May God give us:
the discernment to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials;
the courage to hold fast to essentials;
the generosity of spirit to give everyone liberty in non-essentials;
the love for all human beings (whatever their beliefs)
which is patient and kind,
which neither envies nor boasts,
which is neither rude nor proud,
which rejoices in the truth,
which never fails.
By John Stott,
As a Christian citizen of Australia, I get the distinct sense that I am living in an increasingly post-Christian country. The majority of Australians no longer consider traditional Christian doctrines (eg, the doctrine of sin) or traditional Christian ethics (eg, biblical sexual morality) to be relevant in the post- modern world. Christians who do espouse these beliefs are labeled intolerant and even hateful.
Given the fact that Australia is a democracy, the beliefs of the majority affect the lives of the minority, socially, culturally, and politically. This reality makes it increasingly important for Christians to figure out the best way to voice their Christian convictions and enact Christian love in the 'Marketplace of Ideas'. I use this phrase to refer to our public life—the places where we speak, act, debate, dialogue, and exchange ideas about the best ways to organize our communities, cities, states, and nation.
Certain people—such as politicians, lawyers, and journalists—find that their jobs are inherently oriented to the Market place. However, those persons are not the only ones who have the opportunity to participate in the public square. Each of us can be actively involved in shaping public life. As Christians, the question that arises immediately concerns the relationship between our personal religious beliefs and our shared public life: Should we bring our Christianity with us to the public square or should we leave it home?
In her book Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life, Gail Blanke challenges her readers to go room by room in their houses, throwing out things and then to go to work on their minds, getting rid of mind clutter.
Good stewardship means we keep focused on what is really important and it is not usually the things we clutter our lives and our homes with. What things are you storing that you can do without? What thoughts are you hanging onto that you would be better off without? Bitterness? Gripes? Negative thoughts? Throw them out.
Research conducted at Yale University’s Infant Cognition Center contradicts a common belief that children are born as blank slates and learn right and wrong from watching other people. Researchers found that babies as young as three months can actually distinguish good from evil.
The study used puppets to demonstrate good and bad behavior and allowed the children to choose which puppet they wanted to play with afterward. In one example, a puppet struggles to open a box, and another puppet helps it open the case. In the other example, while the puppet struggles with the box, a second puppet comes along and slams the box shut again. More than 80 % of the time, babies selected the good puppet when presented with a choice between the good one and the bad one. Paul Bloom, an author and professor who took part in the study said, “Humans are born with a hard-wired morality, a sense of good and evil is bred in the bone. We are naturally moral beings, but our environment can enhance—or sadly degrade—this innate moral sense.”
I treasure books. When I reach the end of the year, I check to see if I made my goal of one book per month over the 12 months. Some years I make it; most years I do not. I don’t have a reason but I use the excuse that being a busy carer leaves little time for deep reading. Well, I used that reason until I read about George Bush. According to a senior advisor, Karl Rove, Bush loves books and is an avid reader. Even while he was President of the United States, Bush read between 40 to 95 books per year. Rove reported in the Wall Street Journal in 2008 that President Bush read the Bible from cover to cover each year.
