Sunday, February 13, 2011

Valentine’s Day… Humbug

I guess I’ve always had a cynical streak. I look at things and wonder where they came from, who started them, and more than anything, what their motivation for starting them was. Take Valentine’s Day for example. The cynical side of me would think that this holiday, like many American holidays was started for the express purpose of selling greeting cards, flowers, and candy. If it wasn’t started for that, somebody sure decided it was a good day to use for that.

In actuality, the holiday of Valentine’s Day, more properly called St. Valentine’s Day was started by the Roman Catholic Church in 500 AD to commemorate St. Valentine. Although it was removed from the “official calendar of church holidays” in 1969, the celebration of Valentine’s Day is still accepted by the church. So, I guess we have to say “Thank you” to Pope Gelasius I for giving us this day.

Yet, why do we need a special day to remind us to act in love towards those that we claim to love? What’s wrong with us that we can’t act and feel loving the other 364 days of the year? Not only that, but how is one day of being romantic and loving supposed to make up for all those other days of forgetting? It seems to me we need 364 days of being romantic and loving per year, and maybe one day of break. That might even serve a purpose, the one day of break would help to remind us of how valuable that person’s love is to us, and we’d appreciate it more.

I’ll have to say, my wife and I won’t go out on Monday to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Not because I don’t love her, but because our work won’t allow us to. So, we celebrated Valentine’s Day early. Then again, we don’t limit ourselves to celebrating our love for one another only on days where somebody tells us to. I don’t wait for Valentine’s Day to buy my wife flowers; I do it some other day, especially if I can surprise her with them. Besides, have you noticed how much higher flower prices are on Valentine’s Day?

I’d like to propose something new to you. Instead of just celebrating your love one day a year, how about making it one day per week? Pick a day of the week that’s going to be your personal Valentine’s Day as a couple, and make sure you do something special to express and celebrate your love for one another. If you can do more than one day, that’s even better; but make sure you do the one.

By the way, if you need any romantic ideas, check out my other blog at: RomanticActOfTheDay.Blogspot.com

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Prayer Overcomes Drugs

I’m sure you’ve heard about the violence that’s going on here on the Mexican side of the border. Battles between the various drug trafficking cartels have become a small-scale war. Whole towns have been abandoned, or are in the process of being abandoned by their citizens. Kidnapping, extortion, and muggings have become a daily event. Hundreds of people have lost their lives.

In the small town of Nuevo Progresso none of this is going on. I say small, because the town is only six blocks long. This border town exists for one purpose and one purpose only, to separate Americans from their dollars. The main street of the town consists of tourist traps, dentists and pharmacies, with a few restaurants and bars thrown in. The town exists, more than anything, for the Winter Texans; retired people who come down here to avoid the cold up north.

Just like all the other towns here on the border, the druggies started moving in and trying to take over. There weren’t any shootings or kidnappings, but extortion was on the rise. The pastor of the biggest church in town decided to do something about it and gathered his people together to pray.

Before going on the streets to pray, this pastor met with the head of the narcos (drug traffickers) in town. He said that they wanted to set up a spiritual road block, using the slang term that the narcos used. Now, when they do their road blocks, it’s to steal from people, but what this pastor proposed was to stop people on the roads to pray for them. He asked the head narco for his permission to do this.

Before you react with a “he doesn’t have to ask anyone to pray” sort of reaction, I’ve got to say that this pastor was being very astute. He could have made an enemy of the narcos, or he could have co-opted them in his plan. By asking their permission, he guaranteed that they wouldn’t bother him or his congregation while praying for the people.

The head narco asked him when, where, and how his people would be dressed. They set a schedule for every Thursday evening, and the people would wear the same color shirt to be distinctive.

Right from the start it was a success. They had so many people asking for prayer that it caused a traffic jam. That was okay, because it didn’t hurt the rest of the town. So, the church kept praying, specifically praying that God would protect the people from the drug lords and their minions.

After two months of praying every Thursday, the Mexican Marines surrounded the town. They arrested the police (many of who were working with the druggies), the judge, the transit police (traffic cops) and went into the houses where the narcos had people they had kidnapped in other towns. In one clean sweep they removed all corruption and all the criminals. Obviously, they had excellent intelligence.

