America's Childless Father

George Washington is recognized as the father of our nation. Though his wife had children from a previous marriage, Washington had no children of his own. This free verse poem explores what our beloved father figure would say to America about her devastating choice to embrace abortion in the last century.

I, George Washington, have fathered a childless nation.

America, my beautiful,

Not whom, but what have you begotten? 

I, George Washington, waged war for our children’s freedom,

But America, land of the free, 

You have sold them to the highest bidder.

I, George Washington, fought for our children’s independence,

But America, sweet land of liberty,

You have given them a funeral instead of a birthright.

I, George Washington, battled for our children’s future,

But America, land of the nobel free,

You have traded their dancing for mourning.

I, George Washington, led men to their death so our children could live,

But America, home of the brave,

You have ripped even life from their helpless fingers.

I, George Washington, grieve for lives not lived,

America, whose name I love,

Your gleaming alabaster cites have been stained scarlet.

I, George Washington, weep for souls unloved,

America, land so fair,

The tears of your tempest-tost and betrayed flood from sea to shining sea,

I, George Washington, mourn for hearts crushed and minds destroyed,

America! America! 

Pray that God may shed His grace on thee.

Looking At Today

Have you ever looked through a pair of binoculars backwards? I have. Not surprisingly, everything is tiny. Objects that are sitting right next to you suddenly look like they’re miles away.

I recently had an eye-opening experience. I went on an Apostolic Youth Corps trip to Ireland. Going into it, I had a pretty strong feeling that I would receive a call to the mission field while in Ireland. Much to my surprise and yes, dismay, God gave me a “bloom where I planted you” kind of a message. Wait, I traveled 3,500 miles for You to tell me to stay where I am?

As a teenager, I stressed so much about God’s plan for me. I would beg God to show me His plan for my future. You see, without knowing His plan, how could I do anything? How would I know what college to attend or what kind of a job to get? I needed the endgame so I could make my first move. 

Since returning from Ireland, I’ve realized that by focusing so much on my future, I was looking at the present through a backwards pair of binoculars. Rather than seeking God’s will for tomorrow, He wants me to fall on my knees and seek His will for right now. “Who I will be tomorrow, I am becoming today” has been my motto since I was 17 years old. And only just now is the real meaning becoming clear to me; if I get today right, tomorrow I will be in God’s will. If I get tomorrow right, then I will be in God’s will the next day.

That chain of todays, tomorrows, and next days will continue until one day, we’ll realize we’ve lived our entire life. All that’s left will be eternity. 

Awestruck

It was one of those times when you think to pull out your phone after the moment has already passed. Today, while waiting outside of our student bookstore, I watched as a father walked inside with his two year old son trailing behind him.

“Whoa!” The little boy exclaimed, looking up and all around him as if he was trying to see every detail on the screen of an IMAX theater.

“Whoa!” he said again as they passed the welcome desk and the secretary glanced up to grin at the awestruck little boy. As they stepped through the entrance into the little store, he gasped, “WHOOAA!”

Albert Einstein put it the best when he said, “He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” 

Keep your sense of wonder. 

Deadlines will be the Death of Me

Deadlines kill me. “Why does this homework have to be due by midnight?” I groan, “If I could just do this at my own pace, life would be so much better!” Then I have to remind myself, if there were no little deadlines, I would find myself at the end of semester with an entire textbook to read and four months of assignments due in 8 hours.

I don’t consider myself to be a procrastinator. That being said, I know that if there were no deadlines, something would always come up that was more urgent than doing my homework. One day I would simply wake up to find myself out of time.

That’s why I’m thankful for weekly classes, checkups with advisors, the necessity of continual studying, and yes, even habitual homework deadlines.

Deadlines are like practice for the real thing. One day, every single one of us will wake up to discover that we are out of time. Our lives have either run their course or been tragically cut short. Most of us, if left on our own, probably wouldn’t make it.

That’s why we have weekly church services, meetings with pastors and mentors, daily personal devotions, prayer time, and communion. Communion is like the little homework deadline so you can ultimately pass the class. It’s a go-no-further-until-you-have-confronted-the-sin-in-your-life-and-surrendered-yourself-to-Christ moment.

We can look at God as that strict teacher who wants to make us miserable over the weekends and nit-picks at every little detail. Or, far more accurately, we can look at Him as that kind teacher who desperately wants us to pass the class. 

Mission: Possible

“Good morning, Mr. Phelps.” We hear a well-known voice above the whir of the old-fashioned tape player. It begins telling our protagonist about the difficult situation America has gotten herself into.

“Your mission Jim, should you choose to accept it…” the voice drones on, “is to fight your way into the heart of the Soviet Union and rescue the daughter of the highest ranking official from an arranged marriage that is meant to unify the Soviet Union and Europe (you will be disguised as a pizza delivery boy). As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.”

Then, the theme song plays and viewers are thrown into the world of Mission Impossible. It’s a world much like the 1960s, except a hollywood punch can knock a full grown man unconscious and true-to-life masks can save the nation from a nuclear holocaust.

