In Honor of Lincoln's Birthday - Was he a Liberal??

So I am doing pretty well with my goal of reading 25 books this year.  I have finished, "Food Rules," "Tribes,""Primal," and have 2 others in the works!

One of those books is called "Angels and Ages: A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life."  I have read quite a bit on Lincoln, but this one is different.  This book posits the idea that both Lincoln and Darwin (who were born on the same day...a couple hours a part) revolutionized the way we think about civilization, science, and God.  I have to say that the intro is all it took to spark this blog.  I haven't finished it yet, but will soon...(I am such a nerd for this kind of stuff!)

Before Lincoln, Americans didn't think of America like we do.  We were Texans, or Virginians first.  The idea of Union, while not completely foreign, was simply not the norm.  The people of Texas couldn't and didn't sympathize with the plight of the people of Maine; they had their own plight to deal with!  Why in the world would you want to be governed by a group of people who didn't understand that it took slaves to make be successful at farming Cotton in Georgia?  These are concepts that were revolutionary in their day.  The author of this book calls the "liberal!"  These liberal ideas eventually lead to the worst war, in terms of causalities, in the history of our nation.

We are on the other side of that now and are a product of the "liberal" thinking of men like Lincoln and Darwin.  This is what Adam Gopnik says in the intro to this book...it just makes my mind churn!

"Lincoln showed, to a degree that we no longer understand, that democratic politics were compatible with long-term survival...Darwin showed that scientific reasoning could explain not only the life of matter but the matter of life; it could come up with a plausible theory of the history of life on this planet...The immediate gain of science is machines; the immediate gain of democracy is money.  Ours is a society whose two pillars - science and democracy - have given us the A-bomb, the H-bomb, mass alienation: the most peaceful and prosperous and tolerant societies that the world has ever seen, which balance on the brink of total global annihilation every day."

Now...I do not buy into Darwinism...but the more I live, the more I believe that, AS BELIEVERS IN JESUS, we shouldn't bite the "democracy" hook as quickly as we do...but that is tough to do...it is all we have known as citizens of this planet.  Maybe we should remember that we are citizens of God's Kingdom first!

Just some thoughts...enjoy.

"Open Handed" Living is not for the faint at heart!

If you don't already know, Beth, Maggie, and I are fostering a little boy...Patrick.  We hope to adopt him, but we have learned over the past couple of years that choosing to foster a child through to adoption requires us to live open handed.  We cannot hold on tightly because the process is full of roller coaster turns and moments that have the potential to send Patrick back to live with some family member.  This causes quite a bit of conflict in our hearts because we want to see Patrick's bio parents become healthy.  But their health has the potential for the reunification with Patrick.
So today Patrick visited with a bio grandmother.  This visit did not change anything.  It simply reminded us of the fragility of our relationship with Patrick.  We have to live with our hands open while giving him our hearts completely.

Neil Cole, a writer and pastor has blogged something I read yesterday.  I thought is was fitting for this topic..

This is what a theology of death looks like…
Die daily to who we are
Empowerment of others (not self) is our life
Acceptance of risk is normative
Theology is not just knowledge, but practice
Hold tight to Christ and an open hand for all else.

So I don't want it to be perceived that I am trying to toot my own horn...I am not...Matter of fact, if I was living like this, I would seek out Patrick's parents and do what ever it took to empower them to reunite with their son.  The truth is, I want Patrick to be our son and live with us so we can raise him.  What this helps me remember is that living for Christ requires risk and an open hand.  Pray we can keep them open!

"I grew up Christian"

So I was watching a "special report" on the train wreck that is Tiger Woods. I know you can't turn your head either! I am not entering into a Tiger bashing session here on my blog for 2 reasons. 1. I am a huge Tiger Woods fan. 2. He deserves grace and hopefully his family can heal!

But there was something said by one of his "alleged" mistresses. She was asked by the reporter if she was actually a prostitute...the gloves came off. She was pissed that anyone would suggest she was a prostitute. "It was an absolute lie!" I am ok with that...no one wants to be accused of something untrue. But during the interview this young woman defends herself (not for the affair with Tiger) by claiming to have been "raised Christian!" I can't remember exactly what she was defending, but it is amazing to me that she goes to that as a defense.

so....note to self:
If you are caught in an indiscretion that is clearly against biblical teaching, do not use the bible or your "Christianity" to raise your credibility...Pretty sure it will sound disingenuous...