by the way, comes from a family of Irish people who lived in South London’s slums in the 19th century, named “Hooligan,” who were notorious thieves, thugs, and street fighters, who ran in gangs. One writer states of them:
The home of the Hooligan is, as I have implied, within a stone's throw of Lambeth Walk. Law breakers exist in other quarters of London: Drury Lane will furnish forth a small army of pick-pockets, Soho breeds parasites, and the basher of toffs flourishes in the Kingsland Road. But in and about Lambeth Walk we have a colony, compact and easily handled, of sturdy young villains, who start with a grievance against society, and are determined to get their own back. That is their own phrase, their own view. Life has little to give them but what they take. Honest work, if it can be obtained, will bring in but a few shillings a week; and what is that compared to the glorious possibility of nicking a red 'un? http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications7/hooligan-02.htm
The September 27, 2009, beating death of Derrion Albert, a sophomore honor roll student at Christian Fenger Academy High School, in Chicago, Illinois, by rival gangs of young, black hooligans underscores and illustrates the point.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/27/beating-death-of-derrien_n_301319.html
Such a loss! Such a waste! Such a tragedy!
While rustication, country-living, rural life is not necessarily a panacea for current ills, Henry David Thoreau, the author of Walden’s Pond was right. People exposed to nature are enriched by the experience. http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html.
Dr. George Washington Carver’s whole life was lent to the proof of the axiom that nature is a reflection of the divine. He often stated “"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.” http://www.facebook.com/pages/George-Washington-Carver/60725680708. The inventor of the science of chemurgy also stated, "I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed at the moment I am inspired to create something new…without God to draw aside the curtain, I would be helpless."
Job 12:7-10 is also instructive: “But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.”
John Calhoun’s famous National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) experiments with rats in the 1950’s suggest, and have been broadly interpreted to mean, that density is a variable in human pathology. http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/economicHistory/pdf/FACTSPDF/2308Ramadams.pdf. But, density alone is not the answer. Poverty, inequality, identity crises, and a breakdown in community value transmission stratagems all play a part in an individual’s decisions.
Sometimes, an individual’s decisions are made for him by others or by circumstances beyond an individual’s control. The child soldiers in Africa are very much akin to the “Sistah soldiers” (and brothers) of certain youthful Africans in America. A similar format for remediation may likewise be in order. http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/economicHistory/pdf/FACTSPDF/2308Ramadams.pdf.
“Dirt between their toes,” then advocates and encourages a return to nature and an appreciation of nature as a spiritual healing modality http://journeyofhearts.org/healing/nature2.html, for every one, especially for urban African American youth.
More broadly, however, this essay, “Dirt between their toes,” encourages the communion with not only nature, but with the God behind, and the creator of, nature and us, from whom estrangement and isolation is the fomenter of all calamities and the greatest of all tragedies, individually and collectively.
#30
DIRT BETWEEN THEIR TOES
By Larry Delano Coleman, Esq.
Back in Howard Law School in the 1970’s, I remember opining that the best way to reform the younger generation of black youth was to make it possible for them to get some “dirt between their toes.”
By that I meant to expose them to rural life, and to get them out of the cities, away from viral influences which distort their development, which undermine their values, and which alienate them from nature, from God and from themselves.
At that time, I did not have any scientific evidence, only personal experience, and anecdotal testimony, to support this assertion.
Now, in a study published in the journal, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 35, No. 10, 1315-1329 (2009), http://psp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/35/10/1315, my latent intuitions have been confirmed. In four studies involving 370 people, those immersed in nature were more “prosocial.”
“Antisocial,” as opposed to “prosocial” is what threatens to overwhelm them, now. Crass materialism promoted through media and society combine with low self-esteem, poverty, and hooliganism to mold them. “Hooliganism,” by the way, comes from a family of Irish people who lived in South London’s slums in the 19th century, named “Hooligan,” who were notorious thieves, thugs, and street fighters, who ran in gangs. One writer states of them:
The home of the Hooligan is, as I have implied, within a stone's throw of Lambeth Walk. Law breakers exist in other quarters of London: Drury Lane will furnish forth a small army of pick-pockets, Soho breeds parasites, and the basher of toffs flourishes in the Kingsland Road. But in and about Lambeth Walk we have a colony, compact and easily handled, of sturdy young villains, who start with a grievance against society, and are determined to get their own back. That is their own phrase, their own view. Life has little to give them but what they take. Honest work, if it can be obtained, will bring in but a few shillings a week; and what is that compared to the glorious possibility of nicking a red 'un? http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications7/hooligan-02.htm
The September 27, 2009, beating death of Derrion Albert, a sophomore honor roll student at Christian Fenger Academy High School, in Chicago, Illinois, by rival gangs of young, black hooligans underscores and illustrates the point.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/27/beating-death-of-derrien_n_301319.html
Such a loss! Such a waste! Such a tragedy!
