Nobel Peace Prize

Did Barak Obama receive the Nobel Peace Prize because he deserved it or for political reasons? I certainly don't know and I don't care. He was honored with it. Why dump on him? He didn't ask for it.

Even if it was for political purposes, what's so bad about that? EVERYTHING in the public sphere is done for political purposes. Politics doesn't have to be a dirty word. One thing that the President has done during his short time in office is to change the way much of the world looks at the United States. That's no small accomplishment. What's wrong with us that so much of the world affirms the President while so many of our fellow citizens hold him in such disregard?

The old saying by Scottish poet Robert Burns comes to mind: "O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us to see oursels as others see us. In "American English" that would read: "O would some Power give us the gift to see ourselves as others see us!"

I pray that "The Power" would give our nation such a gift.

HOW SPIRITUAL ARE WE?

That is the question asked on the cover story of today's Parade Magazine. It reports on various indices of religiosity such as beliefs, church attendance, frequency of prayer, etc. Since Jesus said that the world would know we are his disciples by the love we have for each other (John 13:35); and that "a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit," (Matthew 7:17) it seems to me that the better measure of how "spiritual" we are as a people is by looking at the kind of lives we lead.

St. Paul outlines a rather straightforward measure of spirituality: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22) If that's the measure of "how spiritual are we?" then all the noise in our nation and world today would tell us that the answer is a resounding "not very." UGH!

STICKS AND STONES

Thomas Friedman's syndicated column today (October 1, 2009) is very sobering indeed. I wish everyone would read it and take its warnings seriously. I won't try to summarize what he said, only encourage you to "google" it and read it for yourself. The article is called, "Where Did 'We' Go?"

Remember the childhood saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." Not so. Names can be just as destructive. The Letter of James says that the tongue is capable of "great exploits". It's like a small rudder that guides a boat through the water. It's like a small fire that can set ablaze a forest. Wild animals have been tamed, but no one has ever tamed the human tongue! It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:1-12)

The tenor of communal discourse in our nation has sunk far below civility. Our tongues just might be our undoing.