"A Hymn to God the Father"
Wilt Thou forgive that sin where I begun,
---Which is my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive those sins, through which I run,
---And do run still, though still I do deplore?
------When Thou hast done, Thou has not done,
---------For, I have more.
Wilt Thou forgive that sin by which I've won
---Others to sin? and, made my sin their door?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun
---A year, or two; but wallowed in, a score?
------When Thou hast done, Thous hast not done,
---------For, I have more.
I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun
---My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
Swear by Thyself, that at my death Thy Son
---Shall shine as He shines now, and heretofore;
------And, having done that, Thou hast done,
---------I fear no more.
-John Donne
This poem, which I just read for British Literature, reminds me of the many times I fall down and sin. The problems I struggle with are similar to Donne's in that they keep coming up. The issues I am dealing with now are essentially the same ones that I have been trying to fix for the past five years. Like Donne, I feel like I have "wallowed in [them] a score." How great is God, who forgives me again and again, for the same offense! I appreciate that Donne ends the poem with what matters, that is, the grace of God. There is hope because "Thy Son shall shine as He shines now," and that shining will cover a multitude of sins.
Not only does this poem move me to reflect on the grace of God, it also motivates me to pursue that type of forgiveness in my own life. Am I someone who could forgive an offender for the same sin, seventy times seven times? I doubt it. Yet a robust forgiveness is a godly character trait. It involves many of the fruits of the Spirit: love, peace, patience, and kindness. I am learning more and more how much Christianity demands: perfection, in fact, complete righteousness in every thought and action. Holy men have worked for godliness their entire lives and never achieved it. But when I start feeling depressed and unworthy, like the first two stanzas of "Hymn," I read the third stanza and look to Him.
edit: got the spacing on the poem right
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Hasty Generalization
OK, it happened again. There is a party going on right down downstairs in our house, and the way my desk is I can hear everything, but the visitors can't see me. A guy was talking to my father, and asked about his children (me!). When my dad listed off our names and ages, the man said, "Oh, it must be real tough around here with three teenage boys." My dad simply said "Actually, it hasn't been that bad." This was a customer, after all. :)
What annoys me about this statement is that it's a hasty generalization. The speaker completely assumes that teenage boys are disrespectful, recalcitrant, and resistant to any semblance of obedience. Given that he is talking about me, I find it rude of him to judge my character without ever seeing me; to condemn my behavior just because he knows I'm 18 years old.
Maybe the sad thing in all this is that our culture expects this behavior. The standard for teenage boys right now is in the gutter. They are not relied on to do chores around the house, obey the first time, listen, and stay out of trouble. In fact, bad behavior is expected of them. Is it any surprise that many act like this? (no personal experience, I assure you)
I felt like running downstairs, presenting myself in front of the man in my school clothes, and politely asking, "Do I look like I'm a youth gone astray?" I didn't of course, because it was a customer. Though, funnily enough, if what he had said was true I probably would have been bold and rude enough to do it.
A semi-related comic to make you laugh:
What annoys me about this statement is that it's a hasty generalization. The speaker completely assumes that teenage boys are disrespectful, recalcitrant, and resistant to any semblance of obedience. Given that he is talking about me, I find it rude of him to judge my character without ever seeing me; to condemn my behavior just because he knows I'm 18 years old.
Maybe the sad thing in all this is that our culture expects this behavior. The standard for teenage boys right now is in the gutter. They are not relied on to do chores around the house, obey the first time, listen, and stay out of trouble. In fact, bad behavior is expected of them. Is it any surprise that many act like this? (no personal experience, I assure you)
I felt like running downstairs, presenting myself in front of the man in my school clothes, and politely asking, "Do I look like I'm a youth gone astray?" I didn't of course, because it was a customer. Though, funnily enough, if what he had said was true I probably would have been bold and rude enough to do it.
A semi-related comic to make you laugh:
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Seek Ye First the Kingdom
Church was really good today. Our youth group had a visiting missionary, Brad, talk about priorities. He is a missionary with Navigators who works with Colorado college students; I forget which particular campus. Brad related really well to our age group - he was very funny and seemed to understand what issues we were facing. He certainly knew his audience very well. When he first got up he spoke about three sentences (each of which made us laugh) and then asked a question. We liked him enough in that short time that two or three people raised their hands immediately. I wish I was that friendly and persuasive as a speaker...
If his talk could be boiled down to one verse, it would be Matthew 6:33 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Exactly what I needed to hear. He talked about priorities, and making the Word of God THE foremost thing in our lives as Christians. Brad encouraged me to put off childish things, and do what God desires first. He told a funny, but true story about his time in the army. On the military base there was free bowling, and since in his tiny hometown he couldn't afford to go to the bowling alley, he took it up in the army. Every Thursday night he would go out and bowl; that is, until his spiritual mentor asked him to come evangelize in the barracks on Thursdays. After Brad voiced his objections, his mentor asked, "Do you think God want bowlers or evangelists?" And so he preached the gospel on Thursdays.
It's so much easier to see this type of wasted time in other's lives, when often I do it in my own without realizing it. Today, I have a lot of work so I pray to God that I may work diligently and do his things first.
Two comments the speaker made that don't fit anywhere else in this blog (but hey, that's the nature of a blog, isn't it?):
1) When you lead people to Christ, at first all they see is you. Eventually, you are a conduit to Jesus and then they know Jesus for themselves. Right at the beginning, however, you are all they see.
