There was a time not so very long ago, when people in general knew that there was a right and a wrong. They actually knew what right and wrong were called. Their names were sin and virtue.
Freedom is the right to live peacefully within the law. Freedom encompasses the law of God, as in the Ten Commandments, and man made laws. In the last century, the laws of men departed from the law of God. Men rose up against their Creator and began to make laws to suit their own perversions. Freedom has taken a holiday as a result.
Men who govern and rule, who do not believe deep in their hearts that they will answer to God for how they govern, will always govern to their best financial advantage and to their quest for power. The result is that those whom they govern lose their freedom.
A woman recently stated for the camera that freedom means one can say what they want, when they want. I beg to differ. Those of us who still recognize right and wrong are not at liberty to say so. We are slowly losing our freedom. Inch by inch, our freedom is being taken from us. It has become a crime to speak out against sin (wrong actions) in many places. We are now, more and more, being taken before the courts for insisting that there is indeed a right and a wrong. We no longer have the freedom to speak truth. It is becoming dangerous to speak truth, most especially God's Truth, all over the world.
Reasonable men know that truth does not change. Murder has been wrong from the beginning. Murdering unborn children is evil. It is a sin. Homosexuality is a perversion of the gift that God gave us to cooperate with Him in populating Heaven. It is a sin. Lying, cheating, stealing, are all sins. They are wrong. We knew that once upon a time. The laws of men once mirrored the Law of God, but that is no longer so.
As long as men take license with the law and pervert it to their own ends, freedom is no more and license has taken freedom from us. We are now subject to evil laws made by men who's hearts are perverted to evil things.
I say that freedom has taken a holiday, because it will return. Rational men know that God is in charge and that He, in the end will have the last word. Freedom is His and when men once again turn to Him, it is He who will restore freedom.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Career vs. Vocation
My unmarried younger sister is a talented florist. We were discussing life the other day and she mentioned that she felt unsettled. I looked at her in some consternation and asked if she was thinking about giving up her work as a florist in a thriving shop. She explained that she did not like having a “career” because it seemed so feminist and selfish. That gave me pause for thought, because the truth is that in my own mind a “career woman” has a decidedly unflattering connotation. It smacks of the selfish woman who has put herself and her ambitions ahead of her family duties. I do not say that this connotation is necessarily just in every case, but there you have it. I pointed out to my sister that she does her work each day for God, and she asked, “It’s still a career, isn’t it?”
I began to think more about this subject, and gradually it became clear in my mind what the dividing line is between work being a “career” and work being a “vocation”. It is not a career just because it is secular work or because the person doing the work is successful. It is not a career just because education is a prerequisite to the work or because the same work is done for many years. No. Work becomes a career when it is undertaken with self gratification being the reason for doing the work involved. With some a career gratifies pride, with others it is ambition or wealth, but with all careerists the gratification of ego is a goal. On the other hand, a “vocation” is work undertaken and accomplished for the love of God and in accordance with His will.
We too often think of a “vocation” as being a call to the religious life and nothing else. This is not entirely correct. A call to the religious life is indeed a vocation, but the married life and the single life are vocations as well. So also is the work undertaken to make a living when it is undertaken with God in mind and as a means of fulfilling His will. Every butcher, baker and candlestick maker may choose whether his work is to be a career or a vocation. A career may gratify self by inflating the ego, but the rewards are enjoyed in this life alone. A vocation can satisfy self by giving work an exalted purpose and its rewards are enjoyed in this life and in the life hereafter.
The choice is ours to make: will we do our work for God and to please Him, or will we do our work for ourselves and to make us feel important? Considering that work when undertaken for God earns an eternal reward, it seems rather foolish to have a career when we could have a vocation and do the same work we’re doing already. What it all boils down to is who do we think is more important: ourselves or God?
I began to think more about this subject, and gradually it became clear in my mind what the dividing line is between work being a “career” and work being a “vocation”. It is not a career just because it is secular work or because the person doing the work is successful. It is not a career just because education is a prerequisite to the work or because the same work is done for many years. No. Work becomes a career when it is undertaken with self gratification being the reason for doing the work involved. With some a career gratifies pride, with others it is ambition or wealth, but with all careerists the gratification of ego is a goal. On the other hand, a “vocation” is work undertaken and accomplished for the love of God and in accordance with His will.
We too often think of a “vocation” as being a call to the religious life and nothing else. This is not entirely correct. A call to the religious life is indeed a vocation, but the married life and the single life are vocations as well. So also is the work undertaken to make a living when it is undertaken with God in mind and as a means of fulfilling His will. Every butcher, baker and candlestick maker may choose whether his work is to be a career or a vocation. A career may gratify self by inflating the ego, but the rewards are enjoyed in this life alone. A vocation can satisfy self by giving work an exalted purpose and its rewards are enjoyed in this life and in the life hereafter.
The choice is ours to make: will we do our work for God and to please Him, or will we do our work for ourselves and to make us feel important? Considering that work when undertaken for God earns an eternal reward, it seems rather foolish to have a career when we could have a vocation and do the same work we’re doing already. What it all boils down to is who do we think is more important: ourselves or God?
Friday, July 11, 2008
Illegal Immigration: Cause or Symptom of Crisis?
The subject of illegal immigration is hotly contested these days. Let’s face facts: America has thousands of illegal immigrants from many poorer nations, particularly Mexico, and our Customs Department seems patently unable to cope with the situation. Of course, we must remember that Customs officials are hounded at each step by emotional Americans who are blind to the common good of our society and to the right of our country to limit and regulate immigration. These people are also blind to the fact that illegal immigrants are a slap in the face to every legal immigrant who has taken the time and trouble to enter the country legally.
