Recently the body of a homeless man was found in the bushes outside a church in a nearby city. It was determined that he had frozen to death. Of course it upset the pastor and the other church staff, who felt guilty about not seeing the man's need, like the story of the rich man and Lazarus in the Gospels. How could we have prevented this? they asked. But someone else pointed out that the man was well-known to the staff at the homeless shelter only a few blocks away. He often came there to eat, they said, but would not stay the night even though there was room. It was his choice to sleep outside in the bushes.
In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man goes to hell because he ignores the poor beggar Lazarus at his gate. Apparently he was responsible for Lazarus, at least that's what Abraham seems to think. He goes to hell for something he didn't know he was supposed to do. But what if, after helping Lazarus one day, he comes out to find two or three more beggars at his gate? And each day more and more, as word gets around. Is he responsible for each and every one of them? This actually happened with the homeless mission. Word got around that they were willing to help anyone, no questions asked, and suddenly they found themselves deluged with people who had come from several states away to take advantage of their generosity.
This morning as I was going in to work, I heard about a man who had been arrested for drunk driving and died of a heart attack while in jail. The family is upset and blaming the jail officials, claiming that if he hadn't been arrested, he would be still alive. They said that he was on heart medication and the jail officials refused to give him any even though it had been two days since he last took his heart medication. Wait a minute. Whose choice was it to drive drunk? Whose choice was it to skip taking medication? I know we should not speak ill of the dead and this family is obviously grieving, but the blame should not be laid at the feet of his jailers. The man is dead because he chose to drive in an intoxicated condition and he got caught. What if he hadn't got caught but killed someone else in his drunkenness?
There is a big hullabaloo going on about Michigan's ban on texting while driving. Big Daddy Government is coming to take all our freedoms away. Well, I say that maybe we should honor all those who have died because of drunk or distracted drivers, for they, even more than our soldiers overseas, have died to keep the rest of us free. After all, freedom isn't free. They paid the price so the rest of us can text away, drink away and do everything behind the wheel except what we are supposed to be doing. The irony is I know many people who will not set foot on a plane because they are afraid of plane crashes, yet when you ask them how many people do you know who have been involved in a plane crash, 99% will say none. If you ask them how many people do you know who have been involved in a car accident--EVERYONE knows someone who has been in a car accident or has been in one themselves. We tolerate, in the name of freedom, an annual death rate that if it were the airline industry, there would be no airline industry. Meanwhile people grumble at all the security involved with flying--as if 9/11 never happened, as if no one tried to blow up a plane with their shoe or their underwear. Oh, no, that's interfering with my freedom.
Anna Sewell said something about liberty in "Black Beauty" that has stuck with me to this day. I wish I could remember the exact quote, but it was about an election in London and the different colors belonging to the different political parties. Jerry the cabdriver comes home from a long day at work to find his two children fighting over the merits of the different colors and he sits them down and has a talk with them. "But I thought blue stood for liberty," says the boy. "Liberty! Liberty! What is your liberty but the right to go get drunk and hire a cab and shout yourself hoarse for hours at a time?" says Jerry. "There's your liberty!" The point is it seems to be all all liberty and no self-responsibility these days.
There are days when I think Ayn Rand is right when she condemns charity and altruism. We are told that we are our brother's keeper, forgetting that when that line was first used, it was used to cover up a crime. There is a vast difference between murdering someone and being forced to take responsibility for others who don't take responsibility for themselves.
In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man goes to hell because he ignores the poor beggar Lazarus at his gate. Apparently he was responsible for Lazarus, at least that's what Abraham seems to think. He goes to hell for something he didn't know he was supposed to do. But what if, after helping Lazarus one day, he comes out to find two or three more beggars at his gate? And each day more and more, as word gets around. Is he responsible for each and every one of them? This actually happened with the homeless mission. Word got around that they were willing to help anyone, no questions asked, and suddenly they found themselves deluged with people who had come from several states away to take advantage of their generosity.
This morning as I was going in to work, I heard about a man who had been arrested for drunk driving and died of a heart attack while in jail. The family is upset and blaming the jail officials, claiming that if he hadn't been arrested, he would be still alive. They said that he was on heart medication and the jail officials refused to give him any even though it had been two days since he last took his heart medication. Wait a minute. Whose choice was it to drive drunk? Whose choice was it to skip taking medication? I know we should not speak ill of the dead and this family is obviously grieving, but the blame should not be laid at the feet of his jailers. The man is dead because he chose to drive in an intoxicated condition and he got caught. What if he hadn't got caught but killed someone else in his drunkenness?
There is a big hullabaloo going on about Michigan's ban on texting while driving. Big Daddy Government is coming to take all our freedoms away. Well, I say that maybe we should honor all those who have died because of drunk or distracted drivers, for they, even more than our soldiers overseas, have died to keep the rest of us free. After all, freedom isn't free. They paid the price so the rest of us can text away, drink away and do everything behind the wheel except what we are supposed to be doing. The irony is I know many people who will not set foot on a plane because they are afraid of plane crashes, yet when you ask them how many people do you know who have been involved in a plane crash, 99% will say none. If you ask them how many people do you know who have been involved in a car accident--EVERYONE knows someone who has been in a car accident or has been in one themselves. We tolerate, in the name of freedom, an annual death rate that if it were the airline industry, there would be no airline industry. Meanwhile people grumble at all the security involved with flying--as if 9/11 never happened, as if no one tried to blow up a plane with their shoe or their underwear. Oh, no, that's interfering with my freedom.
Anna Sewell said something about liberty in "Black Beauty" that has stuck with me to this day. I wish I could remember the exact quote, but it was about an election in London and the different colors belonging to the different political parties. Jerry the cabdriver comes home from a long day at work to find his two children fighting over the merits of the different colors and he sits them down and has a talk with them. "But I thought blue stood for liberty," says the boy. "Liberty! Liberty! What is your liberty but the right to go get drunk and hire a cab and shout yourself hoarse for hours at a time?" says Jerry. "There's your liberty!" The point is it seems to be all all liberty and no self-responsibility these days.
There are days when I think Ayn Rand is right when she condemns charity and altruism. We are told that we are our brother's keeper, forgetting that when that line was first used, it was used to cover up a crime. There is a vast difference between murdering someone and being forced to take responsibility for others who don't take responsibility for themselves.
