My conviction is, that, near or far off, in ourselves, or in our ancestors — say Adam and Eve, for comprehension’s sake — all our ailments have a moral cause. I think that if we were all good, disease would, in the course of generations, disappear utterly from the face of the earth.

What a remarkable concept! I had read this story several times and obviously overlooked this gem. All of Christianity is pretty much in agreement that disease and death were a result of the “fall” in the Garden of Eden. But what if Adam and Eve weren’t kicked out of the garden because they had sinned, but rather because they continued to sin? And this started the pattern of sinning that they passed on to future generations.

Disease, then, is directly connected to practiced sin — whether outward or hidden. Does that mean that a person’s sickness is an indicator of personal sin? The greater the sickness, the more sin present?

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If you don’t get everything you want, think of the things that you don’t get that you don’t want. Oscar Wilde

Attitude defines who you are.  For the moment, for awhile or for the rest of your life.  I work in a doctor’s office (administrator), and I have learned that all illnesses or diseases fall into one of two categories.  An acute condition is a temporary flare-up that, when treated, will eventually ease up or go away.  A chronic condition is one that will constantly inflict; the symptoms can be treated, but the illness will be your lifelong companion.

How you and I view life is often impacted by the circumstances we encounter or the people that invade our space.  On a grander scale, our religious training will shape how we deal with life.  God is Almighty, but what would Jesus do?

Attitude is a necessary part of our development.  It can be positive or negative.  It can also be apathetic, but I would throw that into the negative category.  Attitude is important to one who lives alone, as well as for those of us who interact with others through work, church, school or social activities.  It contributes to you accomplishing a goal or making someone miserable.

Attitude is what uniquely makes us human and is the driving force behind our actions through word or deed.  It is far greater than just mindlessly performing a task.  It generates our determination, our love, our anger and our hatred.  The Bible speaks a lot about the range of emotions that God’s created beings go through in their relationship with him, as well as their dealings with one another.

I have become more conscious lately how attitude affects my life.  More importantly, God has been teaching me a lot about my own attitude, even taking me back through the years to see where I had failed and disobeyed, and how my attitude was the culprit.  Many of us don’t realise that we are conveying a negative attitude.  Even what we might consider an obedient, submissive attitude may, in fact, be a resentful or bitter attitude.

Bad attitudes are founded in pride.  Our self defense behavior is often getting us into trouble.  Returning hurt with greater hurt.  Or worse, displaying sarcasm or smugness before we are able to be hurt.

Our attitude sets the pace for how we will face each day.  It must be disciplined, as any other characteristic of life.  My wife likes to say that we choose to have joy.  And she’s right.  But choosing it, then doing it brings the challenge.  And nothing is worth it’s salt unless it is tested.  Anyone who participates in group interaction, be it work or play, will easily attest to the fact that our hackles are armed and ready at the first sign of threatening behavior against our pride.

For many, as they grow older, they become more cynical, pining for the energy, freedom and pain-free days of their youth.  My life is going in the opposite direction.  I’m beginning, albeit slowly, to be more thankful each day for what God has already blessed me with.  I told a friend recently that, for all we can complain about, we need not look far to find someone who has it a lot worse.

I’m also thankful that God loves me enough to check me when my attitude is heading in the wrong direction.  I believe that we were placed on this earth to help others, primarily in being able to develop attitudes, beginning with our own.  One day at a time.

William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, took to the streets of London preaching to the drunks, prostitutes and downtrodden that Jesus Christ was their only hope to escape from the grip of sin. Now, 142 years later, people still are downtrodden and in the grip of sin.

When I read this quote, another quote came to mind, that of Charles Dickens: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Many years before and after Mr. Booth’s experience Christianity has been packaged and re-packaged, only to find the harvest still ripe and the world still hungering for truth.

Billy Graham was recently honored with the opening of a grand library in his name. In his “acceptance” speech, he remarked that it’s “not about the building.” And it wasn’t. It was about him, God’s Evangelist. I must admit that among the many notable advocates of the faith, Mr. Graham stands out as the symbol of Christian purity, humility and dedication. He spent over 60 years leading people “to Christ.” But the weeds seem to be thriving right along with the wheat, and the wheat is looking less genuine.

Many who are called Christian often behave in a non-Christian manner. Truly devout Chrisitans tend to be judgemental and unapproachable. Others lead lives that indicate, aside from regular church attendance, that they are really no different than their unsaved brethren. Like the bumper sticker says: Christians aren’t perfect — just forgiven.