For three months that town was under martial law, while the municipal government was reformed. Then the marines turned it back over to the people and left. Here, several months later, things are still peaceful. While other towns have shootings, kidnappings and extortion, Nuevo Progresso has peace and prosperity.

“Are they still praying?” You might ask; of course, every Thursday evening you can see the congregation of that church, out on the streets, praying for everyone they can; and God is with them.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Celebrating the New Year?

As long as I can remember, the idea of celebrating the coming of the New Year has seemed a little odd to me. I mean, what is so special about that fact that one year has ended, and another is beginning? Did some major event happen on that day? Are we commemorating something great in our history? Does something change (besides the number we use for the year) when a new year begins?

As far as I know, I’m the same person I was yesterday, with the same failings, the same problems the same bills and the same life. I’ve gained little in knowledge and experience since yesterday; actually, if anything, all that’s happened is that my body has just gotten one day older. What’s so special about that?

Oh, I know that New Years is celebrated around the world, in many different cultures and religions, and that it has been for millennium. The date on the calendar might change from place to place, but it’s still a new year’s celebration. Still, that doesn’t make it seem any more special to me.

Some of the customs of the New Year’s celebration seem just as strange. The idea of staying up late, having a drunken party to bring in the new year is probably the strangest of all. I think it must stem from ancient times, when the people were afraid that the sun wouldn’t come back, or some such thing. Yet, as educated, technologically and scientifically aware people, we still bring in the year with all the drunken hoopla we can muster up. Are we afraid that the new year won’t actually come?

Or, here’s another strange one; how about the custom of setting off fireworks on New Year’s? Where did that come from? It almost seems like an offering to the sun god, so that it can keep its eternal fire burning to warm the earth and give us light. Actually, the idea of setting off fireworks reminds me an awful lot of the Aztec story of the sun god jumping into a bonfire, so that he could burn.

Here’s another custom that’s always puzzled me; the idea of making New Year’s resolutions. We all know that most people break those resolutions before the week is out, so why make them? Does making it a New Year’s resolution make us any more likely to complete it? It appears not, so why bother?

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t strive to change and better ourselves. The idea of making a resolution to change some fault in your life is a good idea; but, making it just because it’s another year doesn’t seem to make much sense.

Really, I’m not trying to be a Scrooge here, saying “Bah Humbug” to the New Year, or even to the New Year celebration; I’m really not. I just don’t get it. There was a saying that was popular a number of years ago, and maybe still is in some places. It went, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” I like that. We really don’t need to wait for the New Year to have a new beginning; each and every day brings us that opportunity. Life is full of new opportunities; all we need to do is grasp hold of them.

A little over 2,000 years ago, a baby was born in a little town called Bethlehem, in a place then known as Judea, and now known as Israel. That baby was a gift sent to all mankind, giving us an opportunity for a new beginning. He came, grew, became a man, taught, and ultimately died, for one purpose, the purpose of giving us the opportunity to come into relationship with God the Father, the Creator of the Universe. The opportunity to have hope; to have love; to have a new life.

Many people look at the gospel story and only see a mean God that is trying to send people to hell. What those people don’t understand is that God doesn’t send anyone to hell; all those who go there go of their own free will. No, God is actually trying to stop us from going to hell; that’s why He sent Jesus.

Yet, this same God loves us so much that He doesn’t try and impose His will on us and make us go into His presence. Oh, I know that many people think that He does, and quote the Ten Commandments as proof of that. But, those commandments aren’t given to restrict us, or impose God’s will upon us, they are given for our benefit, not for God’s benefit. He tries so hard to avoid imposing His will on us, that He has prepared a place for those who don’t want anything to do with Him; a place totally outside of His presence. This place is called hell; and actually, it was never intended as a place for mankind to go to.

This same God, the one who created you and I, the one who sent His Son to die for us, wants to have a relationship with you. What’s wrong with that? Why is that so hard to accept? Why not have a true new beginning this year, one with Him?