Dignity Without Reason

We all make promises. Some to God, some to people, some to ourselves. But we seldom ever keep them, do we? However, there are times it is wise not to keep a promise though we foolishly do in order not to appear like dogs who have gone back to their own vomit. Well, even though it sounds disgusting, no dog ever died of eating its own vomit and I would rather return to my vomit than eat a plate of dainty meats laced with poison.

People face problems when they make a promise out of zeal, cannot (or should not) honour it, and begin to wonder what people will say and so on and then go ahead to honour such promises in order to save face or appear to be people of their word. This is dignity without reason, whereby the desire to appear dignified overrules all tenets of common sense and propriety.

In his zeal, Jephthah (see Judges 11) promised God that "If You will give me victory over the Ammonites, I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to greet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice" (Judges 11:30-31). Little did he know that his daughter, his only child, would be the first person to dance out of his house rejoicing over his victory. Perhaps he had imagined it would be one of his slaves who would be offered as sacrifice. For dignity's sake, he eventually did what he had promised to the Lord.

I am not trying to contest fulfilling promises made to God. In fact, we should do our best to fulfil our promises to God. The point in this case is being careful and not allowing the zeal of the moment push us into making superfluous promises that we may find ourselves gnashing our teeth over. I also believe that God is merciful and if Jephthah had begged to be relieved of his vow, the Lord would have shown mercy because we know that the blessings of God make us rich without adding sorrow. The victory would have been surely given to Jephthah without the sorrow of losing his only child.

Another classic case of dignity without reason is the story of King Herod's birthday party where he promised his step daughter anything she asked for in exchange for the pleasure of watching her dance for him and his guests (Matthew 14:6-12). He was not expecting "anything" to include the head of John the baptist on a plate I guess. He kept his promise in order to save face and that was how John the baptist lost his life, because Herod chose to follow dignity without reason. Herod could have said no to her request, or scolded her for such a sanguine wish, but he chose to save face.

While there is dignity in keeping a promise, there is also dignity in admitting that a promise cannot be followed through for valid reasons. The world is full of people who are afraid of what other people will say. You do not have to be one of them.
Felicity

The End of the World on May 21st....What a Laugh!

Even though my heart and soul are focussed on being in that great city which we all long to be - The City of God - I could not help but laugh at the recent doomsday prophesies flooding the airwaves. Prior to Harold Camping's May 21st, 2011 prediction of Armageddon, there have been several end-of-the-world prophesies which have proved to be only fit for the rubbish dump, but unfortunately people keep being deceived time and again by these fasle prophesies, even Christians, yes, the very elect themselves.

I do not need to reiterate the details of Camping's prophecy. He, using his human "mathematical" calculations, convinced many of his followers into giving up their jobs and herald the end of the world come 21 May, 2011 (which was a few days ago!), though this did not stop him (Camping) from receiving donations to his multi-million dollar radio network (Family Radio) from his followers worldwide. So now that the world is still spinning and revolving after the deadline, the faithful followers remain jobless and he continues with the funds gathered so far.  This also happens to be the second time he is giving the world a bogus doomsday date (people really do have short memories!).

Needless to say, the end of the world could be nigh, but it is not knowledge that God shares with any human being. Only the Father knows this day and it baffles me that so-called Christians and bible scholars would go about deceiving and being deceived about this.

Recently, someone shared a funny story with me which I had to relate to these 'prophetic' happenings. Three tortoises named Mike, Andy and Roy decided to go on a picnic.  The trouble is the picnic site is 10 miles away so it took them ten days to get there. When they got there Mike unpacks the food and says 'OK Roy, give me the bottle opener'. 'I didn't bring it' says Roy! Mike turns to Andy and says 'Did u bring the bottle opener?', Andy didn't bring it either. So they are stuck ten miles from home without a bottle opener. Mike and Andy begged Roy to go back since he's the fastest,but he refuses as he says they will eat all the sandwiches. After 2 hours, and after they have sworn not to eat the sandwiches, he finally agrees. So Roy sets off down the road at a steady pace. Twenty days pass and he still isn't back and Mike and Andy are starving. But a promise is a promise. Another 5 days and he still isn't back,but a promise is a promise. Finally they can't take it any longer. So they take a sandwich each,and just as they are about to eat it, Roy pops from behind a rock and shouts  "I KNEW IT!".


