Category: Articles

The Original American Sin

Poll: Nearly 4 in 10 Trump SC supporters wish South won Civil War

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/269510-poll-38-percent-of-sc-trump-supporters-wish-south-had-won-the-civil-war

I am amazed when people weep nostalgic and long for the good old days. To quote the late comedienne Moms Mabley; “What good old days? I was here, where was they at!?”

Moms was born in the latter part of the 19th century just 25 years after the Civil War came to a close. As a result of that war, it became illegal to own men and women as slaves but it was still considered within societal norms to rape, beat, lynch, and humiliate men and women of African descent.

That normality continued throughout my childhood as I personally learned to fear crowds of white men in Chicago. Too often we happened to infringe on what they believed was their personal public spaces at the beach, YMCA, and suburban Chicago restaurants or hotels. We were chased, and humiliated and spat upon.

Even now as I visit the formerly Confederate states of the south, I cringe and look over my shoulder when going in to large crowds of white people. It is not that I fear what might happen. I remember what did happen to me growing up in Chicago. I remember running from white boys who were spitting on me and calling me…, “N”, well you know what I mean. I never trusted the police. I learned and saw firsthand the brutality of the protectors who were really predators.

I remember the pictures of what happened to my kinsmen and women as it was filmed on television, reported in newspapers, magazines and radios.

American was not built on free enterprise. It was built on slavery. The wealth of this nation came from almost 400 years of free labor. The north had the banks and ships, and the south had the cotton and the slaves.

When it comes to wanting to relive “Traditional American Values” history tells me what that would really look like.

1. Kill the Indian (native Americans, or whatever they called themselves before being slaughtered).

2. Exploit the Chinese (along with anyone else who had skin, eyes and hair of other than European hue).

3. Enslave the Africans (and use their women to make new slaves by raping them and dehumanizing the men).

4. Humiliate the Mexican (manipulate and suppress the people of such descent and make them work like slaves, since we have run out of slaves).

Most Americans are repulsed with the pictures of their fellow citizens who are killed by the men and women who are charged with protecting them. However, those within these communities see this as normal part of their everyday lives. I really don’t want Traditional American Values. These values really are the original American sin.

‘You can see her in this room Dr. Johnson’. The caretaker of the woman’s shelter was glad that I had come to examine some of her residents. She then politely escorted Felicia and me away from the crowded gathering of the others and into a small side room. ‘You will be able to hear them from here but they won’t be able to hear you talk with Felicia. All of them were really anxious to see the doctor. There just was not enough time to interview and examine them all that day.

Once we were alone, Felicia stood before me her arms shaking like the limbs on a tree caught in a violent wind. She paced in place like a sprinter getting ready for a race. Then she opened up. ‘All I want is to stop the voices. I have not had enough of my medicines since I was released from prison 2 weeks ago. They only gave me just enough medicine till I could see a doctor. I don’t have insurance and I don’t know any doctor. I have been afraid of using all of my medicine because I did not want to run short. So I only use it when I hear the voices. They are beginning to whisper now.’

In order to keep the voices at bay Felicia had devised a plan to make her medications last a long time. She was desperate and knew a psychotic break would happen if not medicated soon. The scenarios for using prescription drugs is as varied and confusing as the stories of the almost 2 dozen or so women in the room we left behind.

I am no psychiatrist or psychologist. But I do know something about compliance when it comes to taking medicines. I never advise a diabetic to take medicine when nearing diabetic coma, or a hypertensive patient to wait for onset of stroke to do likewise. I know that waiting to hear voices is not optimal therapy.

The setting is a ‘half-way’ house for women. They reside here as they transition from jail, or prison. Some of them are escaping violence in their homes, or avoiding life on the streets selling their bodies for food and shelter. This place is safe. Here, they can find consistent comfort of blankets, caring providers and for today, a doctor visit.

My duties as a physician at Miriam Medical Clinic, have brought me face to face with this reality. One woman (transgender) wants to know if we can provide hormone replacement therapy so that she (he) can continue comfortably uninterrupted in this new mode of life. Another woman wants to know if we can treat her hepatitis C, and at the same time check for warts in discrete places.

I have studied and managed illnesses and diseases for a long time. However, providing health care for prostitutes and drug addicts is new to me. And then of course there are the people who have been recently released from incarceration and cannot afford their medications. Medications which if they could afford them, would slow their organ failure, prevent the infections, clear the skin rash, elevate their mood, and of course stop the voices.

This takes a team approach. I asked Kay who is the clinic administrator, to pursue getting a release of medical records from Felicia’s most recent emergency room visit. Then I review the records and discuss the medication regimen with Dr. Pitts our clinic director and clinical pharmacologist. Together, we consult his wife Pat, who is a practicing psychiatric nurse. She helps us formulate a plan that can readily renew the prescriptions.

It’s all rather complicated, but for Felicia the voices have been stopped.

He Never Winks
He Winces

I have fooled a lot of people with my appearance of a clean life. Now you may ask, ‘what secret sin could I possibly have?’ Someone with more discerning eyes is watching me and knows the truth.

