The Gorge

This is a story I finished of today, Try and see any parallels in our walks in life. Enjoy.

Very early, every morning, a man walked a treacherous path to the fields where he worked; the path was a gorge between two huge rocks and was only wide enough to fit one person. There was another path above, but only the most experienced climbers could dream of walking it. On the lower path many people stumbled and fell on the sharp rocks and deadly vines. Many inexperienced travellers never made it to the other side and some were lost forever winding passages. Now, there was a point in the gorge that split into four paths, three of the paths were wide, more pleasant and pleasing to look upon. The first had a stream that gently bubbled and swished to itself, the next had grapes growing of beautiful vines, and the third other bouncing moss that soaked any warmth that could be found. However, all three ended in disaster and mostly death, they were cunning traps laid by the leaders of a neighbouring villages to catch field workers make them to work as slaves in the fields of other villages. There was a fourth path, it was fair and bleak to some, to others it was pleasant and exciting but to most it was menacing and grim, often one could see shadows of dagger-like rocks caressed by the seeming smiles of evil creatures, and dark holes and pits swallowing in all the life they found, but to the few who worked the fields, it was the only way. This man knew the right path and never strayed from it, he never fell or injured himself, and sometimes he would even light candles to make the way easier for when other workers passed. The years progressed and all the paths grew more delightful and pleasing, all apart from the fourth, which stayed just as dark and grim. It wasn’t long before the man had a son, he loved his son with a love that surpasses all thinking, his son was so precious to him and he took great pride in all he did. Much time passed by and soon the season came when a man takes his son to work with him in the fields. So early in the morning while it was still dark, the man and his son walked from their village and down towards the gorge, soon the path started to get rougher and more demanding. As they approached the gorge and the father took the upper path above leaving the son alone to take the lower path. Suddenly the son turned round and realised his Father was nowhere to be seen, He called,’ Father? Where are you?’ He heard his father’s voice and looked up, his father was looking down upon him and said,’ Son, I love you, so follow me, listen to my voice, never stop looking up at me, I will give you all the direction that you need.’ The son looked a little confused but simply obeyed. He continued along the path, looking up at his father. Suddenly his father, shouted for him to stop. The son stopped in his tracks and looked around, he found his head inches away from a huge set of spikes protruding from the walls, he started to panic, fear rose in him and just as he was about to move his head away, his father calmly said,’ Look up at me’. The son looked up at his father, fear settled sank away and the son continued to walked on, what the son didn’t know was that if he had turned he would of collided with even sharper spikes, that would of caused much pain to him. The son looked up at his father, and walked on as his father spoke instruction to him, soon the son could hear rustling, much like leaves on a tree, he flashed his eyes down for one split second and saw a huge poisonous vine towering over him, he leapt to the side and found himself quickly buried in a bush of menacing thorns, as he felt the pain of the thorns sink into his skin he found himself looking down, trying to find a way of escape, while he struggled he called out to his father, ’Father! Help me!’ ‘Look up to me son’ and as the son looked up to his father, he felt the thorns release their grasp. He saw the eyes of his Father beckoning him on and he continued along the path, his father gave him directions as to where he should tread his feet and where he should rest his hands. In no time the son had reached the crossroads, the father once again called down to his son,’ Son, listen to me, hear my voice, there may be times when you cannot see me, but remember, I know the path well, so take heed to my words.’ It was just after these words were spoken that the son heard the chirping of birds and the babbling of a brook and forgot his father’s instruction to look to him and peered down to see what he had heard. Before him lay three wonderful paths, one layered with flowers and with a wide brook running down the middle, another had moss curving up the sides of the gorge to make a beautiful blanket on which to rest. Another had all kinds of fruit ripe and ready to fall from towering trees that caressed the sun onto their mighty beams. He didn’t even notice the other path, and he thought to himself, ‘These must be the ways; I wonder which one is more exciting?’ He chose go down the path with flowers and the babbling brook, as he stepped towards it he could hear his father’s voice calling out to him, ‘Son, stop and look at me.’ But the son chose not to notice,’ It’s fine father, I have found a wonderful new way to the fields where you work!’ listening only to the happy babbling brook as it swam gently down the path, for a while he even skipped, happy recalling pleasant memories from childhood. He closed his eyes and thought, ’I have made it! I have discovered a new way!’ As he was pondering to himself he barely took time to look ahead and see the disaster to come, as he began descending into the brook, he felt the cool, refreshment of the brook, it seemed good, so he continued to walk down the path. He failed to notice the widening of the brook, and soon he found himself tumbling into a vicious rapids, he called out,’ Father, help me!’ through the billowing, white waves he heard ‘Look up to me!’ the son shouted, ’Father, where are you?’ The son felt strong hand on his shoulder pulling him from the current. ’I’m here my child, right next to you,’ The Father then carried his son back up the river, battling against sharp rocks and strong currents. The son didn’t take time to notice the cuts in his father’s legs or the grazes on his elbows, he just complained about his own injuries. As time went on, they reached the crossroads, and the father put his son back down on the ground, he said,’ Child, where you go I cannot, but I will guide you, always look up to me and listen to my voice.’ So the son followed his father’s voice and went down the fourth path, but it wasn’t long before he turned his head away from his father, to his terror he saw sharp rocks and thorns with evil shadows lurking nearby, He started to run back up the path to the crossroads, when he heard his father’s voice. ’Son! Stop and listen to me. I will keep you safe.’ The son stopped and saw his Father above; he heard the comfort in his voice and followed it. The path at times was wide and easy, other times it was hard and narrow, but his father never stopped speaking words of comfort and guidance, as they were drawing near to the end of their journey when the son felt prickles against his legs, He shouted up, ’Father! What are you doing? Why have you told me to go this way, I can feel scratches all down my legs, because I followed your voice!’ What he didn’t know was that there was a deep pit beside him filled with terror and man-eating animals. The father said, ‘Child, trust me it is for your best, follow my voice,’ the son kept looking at his father, but soon he felt nettles sting his hands, ’Father!’ He shouted,’ Why are you doing this to me? You are leading me wrong!’ It was about this time that a rock stood between the son and the father, the child couldn’t see the Father, so he called, ’Father! I cannot see you, where are you?’ ‘Son, I know where you are, listen to my voice and trust me’ But it was dark and the son started to panic, he looked down to see for himself where he was, as he stepped backward, he lost his footing and fell, he screamed in a mix of fear and pain as he crumbled down the hole, he hit the bottom hard, and felt his arm cut open, he heard the growls of fierce animals and felt the bitter cold of the wind,  he cried out, ‘Father! Where are you, I have fallen and my arm is hurt. Help me!’ Then he heard his father’s soft, gentle voice, ’My child, I am here beside you.’ The son felt himself being lifted onto his Father’s shoulders, as they travelled up the steep sides he grew angry with his father, ’Why did you make me fall? Look at my arm, it is bleeding! Why did you do this to me?’ The father gently lay his son on the ground and ripped some cloth from his own robe and bandaged his son’s arm. The son failed to notice the tears in his father eyes or the deep cuts in his father’s hands from climbing up the steep, sharp side of the pit. He picked his son up again and started to carry him again, the son began to accuse his father again, ’Look my arm still hurts, my ankle is swollen! See for yourself the pain you cause me! I can’t believe I ever listened to you!’ As they reached the top of the pit, the sun was rising, taking hold of the day and streaming light onto the path. However, even in new morning light, the son still failed to notice the deep wounds dark scratches in his Father’s side, or the deep holes in his father’s hands nor the thorny stems still entwined in his blood matted hair. He didn’t notice the bites to his father’s legs or the gashes running down his arms, then, he turned his head and looked down the path from which he came, he saw the shadows of sharp rocks and evil faces had disappeared, and green grass and flowers had taken their places, he noticed the spikes in the wall and remembered his doubt he turned again and looked at the top of the gorge where his father walked, there he saw the sharp rocks and evil creature. He turned his head again and saw the path leading down into the hole where he had fallen, deep bushes of thorns and menacing spikes of rock were spread along the path. Blood was spattered among the thorns and rocks, and then he looked down at his father, he saw the blood, cuts and pain all over his body, it was then he realised what his father had done for him, he turned back to hole then saw slain wolves and bloody thorns. He felt tears stream down his face as he understood why he had to keep looking at his father, ’Daddy,’ he said ,’ I’m sorry for not listening to you, I’m sorry for disobeying, If only I had listened!’ My child, I have already forgiven you, I forgave you even before you fell, and even before you were carried away by the current. I was there to save you and it doesn’t matter what you do, because to me your life is more precious than mine, and I will always be there to help you. Some things you will never understand, but I want you to understand that I love you more than you could possible imagine.’ The son turned to look again into his father, he saw the love and peace in his eyes and embraced him. He never knew of some of the sacrifices his father made, but he knew without doubt that his father loved him more than anything else, and would be with him all the way to the fields were they worked.