I laughed at the story, but I took a deeper meaning to it. If Christ has asked us to wait, and, though it seems it is taking so long for His kingdom to come, we have no option but to wait, watch and pray. If Andy and Mike knew that Roy was just hiding behind the rock waiting for them to slip, they would have persevered to show their faithfulness and sincerity to Roy. In the same way, we do not know the day or the hour Christ is coming. It could be just around the corner or it could be decades away. All He expects from us while we are on earth is to be faithful, keep our lamps trimmed and ready for His sudden arrival, for He will come unexpectedly like a thief in the night (see Luke 17:20-37; Matthew 25).
FELICITY

The "Really" Well-Dressed Woman-- Part 1

Dress-up time for most women can be hectic and confusing. It is really important to look good because looking good makes you feel good. But haven't we all come across very nicely dressed women who are arrogant, without compassion, lovers of themselves, proud, loquacious, rude, uncouth and unfeeling? Can we really say these women are "well dressed"? Perhaps they are physically well decked, but they are spiritually out of fashion and should be handed over to the fashion police of the spirit in the person of the Holy Ghost.

We have been given physical and spiritual fashion guidelines in the bible. Focussing on the spiritual now, Paul says, in Colossians 3:12, that we should, as God's people and citizens of His Golden City, dress our selves with "bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another...and above all, charity, which is the bond of perfectness."

Kindness, humility, compassion, patience, gentleness, modesty and, most importantly, love, are garments that God (the perfect personal shopper) has designed for women to wear year in year out, be it summer, winter, autumn, and spring and they will never wear out. The more you wear them, the more they suit you and make you dignified in the sight of God and in the sight of human beings. They will always be in fashion and you will always look good in them.  No matter how fat or thin you become, they will always fit you perfectly. Let us clothe ourselves with these virtues so we will never be out of style. 
Felicity

St. Augustine and the City of God

http://christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city_of_god/chapter_30_of_the_eternal_felicity.htm

Excerpts from The City of God by St. Augustine of Hippo

City of God
St. Augustine

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Book XXII. 
Chapter 30.—Of the Eternal Felicity of the City of God, and of the Perpetual Sabbath.