While rustication, country-living, rural life is not necessarily a panacea for current ills, Henry David Thoreau, the author of Walden’s Pond was right. People exposed to nature are enriched by the experience. http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html.
Dr. George Washington Carver’s whole life was lent to the proof of the axiom that nature is a reflection of the divine. He often stated “"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.” http://www.facebook.com/pages/George-Washington-Carver/60725680708. The inventor of the science of chemurgy also stated, "I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed at the moment I am inspired to create something new…without God to draw aside the curtain, I would be helpless."
Job 12:7-10 is also instructive: “But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.”
John Calhoun’s famous National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) experiments with rats in the 1950’s suggest, and have been broadly interpreted to mean, that density is a variable in human pathology. http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/economicHistory/pdf/FACTSPDF/2308Ramadams.pdf. But, density alone is not the answer. Poverty, inequality, identity crises, and a breakdown in community value transmission stratagems all play a part in an individual’s decisions.
Sometimes, an individual’s decisions are made for him by others or by circumstances beyond an individual’s control. The child soldiers in Africa are very much akin to the “Sistah soldiers” (and brothers) of certain youthful Africans in America. A similar format for remediation may likewise be in order. http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/economicHistory/pdf/FACTSPDF/2308Ramadams.pdf.
“Dirt between their toes,” then advocates and encourages a return to nature and an appreciation of nature as a spiritual healing modality http://journeyofhearts.org/healing/nature2.html, for every one, especially for urban African American youth.
More broadly, however, this essay, “Dirt between their toes,” encourages the communion with not only nature, but with the God behind, and the creator of, nature and us, from whom estrangement and isolation is the fomenter of all calamities and the greatest of all tragedies, individually and collectively.
#30
Thursday, September 24, 2009
IS "BLACK LAWYER" A MISNOMER?
IS “BLACK LAWYER” A MISNOMER
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
By Larry Delano Coleman, Esq.
Given the white supremacist history of the United States of America, as embodied in its constitution, supreme court decisions, customs, and practices, the term “black lawyer,” came to symbolize, the oxymoronic paradox of certain oppressive and repressive objects of American law morphing into those who utilized that same law’s interstices and implements to aid in liberating themselves, and their nation, from its nadir of jurisprudential hypocrisy and state-sponsored or state-sanctioned domestic terrorism, against its former slaves and disfavored persons, into a vaunted modern day exemplar and purported purveyor of human rights, globally.
Black lawyers, historically, were central to this process of transformation. Are they yet such? Is the term “black lawyer” a misnomer? Are black lawyers still the “social engineers” envisioned by the late, great Charles Hamilton Houston, former Dean of the Howard University School of Law?
Or, has that era passed, with the implosion of the mythical doctrine of “separate but equal,” whose utter destruction was Houston’s crowning achievement, albeit posthumously, in the Brown v. Board of Education, et. al. decisions?
Is the war for equality over? Has “victory” been won?
Few and far between are the lawyers of African descent who represent individual civil rights plaintiffs on any level, federal or state, presently, in any kind of case. This is tough work, where the lawyer is unappreciated, if respected by the client, and frequently viewed with enmity by the courts. There are other forms of work, which are far more lucrative and far less stressful.
With the judicial and legislative victories arising from the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960’s, as a tumultuous tailwind, the nation sailed into the 1970’s and 1980’s on the force of yesteryear’s momentum. The goal now became full-fledged and unabashed assimilation into that American mainstream into which blacks had long sought admission.
Black lawyers successfully pursued professional options in so many realms of endeavor, as individuals, there is hardly a field where they are not to be found. Some black lawyers mutated to the point they were able to thrive during, and from, the Ronald Reagan years, well into the Bush years, when racial “quotas” were eliminated (assuming they ever really “existed”) and “Affirmative Action” was vilified and proscribed.
