Soul and Spirit

Thank You, Tiger Stripes

We didn’t want you in the first place.

But you came anyway.

And you walked right into our lives and into our hearts.

A forlorn, abandoned kitten with a crook in your tail.

But you grew quite a bit in the last couple of months.

Into a healthy, lovable, funny, entertaining, comical, beautiful kitten.

Then we moved to a different place.

Our former landlords would have given you a safer home than this.

But we were too attached.

And I guess I was too selfish.

Tiger Stripes watching me
Watching me change the oil

Now you’re gone.

I just buried you out back, at the edge of the woods.

I can hardly believe it yet.

You were just too fearless and dumb when it came to vehicles.

But I thought you feared the ones zooming by on the road.

Either you didn’t.

Or last night one swerved onto the shoulder to “get” you.

And to think that just last evening I was thinking we should give you to our former landlords.

And now it’s too late.

I’m sorry. For us in particular.

It seems like heartache upon heartache in the midst of enough woes.

Maybe that’s why it hurts as much as it does.

So…thank you for the happiness and comic relief you brought to us.

We will miss you. And so will your good buddy, “Uncle” Tyke.

Tiger Stripes and Tyke
Keeping each other company

Andrée Seu and Glenn Beck

Not to exaggerate, but reading Andrée Seu’s latest article felt a bit like a punch in the gut. She is one of my favorite writers at World Magazine. She writes with skill, grace, wisdom, and spiritual insight.

But now she is saying that she is convinced Glenn Beck is “a new creation in Christ,” even though he is a practicing and believing Mormon.

It’s tragic that she would believe this, write this, and that World would publish it.

A few short thoughts in response.

Up to that point, I agree with Justin Taylor.

And for all that I know, I agree with him after that point. But I haven’t read all that he wrote regarding Andrée Seu’s Tragic Mistake on the Gospel of Glenn Beck.

Orphan Boys…and I?

No. I’m too old. I’m too poor. I’m too overwhelmed.

But this still tugs:

Most orphans are adopted into a family as infants. But what becomes of the orphans who are not so fortunate to be adopted? What happens to those who begin to fall through the cracks of the system?

It’s no secret that Russian orphans who do not have a forever family almost always struggle in adulthood. According to Buckner International, kids who go through the entire system and leave the orphanage at age 17 often end up involved in drugs, prostitution, and crime right away. Estimates show that almost 10 percent of these orphans commit suicide within the first three years after leaving an orphanage.

[…]

Older orphan boys from Russia are the most desperate for homes right now. For whatever reason, boys are less likely to be adopted in general than girls, and this is especially the case as they get older. But it is no less imperative for these boys to find homes than it is for girls.

Source: Adoption crisis: Russian boys need homes

That Sword in Your Head

Or is it a Swiss Army knife?

The writer of Proverbs describes an unwise person as “one who speaks like the piercings of a sword” (12:18). Our tongues can be like a multi-bladed Swiss Army knife when it comes to the variety of ways that we cut and destroy each other.

Unhealthy attitudes of anger, irritation, frustration, and impatience — even disappointment, stress, guilt, and insecurity — all contribute to our damaging speech. And as we cut with our words, we wound and divide friendships and relationships. It’s no wonder that the infamous list of seven things that are an abomination to the Lord includes anyone who “sows discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:16-19).

How do we stay off that list?

Since I didn’t write this, I shouldn’t just quote the whole thing, should I?

Here’s the rest: Cutting Remarks. Please read it.

Slavery USA?

I’ll admit it. That this goes on in the USA boggles my mind.

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “sex trafficking?” Brothels in Cambodia? Abducted women in South Africa? The 2008 film “Taken”? Whatever your thoughts may be, they are likely focused in impoverished countries filled with women who have no other options.

Yet, this heinous crime and organized trade goes daily unnoticed when it occurs in the United States. That is: unnoticed or unrecognized for what it is.

[…]

The United States is no virgin when it comes to the exploitation of its own children. Modern-day abolitionist York Moore with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship says, “We’re all seeing the evolution here in the United States. Ten years ago, when we talked about human trafficking, we were primarily talking about a phenomena that existed outside of the United States. Back in 2001, there was an estimated only 45,000 – 50,000 slaves in the United States.”

As shocking as those numbers were ten years ago, they are not nearly as disturbing as the rate at which the crime has grown. Pat McCalla of a ministry to sexually enslaved minors known as “Streetlight” in Phoenix, Arizona says the problem in the U.S. has grown to “anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 underage women being trafficked every year.”

Human trafficking is now the second-largest criminal industry in the world after drug trafficking, and it has become the fastest-growing criminal movement. The United States is no exception.

Not only is the degradation climbing higher in sheer numbers, but the ages of victims seem to be getting lower by the year. “We’re definitely seeing an evolution in the United States not only in terms of the raw numbers, but also in terms of the appetite for young flesh,” says Moore. “It’s very disturbing.”

[…]

Whether minors are used by family members, abducted by clever traffickers, taken from their suburban beds on a nightly basis, or blackmailed into a life of unending agony, the problem exists all over. “In the last three years, I’ve visited Boston, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Paul, San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Denver. Every one of those cities has a problem,” explains McCalla.

Source: The U.S. sex trade flourishes: number of enslaved minors increasing

Both Sides Say, ‘Gross!’

There is widespread shock following the news that Duke Amachree has lost his case, having been sacked for mentioning God in the workplace. An employment tribunal has ruled that it was reasonable for Wandsworth Council to dismiss Duke. Duke was initially suspended for telling a client with an incurable illness not to give up hope and suggesting that she try putting her faith in God. He was later sacked for gross misconduct for his comments to her and for taking the story to the press. The decision has come as a huge surprise to Duke and to his legal team.

Duke, a father of two and committed Christian, had worked for Wandsworth Council for 18 years and had an unblemished record. Yet, as a result of the comments he made in one 45 minute housing interview, he was subject to 6 months of investigations and three interviews with the Council. His solicitor was even told by the Council that saying “God bless” to a client would require an investigation if the client complained.

Gross misconduct usually covers such behaviour as violence in the workplace, theft or other such serious conduct. Yet the client herself expressly stated that she did not want Duke to be dismissed for what he had said and Duke had never been told that such small talk in a housing interview was prohibited. The Council have always accepted that Duke’s motivation in speaking to the client was purely one of compassion.

Duke, backed by the Christian Legal Centre, took his case to the tribunal where it was argued that the Council’s decision to dismiss him was grossly disproportionate and unfair, and that they had discriminated against him on the basis of his religion.

For the rest of the story: Shock decision against Council worker sacked for mentioning God

Meanwhile, an observation: If this had happened in the States, the issue raised may well have been racial discrimination.

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Above all, love God!