Unlike the American military and their commitment to never leave a fallen comrade, this little force of people must succeed, die trying, or be captured. Even under the horrifying circumstances of capture and torture, the American government promised no help would come. Not only that, they would disavow any knowledge of the team’s actions.

This leaves the force with only one option. They must accomplish their mission, and they must accomplish it alone. 

As Christians, we have been given a high calling. This calling includes (but is not limited to):

• Being holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16)
• Loving your enemies (Matthew 5:44)
• Forgiving every offense that comes our way (Mark 11:25)
• Making disciples of the entire world (Matthew 28:19)

Any one of these items is downright impossible, some might say. And they’d be right. While we know that with Jesus, all things are possible, somehow, a little thing called flesh always gets in the way. And we fail. Sometimes it’s a little failure; sometimes it’s a big failure. Sometimes it’s private and no one knows; sometimes the whole world knows.

The cool thing is that God happens to forgive. In addition to this, God has not only instructed the Church to forgive, but to gently restore people when they fail–carrying their burden when they’re too weak to carry it themselves (Galatians 6:1-2).

It’s a very military-esque directive. Restore. Carry. Allow no one to fall into the hands of the enemy.

Like we already established, people fail. Things get especially messy when we fail to restore those who have failed. The effect is something like flesh on steroids: hurtful words cut through the air like bullets, tearing into people and leaving deep wounds and disfiguring scars.

For some reason, we can slip into the feeling that the Church is a Mission Impossible task force. That each must accomplish their own mission and that they must accomplish it alone. Any failure and it is the duty of the church to disavow that individual. This is so tragic. God has His church organized like an army of fellow-soldiers, all pressing for the same goal. The high calling is reachable when we have the Holy Spirit and the correct mindset. Restore. Carry. Allow no one to fall into the hands of the enemy.

Is it hard? Yes. Will we fail sometimes? Yes.

Nevertheless, I submit to you that your mission, should you choose to accept it, is possible. Good luck, Jim.

In Defense of Women AND Photoshop (There's a Twist)

Armed with a screwdriver, nine screws, and three, shiny new door hinges, I set out to rehang my bedroom door. After about 45 minutes of intense effort, I stepped back to proudly survey my work. That’s when my heart dropped. I’ve never seen a door quite that crooked…except perhaps in Dr. Seuss books.

What went wrong? Well, the screwdriver. Obviously the door is crooked because of the screwdriver.

If you know me at all, you probably have already guessed that I didn’t really try to rehang my bedroom door (although if I had, the result probably would have been the same). Though I gave a fictitious illustration, the point rings true. It never makes sense to blame a tool; the fault always lies with the person wielding the tool.

I just watched Colbie Caillat’s new music video, “Try.” Guess what, I loved it! The message is about the expectations “they” place on girls and women, what “they” say we need to do to be accepted. But, “You don't have to try so hard,” she sings, “you don't have to give it all away.” She encouraged girls not to bend until they break, to take their make-up off, and to let their hair down. To show she practices what she preaches, *ahem* sings, Colbie performs the final moments of the video with no makeup on. No airbrushing. No hair extensions.

What is the message that people get from this video? That the culture has been oppressing women long enough with their standard of beauty? That God created everyone beautiful in their own way?

Well, not exactly.

“Colbie Caillat Fires Back At Photoshop” headlines read. “Colbie Caillat Rallies Against Photoshop In 'Try' Music Video." I just have to shake my head in amazement. Did the people writing these articles and headlines ever bother to notice that Colbie never once mentions Photoshop in her song? Her lyrics pointedly talk about the culture we live in. She rallies not against the tool, but against those wielding it.

It turns out that this song reminded me of a verse or two in the Bible (surprise, surprise). Peter advices women, “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful.” (1 Peter 3:3-5)

My take-away from this verse is that, not only should we not give into the pressure of the world around us to starve ourselves, slather on make-up, and buy tons of jewelry to look beautiful; we shouldn’t be concerned with outward beauty at all. Beauty, after all, fades. A gentle and quite spirit is where true, inward beauty lies.

And do you know what? What’s on the inside can’t help but show on the outside.

What I Ask

I don’t ask for a life of bliss,
I’ve seen what too much ease and too much comfort can bring.

I don’t ask for all love and no loss,
Loss forces us to love more deeply and truly those we have left.

I don’t ask for a life devoid of sacrifice,
Sacrifice turns our attention from ourselves to others.

I don’t ask to be sheltered from suffering,
I ask to be given courage and grace to relieve the world’s suffering.

I don’t ask for pain to never touch me,
I ask for the strength to bear the pain when it does.

No, I don’t ask for a blissful life,
I ask to walk the hard life.

I ask to walk through this thick darkness,
Shining as a light, leading people to Him who gives True Life.

I ask to one day lie my weary head down,
Only to open my eyes to the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I ask to spend this life in pursuit of that Next Life.