On their front cover of this month's issue, "Newsweek" magazine declared Mr. Obama "The first Gay President". "The President recently said, "History is on our side."I would think that similar words must have been said by Julius Caesar with regards to himself and the Roman Empire: "Citizens of Rome! History is on our side." And it was, until brutal facts set in and the Barbarians burst in. After his life was spared from a failed assassination attempt, Hitler declared, "Here you have it: proof that Providence is on my side." And so he thought, until the Allies arrived and they found him like they had found millions of others: burned to ashes.Of course "history is on our side"...at one time or another. You see, empires rise... and fall. Republics rise...and fall. Dictators come...and go. Presidents live...and die. Policies come...and go. Liberties are given...and taken away. Do we really think two hundred years is a very long time? Try two thousand years and counting!Recently, I spoke to an Irish woman who was really trying to convince me that the Catholic Church in Ireland would soon disappear. I told her I believed the Irish people would disappear before the Church did. I reminded her that that is exactly what people have been trying to do for centuries. The Irish Pagans tried to do it but St. Patrick wouldn't go away. The English Protestants thought they could terrorize the Church away, but they didn't. Now, it's the Irish Prime Minister's turn to think he can do it. And he won't, because the Church is larger than history. If history is supposedly "on our side", then I am pleased to say that the Church is "on everybody's side", including God's good side.Ever since the fall of man, the world has been operating upside down! Think about it. What is in common with all empires, dictators, most politicians, and too many demonstrators? If you want to be great then crush. If you want to be feared then you must terrorize. If you want to be respected, then show no mercy. If you want to be first then push and push and push. If you want to be heard then scream! If you want to be superior, then highlight the inferior. We thought we could build a tower and burst our way into Heaven. We failed. We failed because there was a better way. God wanted His Son to come to us. He did and He conquered. We have to change our ways of doing things. We have to start thinking more like Him and less like ourselves. Our way of doing things will always fail if we start at the top and work our way down. WE have to love like he loved. The Lord took delight in the meek and humble of heart. He loved the loser, the diseased and the crippled because he knew they could be so much more. But He also loved the prideful, the arrogant, the obnoxious and the intelligent because he knew they could be so much better.Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. What is "the Gospel?" What are the means? If you want to be great, then be small. If you want to be served, then serve. If you want to be worshipped, then love. If you want to ascend into Heaven, then descend on earth. If you want to be lifted up, then lower yourself. If you want to be first, then be last. He who humbles himself shall be exulted. St. Augustine wrote, "The only one who has ascended into heaven is the one who came down from heaven." That's it! That's the secret! You cannot ascend into heaven until you have fallen in love on earth! Let's turn the world right side up.Humility is a tough sell. Humiliation is an even tougher sell. But God told us, "I will be on your side." Go. Allow the Lord to be with you. Speak the truth that no one wants to hear. Love others like no one really loves. And you will start walking in his footsteps: Humiliation. Betrayal. Rejection. Judged. Sentenced. Executed. Entombed. And then and only then, no more steps. He will lift you up. Your grief, like His, will become joy!Start small. End great. Climb ever higher!
Credit: thelema-and-faith.blogspot.com
