This past Tuesday DOMA, the
Defense Of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Happiness
changed sides, and so did fear.
Those who were happy while
DOMA was the law of the land are now in fear
that the sanctity of marriage was dead.
Those who were in fear
before because they didn’t have equal protection under the law, now have it and
are happy about that.
Happiness changed sides,
and so did fear.
Albert Einstein said,
“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
In regards to DOMA, or any
other problem centered in the things of the world… readjusting the things of
the world will not make the problem go away, it simply transfers/
re-categorizes/ re-shapes/ re-forms the location and description of the problem;
the results being that happiness and fear change sides.
The answer to all problems
in the world is a spiritual answer because that’s a different level of
thinking.
"Be strong and of good
courage, do not fear or be in dread of them: for it is the LORD your God who
goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6
Saturday
night of last week Phillip Gulley spoke here in Anderson and afterwards he opened the floor
to questions. I thought Dave G. asked
the best question of the night, “What do you think of the role of metaphor in
the Bible?”
Rev.
Gulley, A Quaker minister for 25 or so
years, answered – and I’m paraphrasing – that metaphor was everything… that
Bible stories were to be looked at metaphorically to see the ideas, the point
that the story carries.
While this particular verse
(Deut 31:6) is in the context of protection against physical enemies (the “them”
in the literal story), I suggest we look at it metaphorically. “Them” means
nothing more than our enemies, and fear is not the greatest of our enemies but
our only enemy.
Deuteronomy 31:6 is telling
us that God goes with us and will not leave us subject to dread or fear.
80 years ago, on March 4,
1933, in the depths of the Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his first
Inaugural address, said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” These
words were a rallying call to courage, needed in that hour! These words were written by his speech writer
Napoleon Hill, who later authored the successful book, "Think and Grow
Rich."
We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and fear is the
forgetfulness of God.
“God is my all; I know no
fear” is a simple statement of faith, but it is also a rallying call to
courage.
A Catholic nun confided
that in the eyes of the world she was an old, retired nun. Her rallying call to
self-courage was “I am ever-renewing, ever-unfolding, an expression of Infinite
life.” She said, “It made me feel young, vital, and growing.”
It was a Sunday evening;
there was a young people’s meeting. An unhappy teenager was going through the
throes of a broken romance. They were singing an old hymn:
“Be not dismayed, whate’er
betide, God will take care of you.”
The words of this hymn were
a rallying call to her courage. The Bible is filled with rallying calls to
courage. Do you have one from the Bible, or any other source? The words, “Be
strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed, for the
Lord your God is with you wherever you go” is a rallying call to courage. What
is there to fear! God is with you, wherever you go, whatever you do. You are
not alone, you are not without help. The forgetfulness of God is the cause of
fear.
The 23rd Psalm has been a
rallying call to courage to people over the centuries. It is a rallying call of
courage to us today when we need comfort and strength, when we are meeting loss
or bereavement, when our way looks dark. God shows us green pastures (comfort),
God leads us besides still waters (peace), and God restores our souls (we feel
strong and capable). Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death
(fear thinking), there is nothing to fear. God is with us to uphold and comfort
us. God’s goodness and mercy shall be with us all the days of our lives and
throughout eternity.
I have never had the
experience of going down to defeat in my hour of need, when I have been focused
on the power and presence of God.
A woman, (Myrtle Fillmore) who
was ill and weak and lacking in strength, found the Bible verse, “Let the weak
say, 'I am strong.'” It was a resounding call to courage. She began to
positively affirm in prayer, “I am strong; I am strong, in God I am strong” and
eventually regained her strength and health.
“With God all things are
possible.” This is a rallying call to courage when appearances are alarming,
when it seems that some condition is hopeless or incurable! These words give us
the strength to say, “I will not fear. I have faith. I will believe. I will hold
fast to the truth of God. Nothing is beyond God’s power to heal this.”
“God did not give us a
spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.” These
words can be a rallying call to courage when we would hang back in fear, when
we are upset and anxious, when we are timid and fearful of persons and
situations, when we are filled with self-doubt.
God did not give us a timid spirit BUT one of power
and love and self-control. God has given us a powerful and loving spirit; God
has given us the ability to control our reactions to our thoughts and feelings.
God has given us the faith and the will to succeed.
When the world seemed to be
heading for chaos and seemed engulfed in darkness during World War II, the
English poet, M. Louise Haskins, wrote a poem as a new year approached. These words from it were rallying call to
courage for many:
“And I said to the man who
stood at the gate of the year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into
the unknown.’
“And he replied: ‘Go out
into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you
better than a light and safer than a known way.’
“So I went forth and
finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And God led me toward the
hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.”
All of us have times when
we cannot see our way, when we have to go out into the darkness on faith. By
finding the Hand of God, or, in other words, feeling God’s presence with us, we
are guided safely and surely out of darkness into light.
Our faith in God is “better
than a light and safer than a known way.”
What is your rallying call
to courage?
Fear not, for God is with
you always.
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