We try to make heroes out of ourselves by making heels out of others.

Two Good Quotes from the State of the Union

   Among the good quotes from President Trump's State of the Union address:
  "We must choose between greatness and gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction."
   "We must be united at home to defeat our adversaries abroad."

Thanks for the Achievements We have had

   The United States has become the number-one producer of oil, our president told us in his state of the union address. For the first time in 65 years, we are a net exporter of energy.

  Our criminal justice system has been reformed. 

  The Trump Administration has yielded results in bringing Venezuela towards freedom.

  The natural capital of Israel has been recognized.

   Millions of job have been added, including those in the manufacturing sector.

   Unemployment is at a historic low level.

   Regulation of business have been reduced.

   These, along with other things, are things I think to be thankful for. I enjoyed that portion of the state of the union I was able to listen to.

If Our Nation is Divided by Hate, that is not a Christian Nation

   They pick up an old comment by Nancy Pelosi, with her saying it is the Democrats who are doing the Lord's work.
   And, the debate is on. Is it the Democrats who are doing the Lord's work, or the Republicans?
   Now, I do not doubt that there is a right and a wrong on many a social issue. Should we allow abortion? Should we deport those who cross our borders illegally? And, so forth.
  But, I cannot help but think how the second greatest commandment is to love thy neighbor as thyself. I cannot help but notice how Christ would have us love our enemies as ourselves. I cannot put down the thought that we are to love those who despitefully use us.
  Those are the commandments that divide who is a Christian. If we are to ask, who are the greater followers of Christ -- the Democrats or the Republicans -- it only seems fair to ask, which are following that second commandment the best?
  And mark this: Much of that is going to boil down to how they are treating each other.
  In today's America, there might be no place where two sides are more at odds with each other than in the political arena. Love your enemies? If you were to ask most people who their greatest enemies are -- and if they sat back and thought about it long enough to give honest answers -- they might confess that is those who belong to the opposite party who they hate the most.
   When we rant, we often rant about those with opposite political views. So, it follows that if we have enemies, they are in the the political arena, as much as they are anywhere else.
   So, if we are going to live that commandment that says, Love thy enemy, we must need to love those of the opposite political party.
  The test of our Christianity is to be found in the political arena, as much as it is in any other part of our lives.  If you would know how you are doing on that second great commandment, examine how you are doing in your treatment of those in the opposite party. Love your enemy? Love those who despitefully use you? How are you doing with Republicans, if you are as Democrat. And with Democrats, if you are a Republican?
  These two sides  are at great variance with each other. You will find great opportunity for applying the Lord's great commandments if you belong to one of these political parties.
  There is in another book of scripture, verbiage of how people returned railing for railing. So, we should find that we are doing the same today. We castigate and condemn each other.
  I even wonder if it all reflects on the pride of our nation, and how haughty we have become. We set ourselves up as better than the other, and suggest it is we who are righteous and upright, not those of the opposite political party. We look down our nose at the other, even as a person possessed of pride looks down upon another.
  It is one of the hallmarks of a humble person, that he will consider his faults. Few in the political arena will ever do this. Not only will they not consider the issues open-mindedly, but they will not take criticism from the other party with open minds. Never, would a Republican say and ask, "Nancy Pelosi says it is the Democrats who are doing the Lord's work, not us. Are there some ways in which this is true?"
   Such introspection does not come to those blinded with pride. Pride doesn't confess faults, but only strikes back when a criticism comes.
   It is time we reflected on how far down a path we have gone. As a nation, how far astray from the principles of Christianity are we? We certainly don't love each other, and that is one of the basics of Christianity. How prideful are we? Pride can be the downfall of a nation. A patterns of pride, and cycles of pride might once have been upon this land. What, then, of the modern inhabitants? What of us? Have we become so proud as those the Book of Mormon warns against?
  It may have spoken of the proud as wearing costly apparel and of having exceeding riches. Still, I see vestiges of pride in what we have become.

Death can be a Decision, and Sometimes a Programmed One

   "I'm a nurse. I don't believe in torturing people," a friend said to me as we were visiting a lady who appeared to be in her final moments of life. 

   I might have learned something from my experience at the care center today: Sometimes we might want to die, but our bodies are programmed against it. 

   Yeah, it might take a little explanation for you to understand this one. 

