Green Pastures and Still Waters
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Every fall that our sons were in school, we had a rhythm of life that involved purchasing new clothes and school supplies and, adjusting our schedules to school life. We also received mail from the school about various details and at times we attended “orientation.” To orientate is to “adjust oneself to a new situation.” Going back to school requires orientation, in other words, students and parents need to adjust themselves to a new situation. Even though many of us do not have a direct reason to think about the school calendar, we are affected by their new situation in many ways; from shopping selections, to traffic, and yes, even in the church calendar. Fall is a time for the “kick-off” of many ministries and Calvary is no exception. We’ve been praying and planning all summer for the start or re-start of many different ministry options. We’ll be doing a bit of orientation this coming Sunday and our prayer is that you will find some places to live connected, grow, serve and love. There will be a number of changes to “the way we have done things before” so I trust you’ll have ears to hear and that you’ll be able to participate in the life of the body this fall. You should probably bring a No. 2 pencil!
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In 1964, Ayn Rand published a book by that title. I have read portions of the book but cannot say that I did a “cover to cover” analysis. She defined selfishness as “concern with one’s own interests” and the freedom to do so. She believed that equating selfishness with evil brought about “the arrested moral development of mankind.” I’ll not spend time defending or disparaging her ethics. Her life and the logical outcome of the choices based on her beliefs speak for themselves. I feel badly for Ms. Rand. I really wish she would have simply taken the brilliant advice of Jesus, applied His ethics and walked in His ways. Her attempt to develop her own philosophy of life and gain followers was a failure. She tried to invent her own life and wasted the life she had. The teaching of Jesus about self-denial, properly understood, has proven effective in the lives of millions. Applying the wisdom of deferred gratification has brought success to many people that were not even followers of Christ. Virtue, by definition, is “behavior showing high moral standards.” Selfishness is not a virtue. A high moral standard would be characterized by words like, “selfless, giving, deferring, helpful, generous, kind” etc. Jesus gave some simple instructions for life that our selfish desires often violate. Paul explained how the ideals of our Lord could be applied in complex situations as we’ll see on Sunday, Lord willing. Ignoring His good advice most often leads to dysfunction and further complexity.