Equal and Opposite

Newton’s Third Law of Motion states“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” (Sir Isaac Newton – “Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis”, 1686)

If you believe in truth, then you must believe in deception.

If you believe in deception, then you believe in false.

If you believe in false, then you must believe in true.

If you believe in true, then you believe in good.

If you believe in good, then you believe in right.

If you believe in right, then you must believe in wrong.

If you believe in wrong, then you believe in evil.

If you believe in good and evil, then you must believe in power.

If you believe in power, then you must believe in submission.

If you believe in submission, then you must believe in freedom.

“…and the Truth shall set you free.”

What else do you believe?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.  I would like to take a moment to shamelessly plug my e-book, Musings, Miracles, and Mark, available on Amazon.  Thanks, Beth

Law, Gospel, and the Bottom Line

“I am the Lord your God…

“You shall have no other gods before Me…

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…

“Our Father in heaven,

“hallowed be your name.

“Thy Kingdom come…

I AM:  I love you, so I created you. I designed your unique being with gifts and talents.  These have a purpose. Use them. Share them. You will eventually understand them, both the gifts and their purposes, I promise.

Each and every one of you has the choice to accept My gift of faith.  I know your choice and I love you enough to let you make it.  Know this, no matter your choice, don’t trifle with Me.  Don’t lose sight of who I AM. Mock Me at your peril. I have the power to let Satan play with your life and I have the power to save you from yourself.

“Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy…

“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I AM: This is the day we shall enjoy together.  We shall celebrate the fruits of your weekly labors and My daily blessings.  It is the time we will take to share in the joy of our devotion to one another.  My praises will fall from your lips. I will nourish your souls and hearts with My spirit.  Faith, like love, is an action word.   Good rest and nourishment send faith forth to follow the voice of The Good Shepherd.

“Honor your father and your mother….

“Give us this day our daily bread,

I AM: Family.  It is the framework I provide for you, by which you may prosper.  Designed to teach you, by modeling, how to care for others through their care for you−what love in action is.  Family is to be the safety harness that lets you explore and reels you in before you go too far.  Family is the apparatus that should distill encouragement, humility, wisdom, and obedience into personal integrity.  True thanksgiving for what I provide for you through your mother and father honors them and Me.  It sustains you.  (A quick note to parents: Be honorable!)

“You shall not murder.

“Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

I AM: The wanton destruction of an iota of what I have made—person, animal, vegetable, or mineral—is unacceptable.  Murder, the willful taking of a life for personal gain, is an egregious sin.  Such disregard for My creations will cost you dearly.  Earthly justice is but a portion of what such destruction causes you to bear, often long before you answer to Me. My commands are for your well-being as much as for those whom you live amongst.

People are going to hurt you.  That does not give you the excuse to hurt them back or, worse, to hurt somebody else instead.  You are going to hurt people—sometimes on purpose and many, many times without meaning to cause pain. 

I am in the forgiveness business.  Due to the large volume of repeat customers, the repentance department is my busiest sector.  Love your neighbors as yourself.  Forgive them, seek their forgiveness, and accept Mine. 

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness…

“And lead us not into temptation,

I AM: The elements of a fallen world hammer at your soul every waking moment.  Temptations abound to indulge in sexual impurity, to take what is not yours, and to deceive.  Opportunities present themselves continually.  I know this and have not left you defenseless.  The Holy Spirit will guide you. Lift up your cross each day and follow My Son.  I will lead you down that narrow road paved in My mercy.

“You shall not covet…

“But deliver us from evil.

I AM: I can safeguard you from the evil that tries to creep into your heart and from the evil that creeps out of the hearts of others.  For evil starts in the heart—rooted in discontentment that erodes your purpose, tries to erase My Word, and silence My voice—becoming the sins of your mind and hands. I have delivered you through the death and resurrection of My Son.  Grasp His cross and He will deliver you Home. I would be so pleased to welcome you.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen

Law: Exodus 20:1-17

Gospel: Matthew 6:9-13

Bottom Line: Dear Father, glorious I AM, may these words correctly express Your Word.

Justice?

Do you want Justice?

Good luck with that. 

Think that’s nuts? Let’s explore.

First, bring your understanding of Justice to the forefront of your thoughts. Second, check the definition: dictionary.com and Easton’s Bible Dictionary.

Most of us define Justice in the same manner as we define ‘right’ or ‘holy’. These are concept-things—ideas that are difficult for the human brain to describe much less fully grasp and yet a specific thing. We are much more able to identify instances of injustice than to define Justice itself.

Do the textbook explanations satisfy your understanding of Justice? Justice is so much more than “merely” enforcing laws or getting what we’re “due.” Thank God. Getting what is “due” is fine, of course, as long as such a notion is applied to everyone but ourselves. Do we really want what we deserve for every lie we’ve told, every little thing we’ve pilfered, every sneaky thing we’ve done? Every offense? Every hurt feeling we have ever caused? (Unless, what’s due benefits us somehow. At that point, we want what we’re due yesterday.)