This brings us to the present day, in which the President of the United States, Barack Obama, as well as the Attorney General, Eric Holder, and First Lady, Michele Obama, are black lawyers, all inconceivable “firsts” just a few short years ago.
Latent in this analysis and in this transition has been the capacity of certain black lawyers to eliminate the adjective “black” and to simply be lawyers. For a few, however, “Black Lawyer” remained the proper name and noun. What is true for black lawyers has also been true for black people. Robert Johnson, Oprah Winfrey and many other wealthy persons in business and entertainment, even in the realm of religion, exemplify this capacity daily.
All civil rights are necessarily individual and personal. One cannot speak for another, neither should one suffer for the conduct of another, nor be rewarded for the work of another. Group-think, group-speak, group-act alternate between beneficial and detrimental, dependent upon prevailing circumstances. Right now, what appears to be most conducive to “the advancement of colored people” is self-assertion as individuals poised and prepared for productivity. Adjectives are by definition modifiers of nouns. “Expressio unius est exclusio alterius,” goes the Latin maxim, which means to state one thing is to exclude another. Why limit one’s self, when the goal as always been to free one’s self?
“Black” like “White” are states of mind, yes. But, more so, these social constructs were meant to predetermine and to manipulate conduct and decision making over and in one’s life. It is a form of mental programming, reinforced by the reward and retribution dichotomy imposed and enforced by law, custom, and heritable values. Both blacks and whites are and/or have been afflicted by its pervasive power. But, now its day has passed. Objective conditions have changed, so the myth cannot be maintained.
Stated directly, in the absence of a rubric known as “black law,” there cannot be black lawyers. In the absence of a rubric known as “white law,” there cannot be white lawyers. There can only be lawyers.
So, yes, “black lawyer” (and “white lawyer”) are misnomers. There are only lawyers, just like there is only law.
#30
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
By Larry Delano Coleman, Esq.
Given the white supremacist history of the United States of America, as embodied in its constitution, supreme court decisions, customs, and practices, the term “black lawyer,” came to symbolize, the oxymoronic paradox of certain oppressive and repressive objects of American law morphing into those who utilized that same law’s interstices and implements to aid in liberating themselves, and their nation, from its nadir of jurisprudential hypocrisy and state-sponsored or state-sanctioned domestic terrorism, against its former slaves and disfavored persons, into a vaunted modern day exemplar and purported purveyor of human rights, globally.
Black lawyers, historically, were central to this process of transformation. Are they yet such? Is the term “black lawyer” a misnomer? Are black lawyers still the “social engineers” envisioned by the late, great Charles Hamilton Houston, former Dean of the Howard University School of Law?
Or, has that era passed, with the implosion of the mythical doctrine of “separate but equal,” whose utter destruction was Houston’s crowning achievement, albeit posthumously, in the Brown v. Board of Education, et. al. decisions?
Is the war for equality over? Has “victory” been won?
Few and far between are the lawyers of African descent who represent individual civil rights plaintiffs on any level, federal or state, presently, in any kind of case. This is tough work, where the lawyer is unappreciated, if respected by the client, and frequently viewed with enmity by the courts. There are other forms of work, which are far more lucrative and far less stressful.
With the judicial and legislative victories arising from the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960’s, as a tumultuous tailwind, the nation sailed into the 1970’s and 1980’s on the force of yesteryear’s momentum. The goal now became full-fledged and unabashed assimilation into that American mainstream into which blacks had long sought admission.
Black lawyers successfully pursued professional options in so many realms of endeavor, as individuals, there is hardly a field where they are not to be found. Some black lawyers mutated to the point they were able to thrive during, and from, the Ronald Reagan years, well into the Bush years, when racial “quotas” were eliminated (assuming they ever really “existed”) and “Affirmative Action” was vilified and proscribed.
This brings us to the present day, in which the President of the United States, Barack Obama, as well as the Attorney General, Eric Holder, and First Lady, Michele Obama, are black lawyers, all inconceivable “firsts” just a few short years ago.