All have sinned...

‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ Romans 3:23

What? Really? Mmm… I bet! As if! Cool. And…? Recognise these responses? Yup! They were most likely your last response when you heard this verse or something similar. So before you leave, read this!  I’m going to be quick because I know you don’t have much time and to make this easier to understand I have taken liberty to divide this verse up into four segments.

1.        ‘For all’. Who exactly does this apply to? For starters it applies to you, therefore it must apply to me and every other human (Except Jesus) who is and will be on this planet or universe! This is absolutely you and you can never get away from this ‘all’ meaning you.

2.        ‘have sinned’. Sin. It’s a nasty topic and unfortunately some make it seem like a good thing, but God meant sin to mean any and every bad thing we do “Every act of wrongdoing is sin” 1 John 5:17 (Phillips Modern English) Think about the worst thing you’ve done. Jesus has the power to take it away, but more of that later! It is sin that cause things like pain and suffering, this is a result of disobedience that occurred just after we were created by God, involving Adam and Eve. In summary ‘All have sinned’- We have all sinned, all committed something bad, hurt somebody or said a wrong thing. This is what sin is, and what it does I shall explain later.

3.        ‘and fall short’. The dictionary definition of ‘fall short’ is to not reach an amount or standard. People always set goals for themselves and God has set a standard for us- absolute perfection. We obviously can never reach this standard and that is why God has provided us a way of escape from the punishment that occurs because of this inability to reach the standard.

4.       ‘of the glory of God ’. The glory of God is so amazing and so spectacular, when Moses (a man in the Bible) saw part of this, his face was shining so brightly that he had to cover his face so that people could look at him. ‘And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil upon his face.’ Exodus 34:35. I saw a useful quote on a website (who’s name escapes my memory but not my heart) it said, “The glory of God is the beauty of His spirit. It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty, but it is the beauty that emanates from His character, from all that He is.”

5.        So in conclusion, You have sinned (done bad things), you have fallen short of the glory of God (you cannot because of your sin ever reach perfection). What then are the consequences of sin? The simple answer is, eternal separation from God. Otherwise known as hell. When you realise the how God holds together the universe and how he protects you and keeps you living, you will realise what this is like. Hell is the worst possible place to be and it lasts for eternity. But how do we get saved from such a place? One word- Jesus. He came down from Heaven as God and became like us, who he created. He subjected himself to human authority, lived a perfect life (totally sinless) and died an agonising death on the cross to crush the power of sin and then rose again to make a way for us to spend eternity in Heaven with God. Seem a little weird, made up story? All you have to do is admit your sin, believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection and understand that you cannot possibly live this life to the full without God. When you do this, Jesus stands in your place as a sinner and gives you a new life, hope and meaning.

So, was it worth your time? I hope so.

Dad = Superhero

I haven’t blogged for a while, but I decided that today I would continue my hobby. I have decided to take this step so I could write how much I appreciate my father. So here goes…

Most people go through their childhood years thinking their fathers are invincible and inevitably can do nothing wrong. They look at superman comics and think,’ Pffft, how pathetic! My Dad beats up villains for fun!’ I’m sure you can relate to this, I mean who needs heroes when you have Dad? This however was very different from my father, he didn’t grow up with a dad, his died when he was still in my grandma’s womb. I am still amazed to find that my father has turned out the way he has. In no way am I suggesting that those who have no fathers are automatically doomed, I am saying how he has managed to become such a good father. I guess him having no father, made him really have to think hard about how to be a Daddy to me and my three brothers- in a way he had to start from scratch. The truly amazing thing about my Dad, is how gifted he is at understanding and communicated Christian principles to me. Many hours after a church Bible study have been filled with discussing predestination, election and so on. He has been a huge inspiration to me and I know that without him, I would be in a very different place. The love he has shown me has helped me understand how to love God and others more. My relationship with him has helped me understand how God can be both a friend and father. I look to my Dad for guidance and counsel. I know that I am safe when I’m with him; he is a friend, an example, a companion and a true father. I am writing this to tell you all what he means to me. He is a true hero, and an absolute superhero.