Our Father in heaven never blinks. He never misses what is happening. He is all seeing and all knowing.

He never winks. He never dismisses the evil I do as white lies, bad habits, simple mistakes.

But He does wince. My sin causes my Father pain.

My sin nailed His only Son to the cross. That was painful.

He felt each lash of the whip, every thorn in the brow, the beat of the hammer pushing in the nails and the coup de’ grace, the spear in His side.

He did more than wince. He cried out: My God My God, why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:46

He sees it all. The sins done in secret and those I do amongst a select group of approving, admiring, or understanding people. The politically correct, socially approving, polite crowd say I can fit in, just don’t say sin.

God is not blind, unmoved, or unaware of my sin. He winces in pain as I openly disregard His call for holiness.

Psalm 19:12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Psalm 51: 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

I really didn’t want to give any money to him. Even though the presentation was excellent and it seemed a very worthy cause. Who could argue against it? Of course we all want people to be safe from violence, especially innocent women and children. I’ve seen the pictures on television.

I just didn’t want to give, even though I knew I should. So I used my best delay tactic. I looked him straight in the face and said, ‘let me pray about it.’

That is actually a good way to work my way out of doing what I know I should do. I pray about, muse upon, consider, meditate and in the end forget about the whole thing and go spend my money on something I want for me.

Try it out yourself. The next time someone hits you up to help someone in need, pray about it.

Proverbs 3:27-28 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,” When you have it with you.…

James 2:15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?…

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”;

I bounced this off a friend who will remain anonymous (D. M.), before writing it. I assume he will remain my friend afterwards. But it occurs to me that our Heavenly Father is really focused on Himself. It is all about Him!

Not only was mankind created in His image, designed for His purpose and to express His glory, we were also allowed to fall into sin by His permissive will and then redeemed by His only Son through His own resurrection power to be restored to a holy relationship with Him.

When I asked D.M. about this he smugly replied, yeah…, and…, so what? Of course it is all about Him Michael. Do you have a problem with that? If so, take it up with Him privately and don’t bring my name or initials up in the conversation.

So I did just that. I asked the Almighty what that was all about, this self absorption as I saw it. It was my Job moment. He didn’t skip a beat. Who, or what else could absorb Me?

Job 38:3-4 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

David expressed this in 1 Kings 8:27 “But will god indeed dwell on the earth? Behold heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you.

And it is recorded in Acts 7:49 ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.

And once more Colossians 1:16 (TNIV) For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

And in Colossians 1:19-21 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven

God is all that and more because He alone is I AM. He alone is worthy of praise and honor and glory. And yes, He alone can claim rightly to be self absorbed, because only He can contain Himself.

D.M. stood aside me, laughed and said…, I told you so!

My friend Douglas Miller is gifted at the understatement. He cautioned me about the temptation to sin carefully. That, he described as being on the verge, the edge, the almost sin. It is keeping the appearance of being nice, good and polite while at the same time keeping my private hidden habits.

The author Jerry Bridges describes this as Respectable Sins in a book by the same title. Because we have avoided the word sin, we substitute things like mistake, habits and addictions. No one is at fault for these failures of our flesh. We can blame our genetics our environment and even bad luck.

In careful sinning we don’t really sin, we get away with something that is harmful but only suffer a slight injury.

The Bible leaves no room for this.

Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sins, it shall die.

Romans 3:23 All have sinned and fallen short of the of the glory of God.

Better be prayerful not careful about sin and ask Christ to redeem your from sin’s grip.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23 KJV

I actually knew this from the time I met her. It is what attracted us to one another. I saw it in her eyes, and she heard it in my voice. It was inevitable that we would share this. God would use this contagion to manifest His mercy and grace in us and through us. So we got married.

We were relatively early in the manifestation. Only a few signs and symptoms showed, but it was clear that if left unchecked it would lead to the death of both of us.

There was no use in calling in experts for advice. They would only conclude the same. Death awaits. This death comes slow. It starts with allowing the other to have the last word. That is an ongoing process frequently interrupted by the need to get even with an ‘I told you so’.

A loss for the desire for earthly gain follows closely thereafter. This meets strong resistance heralded by the envy and jealousy of seeing others accumulate and prosper by world standards.

Weak knees and nausea develop as we try to avoid the appearance of evil. We became more aware of our entertainment and appetite for pleasure.

This contagion causes heart trouble. Our hearts were troubled when we saw people hurting and going without the necessities of life.

It caused mind troubles, as we were continually invaded with thoughts of how we could better serve the under-served the underclass the under-appreciated.

It caused nervous system disorders. It gave us a heightened sensation in our hands all eyes our ears and eventually it affected our speech. We longed to touch and hear and smell and feel the way Jesus does.

The terminal signs are beginning to set in. Our desire to impact and infect the world is becoming the principal cause for which to live. That cause is to make Jesus the Christ known as Savior of the world and soon returning King.

And as noted, it ends in death. The death of self will and self ambition. We are determined to be united in this death. Jesus bids us all to join Him.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in alluding to this infection wrote:When Christ calls a man, He bids him to come and die

John 12:25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

God our Father likes to wait. It seems a waste of time to me. I would rather He just get it over with and destroy the wicked, save the righteous and get to the movie credits. But He does not work that way.

