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Archive for February, 2007
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In the story of Ulysses, from Homer’s Odyssey, he is on his ship, trying to make his way home? He knows he will pass by the Isle of the Sirens, those voices sing out across the sea in such enticing tones that many sailors are led to their deaths on the jagged, rocky shores, never to see home or their destination. Ulysses commanded that his men put wax in their ears so they could not hear those voices and so be led to their destruction. But for himself, he was tied to the mast so that he could hear their singing. He commanded that none of his orders while hearing them were to be obeyed. The voices almost drive him mad until finally the ship passes by, the voices are stilled, and once more his ears are filled with the voices of his wife and son, with home, with his true destination. So many voices crying out to us on our journey,
Temptation has that effect on everyone. When we set sail towards temptation we are fighting a battle that is far greater than our human capacity to endure. Had Ulysses not had himself tied to the mast and told his sailors to ignore his desire to set off after the tempting allures of the forbidden island he too would have made shipwreck along the shores of life’s many temptations.
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This weekend the long anticipated release of the motion picture “Amazing Grace’ opens chronicling the life of William Wilberforce, the British evangelical Christian who led the political movement against slavery in the 18th century.
The trading of souls in Willberforces time was a blight on America yet there still remains a stain on humanity today as many helpless souls are still trapped in modern slave trade. They too need a Willberforce to stand up and fight for them, their voices, like the slaves of old are silenced by calloused greedy people who profit off the misery and misfortune of others. Not until sin is eradicated from the planet and loving our neighbors as ourselves is put into practice will this world be free of the disgrace of slavery. Physical slavery is as real as spiritual slavery. Those who are bound by sin are in need of Amazing Grace as those who were physically bound by chains.
It is out duty as evangelical Christians to stand in the gap for the hopeless and downtrodden. We are to be the force for change in the world. We, as Wilberforce, can be the Amazing Grace to someone else today. As long as there are souls trapped in slavery there will always be a need for Amazing Grace.
For more information on the modern slave trade:
Free the Slaves, Slavery Then and Now, American Slavery, A Primer on Modern Slavery
When you get what you want in your struggle for self, 
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that guy has to say.
For it isn’t your Father or Mother or Wife
Who judgment upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.
He’s the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.
You may be like Jack Horner and “chisel” a plum
And think you’re a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the guy in the glass.
Love is like playing the piano.
First you must learn to play by the rules,
then you must forget the rules and play from your heart.
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Thoughts and views as seen from the resident raptor. Reflecting on life and the world as I see it.
