The world was not worthy of them
Copyrighted by Bill Venrick, 2008

The title of this essay comes from Hebrews 11:38. The words that follow have not come easy to this writer since we live in a land of political correctness, casual life styles and a trading of virtues once deemed "natural" or even Christian, or no less than "godly" when one considers the oft used phrased, Judeo-Christian virtues or values. Let's face it, America, those of us who have lived in the era from the late 1920's until this 21st century have experienced what might be called "The Surviving Witnesses."  But such an accolade needs some sinews and meat on the bare bones.

How long the financial and economic crisis America, and even some parts of the world, will take to right itself (like cream coming to the top of its container, or oil and water separating in a laboratory beaker) will not be known until "later." We can pray that what happens will be better than the circumstances that caused this sickness we have experienced. And it is a sickness.

The phrase used in the title was spoken by the inspired writer of the book of Hebrews in the Bible. The writer has chronicled "righteous people" or "faithful people" of centuries past (back beyond or before the divisions we call, BC and AD.)  But back to the writings in the book of Hebrews. Two words, "by faith" precede sections or paragraphs of that New Testament book and a near symphonic expression of words are so profoundly put together that nothing less than a great musical score by Beethoven or Bach needs to accompany the reading of this chapter of the Bible.

By faith we understand...

WOW - and what is it that is now being attacked?   Attempts are being made to wrestle godly faith from the mouths of our nation's forefathers by saying the Bible (or God) had no place or the background or lives of those spiritual giants who framed the Constitution, the By Laws and many other legal documents through which our nation was birthed. That very constitution is being challenged and attempts to virtually rewrite it by the men and women who were appointed as Supreme Court judges. The argument appears to be: "Is the constitution living or dead?"  At the rate spiritual values are being changed, it looks like the latter is the consensus of the majority of the individuals wearing black robes.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's commands. The words continue to flow: "By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain..., by faith Enoch was taken from this life...,by faith Noah...built an ark..., by faith Abraham...obeyed and went... All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised them...By faith Abraham offered Isaac (his son) as a sacrifice..., by faith Jacob...blessed each of Joseph's sons, by faith the people passed through the Red sea..., by faith the walls of Jericho fell..., by faith the prostitute Rehab...was not killed." And the writer of Hebrews went on to describe still more spiritual giants or heroes and because they lived lives of faith and died without seeing their goals - that is when we find the words: "The world was not worthy of them."

The moral application of this essay so far would be to say, "Our nation's leaders have, at least the majority who have ruled us lately, have sunk in their own stench of broken promises and misconstrued values -- they are not worthy of the hundreds of thousands of young men and women who have died on battle fields in our land and in lands across the seas. Their utter contempt for the bravery of fallen soldiers by attempting to discard the basic spiritual values our nation has held dear for over two hundred years smells worse than the foulest barnyard excrement produced. Our current leaders are not worthy of the men who gave their most for the very purpose of keeping our freedom.

I regretfully say, "It is disgusting to see our great nation floundering in financial chaos after the Great Depression and congressional shenanigans involving Social Security and broken promises, "IOU" slips left instead of refilling the coffers with cash; stealth-withdrawals used to invent programs liberally using money apparently with little or no intent to repay. In the recent decades our congress has gone along with [even] fake-sounding names like Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac that would make our grandfathers laugh out loud - "Loan people money to buy a house with no down payment? That's silly and unheard of!" "Nothing down? Ridiculous!" In actuality, the truth of the matter is: "If you cannot save to buy, you cannot borrow to buy." That is why there have been "renters" and "landlords" -- is that so difficult to understand? Even when manufacturers or companies project new products, they may have to invest (through borrowing) monies that require stocks to be sold. Our city and state governments work through bonds where the purchaser of bonds invests money to take care of our roads, dams, buildings and anything else deemed valuable enough for the most (or the citizenry). Those bonds are "paid off" in taxes levied against home-owners or property owners. The money lent was not freely given.

And they are trying to dupe us into believing that the right and proper ways that formed our land are no longer practical? Who are they trying to fool? They have already fooled themselves and apparently enough of our citizens to continue to reposition the parasites sitting on both sides of the aisles of our nation's capital. If this circumstance and situation is a catharsis, I pray we will see the best flushing that Washington has had for decades! No incumbent is worthy of any more terms to misguide, misuse and mismanage our treasury and taxes any longer. Term Limits should be the first order of business.

By faith we understand, and to put it another way - is it by no faith required (or allowed) that we are being cloned into dupes who will give our governmental leaders whatever they want? The new $1 coin which has received customary criticism from "concerned religious citizens" seems consistent with the covert workings of some leaders. True, they retained the motto "In God We Trust" but that motto has lost any significant place on the coin - its location is more like a riddle to solve. We went through one revolution (from a purported tyrant King) and now have we merely traded hats and some kind of crown is worn by men in $400 double-breasted suits and feet shod with wingtip shoes? And yes, men who have convinced themselves and us that they "have to have" two homes and all the other accouterments known and maintained by the members of our congress. Seems most, if not all, have never read the accounts in our nation's history where when members of the congress or government, from the President down, wrote letters like this:

"Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this august body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life." (-- and he went back home.)
-- George Washington (Address to Congress on Resigning his Commission, 23 December 1783)

I think what I would like to see is the National Guard being so busy directing traffic of our congress and senators leaving Washington every two years, they have to use auxiliary units of the Boy Scouts of America to make sure all evacuees get out by midnight of the day their terms expire. And the next day (or two or three, whatever it will take) the same National Guard and Boy Scouts, if needed, will have to do this all over again, directing traffic as the new crew comes in to try to do something with the circumstances left by the previous folks. The only problem is maybe some kind of an extermination crew might need to be used making sure no unhealthy residue remains before the new folks get there.
 
Perhaps we ought to at least try to smile and see some value in the philosophy of the cartoonist, Charles Schulz: "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."
Charles M. Schulz

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THE WORDWRIGHT