Explain the Truth Every Day

SOURCE: "Today in Trans Propaganda" by Rod Dreher; March 23, 2018, 12:05 PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Benda 

https://www.city-journal.org/article/standing-up-to-tyranny

https://www.cal-catholic.com/archbishop-chaput-remember-vaclav-benda/

KEYWORD: truth, education, resistance, culture, 

"I repeat here the story I heard from one of the adult children of Václav Benda, the late Czech anticommunist dissident. He said that growing up in Prague under communism, every single day their father and mother explained to them what truth was, versus what they heard at school and in the state-controlled media. Every single day.

If you aren’t doing this with your children, start."

BACKGROUND:

Václav Benda (August 8, 1946, Prague – June 2, 1999) was a Czech Roman Catholic activist and intellectual, and mathematician. Under Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, Benda and his wife were rare in that they were devout Roman Catholics among the leadership of the anti-communist dissident organization Charter 77. After the Velvet Revolution, Benda became the head of an organization charged with investigating the former Czechoslovakian secret police and their many informants.

The ideas expressed in Benda's iconic essay, A Parallel Polis, influenced the thought of other dissidents like Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa. 

God May Speak

SOURCE: Church Dogmatics Vol 1 by Karl Barth

KEYWORD:  Word, Sacrament, Communication, Grace, Ordinary, Means, 

QUOTE:

"If the question what God can do forces theology to be humble, the question what is commanded of us forces it to concrete obedience. God may speak to us through Russian Communism, a flute concerto, a blossoming shrub, or a dead dog. We do well to listen to Him if He really does. But, unless we regard ourselves as the prophets and founders of a new Church, we cannot say that we are commissioned to pass on what we have heard as independent proclamation."   --Karl Barth

Background on Karl Barth...

https://daily-philosophy.com/happy-birthday-karl-barth/

One Beggar Telling Another

SOURCE:  That They May Have Life by DT Niles. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1951), pg 96.

KEYWORDS:  mission, evangelism, witness, church 

QUOTE:

"Evangelism is witness. It is one beggar telling another beggar where to get food." -- DT Niles

QUOTE:

DT Niles (4 May 1908 – 17 July 1970) was a Sri Lankan theologian and Christian preacher born in 1908.  His background is Methodist.

For background on Niles missiology and ecclesiology, see the following link.

https://oxford-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-06-park.pdf

Art of Conversation

SOURCE:  "Art of Conversation" by Rene Margritte

• https://www.renemagritte.org/
• https://www.paintbynumbersza.co.za/products/the-art-of-conversation
• http://imagespoetrysilence.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-art-of-conversation-by-rene.html

KEYWORDS: Conversation, Talking, Friendship, Elevated, Mystery, Painting, Art, 

Rotary's Four-Way Test and Watergate

SOURCE:  "Letters to the Editor:  The Relevant Questions" by Terry L. Gilbert; The Rotarian; August 2019; page 6

KEYWORD:  truth, ethics, questions, character, Rotary

COMMENTS:  If more people asked these questions, there would be fewer scandals.  

I was pleased to see the article by Joseph Epstein in the May issue, "The Four-Way Test in a Post-Truth Era."  After reading it, I located the text of a speech given by John Dean, who served under President Richard Nixon and whose testimony helped spur Nixon to resign in 1974. (Nixon was an honorary Rotarian.)

Dean addressed the District 5670 (Kansas) conference in May 2003.  In his speech, he applied The Four-Way Test to Watergate and the Iraq War.  He summed up the reliability of The Four-Way Test this way:  "Truth, fairness, friendliness, and community assistance are timeless necessities."

Dean said, "The key to this test is not necessarily the answers to the questions.  Rather it is what asking the questions forces you to do -- to think."

He concluded, "I am going to tell you without fear of contradiction that had those of us in the Nixon White House who were involved in Watergate stopped to apply The Four-Way Test--even if only occasionally--there would have been no Watergate.  In short, The Four-Way Test works."

As one who has been stressed almost daily in our post-truth era, I welcome the courage of The Rotarian to print Epstein's article.  I intend to use The Four-Way Test as I judge the actions, speeches, and proposals of U.S. officeholders as they seek my vote and support.  

Are You Still Carrying Her?

SOURCE:  

• https://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/03/zen-parable-are-you-still-carrying-her-jordan-myska-allen/
• https://x.com/JosiahHawthorne/status/1839736634713014647
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hara_Tanzan

KEYWORDS:  Attachments, Grace, Sin, Holiness, Compromise, Spirit, Law, Serenity, Legalism, Temptation, Grudge, Peace

A parable is told about the Buddhist monk Hara Tanzan.

Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. Heavy rain was falling. As they came around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross at an intersection.

"Come on, girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.

Ekido did not speak until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he could no longer restrain himself. 

"We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"

"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"

Who is Hara Tanzan?

