Kingdom Visitor (Story)

There was a king that loved all the people. Because he had such love for the people, he wanted them to be happy and to love each other as he loved them. One day, he called before him all the magistrates in the land and decreed that there be a way that best enabled all the people to love one another.

The magistrates gathered and spent much time in council determining the best methods to govern the people that would make them love each other so the king would be happy. They decided on a long list of rules that the people would have to memorize and adhere. They decided on celebration days that would, by their annual repetition, reinforce the rules they established. Further, they set up a system where there would be rewards for those who obeyed the rules and punishment for those who did not.

This, they surmised, was the best way to make the people love each other.

Over the years, the magistrates instructed the people in the rules, meted out the rewards and punishments, and watched the people carefully so they knew who to reward and who to punish. In response, some of the people would either vie with each other to do the most loving acts to gain the best of the rewards, or they followed the rules minimally when they knew they were being watched, lest they face the dreaded punishments. 

Then one day, a stranger arrived and set up a temporary home among the people of this kingdom. Within a few days, one of the magistrates presented to her a thick bound volume of the rules. But the stranger handed the book back unopened and, instead, took out her visa which indicated that because she was not a subject of the king, she had diplomatic immunity and thus was not subject to those rules. The magistrate tried to harass her, but she knew that the magistrate could not force their ways on her.

At that time, the king wondered how well the system his magistrates established was working. Were the people truly loving one another as he loved them? Was the system enabling their love for each other to flourish? Or were the people merely following the established set of rules because they sought individually to gain a reward or avoid a punishment? So the king decided to find out for himself. He disguised himself and went out among the people.

Where the magistrates were to be found, people performed all kinds of loving acts, helping one another and more. But where there were no magistrates watching, the poor were left hungry, the cold were left outside alone to fend for themselves, the sick were shoved apart from the healthy, and the outcasts were friendless. There was very little love here.

Then the king spied a young woman, a stranger in this land, and she was doing what the people were not, when the magistrates were not watching. She shared her supper with someone that had none, she helped carry someone's heavy load, and she welcomed the homeless into the rooms she rented so they would not have to suffer the freezing rain and falling snow. Who was this woman?
 

The king called court the next day and called this woman before him. "I am king of this realm," he told her, "and I have seen what you have done."

"I know of your rules may be different here, your majesty, but as I am not one of your subjects, so your rules do not apply to me."

"You do not act as you do fearing punishment?"

"No, sir."

"You do not act as you do expecting reward?"

"No, sir."

The king's cheeks started to glisten with tears and he stepped down from his throne and faced the woman eye-to-eye. "Then why do you do the things you do?"

The woman shrugged, "It's just the right thing to do. We're all part of this world, we should help each other."
 

The king stepped forward and embraced the woman fiercely!

When he stepped back he announced, "Let this be known across the land, this woman has acted with Love for her neighbor, not because of reward, not out of fear of punishment - for she clearly does not expect either. She acted simply out of the Love found in her heart. THIS! This is what I sought for my people. All I simply ask is that they love one another."

Love
thy
neighbor

~ESA

Danger Zone

Lately I've run into a lot of gay-bashing online and on the news. Given the political clime, it's not surprising. It's just sad. This blog post is not to point any fingers (you already know who you are), it's meant as a warning - to all.

When, in your mind / heart you bind another to a set of laws, rules or restrictions, you yourself are bound to the same set of laws, rules and restrictions. Most prefer the "pick and choose" method, whereby they pick one rule (such as homosexual sex) and forget that God will now hold them strictly and personally accountable for the rest of the package - not the person to whom they point their fingers.

Christ warned us of this time after time. There's the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have done unto you) and the Lord's Prayer and other teachings where He clearly states we must forgive the mistakes of all others or our own will not be forgiven.