So Dad- Much love and thanks,                                    

From your Son.

Love?

Love?

Like most people, I’m going to start with a question. So here goes… What is love? Is this not the same question many a teary teenage girl has inquired of her mother or many a discerning philosopher has contemplated with his peers? I would venture to say no. See, to ask the question we have to find out what love we are talking about. Am I talking about the sappy, Hollywood type of ‘love’? – No, or maybe, ‘Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee, and when I love thee not, chaos is come again’- that idealistic Shakespeare love. - Again I must say no. The love I’m talking about is true love, the absolute type- pure and refined. To dig deeper we have to go straight to scripture. So deep breath and here goes, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ ‘Love your enemies’ ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The list goes on…  All these scriptures tell us what to love, not necessarily what love is, these are evidences of love much like helping your mother in the kitchen or giving someone a hug, these are not love but the fruit of love, and then we find it! The scripture verse that tells us what love truly is- 1 Corinthians 13: Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. This is what love is. But to truly understand love, we have to know where love is from. It can only be from Love itself, that’s Love with a capital ‘L’. God is love. This phrase may only be three words, but three words that are fundamental to the enormity of what love is. You see, for something to exist, something has to first be it. To have love, God first had to be love.

 ‘We love him, because he first loved us.’ You see, we can only love because God first loved us first. Love only exists because God is Love. Amen? The amazing thing about this is he is, was and always will be love. Faith, trust, hope and other virtues will not exist in Heaven, Why?  Because they will be fulfilled at the coming of Jesus! Think about it, why would we need to hope or faith in Heaven. They just won’t be necessary, but love will be. God isn’t faith, He isn’t hope, but He is love and because God is love, if we want to be with him we have to have love both on Heaven and Earth. Love is a divine virtue; this means we are going spend all of eternity in true love. No more disappointments, no more envy, pride, selfishness or things that get in the way of us and God, an eternity completely fulfilling God’s purpose for life- to glorify Him. Someone recently said Heaven was like strawberry cake but a thousand times better! If that’s the case, we certainly have something to look forward to!

There are many examples of love in the Bible, but to find the deepest kind of love we have to go straight to the crucifixion.  What type of love was this? This love is sweat turns to blood, friends fleeing, healing enemies, ridicule, mocking soldiers, unjust circumstances, unbearable pain sweeping through body. Cruel, cold nails. Glass, metal, rope whipping through skin piercing even the deepest nerve, false accusations, crown of thorns, psychological torment, spiritual pounding, physical torture. Calvary’s cruel glare, condemning cross, confessing criminals, utter forgiveness, obedience to death, undeniable courage, unforgettable peace, liberating life, denying death, releasing captivity and pursuing freedom, bleeding body, suffering saviour, Head raised with a death-defying shout of ,’IT IS FINISHED.’ Death overcome, curtain split in two and victory is won. All for us, laid out for you. Jesus, our living sacrifice. My friends, this is love.

My day in the office...

...Today I’ve been completing work experience in an office. It’s interesting to see how different people work with altering working styles together. Some are busily typing away; Others are more relaxed– having a more social-work experience. So you’ve got the general atmosphere, but let us go into more detail.
Morning: Busy traffic so left early, dead on time. Introductions take place and then real work starts. Latecomers slowly slink in avoiding the managers eyes- “Traffic...” the perfect excuse and is therefore used. Smokers occasionally leave to have a quick ciggy. Lunch is an hour away now. The workers barely notice, work is now intense.
Lunch: Lunchtime comes and those who never seem to leave the office stay. Now off to Nandos, apparently it’s Nandos every day and every week. Half a chicken fills me up; one guy however has a chicken a day. Everyone finishes and heads back to the office.
Afternoon: A brief discussion on how the trial Breivik affects peoples view on religion leads onto a longer conversation on capital punishment. Then lunch break officially ends, maybe a few minutes late. So I move of to the admin area and do some minor work, giggles and laughter ensues (not from me!) as the people there find out who I am and why I'm there. The manager tells them to get on, giggles stop and a quick smoke break is undertaken (outside of course). I stay mostly because I’m not a smoker and continue doing some work. They return and more giggles are heard. The manager gives up comepletely and goes for a coffee.
Early Evening: Eventually work finishes and I head upstairs to where a conference call is occurring, frantic shifting of money around to fit the budget is happening. Sweating faces and hurried voices eventually solve the problem (at 2.am that morning). I go home at around 7pm with a headache, sore throat and shivering body. Now off to have a bath and crawl myself into bed. Sleeping ensues…. Hopefully!