Latent in this analysis and in this transition has been the capacity of certain black lawyers to eliminate the adjective “black” and to simply be lawyers. For a few, however, “Black Lawyer” remained the proper name and noun. What is true for black lawyers has also been true for black people. Robert Johnson, Oprah Winfrey and many other wealthy persons in business and entertainment, even in the realm of religion, exemplify this capacity daily.
All civil rights are necessarily individual and personal. One cannot speak for another, neither should one suffer for the conduct of another, nor be rewarded for the work of another. Group-think, group-speak, group-act alternate between beneficial and detrimental, dependent upon prevailing circumstances. Right now, what appears to be most conducive to “the advancement of colored people” is self-assertion as individuals poised and prepared for productivity. Adjectives are by definition modifiers of nouns. “Expressio unius est exclusio alterius,” goes the Latin maxim, which means to state one thing is to exclude another. Why limit one’s self, when the goal as always been to free one’s self?
“Black” like “White” are states of mind, yes. But, more so, these social constructs were meant to predetermine and to manipulate conduct and decision making over and in one’s life. It is a form of mental programming, reinforced by the reward and retribution dichotomy imposed and enforced by law, custom, and heritable values. Both blacks and whites are and/or have been afflicted by its pervasive power. But, now its day has passed. Objective conditions have changed, so the myth cannot be maintained.
Stated directly, in the absence of a rubric known as “black law,” there cannot be black lawyers. In the absence of a rubric known as “white law,” there cannot be white lawyers. There can only be lawyers.
So, yes, “black lawyer” (and “white lawyer”) are misnomers. There are only lawyers, just like there is only law.
#30
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Inherent value of "whosoever"
Yesterday evening, during our R3 study group, among other things, we discussed and searched for the origin of the apparent disdain among "our" people for books, reading, and, indeed, learning or studying as prevailing values.
We attributed this, in part, to our transition to and acquisition of materialist values at every level of "our" society. We posited that knowledge and wisdom were essentially spiritual values, which have fallen into unspoken disfavor.
As we resolved to investigate the causes of this cataclysmic shift, and when, where and how it first began to manifest among us, we sensed, rightly I believe, that the answer to this question may also supply a solution to its harmful effects.
Such effects/affects include the usual litany of woes paraded before us in sociological studies, epidemiological forecasts, police blotters, and daily media reports. The true story, however, we came to recognize, during our discussion, is that similar forces and conditions produce different outcomes among neighbors, relatives, even siblings. As an instance of this, we looked at how certain uneducated parents emphasized the value of the acquisition of knowledge in the upbringing of their children, and how their children prospered in accordance with this emphasis. We also looked at its predictable parallel: Where education was not a value, and how this led to prison, deprivation, early death, exceptions notwithstanding. The marvel is that we are yet alive and see each other's faces, http://www.lyricstime.com/hymn-and-are-we-yet-alive-lyrics.html given our historic oppression. It did not kill us, so it made us stronger, whether we realize this or not. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_does_the_saying_'What_doesn't_kill_you_makes_you_stronger'_come_from
Frankly, we don't know our own strength.
"Exceptions" are the key. The exceptions are the "whosoever's" mentioned in the Bible. Because everything and everyone that God made was and is unique, and because God is no respecter of persons, I propose that we cast our net to "whosoever," rather than simply to "us." Who really is "us," anyway? Is not limiting our net to us limiting us?
"Our" people are so heavily invested in and bonded to others, especially "our" former oppressors, that separating "us" from "them" will be like separating "the wet from water, or the dry from sand," to quote Smokey Robinson. Better to let the "wheat and the tares" grow up together "until the harvest" when angels can distinguish them. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.
Our spiritual reach (knowledge and wisdom acquired from, and through, reading, writing and arithmetic) should spread to, and enrich, all in its wake, "whosoever" they may be. That is the very definition of "choosing the better part." Luke 10:42.
We attributed this, in part, to our transition to and acquisition of materialist values at every level of "our" society. We posited that knowledge and wisdom were essentially spiritual values, which have fallen into unspoken disfavor.
As we resolved to investigate the causes of this cataclysmic shift, and when, where and how it first began to manifest among us, we sensed, rightly I believe, that the answer to this question may also supply a solution to its harmful effects.
