Big Thoughts from the Last 48

Unlike a normal posts, this is a bit of a smathering of thoughts.  The last few days have me asking big questions in response to posts by others.  Here are just a few:

“Pastor, it is on days like today that I think on the two kingdoms principle. We live in the temporal kingdom stained by sin and suffering. The life we have, however, comes from the kingdom of grace, love, and peace. These tragedies defy our understanding, but a God who is called love is ever with us, standing in our midst, holding us and those struck by this pain. Our call is not so much understand, but to be understood in our grief. The kingdom of Christ is a different place, a place that is beyond our pain, that he has given us his grace to see. My best to you as you prepare a message for this third Sunday in Advent. May Christ's kingdom come.”

“But on the training of morality, responsibility, and honor, how are we doing as a society? I don't question actually that parents are the ones that have primacy to ensure that their minor(s) understand the rules of conduct and gains understanding of self worth and values. I just ask, are we, as Americans being effective or are we failing at this?

Having asked the question, another comes to mind. How can a society that has prohibited it self from the establishment of religion (now interpreted beyond simply the choosing of one or another Judeo- Christian denomination, to the possible imposition of any religion's imagery being placed in or prayers being led by an institution of state), define for itself a set of morals that are universal and can't be countered as a violation of that same establishment clause? And as a complimentary question, how can a society exist with out a core set of values and morals without a resulting chaos and morass of tragedy because there is not a universal ethic that can be enforced or referenced that defines appropriate and stable social constructs and relationships?

..., but how are we doing at holding one another accountable? What is the standard we should follow to determine good parenting from bad? Who enforces responsibility? I am not giving answers to these questions because I don't have iron clad good responses. But the questions are at the core of the issue here and can't be avoided.”

“…, got it, but when do we know when someone's going to crack? This is very analogous to the suicide issue we have been contending with in the Army. We have signs, we have done training, it's about butting into another person's life, and at least in the Army we have a method and process that allows us to do that, but we have struggled, at best, to arrest the problem. Keeping those that are mentally and/or emotionally unsuitable away from guns is a very hard thing to do, and is antithetical to part of our fundamental ethos of privacy and individualism. This is tough, tough stuff that we can't continue to pretend has any easy or one sided answers, and I don't pretend to even have a hard answer at this point.”