History teaches valuable lessons. All of us wager our lives on the things we believe. Each person spends their lives like their paychecks on their beliefs and desires Some values are greater than others. I began to compare some values and behaviors of Germany and Japan based on Hitler and Hideki to the values and behaviors of England and America, based on Churchill and Roosevelt.

Germany and Japan were two countries who believed in their superiority over all others, which excused them from compassion for those they considered inferior. They had a creed of hatred, which breeds bondage and injustice. Hitler denied supplies to his own military by spending so much money and resources on destroying the Jews and others he blamed and hated in his bigotry. The soldiers who were aligned closest to Hitler and Hideki’s philosophies of hatred performed the most atrocities and the worst cruelties on and off the battlefield. They created a legacy of unbridled brutality. Russians who worked with the allies had a similar outlook of cruelty. They did to others as had been done to them, with enthusiasm.

England and America were the leading forces among the allies. Their outlook and priorities were for freedom and justice, even though some of their individual troops did acts of brutality. The allied troops who committed atrocities did so because they bought into the hatred of war instead of standing in the values of their nations. The allies had to stop the horrors of cruelties committed by the axis powers over all they conquered and would conquer or the whole world would be consumed. Freedom and justice were worthy values.

WWII is a big and loud picture that shows us what we fight every day in our individual lives. Will we buy into the cruelty, selfishness, and brutality of life, or will we serve higher values that stand in the face of our own suffering caused by doing the right thing for the right reason. Will we be like the wrong we experience, or will we be different. Every day in every way, we have to make that choice in large or small ways. Usually all the small choices set the pattern for how we act with the big choices. We have to choose what is worth sacrificing our lives to do and to be. The world around us will tell us what we feel and who we are, or we can choose our values and tell the world who we are. Jesus fought this battle on the physical and spiritual stages of life to show us what true values are and what they are worth. The choices we make prove the ways we have chosen to wager and spend our lives. It is important to review individual choices and consider the legacy we create.

Traveling through the crowd

People think that truth is so easy. You see it and do it. We forget that we have to push through the crowd to get to it. We have to fight all the limitations we have in life and understanding. We have to push through all the distractions and misleading information. We have to wage a war to get through to the truth, even our embarrassment of having ignored the truth for so long.

The movies dramatize many stories of the underdog who has to reveal the truth to those in power who deny it to protect themselves. We see it in the newspapers about the politicians who do this. We have even created a name for the activity called “putting a spin on it” or simply “a spin,” indicating that the truth is being misused for someone’s convenience. The dramatizations often show us the extremes a truth seeker has to face within him/herself and the circumstances to face and reveal the truth.

The stories reveal the real war between truth and lies. The “spinner” has chosen him/herself as the higher value to be served. Crooked politicians and business persons serve their own ends, wealth, power, prestige, and ego. They do not care or have overcome their concern for how much others suffer while they deny or cover truth for their personal convenience or benefit. Sometimes consumers have to fight their way through a salesperson who inaccurately or misleads in the representation of their products. Scammers absolutely deny the truth to gain access to accounts and money by theft. The “spinner’s” god is themselves and their personal desires to the detriment of others.

The truth seeker has a value beyond him/herself. They are often harmed or even destroyed in this pursuit, having to deny their own suffering to reveal the higher value. Whistleblowers prove the suffering caused by preferring the truth and the war caused by revealing the truth. The spinner is out for himself. The truth seeker can be harmed pursuing something more important than himself. It is a clear war of values.

Every day each of us is put at the point of choice to serve ourselves or to serve a higher value. We have models of both for our lives. We don’t honestly acknowledge how powerful the pull of selfishness is on our lives. We witness the wealthy, prominent, educated, and highly gifted and all others fall under its spell. The news, movies, and media are full of their stories, even to the point where they harass and attack those who have not fallen like themselves. It is extremely difficult and potentially painful to choose the greater over the lesser. You can see the price paid by Jesus and those who choose to be like them, but it is the best choice. Society will not survive when those who fight for the higher values are gone.

Going to a hospital was like going to the mechanics shop. They examined the human machine for all the working, worn, and parts needing repair. They had labels for parts with which I was only vaguely familiar and parts of parts of which I was completely unfamiliar. They used words about my human machinery that denoted all kinds of inferences and understanding that were completely beyond me, using words as unfamiliar to me as the rarest dialect on earth.

The examinations proved that I had the flu and an infection, both treatable. They also verified my age, all wear and tear, and all the possibilities that needed further follow up, just for safety’s sake. I’m now doing all the follow ups realizing that I’ve become a sack of parts. I once went to a doctor with symptoms and received a diagnosis and treatment. Now I go to have one organ checked at a time with as many different doctors. I’m meeting lots of new people and paying for the opportunity. I’m beginning to wonder if they have a specialist in cracked fingernails.