Both definitions give a nod to equality, using the terms equity and equitable. Equality may be the biggest problem with human Justice. The Truth is that we do not want equality. Each and every one of us wants better for ourselves and equality for everybody else. Human beings have this need to be better than this one or that one, someone or anyone—to have worth. Worth is measurable and when our only comparisons are to each other . . .

Did you notice the glaring omission in both these sources?

Jesus told us the last will be first and the first will be last. For those who believe that Jesus is their Savior, these words are integral to understanding that full and complete Justice is outside of human abilities. Believers know that these words promise that at Christ’s coming His perfect Justice will reign—a succinct statement of our Hope and our prayer: Come Lord Jesus, come.

To those who do not believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, these words are a pithy reminder that life is not fair. Someone will always feel wronged—a revolution is coming. The oppressed will rise up and throw off their oppressors only to eventually become the oppressors themselves—history is replete with evidence from the Reign of Terror to the aftermath of Apartheid, from the Bolsheviks to the Maoists. Victims victimizing others is hardly Justice.

The victims. Where are the victims in the definitions above? Justice exists in this world because victims exist. Humans’ inhumanity to fellow humans has existed from the beginning of time. Justice, in full, makes the victim whole again and must offer the same to the offender. How are we to erase one’s victimization? Punishment is retribution. How are we to mitigate the effects of a punishment that we enforce? How can a victim be made whole if the offender does not have the opportunity to become whole? Justice does not, cannot, abide suffering in vain.

Human justice, civil and criminal, is incapable of making a victim whole again. Victim/witness advocates and therapy through the justice system are amazing at addressing the aftermath of victimization. Yet, assuaging the full trauma of victimization—filling the void of sacrificed innocence is beyond the scope of human justice. No punishment meted out can heal a human spirit.

Justice is woven into the tapestry of Truth by the threefold thread of repentance and forgiveness, mercy and discipline, grace and strength. Justice allows beauty to blossom from the good, the bad, and the ugly facets of Truth. Justice is a promise and a hope. Justice assuages the scars of sacrificed innocence and quells the turmoil of the offender. Justice is perfected in Truth.

The Truth is the equalizer: it bears up and it bears down. It is the same for the righteous and the depraved. It is Truth that no human influence can move. It is Truth that no amount of spinning or ignoring facts can change. It is Truth that guarantees that Justice belongs to every heart that beats. It is Truth that ensures the healing of every spirit—victim and offender.

Do you want Justice? Can you seek and speak Truth? Can you insist that laws are applied to—and abided by—all (including yourself) equally? This side of Heaven, that’s as close as we can come.

In Heaven the last will be first and the first will gladly be last. Justice is served.

Want Peace?

Do you want Peace?

Yes? Prepare to submit.

No? Eventually, you will submit to someone more powerful than you.

Be it by choice or by domination, to achieve peace, submission is inevitable.

Submission has such an uneasy connotation. Sacrifice and compromise may be easier words to bear. Yet, anything short of submission is not a deep enough commitment to bring Peace that is more than absence of violence.

Domination is the road to the absence of violence. It is easy to see the pictures of domination: the bully vs the oppressed, the corrupt vs the decent, or the powerful vs the different. Domination is excellent at suppressing violence. Tyrants gage their power by how little trouble they encounter. Avoiding the wrath of a tyrant is hardly living in peace.

Can Peace be realized if you expect more of another than you expect of yourself? Peace cannot require sacrifice by one but not by another. Peace cannot endure in endless nuance and specificity of detail. Peace requires elasticity within a pliable yet immutable boundary.

Ideally, Peace is an atmosphere in which well-being thrives. It needs only the Truth to breathe. Its sustenance is truth-telling—all of it, every side of it—the good, the bad, the hurtful—so that trust can exist. Truth emanates both trust and peace. We humans so often, too often, refuse pieces of Truth like a toddler refusing vegetables and take trust off the menu. Peace, however, rarely survives where trust doesn’t precede it.

Do you want peace? Can we choose to submit to the Truth? That would mean ‘my truth’ and ‘your truth’ are figments of our experiences and desires. The Truth cannot be owned. The Truth is unable to target, to tempt, to favor, to conceal—those are our attempts ‘own’ the Truth. The Truth has no stake in whether you like it or not. In many cases, you know it is the Truth because you don’t like it. The Truth is the quickest and easiest way to achieve Peace. It is a long, arduous road.

The Truth is that we have already submitted, you and I. Oh yes, we all have a god, like it or not—whether we realize it or not—even if it is our self. We have set some thing, some person, some idea-ology upon the throne of our hearts which fills our beings and so, our lives. And, yes, we eventually sacrifice to that which occupies our hearts.

I have chosen Christ Jesus to sit upon the throne of my heart—and He graciously returns after each time I realize that I have supplanted Him with my self. Peace is part and parcel of my submission to Christ, my King. I live that submission by loving my neighbor (liking them is optional).

Do you want Peace?