{"id":201,"date":"2011-12-15T07:18:31","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T12:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=201"},"modified":"2011-12-15T07:18:31","modified_gmt":"2011-12-15T12:18:31","slug":"keeping-it-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=201","title":{"rendered":"Keeping It Simple"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/font><\/p>\n

Thursday of Third Week of Advent<\/o:o:p><\/h2>\n

Is 54: 1-10; Luke 7: 24-30<\/o:o:p><\/h2>\n

Dc. Larry Brockman<\/o:o:p><\/h2>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

You can outsmart yourself.\u00a0 <\/span>You really can!\u00a0 <\/span>Our society almost trains us to do that.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

Previous generations were taught the faith through old fashioned rote memory using the Baltimore Catechism #2.\u00a0 <\/span>Some of us remember that; but most of you, all of you who learned about your faith after 1963 in fact, probably don\u2019t know a thing about the Baltimore Catechism.\u00a0 <\/span>You see, those of us who were taught the old-fashioned way, were taught what the Church teaches by rote memory first.\u00a0 <\/span>And then, later on in life, we went through a conversion experience where we thought about what had been drummed into us and either accepted or rejected in our hearts the faith we were given by rote memory.\u00a0 <\/span>But the point is, that we knew- we knew exactly what the Church taught.\u00a0 <\/span>And it was simple; it was black and white, not relative<\/font>.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

Today, the emphasis in our secular society is on \u201crationalism\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>Everything is put to the test of reasoning as it is taught.\u00a0 <\/span>Everything is subject to questioning; and everything \u201cdepends\u201d on the circumstances.\u00a0 <\/span>Nothing we are taught seems to be on firm ground.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

This contrast, it seems to me, is the same as the contrast between the Pharisees and Scribes of the Law mentioned in the Gospel as opposed to those who were baptized by John.\u00a0 <\/span>The Pharisees and Scribes suffered from the danger of too much knowledge and a serious dose of \u201creasoning\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>All of John\u2019s claims had to be tested, validated, proven, and compared to the scriptures and the detailed law.\u00a0 <\/span>And this was done with their minds rather than their hearts.\u00a0 <\/span>The Pharisees were not looking for the answer in their hearts- they were looking for compliance with the scriptures in their minds.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

On the other hand, \u00a0<\/span>the people that John baptized were just looking for the ultimate truth that would resonate with their hearts.\u00a0 <\/span>And so, John told them that truth- that God\u2019s word asks us to believe; to recognize our sins; to repent of them; and to accept the immanent coming of the Lord; and that if we do all that, we will enjoy the Kingdom of God- simple, basic, and not complicated by a lot of hair splitting; and a matter of the heart.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

We have the same choice as the people of John the Baptist\u2019s time.\u00a0 <\/span>We can choose to listen to the word of God with our hearts, not hanging up on the details, but rather, tuning in on what is really important; or bogging down into the culture of today\u2019s secular society, one that demands- \u201cshow me the details; and prove your thesis.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

This Advent, we are given the opportunity to reflect on the simplicity of the message that the Lord is coming, the savior is coming.\u00a0 <\/span>Be prepared for the coming of the Messiah- the Almighty God incarnate as the son of God.\u00a0 <\/span>Accept that with your heart, and live Jesus\u2019 practical lesson of love.\u00a0 <\/span>If you don\u2019t, you can outsmart yourself in a sea of sophistication that wants proof of the coming of the Son of God amongst us.\u00a0 <\/span>The choice is yours.\u00a0 <\/span><\/o:o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday of Third Week of Advent Is 54: 1-10; Luke 7: 24-30 Dc. Larry Brockman You can outsmart yourself.\u00a0 You really can!\u00a0 Our society almost trains us to do that. \u00a0 Previous generations were taught the faith through old fashioned rote memory using the Baltimore Catechism #2.\u00a0 Some of us remember that; but most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[103,102],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}