Hara Tanzan (原坦山, December 5, 1819 – July 27, 1892) was a Japanese philosopher and Sōtō Buddhist monk. He served as abbot of Saijoji temple in Odawara and as professor at the University of Tokyo during the Bakumatsu and Meiji era. He was a forerunner of the modernization of Japanese Buddhism and the first (in Japan) to attempt to incorporate concepts from the natural sciences into Zen Buddhism

Moral Relativism and Einstein

SOURCE:  Saturday Evening Post, Nov/Dec 2015, p.98. "In Other Words," March 2021.

KEYWORDS:  Relativism, Right, Wrong, True, False, Truth, Einstein, Science, Scientist

Moral “relativity” is commonly accepted, but the concept is completely out of context.  Albert Einstein used “relativity” to explain advances in scientific understanding, but chaffed at the way his term was applied to philosophy and life.  

In a 1929 interview, 14 years after advancing his theory of relativity, Einstein said, “The meaning of relativity has been widely misunderstood.  Philosophers play with the word, like a child with a doll.”  He then talked about its specific application to the sphere of physics and mechanics and then declared, “It does not mean that everything in life is relative and that we have the right to turn the whole world mischievously topsy-turvy.”  

Living Woman Declared Dead. Fights for 3 Years.

SOURCE:  The Week, 2/5/21, p.12. "In Other Words," March 2021.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeanne-pouchain-declared-dead-but-alive_n_60062279c5b697df1a083c3d

KEYWORDS: Dead, Alive, Resurrection, Proof, Evidence, Faith, Living

Jeanne Pouchain is a 58-year-old French woman who can’t convince her government that she’s alive.  She was mistakenly declared dead by a judge in 2017 and has been trying to prove her viability ever since.  The declaration of her death has canceled her ability to work, get insurance, drive, or use a bank.  She’s even appeared before numerous judges with a certificate from her doctor stating that she is in fact alive, but to no avail.  Pouchain explained she can’t do anything because, “I no longer exist.”  Her lawyer is trying to get the ruling reversed but noted the challenges: “When an error is so enormous, it’s hard to admit.”  Similarly, the evidence of Jesus being alive is all around us, yet some simply find it “hard to admit.” 

Lost and Found Lottery

SOURCE:  Beaumont Enterprise, 3/24/21, p.A2. "In Other Words," March 2021

https://people.com/human-interest/tenn-man-tracks-down-1m-winning-lottery-ticket-he-accidentally-left-in-store-parking-lot/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tennessee-man-loses-1-million-lottery-ticket-finds-it-again-n1261690

KEYWORDS: Lost, Found, parable, sheep, coin, son, treasure in a field, 

On March 11, 2021, Nick Slatten experienced the kind of panic few of us will ever encounter.  He’d just won a million dollars in the Tennessee lottery, but he lost his ticket purchased the day before.  He frantically began retracing his steps, and eventually ended up at the auto parts store in Sparta where he’d taken his brother to buy a car part.  On that windy March day, he spotted the lottery ticket lying in the parking lot and quickly grabbed it.  The lottery commission explained that anyone can claim an unsigned winning ticket, so who knows how many people stepped over a ticket worth $1,178,746 thinking it was nothing more than discarded trash.  Although I’ve never bought a lottery ticket and consider my odds of winning virtually the same as those who do buy them, this piece of recent history paints a picture of what so many do with Christ.  An opportunity of infinitely greater value than a lottery ticket lies before us and we step over it in pursuit of lesser things.  Nick Slatten reminds us of Jesus’ words about a woman desperately searching for her lost treasure until it was found (Luke 15:8-10). 

Stronger in the Broken Places

SOURCE:  "thanK you aIMee" by Taylor Swift.  https://parade.com/entertainment/thank-you-aimee-lyrics-taylor-swift

https://dailystoic.com/its-how-it-makes-you-heal/

KEYWORDS: Resilience, Healing, Strength, Genesis 50:20-21, Joseph

"Ernest Hemingway wrote about how we can become stronger in the broken places. Taylor Swift, who we wrote about recently, sings in a song thanking someone who bullied her, “I can't forget the way you made me heal.” If we choose to learn from what happened, if we choose to grow from what happened, if we choose not to be made bitter and awful (choose “not be like our enemies,” as Marcus Aurelius wrote), then maybe someday we can be grateful for this experience. Someday we can understand that we wouldn’t have all of this without any of that. We can understand that they gave us something when they took from us, that they healed us when they hurt us."

From "thanK you aIMee" by Taylor Swift

And it was always the same searing pain

But I prayed that one day, I could say

All that time you were throwin' punches, I was buildin' somethin'

And I couldn't wait to show you it was real

Screamed "F—k you, Aimee" to the night sky, as the blood was gushin'

But I can't forget the way you made me heal

Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman

But she used to say she wished that you were dead

I pushed each boulder up the hill

Your words are still just ringing in my head, ringing in my head