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How great shall be that felicity, which shall be tainted with no evil, which shall lack no good, and which shall afford leisure for the praises of God, who shall be all in all! For I know not what other employment there can be where no lassitude shall slacken activity, nor any want stimulate to labor. I am admonished also by the sacred song, in which I read or hear the words, "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord; they will be still praising Thee."[1690] All the members and organs of the incorruptible body, which now we see to be suited to various necessary uses, shall contribute to the praises of God; for in that life necessity shall have no place, but full, certain, secure, everlasting felicity. For all those parts [1691] of the bodily harmony, which are distributed through the whole body, within and without, and of which I have just been saying that they at present elude our observation, shall then be discerned; and, along with the other great and marvellous discoveries which shall then kindle rational minds in praise of the great Artificer, there shall be the enjoyment of a beauty which appeals to the reason. What power of movement such bodies shall possess, I have not the audacity rashly to define, as I have not the ability to conceive. Nevertheless I will say that in any case, both in motion and at rest, they shall be, as in their appearance, seemly; for into that state nothing which is unseemly shall be admitted. One thing is certain, the body shall forthwith be wherever the spirit wills, and the spirit shall will nothing which is unbecoming either to the spirit or to the body. True honor shall be there, for it shall be denied to none who is worthy, nor yielded to any unworthy; neither shall any unworthy person so much as sue for it, for none but the worthy shall be there. True peace shall be there, where no one shall suffer opposition either from himself or any other. God Himself, who is the Author of virtue, shall there be its reward; for, as there is nothing greater or better, He has promised Himself. What else was meant by His word through the prophet, "I will be your God, and ye shall be my people," [1692] than, I shall be their satisfaction, I shall be all that men honorably desire,—life, and health, and nourishment, and plenty, and glory, and honor, and peace, and all good things? This, too, is the right interpretation of the saying of the apostle, "That God may be all in all." [1693] He shall be the end of our desires who shall be seen without end, loved without cloy, praised without weariness. This outgoing of affection, this employment, shall certainly be, like eternal life itself, common to all.But who can conceive, not to say describe, what degrees of honor and glory shall be awarded to the various degrees of merit? Yet it cannot be doubted that there shall be degrees. And in that blessed city there shall be this great blessing, that no inferior shall envy any superior, as now the archangels are not envied by the angels, because no one will wish to be what he has not received, though bound in strictest concord with him who has received; as in the body the finger does not seek to be the eye, though both members are harmoniously included in the complete structure of the body. And thus, along with his gift, greater or less, each shall receive this further gift of contentment to desire no more than he has.
Neither are we to suppose that because sin shall have no power to delight them, free will must be withdrawn. It will, on the contrary, be all the more truly free, because set free from delight in sinning to take unfailing delight in not sinning. For the first freedom of will which man received when he was created upright consisted in an ability not to sin, but also in an ability to sin; whereas this last freedom of will shall be superior, inasmuch as it shall not be able to sin. This, indeed, shall not be a natural ability, but the gift of God. For it is one thing to be God, another thing to be a partaker of God. God by nature cannot sin, but the partaker of God receives this inability from God. And in this divine gift there was to be observed this gradation, that man should first receive a free will by which he was able not to sin, and at last a free will by which he was not able to sin,—the former being adapted to the acquiring of merit, the latter to the enjoying of the reward. [1694] But the nature thus constituted, having sinned when it had the ability to do so, it is by a more abundant grace that it is delivered so as to reach that freedom in which it cannot sin. For as the first immortality which Adam lost by sinning consisted in his being able not to die, while the last shall consist in his not being able to die; so the first free will consisted in his being able not to sin, the last in his not being able to sin. And thus piety and justice shall be as indefeasible as happiness. For certainly by sinning we lost both piety and happiness; but when we lost happiness, we did not lose the love of it. Are we to say that God Himself is not free because He cannot sin? In that city, then, there shall be free will, one in all the citizens, and indivisible in each, delivered from all ill, filled with all good, enjoying indefeasibly the delights of eternal joys, oblivious of sins, oblivious of sufferings, and yet not so oblivious of its deliverance as to be ungrateful to its Deliverer.
The soul, then, shall have an intellectual remembrance of its past ills; but, so far as regards sensible experience, they shall be quite forgotten. For a skillful physician knows, indeed, professionally almost all diseases; but experimentally he is ignorant of a great number which he himself has never suffered from. As, therefore, there are two ways of knowing evil things,—one by mental insight, the other by sensible experience, for it is one thing to understand all vices by the wisdom of a cultivated mind, another to understand them by the foolishness of an abandoned life,—so also there are two ways of forgetting evils. For a well-instructed and learned man forgets them one way, and he who has experimentally suffered from them forgets them another,—the former by neglecting what he has learned, the latter by escaping what he has suffered. And in this latter way the saints shall forget their past ills, for they shall have so thoroughly escaped them all, that they shall be quite blotted out of their experience. But their intellectual knowledge, which shall be great, shall keep them acquainted not only with their own past woes, but with the eternal sufferings of the lost. For if they were not to know that they had been miserable, how could they, as the Psalmist says, for ever sing the mercies of God? Certainly that city shall have no greater joy than the celebration of the grace of Christ, who redeemed us by His blood. There shall be accomplished the words of the psalm, "Be still, and know that I am God." [1695] There shall be the great Sabbath which has no evening, which God celebrated among His first works, as it is written, "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God began to make." [1696] For we shall ourselves be the seventh day, when we shall be filled and replenished with God's blessing and sanctification. There shall we be still, and know that He is God; that He is that which we ourselves aspired to be when we fell away from Him, and listened to the voice of the seducer, "Ye shall be as gods," [1697] and so abandoned God, who would have made us as gods, not by deserting Him, but by participating in Him. For without Him what have we accomplished, save to perish in His anger? But when we are restored by Him, and perfected with greater grace, we shall have eternal leisure to see that He is God, for we shall be full of Him when He shall be all in all. For even our good works, when they are understood to be rather His than ours, are imputed to us that we may enjoy this Sabbath rest. For if we attribute them to ourselves, they shall be servile; for it is said of the Sabbath, "Ye shall do no servile work in it."[1698] Wherefore also it is said by Ezekiel the prophet, "And I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctify them." [1699] This knowledge shall be perfected when we shall be perfectly at rest, and shall perfectly know that He is God.
This Sabbath shall appear still more clearly if we count the ages as days, in accordance with the periods of time defined in Scripture, for that period will be found to be the seventh. The first age, as the first day, extends from Adam to the deluge; the second from the deluge to Abraham, equalling the first, not in length of time, but in the number of generations, there being ten in each. From Abraham to the advent of Christ there are, as the evangelist Matthew calculates, three periods, in each of which are fourteen generations,—one period from Abraham to David, a second from David to the captivity, a third from the captivity to the birth of Christ in the flesh. There are thus five ages in all. The sixth is now passing, and cannot be measured by any number of generations, as it has been said, "It is not for you to know the times, which the Father hath put in His own power." [1700] After this period God shall rest as on the seventh day, when He shall give us (who shall be the seventh day) rest in Himself. [1701]But there is not now space to treat of these ages; suffice it to say that the seventh shall be our Sabbath, which shall be brought to a close, not by an evening, but by the Lord's day, as an eighth and eternal day, consecrated by the resurrection of Christ, and prefiguring the eternal repose not only of the spirit, but also of the body. There we shall rest and see, see and love, love and praise. This is what shall be in the end without end. For what other end do we propose to ourselves than to attain to the kingdom of which there is no end?
I think I have now, by God's help, discharged my obligation in writing this large work. Let those who think I have said too little, or those who think I have said too much, forgive me; and let those who think I have said just enough join me in giving thanks to God. Amen.