From 1 Peter 2:11-17

One of the Bible readings from this morning's Liturgy of the Hours struck me as another timeless piece of scripture. Quoted in part: "...Though the pagans may slander you as troublemakers, conduct yourselves blamelessly among them...Because of the Lord, be obedient to every human institution, whether to the emperor as sovereign or to the governors he commissions for the punishment of criminals and the recognition of the upright. Such obedience is the will of God. You must silence the ignorant talk of fools by your good behavior. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cloak for vice."

We who are practicing Christians struggle with living the Way of Jesus Christ because we are human, with all our feebleness and foibles. To make matters worse, we have to deal with the estrangement (the polite word) from non-believers (pagan, Gentile, depends on your translation). Has it not been worse than ever during this latest campaign and election? The kicker in these verses is the admonition of our civic duty, which is easier to swallow, I will admit, if you happen to have voted for the incumbant last week. Peter points out that our allegiance is directed to all human authorities and not just the sovereign, in reference to the fact that some Gentiles divinized their monarch. In a constitutional republic like ours we shouldn't have that problem (although JFK came close to being divinized). Bottom line for me...I need to keep my language and actions out of the gutter that partisanship has become. Dignity, example, conduct, patience, comportment, respect. Whewwww...easier said than done!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Have A Pope!

I am so relieved. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (see ratzingerfanclub.com/blog) is now Pope Benedict XVI. There has been a growing awareness by some of us for the need of a 'muscular Christianity.' In Pope Benedict we have our Arnold Schwarzenneger. Many have noted the speed or shortness of the conclave to elect the new pope, which was the result of the unanimity of the Cardinals to continue much of the legacy of John Paul the Great. Much of the mainstream media have lamented that Benedict XVI has gone on record condemning relativism in the modern world. It's going to take a strong man with indestructible belief in truth and faith to counter the tide of the secular world, particularly in western Europe and North America, and in Benedict XVI we have that man! I believe as the pope has said that the exclusivity of the Roman Catholic faith, the Church's teaching that there is an absolute truth and that the Church was instituted by Jesus Christ, will mean a leaner, more v...
Read more

Brightest in Dungeons, Liberty!

Lord Byron (1788-1824), though he was a very young man, expressed in his Sonnet on Chillon an intimate and empathetic grasp of the pain of tyranny and terror... Eternal spirit of the chainless mind! Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! thou art. In a few hours the polls in Iraq will open. As Iraqi citizens abroad have since yesterday around the world, many will vote for the first time in their lives in an Iraqi election, and many will raise a blue stained finger in salute to freedom. The blue ink used by the poll workers will remain on the finger for a couple days which will preclude voting more than once. The terrorists have warned the populace that their blue-stained finger will mark them for death. When I was a youth studying 'Civics,' which was still being taught with the emphasis on intellectual diversty rather than the cultural diversity and mutliculturalism so widespread today, we were bored to the extreme by the bland textbooks. We also didn't have the topical...
Read more

I Have a Plan

I am four weeks into my new running training plan. And I'm excited because I am injury free. Usually when I come off a long period of little or no running, I try to come back too damn fast. With my program, taken from marathontraining.com, I am progressing at a rate that will preclude injuries, unless I trip over my pup, Oslo, or an armadillo or something. I would love to run another marathon, particularly the Marine Corps Marathon in Wash D.C. The problem is that that one is in October and training is just too difficult in these hot/humid summers to be ready in October. I'm looking at some late spring races out in CO, SD, and WY. I've got some cousins I've got to visit in CO, so if I time it right...
Read more