2) Most pastors study all week in order to say something clever on Sunday, sound good, and keep their job. Exemplary pastors study the Word of God, apply it to their lives, and then preach from that overflow. They truly keep kingdom things first in their own lives, and therefore are more effective teachers when instructing others.
If his talk could be boiled down to one verse, it would be Matthew 6:33 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Exactly what I needed to hear. He talked about priorities, and making the Word of God THE foremost thing in our lives as Christians. Brad encouraged me to put off childish things, and do what God desires first. He told a funny, but true story about his time in the army. On the military base there was free bowling, and since in his tiny hometown he couldn't afford to go to the bowling alley, he took it up in the army. Every Thursday night he would go out and bowl; that is, until his spiritual mentor asked him to come evangelize in the barracks on Thursdays. After Brad voiced his objections, his mentor asked, "Do you think God want bowlers or evangelists?" And so he preached the gospel on Thursdays.
It's so much easier to see this type of wasted time in other's lives, when often I do it in my own without realizing it. Today, I have a lot of work so I pray to God that I may work diligently and do his things first.
Two comments the speaker made that don't fit anywhere else in this blog (but hey, that's the nature of a blog, isn't it?):
1) When you lead people to Christ, at first all they see is you. Eventually, you are a conduit to Jesus and then they know Jesus for themselves. Right at the beginning, however, you are all they see.
2) Most pastors study all week in order to say something clever on Sunday, sound good, and keep their job. Exemplary pastors study the Word of God, apply it to their lives, and then preach from that overflow. They truly keep kingdom things first in their own lives, and therefore are more effective teachers when instructing others.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Presidential Scholar Award, and other news
Hey all
First the good news - I got a surprise in a the mail a few days ago saying that I was a candidate for the US Department of Education's Presidential Scholar program. Only about 2,700 candidates are chosen from 2.8 million high school students, or less than .1%; so I was honored and pleased. In March a boy and a girl are chosen out of the candidates from each state to fly to Washington D.C. with their favorite teacher. God, of course, has given me all my abilities and the glory for this honor goes to Him. We'll see if it's in His plan that I go to Washington.
The bad news is that this program requires a huge application - larger than any college app I did. They have a few pages of biographical information, 4 half-page essays, and a two page essay. It will take a lot of time to fill out, and right now I just don't have it. Life has been exceedingly crazy with basketball, and school, and life in general. I'm trying to prep for the Rennaisance Fair at Petra (maybe write a declamation, at least play music and do an oratory piece), work on the same piece of music and write a speech about apologetics for the Petra dinner, keep my grades up at Petra (and stay awake during class), do a bunch of homework for TeenPact, handle the house while my parents are in Australia, and compete in the state basketball tournament all in the next couple weeks. So yea. I haven't been doing any reading, getting minimal sleep, not really blog posting, my muscles ache, I'm falling further behind, and worst of all, the verb tenses in my conjoined phrases don't match. lol
First the good news - I got a surprise in a the mail a few days ago saying that I was a candidate for the US Department of Education's Presidential Scholar program. Only about 2,700 candidates are chosen from 2.8 million high school students, or less than .1%; so I was honored and pleased. In March a boy and a girl are chosen out of the candidates from each state to fly to Washington D.C. with their favorite teacher. God, of course, has given me all my abilities and the glory for this honor goes to Him. We'll see if it's in His plan that I go to Washington.
The bad news is that this program requires a huge application - larger than any college app I did. They have a few pages of biographical information, 4 half-page essays, and a two page essay. It will take a lot of time to fill out, and right now I just don't have it. Life has been exceedingly crazy with basketball, and school, and life in general. I'm trying to prep for the Rennaisance Fair at Petra (maybe write a declamation, at least play music and do an oratory piece), work on the same piece of music and write a speech about apologetics for the Petra dinner, keep my grades up at Petra (and stay awake during class), do a bunch of homework for TeenPact, handle the house while my parents are in Australia, and compete in the state basketball tournament all in the next couple weeks. So yea. I haven't been doing any reading, getting minimal sleep, not really blog posting, my muscles ache, I'm falling further behind, and worst of all, the verb tenses in my conjoined phrases don't match. lol
Friday, January 18, 2008
Abortion
I'm working on an abortion essay for a contest. While doing some research about the true nature of this bloody industry, I came across a lot of disgusting pictures. Instead of posting any of them, I think this one captures the nature of 99% of abortions fairly well.
I think it's pitiful that abortion has lasted for 30 years in the USA. Maybe it's because, unlike other human rights' issues, the people who are victims cannot speak out. They have no votes, no political sway. The mothers who want to get abortions (or fathers who force them to) are the ones who control the situation.
Moreover, the industry of abortion is huge - millions of dollars fuel a giant practice of slaughter. (I am still looking up figures, I'll post the whole essay when I'm done.) It's like trying to take down gambling. The casinos and those addicted to gambling will fight with all their power to keep the casinos open. And sadly, most of those who don't gamble are apathetic towards it; they don't want to tell others how to live their lives.
Yet the Bible does give us instructions on how to live, and I think that the government has a responsibility to outlaw sinful practices. Its purpose is to punish wrongdoers and protect the nation from invasion. I believe that there is a lot of wrong being done through the Roe v. Wade decision in this country, and it's time to change it.
P.S. more on this later, when I finish my essay. I will get some facts and refine these crude arguments, which are more like appeals to emotion than anything else.
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