1 Peter 3:9 9The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

His love is longsuffering, patient, and never weary.

Isaiah 9:17 For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.

Effective love is not efficient. It waits. Christ waits for us.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (Love) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

God wastes nothing. He will have His way, on His terms, in His time. Love is not efficient as we see it. It is God’s will that all should come to know Him and our times are in His hands.

Smelling our children’s breath had become a nighttime tradition. We wanted to instill good habits in our children and dental care was one of the more challenging ones. They had become accustomed to the nightly inspection and the command: “Let me smell your breath”. This was to be sure that every night they would routinely floss and brush their teeth. It is not that we did not trust them but, well, I take it back. We did not trust them! So to be sure they had obeyed we would make each one of them stand, open their mouths and we would take a ‘whiff’ for the scent of toothpaste mint. It worked most of the time.

This routine had become a bit boring but necessary to keep the dental bills down. At the end of one busy night our youngest daughter Keturah came to make her declaration of minty breath. She crept quietly down the stairs after the others had passed inspection. She then proudly lifted her night shirt to reveal her bare two year old chest and declared, ‘smell my breasts!’ I am not sure what made her believe she had anything to inspect, but she was certain we would not find anything to impugn her. She was right. She passed inspection. We never got to the tooth part.

Self breast examination has been one of the foundations of early cancer detection for decades. Though it has been marginalized by new imaging techniques of mammography, ultrasounds, CT scans and even MRI in some institutions, it is still considered an essential adjunct of personal responsibility for health care. It has even in some instances replaced the doctor even touching the patient. Oh the marvels of modern medicine and the ‘no touch’ technique!

However, nothing can replace personal responsibility. We live in an era of blame. We blame our parents, our government, our teachers, our churches and even our friends for choices we make. We have the ability but not the desire to control our own behavior when it comes to things we know to be harmful. We eat too much, drink too much and indulge in all manner of things harmful to our bodies and minds.

Self breast examination allows the small lumps to be detected early enough at a stage where the tumor can be prevented from invading the lymphatic and blood vessels. A small lump can be invasive and kill.

Small sins are equally as lethal. They invade before they are even detected.

The sins of lust, envy, jealousy, un-forgiveness and lying, seem like small lumps, however, they are lethal. In an attempt to satisfy our flesh by avoiding embarrassment, we cover our tracks with a variety of tricks. Money trails, travel documents, phone calls and any trace of our sin is hidden. Of course this deception costs. It invades our finances and our relationship with family and other friends. It affects our schooling, our job, and before long, it has metastasized to every part of our lives. We steal time, reputation and even the emotion of those whom we love.

It is time to do a self examination of our breasts. We can detect the tumor while it is still curable and before it is visible to others. That is the best chance for cure.

We have taken our faith for granted. It is this sin of presumption that allows us to sin and take God’s grace for granted. We don’t need to live holy, or so we think because after all, we are forgiven.

Ro 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

“Pull me closer please, yes closer than that!” It was to be an intimate dance. The male partner was reluctant to get too close, but upon his female partner’s insistence, he did pull her closer and closer. It was not close enough apparently and she said again: ‘pull me closer still!’ I think it was Marx (mind you Groucho the comedian not Karl the philosopher) who said; ‘If I held you any closer, I would be behind you.”

Intimate contact puts me in a vulnerable position. Hugging, shaking hands, sitting next to people are all situations and actions that leave me exposed to a variety of possible infections and even relationships that I don’t want to explore. So I make it a ‘habit’ to be very careful how close I allow anyone to get.

I recognize that my personal life is somewhat reflective of my spiritual condition. The odds of course of me getting some infection by touching someone are at best remote. Most of the diseases that are passed require a lot more than a handshake or sharing a soda or a seat. However, I keep my distance in most instances because I don’t want to be known for who I really am. I am hiding myself from others. I would rather they only know me from a distance and I prefer not to know much about them.

My relationship with God is much the same. I really don’t want to get too close to Him. I might catch something from Him. He might infect me with a desire to change my lifestyle, my choices, and my priorities. He might want me to give more of myself to those who need a kind word, a decent meal, a smile or even a touch.

So I keep myself as far away from God and His word as I possibly can. If I read His word the Bible, it will cause me to look at myself not as the infected, but as the infector. That is, I will start to see myself as not so pure and clean. I will begin to recognize that it is I whom others should be avoiding.

I am the one with the ‘holier than thou’ attitude. I am the one with the ‘don’t tell me what to do’ face. I am the one with the ‘I told you so’ stance. It is these attitudes that are highly contagious and I am sure I have passed these infections on to many people.

I need a more intimate walk with God in order to make better choices in life. It is this intimacy of drawing closer to Him that will enable me to get closer to others in my personal life. It is this intimacy with God that will help me to help others.

Yes, I will allow Him to pull me closer. He will be behind me after a while. In fact He will be all around me and all over me. That is true intimacy.

Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you