I can rant far and wide on this subject, but I only have limited time this morning. So I will say it bluntly. When you hold another person to ONE law in the Old Testament, you bind yourself - not the other - to ALL the laws of the Old Testament. Now ask yourself, do you:

• Eat shrimp, lobster, clams, or any other shellfish? (Leviticus 11:10)
• Round out your hair, trim your beard or - perish the thought! - shave? (Leviticus 19:27)
• Play football or touch something made with pigskin leather? (Leviticus 11:8)
• Eat bacon, sausage, ham, or pork? (Leviticus 11:8)
• Eat or touch any on the long list of animals? (Leviticus 11)
• Eat anything that is not Kosher or prepared in a Kosher manner? (same)
• Touch a dead body (even a beloved pet, family member or friend who departed)? Numbers 19:11
• Wear polyester or any other cloth that is made of more than one type of fiber (any percent)? Double check your shoes. (Leviticus 19:19)
• Have a tattoo or body piercings (including ear lobes)? (Leviticus 19:28)
• Read the horoscope or open a fortune cookie? (Leviticus 19:31)

Do we continue to point fingers?

Do we see "sin" in others but not ourselves?

Or do we remove the plank that blinds us even today?

~ESA

Gay Marriage

I may get some flack for this post, or loose followers of this blog or Twitter. But I must not play to the crowd; Yeshua (Jesus) never did.

When I read a blog post titled "Can a Real Christian Support Gay Marriage?" my first response was, "Why wouldn't a follower of Christ want someone to have a "happy marriage"? After all, that is the original definition of the word "gay."

But, I also knew the post was likely in response to the news that Obama admitted his support for gay marriage. I will also take a brave stand to say I see nothing wrong with it. It's not my chosen lifestyle, but I will not - ever - attack another for it. Nor would I deny them the right to make a relationship as committed as the one I share with my husband.

Look at the relationship between Ruth and Naomi: "Where you go, I will go. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God." The focus of marriage should always be relationship first: the complete commitment to give oneself wholly and completely to the other, without reservation, from that point forward, to death or beyond. If the relationship is one of great commitment without reservation, why do we legally allow pre-marital contracts or divorce...?

There is logically the argument that the nature of Ruth and Naomi's relationship was mother-in-law/daughter-in-law rather than spouses. My point, though, is that many focus on that three-letter word: intercourse.

As to physical intercourse, I would like my readers to take into account this description:

First, there is a violent act, where one will have intercourse with another as a means of physical domination. This is not for love, nor procreation, nor pleasure. This is known as rape.

Second, there is the act where partners will have physical intercourse for the sake of pleasuring the body alone. This often leaves the ones who do this feeling empty inside.

Third, there are those who will perform the actions of physical intercourse for the purpose of acquiring something. This can be for money, favors, fame, reputation, position, promotion, a child, control, or manipulation of a person or situation. Sometimes only one person in the relationship is the one who does this; sometimes both.

Finally, there is the union where people physically express their love for each other and completely let down all barriers between themselves, giving themselves completely to another, without reservation.

Only the last one is acceptable.

Through our history, there are many marriages which are legally acceptable but fall into the second or third descriptions above. My stand is this: If the people are both as committed as Ruth was to Naomi and fall into the last description above, there should be no issue.

In the Old Testament, "go forth and multiply" was so important to the people that multiple wives PLUS concubines was the accepted norm. Now, at only the start of the twenty-first century, we face an overpopulated planet where resources are becoming scarce. There are also children growing up without one or both parents. Where is the love they need?

Do we really believe that the ability to procreate is a vital part of the commitment of marriage? What about the barren women, like myself? What about people who elect not to add to an overpopulated world? What about the elderly who get married in the years beyond procreative capacity? What about those who cannot perform physical intercourse or procreate due to medical reasons? Shall we ban marriage for these people as well?

Or is it that we want to control what goes on in the privacy of another's bridal chamber? Do we desire to place ourselves in judgement over our brothers and sisters? Or, as Christians, shouldn't we refrain from judgement and allow Christ, who alone sees truly into the hearts of all, be the One - the ONLY - judge?

I have seen many say that I must not be a "True Christian." But in faith and trust, I point to the list above. If there are people willing to commit to each other - without reservation - and make their lives as One to death or even beyond, who am I to stand in their way?

We are called not to be Judges.

We are called to Love each other.

Christ Loves us all.

~ ESA