Such effects/affects include the usual litany of woes paraded before us in sociological studies, epidemiological forecasts, police blotters, and daily media reports. The true story, however, we came to recognize, during our discussion, is that similar forces and conditions produce different outcomes among neighbors, relatives, even siblings. As an instance of this, we looked at how certain uneducated parents emphasized the value of the acquisition of knowledge in the upbringing of their children, and how their children prospered in accordance with this emphasis. We also looked at its predictable parallel: Where education was not a value, and how this led to prison, deprivation, early death, exceptions notwithstanding. The marvel is that we are yet alive and see each other's faces, http://www.lyricstime.com/hymn-and-are-we-yet-alive-lyrics.html given our historic oppression. It did not kill us, so it made us stronger, whether we realize this or not. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_does_the_saying_'What_doesn't_kill_you_makes_you_stronger'_come_from
Frankly, we don't know our own strength.
"Exceptions" are the key. The exceptions are the "whosoever's" mentioned in the Bible. Because everything and everyone that God made was and is unique, and because God is no respecter of persons, I propose that we cast our net to "whosoever," rather than simply to "us." Who really is "us," anyway? Is not limiting our net to us limiting us?
"Our" people are so heavily invested in and bonded to others, especially "our" former oppressors, that separating "us" from "them" will be like separating "the wet from water, or the dry from sand," to quote Smokey Robinson. Better to let the "wheat and the tares" grow up together "until the harvest" when angels can distinguish them. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.
Our spiritual reach (knowledge and wisdom acquired from, and through, reading, writing and arithmetic) should spread to, and enrich, all in its wake, "whosoever" they may be. That is the very definition of "choosing the better part." Luke 10:42.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Righteous But Imperfect
“RIGHTEOUS BUT IMPERFECT”
(tribute to Senator Edward Kennedy)
By Rev. Dr. Larry D. Coleman
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
2 Chronicles 25:1-2 reads as follows--
1: Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2: And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.
Let us pray.
Earlier this week, we witnessed the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. “We,” folks my age and older, knew him as “Teddy.” He was the baby brother of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and of Attorney General Robert Kennedy, “Bobby.”
We watched the growth and maturation of Edward Kennedy. From a somewhat wild, impetuous, overshadowed and under-achieving scion of a rich and ambitious family, to a very wise and very principled and historic “Lion of the Senate.”
Many of us matured with him. Agonized with him. Triumphed with him. And, in the end, we suffered, courageously, with him through the brain cancer, which killed him, but which could not conquer him. Or his legacy.
“O Death where is your sting! O Grave where is your victory!" 1 Corinthians15:55
Sen. Kennedy was a righteous man. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962, 1 year ahead of the death of one brother, John, and 6 years before the death of another brother, Bobby, he served in the Senate over almost 50 years. http://kennedy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Kennedy%20Accomplishments.pdf
Sen. Kennedy was also an imperfect man. This trait he shares with us all. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
As our scriptural text from 2 Chronicles 25:2 reflects, however, one can be imperfect and still do that which is right in the sight of God! Senator Kennedy was such a man!
Would that we were all so blessed! Hallelujah and Amen!
(tribute to Senator Edward Kennedy)
By Rev. Dr. Larry D. Coleman
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
2 Chronicles 25:1-2 reads as follows--
1: Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2: And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.
Let us pray.
Earlier this week, we witnessed the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. “We,” folks my age and older, knew him as “Teddy.” He was the baby brother of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and of Attorney General Robert Kennedy, “Bobby.”
We watched the growth and maturation of Edward Kennedy. From a somewhat wild, impetuous, overshadowed and under-achieving scion of a rich and ambitious family, to a very wise and very principled and historic “Lion of the Senate.”
Many of us matured with him. Agonized with him. Triumphed with him. And, in the end, we suffered, courageously, with him through the brain cancer, which killed him, but which could not conquer him. Or his legacy.
“O Death where is your sting! O Grave where is your victory!" 1 Corinthians15:55
Sen. Kennedy was a righteous man. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962, 1 year ahead of the death of one brother, John, and 6 years before the death of another brother, Bobby, he served in the Senate over almost 50 years. http://kennedy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Kennedy%20Accomplishments.pdf
Sen. Kennedy was also an imperfect man. This trait he shares with us all. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
As our scriptural text from 2 Chronicles 25:2 reflects, however, one can be imperfect and still do that which is right in the sight of God! Senator Kennedy was such a man!
Would that we were all so blessed! Hallelujah and Amen!
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