William Booth’s “good news” (gospel) also has remained unchanged over the years. It is founded on the statement that everyone deserves to die and burn forever because they have rejected God. Even those who follow “God” are rejected if they deny Christ, his son. Booth’s premise that only Christ can bring folks out of the grip of sin is right on. But it is only a small part of a cumbersome formula (plan of salvation), when it really should be foremost.

God would have us be perfect. He will not give us a pass, no matter how many times we recite the Sinner’s Prayer. The perfection process spans eternity and is necessary to make us good and obedient children. The perfect plan of salvation is the following of his own perfect and obedient son, Jesus. Jesus communicated the love of the Father, as well as the will of the Father. And Jesus, knowing our weaknesses and desires, accepts nothing less than our complete reconciliation with our Creator. He gave his life to that end.

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

Sometimes old contemporary Christian songs will pop into my mind and run around for awhile.  Lately it’s been the 1994 hit Shine by the Newboys.  The song speaks to the Christian experience being so good that, being witnessed, it becomes desirable to those who aren’t Christian.  Similar to the verse above, the refrain ends with:

let it shine before all men

let ‘em see good works, and then

let ‘em glorify the Lord

The it referred to is identified in the first verse as your light, same as that which Jesus preached about in the Sermon on the Mount.  The Newsboys’ audiences were predominately confessed Christians, while Jesus’ congregation were some lower class Jews who were probably trying to make sense out of what he was saying.

But the message is clear.  The world is dark.  We are light.  Meaning the world is metaphorically darkened by their lack of true knowledge of the living God, and we, bearers of the “good news,” carry the torch of the gospel.  Trouble is, there are so many versions of the light, that it’s hard to distinguish which one can really extinguish the darkness.

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If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

Sounds too easy. And too good to be true. But I believe it with all my heart. God has given us everything we need to sustain life — all without us asking for it. Wisdom, on the other hand, requires a genuine relationship with him.

How do you know when you lack wisdom?

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I work in an office, and most of my day involves the use of a computer.  So an interesting thing happened to me today.  After an hour or so into my morning, I had just finished a brief meeting with someone and was making some notes after she left.  Suddenly, I couldn’t write.  My right hand became weak, my fingers tingled, and I couldn’t grip my pen.  When I tried to write, I couldn’t write clearly, and my hand would twitch or move in a different direction.

A stroke?  I wasn’t sure.  I had no other one-sided symptoms.  I shook my hand by my side and retried to write.  Still nothing.  I remember being more annoyed than scared, thinking I would have the tedious task of learning to write and type with just my left hand.  All this in a span of five minutes.  I work for a doctor, but I didn’t want to tell him because I figured he would want me to go get a CT scan, and, with no insurance and little money, that was seriously out of the question.

So I toughed it out, and a few minutes later, I attempted to write a receipt for someone, cleverly disguising the fact that I may not be able to complete the task.  But I did, however slowly, carefully guiding my hand through the motions — not some of my best writing, but legilble.  Still a few minutes later, and I seemed to be returning to normal.  My hand was tired, and a little sore, but now I had time to reflect.  Was it a stroke?  Carpal tunnel syndrome?  Then I remembered that I had seriously tried to beat my wife’s score in a Yahoo game the night before, which involved some furious clicking with my index finger.  So then I rationalized that I had just strained a tendon, and some wrist or hand movement this morning set the nerve off and running.

Then I wondered how my grandkids could click on those games for hours with no apparent discomfort — oh right, I’m almost 62 with gradually increasing arthritic hands.  Get a grip, Steve!  I did talk to the doc later about it, though, and he pretty much agreed with my self-diagnosis.

But for a fleeting moment I had experienced something that was out of the norm, accompanied by thoughts of life-changing consequences.  What does it mean to “get a grip?”  Some things won’t return to normal in five or ten minutes, a day, week or year.  What then?  I know that every beat of my heart, every twitch of my finger and every breath I take are under the purview of my loving heavenly Father.  Would I still be able to make this statement if it had been a stroke?

I hope so.  I’ve have three heart attacks, so I know something about life-changing events.  And I believe that everything we go through has a purpose; we just don’t always know what that purpose is, or if what we’re going through is meant to work a desired effect in us — or if someone else is being affected through our experience.

My prayer life is quite simple.  It daily consists of “help me” or “thank you.”  Everything in between can be attributed to meditation, or keeping quiet, in case he has something to tell me.  When the alien hand thing happened this morning, I prayed for wisdom and strength to get through it.  After it was over, I thanked God for giving me my life back.  I know that there are greater tests yet to come.  But each time I trust him to help me get a grip.