There is much that could be said on this subject, but this essay proposes to take a look at an angle seldom examined by Americans who debate illegal immigration. It is known that most illegal immigrants are poorly educated people who are content to take whatever job is offered them, usually at a pittance. These are the dirty and difficult jobs that most Americans tend to look down on. It was not always this way. This country was founded and made great by people who were not afraid of hard work or getting their hands dirty. Americans took pride in the fact that they were hard workers, and looked down on those who were lazy or fastidious. It is a crying shame that this has changed. Now, people who do manual labor are looked down upon and the so-called “blue-collar” workers are considered second-rate in spite of the fact that it is they who keep our nation running smoothly. This country would be in a world of hurt without our truck drivers, carpenters, mechanics, industrial workers, farmers and the like. This snobbishness, which looks down on blue-collar workers, reaches its zenith in our opinion of those who do the real “grunt” work – primarily illegal aliens.
What has this to do with illegal immigration, you are undoubtedly wondering. What I am wondering is, who will do the “dirty” work if we expel the illegal immigrants from this country? Please do not misunderstand: I oppose illegal immigration, and would favor a move to expel illegal immigrants humanely. But the question remains: who will take over the jobs that illegal aliens do for a pittance now? Are we, as citizens, prepared to conquer our pride and fastidiousness in order to take up the hard work illegal aliens do now? Is there still enough of a work ethic alive in America that our citizens will do “grunt” work, even if it means getting their hands dirty? I think that these are valid questions which should raise concern in every one of us.
As a nation we have become addicted to ease and to gadgets that entertain us by the hour. No longer do people use leisure time to improve their minds with good literature, to study or to improve themselves in other ways. But leisure time filled with primarily mindless occupation is a curse to a nation. Certainly there is a time and a place for recreation, but we have made recreation a top priority. We work in order to buy more gadgets, to pay for our trips to the ball game…in other words, to have fun. We have lost our sense of proportion and the seriousness that should govern our lives and actions. We no longer think with our intelligence, but with our emotions. As long as we continue this way, illegal immigration will continue unchecked because we will not be able to deal with the problem logically and unemotionally. As long as ease remains our top priority we will not be willing to work hard or get our hands dirty, and we will have a use for the illegal aliens who will. This is unfair to our country and to the illegal aliens.
Our country’s border problems are not solely due to the aliens who cross them illegally. The mindset and lack of a work ethic among Americans plays its role in the problem as well. There is little that we, as citizens, can do about border security. But we can examine ourselves and our own work ethic and use of leisure time. Restoring the work ethic that made our country great must be a “grassroots” effort that begins with individuals and families. In time, it will spread to shore up our nation and make it once again a land of opportunity for those willing to work hard, even if it means getting dirty hands. In time, it may enable us to think clearly and solve our nation’s problems, including that of illegal immigration.
There is much that could be said on this subject, but this essay proposes to take a look at an angle seldom examined by Americans who debate illegal immigration. It is known that most illegal immigrants are poorly educated people who are content to take whatever job is offered them, usually at a pittance. These are the dirty and difficult jobs that most Americans tend to look down on. It was not always this way. This country was founded and made great by people who were not afraid of hard work or getting their hands dirty. Americans took pride in the fact that they were hard workers, and looked down on those who were lazy or fastidious. It is a crying shame that this has changed. Now, people who do manual labor are looked down upon and the so-called “blue-collar” workers are considered second-rate in spite of the fact that it is they who keep our nation running smoothly. This country would be in a world of hurt without our truck drivers, carpenters, mechanics, industrial workers, farmers and the like. This snobbishness, which looks down on blue-collar workers, reaches its zenith in our opinion of those who do the real “grunt” work – primarily illegal aliens.
What has this to do with illegal immigration, you are undoubtedly wondering. What I am wondering is, who will do the “dirty” work if we expel the illegal immigrants from this country? Please do not misunderstand: I oppose illegal immigration, and would favor a move to expel illegal immigrants humanely. But the question remains: who will take over the jobs that illegal aliens do for a pittance now? Are we, as citizens, prepared to conquer our pride and fastidiousness in order to take up the hard work illegal aliens do now? Is there still enough of a work ethic alive in America that our citizens will do “grunt” work, even if it means getting their hands dirty? I think that these are valid questions which should raise concern in every one of us.
As a nation we have become addicted to ease and to gadgets that entertain us by the hour. No longer do people use leisure time to improve their minds with good literature, to study or to improve themselves in other ways. But leisure time filled with primarily mindless occupation is a curse to a nation. Certainly there is a time and a place for recreation, but we have made recreation a top priority. We work in order to buy more gadgets, to pay for our trips to the ball game…in other words, to have fun. We have lost our sense of proportion and the seriousness that should govern our lives and actions. We no longer think with our intelligence, but with our emotions. As long as we continue this way, illegal immigration will continue unchecked because we will not be able to deal with the problem logically and unemotionally. As long as ease remains our top priority we will not be willing to work hard or get our hands dirty, and we will have a use for the illegal aliens who will. This is unfair to our country and to the illegal aliens.
Our country’s border problems are not solely due to the aliens who cross them illegally. The mindset and lack of a work ethic among Americans plays its role in the problem as well. There is little that we, as citizens, can do about border security. But we can examine ourselves and our own work ethic and use of leisure time. Restoring the work ethic that made our country great must be a “grassroots” effort that begins with individuals and families. In time, it will spread to shore up our nation and make it once again a land of opportunity for those willing to work hard, even if it means getting dirty hands. In time, it may enable us to think clearly and solve our nation’s problems, including that of illegal immigration.
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