February 5, 2017
Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. George Washington
Meditation: Licentiousness means “lacking legal or moral restraints” especially disregarding sexual restraints. The Proverb below seems a wisdom “joke” more so than a wisdom “word” in today’s reality. Sins these days are not even hidden or constraint but they are declared as “the norm” and are open for all to see. And those who are unrestraint surely prosper and benefit from and take advantage of others who either do not know how to hold them accountable or who chose to not set restraints for various reasons ( for example fear, greed, opportunism, denial, ignorance)…
The concept that there is a God who holds accountable seems so far from what is going on. “Confession of hidden sins” seems laughable at a time where sins are not hidden at all. “Needing mercy” at a time where those in power act as if there is no accountability, as if there is no God who requires justice, seems an antique concept that no longer applies. Where are our former and future leaders who uphold values of respect, civility, justice and protection of the vulnerable by laws that aim at basic human rights for all people? We have seen the masses rise up and protest, demand limits, restraint and changes. And yet their voices are not the ones whose twitter messages are all over the news. How is our capitalistic society at large colluding and has no restraints? How are we either retreating into our private lives and groups to escape or how we are joining a culture that sees “unrestraint as normal”?
Prayer: God, you are a God who holds us accountable. You uphold justice. You suffer with those who are victims of our unrestraint culture. You see the open and hidden agendas of politicians who have become business people without limits and without real concern for the fallouts of their actions. We pray for your Spirit of restraint and of healthy boundaries to fill us with love and concern for our neighbors,for the strangers among us and for all of your creation. Send your Spirit to help us overcome the illness of narcissism that our country has succumb to. Amen
Proverbs 28:13 Those who conceal their sins do not prosper, but those who confess and forsake them obtain mercy.
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