The point seems to be about awareness. The body says that earth and its realities are all that exist. The soul has quite a different explanation. The soul says that the physical world is the tip of the iceberg and shows insight into the unseen world that is, as or more, real than the visible one around us. It takes time, effort, and reflection to see the invisible reality through the images cast by the physical experience. The visible world is living on a timeline that has a beginning and an end. There is a limit to how long the world can survive the destruction of our misuse, just like humans wear out after a period of time. None of us know the length of days assigned to anything or anyone. Decay and death may be inevitable, but length of survival during the process is anyone’s guess.

The many exams show me that there are many little and large unknowns at work in the system of my body that have not reached the crisis point that brings them to the surface. I believe that is a parallel to the inner workings of the soul. There is much that is unseen until you go looking for it to uncover the real workings which can and should be discovered, the behind the scenes awarenesses. I believe prayer and reflection is the way for the eternal doctor (Jesus) to see and reveal the hidden workings, some to be dealt with and others to be celebrated. Jesus gave us a model of how to operate with an invisible, eternal relationship. He became physical to be the communication example and life conduit.

The undefinable touches of heart that shape closeness are always around us and often influence us more than the moment of experience. We bond through brief interactions that transfer deep caring or profound values. They create the context and establish the belonging that are the foundation, brick, and mortar of relationships. I watched and saw that this Christmas.

The family had gathered for the day. The youngest ones traveled in a continuous whirlwind from parent to uncle to aunt to grandparent in no determined path, making sure to give and receive attention from all. Shared moments like help opening a present, sharing a present, a momentary hug, or a loving and enthusiastic response were short but lively and communicated a wealth of affection that was far beyond the moment spent. They were experiencing bonding that was growing over time and establishing deep links to their adult family. The same was happening among the adults, a hug here or there, words of gratitude and/or encouragement, and so much more in the shared connections.

I began to realize how much those little moments mean. Interactions like them built a relationship with my parents that transcended the sometimes troublesome times. Friendships that have lasted for decades were built on life bricks like those because establish life giving qualities. The more I watched the more I saw in my past, and all around me. Small moments, powerful moments, nuggets of gold that are treasures beyond counting. They are treasures that will outlast the presents and the time within which they occur. I can see them in the precious relationships that feed me hope every day and have all my life long, especially in relationships which have had to overcome great adversities to survive and keep going.

The topping of the insight is that the relationship with God is built through small moments intermingled through all the busy race of life that rarely slows to appreciate anything for more than a breath. They are often events that pass without fanfare, a touch of insight, a revelation that lingers, an awareness of closeness, and understanding of caring, a confidence that defies explanation. They are bonding touches that cause us to know that we are loved in good and bad and through it all. They are moments that we grasp why Jesus came to live among us to build a relationship with us. It is living hope, divine times in the midst of rushed lives.

There was a man in about 300 AD who was a bishop in the Catholic Church. He had a reputation for generosity to a point that anyone receiving an anonymous gift assumed it was from him. His life was so rich in faith and service that eventually the Catholic Church labeled him Saint Nicholas. As the process goes, he was considered the saint of children and fishermen because miracles associated with him were also associated with them.

The Protestant reformation rejected the Catholic saints and so kicked St. Nicholas out of the church. He was so popular that communities kept him, changing his label to connect him with winter and giving. He became the secular representation of Christmas celebration. His image and traditions were connected to many different cultures and countries. His fame was widespread.

The Germans and Dutch brought the richest traditions of St. Nicholas to America. Thomas Nast, the political cartoonist who gave us the donkey and elephant for our political parties, started drawing Santa (a name derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas) in stars and stripes. The Germans gave us the name Kris Kringle. Nast continued to draw Santa until about 1883. Christmas was very secular at this time with little Christmas celebration in the churches. Work tended to be slack during this time of the year, and celebrations tended to be wild, drunken, and sometimes riotous, definitely not family friendly.

Leaders wanted to tame Christmas. A book was written called The Children’s Friend which taught naughty and nice traditions. “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” was published in 1823, going international in a year. Work to tame Christmas was everywhere with efforts to make it family friendly with all the images we have now. The work was so successful that churches took notice. Santa helped bring the celebration of Christmas and giving back into the church after centuries of having been kicked out. A long route to return to where he started, giving as an example of Christ in the church.

The story of Santa is complicated because humans are complicated. However there are some consistent threads that survived all the complications. The qualities of God are not only tied to the church, but to all of life. God cannot be limited or confined. Christians do not own God, nor does anyone. Anyone who has received the love of someone who had to sacrifice to give it has had an opportunity to see and meet Jesus.