Just War Theory- pt 1/5

So I haven't posted anything for absolutely donkey's years, the lack of posting is to do with School work. So I'm posting something I qrote about a year ago, This is part one of five. I'm going to be talking about the just war theory- one my most enjoyed subjects. Also, just as a little note on the side, all me work is from my own head, if however I do use someone else's work I will of written a bibliography or the such like. If you want to use any of my work in an essay or any similar thing, it is severely appreciated that you ask me first. :)

Just War Theory

The Just War Theory was developed at a time when armies frequently fought major battles in campaigns of conquests and when Christianity and Catholicism formulated a common cultural framework for the European world. In their society the Just War Theory had a major place in warfare. It kept countries from waging war for territorial reasons and revenge, and it made peace available to all those under Catholicism. However, since that time the world has seen a major shift in 'society' as a whole. We must ask the question - can a ‘just war’ play any part in today’s modern warfare and can it relate to the contemporary structure of international relations? In the following paragraphs I aspire to construct unambiguous reasons for the fact that the Just War Theory is outdated and cannot play any part in today’s society; I will also discuss what we can use instead of Just War Theory.

Just war theory or Bellum iustum has its roots in the thinking of various Roman and Greek philosophers, including Plato, but Catholicism played the larger part in its development. There are several specific criteria that must be met to label a war 'just' ¹(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_War). These criteria are: just cause, comparative justice, legitimate authority, right intention, probability of success, last resort and proportionality. Bellum iustum has two closely related components, Jus ad bellum (Just cause) and Jus in Bello (the laws of war). Jus ad bellum says is that the stimulus for going to war must be just, and thus cannot be based on recapturing stolen items or punishing persons who have done wrong. Also, the lives of innocents must be in critical danger; therefore, the attack must be solely based on saving their lives ¹(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_War). For war to be just, the wrong suffered by one side must significantly overshadow that suffered by the other. This is called comparative justice and is the perception that one side is more in the right than the other. Some people believe that this only works if one of the sides has done nothing wrong. This, of course, is difficult to assess in many cases, as usually both sides have participated in hostility... more to come....

People and noise- (primarily people and nothing to do with noise)

So in my previous post I briefly wrote about the noise, and the obvious thing now would be to talk about the creators of noise- us.

On Sunday, I was in the Cotswolds and during my time there I found myself in a wonderfully quintessential village. As I was pushing my little cousin on some swings I saw a group of ten lads appear on the road outside the park. As I glanced at them I realised something quite amusing: they looked all had scooters, they all wore the same brand of shoes, they all wore the same brand of t-shirt, they all spoke with the same slang, they all had the same mannerisms and they all created the same noise. I found myself chuckling as I watched them trying to slice along the curb and leap over obstacles, but I found the obvious similarity among all of them even more amusing. Isn't it interesting that people do the same things just to fit in or to be accepted.

They all followed the latest crazes and tried to create many mutualities to remain 'in the group'. I only a little older, found this amusing, however, I thought to myself, 'What do I do to fit in, and why?' Why is it that I wore those certain shoes to that certain party? Why is it that I had my hair that particular way when I went to church? Fundamentally, It is so I have even more reason than usual be accepted.

You see, us as human beings (or a highly regenerated form of some glorified monkey, if your an evolutionist) have a desire to be with others. This is evidenced all throughout history. We are social beings, and we will do almost anything to fit in. Our desire for company manifests itself in such a way that we have to stop for a moment and think about why we do certain things and choose to be a certain way. If we are not careful we will find ourselves slipping into a dangerous cycle of conforming, not for ourselves but for others. Be different, be yourself for once.