   Okay, I believe the will to live is real. I believe, death can be a decision. Obviously, what shape you are in medically is the large factor. But, still choice sometimes exists. I think of the video posted on Facebook this week, of a soldier who threw himself on top of a grenade to save his fellow soldiers. He lived. Obviously, taking a grenade could have killed him. He could have said, Too much pain; I'm out. 

  Now, I'm an old man. My need to urinate can be more urgent. There are times that when I must go, I must go. But, this is interesting: I go through all of church and finish with a feeling that I am fine and not at all in need of going. But, the instant I get home, the urge hits and I must get to the bathroom post-haste. Now, the thing is, somewhat in the last couple months, I have curbed the need. I have been able to hold off better. Here's what I find: If I can convince myself just one time that I do not need to go, then the very next time, I am more likely to be able to make the same decision.

  Now, I like to study the thinking patterns of humankind, and this follows what I have learned. I have observed that once we make a decision, the decision sticks. If we decide we don't like someone, our mind isn't easily changed. If we decide the undocumented immigrants need to be deported, we will be hard-pressed to have our mind changed.

  Back to the lady in the rehabilitation center. She's 101 (come a couple weeks). She's not new to being at death's door. I'm guessing her body has been close enough to death at other times. Perhaps somewhere back there, her body had its first experience of being in the death mode, and the decision was made to hang on. Now, that decision is programmed in her body. Most people come up to the stage of death and it is the first time, so there is no programming in their bodies on the matter, and if they decide to let go of life, they let go. This lady, though, might not be in that mode. She might be left stuck on the decisions of the past. She might want to die, but can't seem to let go because the impulses in her system are set to the contrary. Now, if the pneumonia she has contracted is not treated, she might die, anyway. Perhaps (probably) the deterioration of our bodies eventually extracts its toll regardless the mental programming against it. 

Evidence of the Bible is Hidden like a Gem, Waiting to be Uncovered

Evidence of the Bible, of its truth? To me, there is strong evidence. There are in the Old Testament, what are called Messianic scriptures. One, I believe, says not a bone of his body will be broken. These often are hidden passages, if I can call them that. They don't scream out the page, saying, This is a prophecy. Many of them are in Isaiah or Psalms, but other writers also offer them. They are prophecies, in that they take an event in the life of Christ, and prophecy that it will happen. Now, what are the chances that writers living in one age would write their prophecies, and then along would come another set of writers, who would pick out these prophecies and create events to "fulfill" the prophecies? If these are just books of fiction, what are the odds one set of writers would write these things, and another set come along and write things to "fulfill" these obscure passages? Now, yes, there are times in the New Testament where the writers point back to things from the Old Testament, and say this is a fulfillment of that. But, there are also these other passages, which I speak more particularly of. In them, the Gospel writer does not herald it as fulfillment, but rather just says what happened, passing over it quickly and being on to the rest of his story. If you are trying to make a prophet out of someone, it seems you would be more inclined to shout it out, saying, See, here, It says in Isaiah this would happen, and I'm here to tell you that it did. The beauty of the Bible is that it leaves you to study it, if you want to know of its truth. Just as Christ hid some things in parables, and just as Isaiah spoke in terms that hid things, so it is with these Messianic verses. And, that we have the parables and the hidden language of Isaiah, and the obscureness of the Messianic verses is consistent with the suggestion that it is one being, even God, who is behind the whole of the Bible. There is one voice. Now, consider that Christ says, To him that will hear, let him hear. To him that has ears to believe, let him believe. Those aren't the exact words, but they are close, and I don't have time to look up the exact quote. At one point, I believe, He comes right out and says that he is speaking in parables in order that the disbelievers will not understand what He is saying. But, in another, He says His sheep know His voice, and recognize it. How beautiful is truth, then, and how precious. It becomes more precious when it is hidden, and more of a gem when you must uncover it.

They Pass Through the Gate, and Bring Down the Gate Behind Them

   We bring down the gate only when we have passed through. Those who were born here, were born on this side of the gate.
   It is interesting how many immigrants, themselves, argue against the entry of other immigrants. They point to the process they went through and insist that the other immigrants should have to go through the same, even when it is evident the path was smoother for them than it is for those being denied entry now.
  They've passed through the gate, and they bring down the gate behind them.