Confession for Self-reflection

This was emailed to me from a friend and did a short research on the writer which was a move with wisdom otherwise another posting must be made just to accommodate his credentials.

Ben Stein is an American writer, commentator award-winning actor, comedian, game show host and despite all these, he has his hang-ups like you and I. Here, in his Confession, is something all of us should ponder about.

My Confession

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to me me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of lit it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want creche, it’s just fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept cam from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her ‘How could God let something like this happen?’ (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said ‘I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of government and to get out of our lives..  And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?’

In light of recent events…terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said OK.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.  Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.  Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.  Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it… no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.  My Best Regards. Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Amen!

 

Slap in the Wrist

No Political Persecution:

An article has been electronically going around concerning the recent trial and acquittal of Jose Ma. Sison in the Netherlands for murder. The charge alleged that Mr. Sison ordered the execution of two ex-members of the communist party of the Philippines. The article, no doubt, coming from any one of the cause-oriented groups adoring Mr. Sison, scored the Netherland government for political persecution.

Lest their rhetoric becomes more ludicrous as it is now, it is worthwhile to note that Jose Ma. Sison founded the communist party of the Philippines in the ‘60s and has been espousing the overthrow of the country’s democratic institution since then. Captured and incarcerated during the Marcos years, he was freed, as a gesture of reconciliation,  when Cory Aquino took over as   president. Subsequently, he was allowed to travel overseas with the condition that he comes back and help in rebuilding the nation. Typical of his ideology, which is founded on lies, he sought, and was granted political asylum in the Netherlands, instead of coming back. Now he is enjoying the best of both worlds. He is safely ensconced within the strong democratic walls of his adopted country while continuing to urge his fanatics in the Philippines to continue with their class struggle.

It is impossible to take accurate count of the lives lost, destroyed families, lost business opportunities and properties damaged beyond repair, because of Mr. Sison’s desire to achieve something he could never do through a civilized world’s route to power – the elections. The irony is that while his cheeks radiate of the richness of his environment, his guerrillas suffer untold misery from lack of food, separation from families, constant running to put a distance between them and the military. Once in a while the thuggery in them come to national attention when they burn some telecommunications towers or  passenger buses for not paying revolutionary taxes.

Despite the evil Mr. Sison has spawned, his fans are crying political harassment. If there is, it would be a slap in the wrist vis-à-vis the damage he has done.

 

The Poinsettia Story

As a child I was awed at the sight of this flaming red shrub at Christmas time. Even more as I grew older when I noticed that the “flowers” were leaves that turn red as the Yule season approaches. So as if in a journey to unlock some mystery worthy of one of Leon Uriz’s novels, I tried to gather some information into this beautiful shrub. What I found out are the facts and a fiction about the poinsettia (so named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico who introduced the plant into his country in 1825).

And since the flower is closely tied with Christmas, the time when age is a blur and every one has the right to be young, I find it appealing to dwell on the fiction side of the story.

The story has it that Pepita, a charming Mexican girl had no gift to give to the Child Jesus during the Christmas Eve services in the village chapel. So, as she walked with her cousin Pedro towards the chapel, her heart was full of sadness rather than joy. To soothe the gloom of Pepita’s heart, Pedro told her that even the most humble gift, if given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes.

Not knowing what else to do, Pepita knelt by the roadside and gathered a handful of common weeds, fashioning them into a small bouquet. Looking at the scraggly bunch of weeds, she felt more saddened and embarrassed by the humbleness of her offering. She fought back a tear as she entered the small village chapel.

As she approached the altar, she remembered Pedro’s kind words: “Even the most humble gift, if given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes.” She felt her spirit lift as she knelt to lay the bouquet at the foot of the nativity scene.

Suddenly, the bouquet of weeds burst into blooms of brilliant red, and all who saw them were certain that they had witnessed a Christmas miracle right before their eyes.

From that day on,  the bright red flowers were known as the Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night for they blossomed each year during the Christmas season.