April 20, 2002

• Packing for Paradise

  
  

  In just a few short hours (23 of them) I'll be sitting my behind in the comfortable driver's seat of my Mercury Sable and starting down the driveway on a new adventure.  Tim is celerating his 36th birthday and we decided to mark the occasion with a trip to Branson, MO. 

  
  

  Yes, in this relationship, I drive and he plays flight attendant to the boys in the back seat.  I'm exactly 5 feet tall.  My arms don't reach from the driver's seat to the passenger side.  Tim is 6 feet 7 inches.  He can serve drinks to the body in the trunk without straining.

  
  

  Now, how do I pack for such a trip?  Usually when I travel, I do it in the van.  But the air-conditioning still isn't repaired in the van, and while I had thought maybe I could tough it out and roll down the windows, the sunburn wiped all that out of my mind.  I want airconditioned comfort.

  
  

  Travelling in the van, I have enough cargo space to take everything and anything that I think I MIGHT want to have on hand.  I pack the usual, books, games, snacks, my wheat grinder, a basket of half complete craft projects in case I get bored . . . if there's any room left over, I throw in a few clothes and my toothbrush.  If there's still room, I let the kids and hubby go too.

  
  

  But, we aren't taking the van.  We are taking the Sable.  It has your standard trunk space, but that will barely hold my books, much less the sewing machine and doggie bed.  (Now that they have those new restrictions on luggage - I may never be able to fly again.  When I went to visit my friend Mary for a week last year, I took a complete set of luggage (four bags) a carryon and my backpack.)

  
  

  Decisions, decisions - I'd better get my diet coke in hand, I'm gonna need extra caffeine today.

  
  

  *******

  
  

  Grioghair said:

  
  

  There are more values in this world than can be totally encompassed within the Christian faith...for, what about the people in this world who are not Christian, by faith - do Christians forever ignore them as misguided - and going down the wrong path in life?

  
  

  There are few things in life that irritate me more than when a person pulls out a verse of scripture from here and there to make a point, so I'll acknowledge up front that I'm doing that and I'll ask for you to trust me that there are a lot more passages available that speak to this point, but I don't want to make this a long essay - just a quick answer.

  
  

  The "Law" - the Torah - contains the admonitions "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength" and "Love your neighbor as yourself."

  
  

  When Jesus was asked "who is my neighbor" - he answered with the parable of the Good Samaritan.  What most of us don't realize is that to the audience that heard him speak that day, a contemporary equivalent would be the parable of the "Good Taliban."  Between the Jews and Samaritans of that day there existed a centuries old animosity based on religious and ethnic differences which included terroist acts.  There was no group of people more despised by first century Jews than the Samatians (whom they referred to as mongrel dogs on their nice days.)

  
  

  Jesus not only taught the standard, he lived it.  He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well.  He commended the Canaanite woman for her faith.  He said of the Centurion, "I have not found such great faith even in Israel."

  
  

  Jesus' teaching is counter to the assumption that only the people of the household of faith have access to the truths of God.  Over and over again, he used the phrase "those who have ears let them hear."  He made it clear that anyone, at anytime, of any religious background could hear the voice of God if they only listened.  Paul continues this theme in his letter to the Romans.  The Pauline passage is usually quoted to unhold condemnation of pagans (those outside the faith) but the central theme he builds from is that ANYONE can know about God.  God's divine nature and eternal power are discernable apart from the revelations of the prophets.

  
  

  "Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you the rason for the hope you have but do this with gentleness and respect."  I'm on the dictionary thing lately, so I'm going to quote from the OAD on respect - admiration toward a person or thing that has good qualities and the politeness that arises from this.  If I want to live up to the standard taught in the Bible, I ahve to be prepared to treat everyone as my neighbor.  Deal with them out of a position of love and respect.  It isn't respect to speak from a position of condescending superiority.

  
  

  Grioghair doesn't believe in sin.  I won't quibble over the word, I'll bet that Grioghair would agree with me that there are some actions and attitudes that in their very nature hinder the ability of people to relate and communicate with one another.  An attitude that says, "You are wrong, you have nothing of any value to say to me" is a pretty good example of the kind of thing that would make it impossible for constructive dialogue to take place.  I don't like it when I'm treated that way.  I think that anyone, be he Christian, philosopher, or scientist who starts from that perspective will soon find himself talking only to people who already agree with him, because everyone else will leave.

  • 8:09 am
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