vs. Against. These are the letters in between two teams that are going to play each other. Chiefs vs. Raiders. I should know what vs. means literally, but I do not. It is simply a sign of enmity. We will be squaring off against those other guys from the other side of the tracks.
Watching the news and the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy, I am reminded again about how divided our country seems to be politically. Half on one side, half on the other. The sad thing to me is that it seems that very little effort is given to understand the other side. Folks and politicians seem to be content to be on their side and to be against the other side.
We forget that those on the other side are people too. People with families, medical issues, churches, lives. We are all people. Was the good Samaritan a Republican or a Democrat? Was the man that he helped a Republican or a Democrat?
Who cares.
Yesterday I was going through some stuff that belonged to my father. I came upon a pewter mug that was created to commemorate a baseball game. The inscription on the cup says:
base-ball [like they didn't know that baseball was one word]
St. Botolph vs. Tavern [there is the dreaded vs.]
24-22
June 21, 1904
1904. Who were these folks? I have some hunches, but the point is, their big baseball game isn't so important today. All the players are gone. The vs. seems a bit pointless. I doubt that they are competing in heaven, because in that land, we are all on the same team. We all finally realize that we are all God's children.
Maybe one day soon we will all lay down the weapons and the rhetoric and do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
4 comments:
We just studied Isaiah 40 verse 17:
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Kind of fits right in today.
GB
Thanks for the great post! I hope people will realize we are all in this together.
GPS
Jeff, what you are saying would be nice, but the causes of the great division in our country are very complex. The deep division will not be going away, short of another 9-11 type catastrophe, God fobid. The one good thing that sometimes come from division on issues, is that it causes people to think about what they believe in, and stand up for it.
Our nation, which is immeasureably blessed has progressively become so full of greed, corruption, sexual debasement, lying, crime, and all that goes with it, that the division is the voices of people speaking out against letting our nation go further down the drain.
Our nation is one of misplaced heroism. We need heroes who take the high road, and ones whose lives are what we would want our children to model. If one takes a moment to think about who the media holds out as our heroes, we might have second thoughts.
You rightly said several months ago, that congress has no accountability. What goes on in Washington is making people angry, and causing them to not be able to see that there is wrong, but those doing it are still human beings. Our nation needs accountability, without oppression. There are those who are going to use Ted Kennedy's death, to deceptively promote their agendas. More division.
If our nation is not able to achieve some of the above, the division and anger over issues is going to continue, and grow. And it will be very difficult to see much brotherly love in action.
Great post as usual Jeff. Our country is left vs. right and we all have opinions as to which side of the vs. we're on. And while I also have my political opinions, I don't worry about the vs. because
a) the leaders of our country are in that position because that's what God wants
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Romans 13:1
b) our lives on earth are temporary and when we place our trust in the temporary we will be disappointed
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Matthew 6:19
When you keep those two facts in mind the vs. doesn't seem like a big deal. I was glad to see Senator Chris Dodd mention that something good that could come from the sad passing of Edward Kennedy would be a call for more bi-partisenship from both parties. Our mortality reminds us that vs. isn't a big deal as long as we are on God's team.
DT
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