The humor in humanity is our inconsistency. Any belief in or relationship with God is miraculous. Any belief in any part of the Bible is miraculous. However, People pick and choose what is believable. It might be easier to believe that Jesus fed over 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes and balk at Jonah being swallowed by a huge fish for 3 days. It might be easy to believe God answered a prayer while finding it impossible to believe something equally miraculous and mysterious. We often limit God to what we can or are willing to believe and understand instead of recognizing that He is bigger than we can understand or imagine. He is a big God, one that creates the universe and populates earth with people and all life.

All Christian churches believe in the gifts of the Spirit. I don’t know of any Christian church that will not pray for healing or revelation or help or some kind of interaction with God. All of those things are manifestations of God in our lives, miracles. They are gifts of the Spirit.

The problem seems to revolve around two things. 1. You cannot take the human out of the Christian. Humans get carried away or preoccupied or manifest themselves along with the gift God gives. 2. Tongues. They don’t have a problem praying for healing. But they have a great deal of trouble with the gift of tongues. Tongues seems to be the enemy of anybody who has a hard time with miraculous things that don’t make easy sense and use that to excuse not believing in the gifts of the Spirit. They seem to label all Pentecostal (churches which focus on the gifts of the Spirit, including tongues) experience by tongues.

How do you create a healthy environment for the Lord to do unusual things with usual people and still maintain some kind of order? It seems so complex because what seems good for one is way too much for another. People are frightened by those things beyond their control. We need order and discipline to survive and need to make room for God who is beyond our control. It is one of those mysteries that require faith. Faith is acceptance and trust beyond control. Faith says God loves us when we are unlovable and trustworthy when He operates beyond our boundaries and understanding.

Humans live in the uncomfortable world of being both physical and spiritual, able to control some areas and other areas beyond control. We, as individuals, fight the same battle as churches, making room for God while living a disciplined life. We have to make room for all we don’t understand while going forward with what we do understand. It is a conundrum. I can only suggest that prayer and Bible study helps.

I know of many people, myself one of them once, who feel the Lord isn’t real because they haven’t heard his voice. A Russian cosmonaut went to space and proclaimed that he didn’t see God. It is a sticking point more of perspective than of reality. To those who say, “If He’d just show up so I could see Him and touch Him,” He did, and it didn’t help people whose priorities contrasted with what they saw and experienced — a common problem. We see it every day where contrasting beliefs determine what people see and how they interpret their experiences.

We are surrounded by voices, even in the very air we breathe. Influences are alive all around us. The voice of selfishness is often louder during the Christmas season with all the “I wants” and “spend, spend, spend.” Expectations for family events and unity are experienced by some as depressing and unattainable and justification for others to try one more time and for others to celebrate ongoing traditions. It is a time of year that some people give and serve that will not do so at any other time of year. The extreme contrasts point to what we see, believe, and do is dependent more on where we are as individuals and our personal priorities. All the voices are out there, but people hear in accordance with their personal focus.

I spent a lot of years personally disenchanted with Christmas to a point I wouldn’t talk about it to anyone because of my negativity. I was shown, unequivocally, that I blamed my attitude on Christmas when the real problem was me. I was freed from my attitude cage once I realized I had to power to make Christmas anything I wanted it to be. I am no longer the victim of the season. I can choose.

Christmas is a reminder of good things that have been given to us by God. The most important gift is Jesus who is the embodiment of Godly virtues. Godly virtues are everywhere, often where you least expect them. Love, compassion, truth, justice, honor and the like are in the air around us swirling with the voices that contradict them. The highest values are even spoken through the mouths of those who say they viciously oppose God. Even atheists have a clear image of good and bad. They just don’t agree on the source of these great values. God’s voice is everywhere and heard by everyone, but not everyone chooses to recognize His voice as the source of the words. That’s one of His greatest gifts, the right to choose.

What is a Father?

“When I was fourteen my dad was so ignorant that I couldn’t stand to have him around, but when I turned twenty-one, I was astonished at what he learned in seven years,” is a common quote.

I was given many jobs and lessons as a child, which my parents told me were valuable. Many of those jobs were yard work and other duties in which I saw no purpose except them lightening their own work load. However, the adult me saw that those and many more things my parents did made perfect sense and truly built quality and discipline in me that I needed for a healthy life. The distance between the job/lesson and my seeing its value are directly proportional to the time it took me to mature.

