Every person is born and every person dies. How do I know that? Well, there are a couple of ways I can point to and the first is there is no one from the Civil War that ended in 1864 still alive. That was 160 years ago. Secondly, Scripture says that in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
Psalm 90:10 tells us-
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Now if you are someone reading this today that says, well that is just the Bible and I don’t believe the Bible. You are probably then unfortunately someone who believes the government but even they agree on this point that people are born and die. There is a Period Life Table, 2021, as used in the 2024 Trustees Report on the Social Security website and you click in it here to see that they note everyone dies Period Life Table.
So there are two things we can observe. First, life is short and living it is what we do each day, for better or worse as we traverse this world. Secondly, death is inevitable. Well, so are taxes but that could be a topic for another day. Every one of us will die. We don’t know when or how but we know we are going to die.
I have talked a lot in the past about the end of the world and that is something people seem to be extremely interested in. So much so that they read books on the subject and some even get involved in trying to determine when it will happen. Again, you can look back at previous posts to get information on the subject along with perspective.
We have and do watch shows with a historical setting and enjoy them. Some are actual documentary and others are fictional settings in another time. Now if the producers,
directors and other decision makers are honest they will provide it in the historical context. What I mean is that they do not attempt to incorporate anything physically or socially as to our present time. That provides for a true historical presentation. Too often there are adaptations made which not only misrepresent history but even confuse it with today. We live in 2024 as of this writing and not for example 1924. One hundred years have come and gone. Things are different and we know things they did not.
One hundred years ago WWI had just ended and a Great Depression was coming soon. Automobiles and radios were making their presence known. Today there are wars throughout the world as well as electric cars and smartphones. In many ways, things are different but in many ways life is still the same. I think that is always the case about life. The things around us change but man does not.
I have written about the importance of history and our learning from it today. Unfortunately though, all too often history is stated but with a parenthetical that they should have known better. That is a dangerous place for any place in time to find itself. We don’t want those in the years to come to say they should have known better in talking about us today.
Why do we as civilized people do the things we do? Why do we call things something they’re not in order to make it appear more acceptable? Why do we lie to ourselves and say all is well? Why do we let people tell us something, and believe it, even when our own eyes and ears tell us it is a lie?
My conclusion is that people are often negligent in their understanding. That is because they are not willing to put in the time and effort to understand what we might call the pros and cons. The positive as opposed to the negative of a given matter.
I was listening to a friend recently say he was talking with some friends. They were discussing a wide range of the topics. Much of what he hears them say was in deference to what he personally believed and thought on those subjects. He asked why they believed the way they did and was surprised at the answer. They said that they believed what they believed because that is what they had been taught to believe. There had never been an attempt to find out if they truly believed it if they had all the information available. By the way information availability is not a problem today. However, it takes study and discernment to know if what is being said is true.
Freedom of speech is essential to our existence as citizens of these United States. Accepting or believing what someone says is based on understanding for ourselves whether what is said is true or not. Just because they said it doesn’t make it true but the they have right to say it. It is our responsibility to find out if that is true or not.
That is what I do each week with this blog. I also back up what I say as I have done today. Using Biblical and secular resources to state what I am sharing and why it is true. It is imperative that we are consistent in what we say and do.
As I was growing up there were values that became a part of what I believed. Those values were a part of determining the actions that I took and the positions I had on varying subjects. Those values are consistent, which is to say they match my positions and my actions. So if my values haven’t changed, then my actions and positions will not and cannot change.
There are things you would call your values. They are a part of you and they impact how you think and even respond to things around you. It is who we are and the way God made us. So stick to your values.
In God’s Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
Comments