I know a business owner who is so highly skilled in his craft that all his employees and he, himself, expect no mistakes on the job. He has proven excellence in action without having to tell it in words. One day he walked into one of his stores that was in a bad state of attitude and operation. He wanted to help but wasn’t sure how or what would work. He stepped in and made a mistake the lowest rookie on the job wouldn’t. The store came alive. All caught his mistake and spoke to it. Despite his personal embarrassment, the store was suddenly restored to good operation and attitude. The owner got a lesson and his prayer was answered simultaneously. That’s the way a dad works, in this instance, a heavenly Dad.

Confusion in Christian lives often comes when we believe we are the adult and are meant to understand things as they happen. We are the child. Many of the things God does in and through our lives are beyond our understanding in the moment. Our job, as a child, is to trust that He knows what’s best and what He’s doing because we know Him and His quality. Human dad’s often get more trust than they deserve and the Heavenly Father often gets much less than the total trust He deserves.

My dad was always out in the lead. At each stage of my life, junior high, high school, college, independence, marriage, children, and so much more, I began to say things he had been saying all along. I kept getting astonished at his wisdom. So it is as a Christian. I’m gaining pieces of insight, knowing that much more understanding is coming down the road. I am trying to learn to be a child without being childish to a Father who does not give up or fail.

This is one of my wife’s favorite Civil War heroism stories. It is a story all need to consider.

The Civil War was a horror in many ways, but none more terrible than injuries and medical care. The medical standards at the beginning of the war were primitive at best. Doctors were still bleeding patients as a treatment. They knew nothing of germs and little of surgery. The list of what they didn’t have could go on for a long time. They did have determination and spent the next four years birthing modern medicine. No story is more powerful than the nurses.

Women were a subjugated people at the time of the war. The Victorian morality was in full swing, especially in the South. It was common that a soldier had never been touched by any woman other than his mother, sister, or wife. Severe social rules were in effect regarding men and women, especially on the women. The social structure was completely male dominated, and society did not accept independent women who were not subservient.

Women followed their men to the war and came to hospitals to provide care. They were run off and not allowed at the beginning. They endured and pressed in until they were given light duties. The light duties gave way to more and more until women ran hospitals by the end of the war and created the woman dominated nursing career path. There are few or no monuments to this phenomenal feat of heroism. They overcame society, social structure, prejudice in every level, and their own inner wars to create something that still stands in honor among the traits of greatness of the best values.

So why discuss women’s heroism in a Christian blog? You can’t talk about the qualities of love, peace, joy, honor, justice, self control, and the like qualities without talking about God — even when His name or title isn’t mentioned. It is through these great qualities that we meet and see Him. These qualities don’t exist without some level of His presence. It is easy to get distracted and forget that God is at work everywhere, all the time, whether we see Him or not and whether we cooperate or not. His plan is a no fail, no surrender, always faithful plan of rescue that is at work in all levels of human experience. He embodies the best of the greatest values. We want Him around because we desire His qualities.

Diamonds are beautiful and valuable. They have many facets from the top, most seen, to the bottom, hidden in the setting. People are many faceted because they are complex creatures who are also beautiful and valuable. I can often tell which facet of my life people are seeing by how they react to me.

Number one, and hopefully most visible: Goodish. Goodish are things that are right most of the time. They are on the consistent side of being right, doing right, thinking right. This is when I’m on my best behavior and am the least harmful to others. These are areas in which Jesus has established His values over time, and He can be identified in my life.

Number two: Improving. These are things that are in the process of change toward number one. They have been identified as needing correction and work. These issues are in active process. They have not been completely mastered and are inconsistent.

Number three: Wrong –. These are things that are in line for change. They are occasionally accepted as needing change. They are not yet, with any regularity, working towards change. They are targeted but inconsistently chosen for the upgrade list.

Number four bad. These are characteristics that definitely need to change but are resistant or clueless to that. They are trouble known and unknown but habits ingrained to a point where change is not immediately on the horizon.

Number five: clueless: these are the great mass of unseen characteristics that have not risen close enough to the surface to be identified as good, bad, or indifferent. They may be causing all kinds of trouble, and I assume they are. However, they have not yet been identified or put on any list.

Even the “five” facets reflect through the other facets because they are a part of the whole. It is impossible to separate the best from the worst in a person. Each facet is a contributing part. Permanence is a value in the diamond. Change is the value in a human. We are processing from the pressure of life changing from coal to diamonds to diamonds prepared for settings and display.

We can’t choose all the pressures that work to change us, but we can choose one. Jesus can cause all other pressures to develop good outcomes. We can choose Jesus and have even the worst in our lives become useful. Jesus has turned so many who have been lost in drugs, alcohol and so many other horrors into people who rescue others from disaster. All facets of a person can be a number one in Jesus’s hands.