Immaculate Conception of Mary

For years I have told students about the Immaculate Conception of Mary doctrine. On December 8, in 1854 Pope Pius IX proclaimed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, asserting that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved from the effects of original sin from the first instant of her conception. In that way when Jesus was born he would not be tainted by original sin.

The doctrine of original sin says that all are born in sin. One suggestion is that the act of conception itself is an act of lust, therefore an act of sin. Others would suggest that it is a part of our genetic makeup. Because of this doctrine another false doctrine developed--the baptism of infants.

Roman Catholics believed until just recently that infants who died without baptism went to Limbo, a region supposedly just on the edge of hell. Unbaptized infants (including miscarriages) could not go to Purgatory to be eventually purified like the rest of us get to do, and certainly could never go to heaven. By papal decree that doctrine has now been removed from the Roman Catholic church.

We lash out at the Mormons for their Book of Mormon and the Muslims for the Quran, but what has been done by popes and councils of the Roman Catholic Church is no different.

Mary was a normal woman who had a special experience. She was impregnated by God to bring Jesus into the world. After that since she was married she had at least four other children. She would die a widow in the care of the Apostle John. She should be honored for her faith and devotion to God, but nothing more. She is not worthy of worship any more than any other good person.

Marriage and children are part of the plan of God to continue the population on the planet on which we are placed. Sex is a special gift given to human beings to enjoy within the confines of marriage. There is nothing sinful about this act within the marriage bonds. So to elevate people who choose not to get married is unscriptural. That is not the way we were designed. Jesus said that some people would choose the single lifestyle and others would be forced into it, but he did not say that this made anyone better than those who were married.

We only need to look at the disaster this has created in the Roman Catholic Church to realize that even so-called celibate priests can lose control. If they had been allowed to follow God's program of marriage then the massive lawsuits that the Roman Catholics are experiencing would never have resulted.

And I stood in awe

Recently in a class at MCC, I led a discussion among the students regarding someone that they highly respected. The term "awe" indicates the highest level of respect, which really should be reserved for God. However, we use the term to speak of people whom we highly respect. As I thought about this, I told the class the great respect I had for my father.

Until I was about 15 years old, there was no greater man in my life than my father. I believed in his dreams, especially those when we would have our own "Jimmy" diesel truck and would be making the big bucks we believed that truck drivers made. We had the biggest Chevrolet available, which was a 2-ton truck. I can remember that we had come close to starving to death working in the logging business. Disgusted my father came home and a local trucker who knew my dad has this truck called to tell him that if he could get a dump bed on the truck he could go to work. The job was hauling slag (waste metal) from the local smelter (AS&R) to Climax Colorado to provide a base to place a huge conveyor from the mine to the mill. The job would pay $10.00 a load and my father could plan to make 8-10 loads a day. As I rode back and forth with my dad we talked about the "Jimmy" diesel we would soon have. However, we never got the "Jimmy" and my dad would die in 1974 working in a uranium mine in Moab Utah.

My dad was among the hundreds of children of his day who never got beyond the 8^th grade in school. The same was true of my mother. Nevertheless, through reading and personal development they educated themselves to at least a high school level. My dad was an excellent musician, able to play guitar, harmonica, and accordion. He did not read music but he quickly picked up tunes. A special event was whenever we had a private concert at home. My dad never attempted to do anything professional in music and now that he is gone so is the music he made. I always dreamed of being able to sing as well as my dad, but it never happened.

My dad was a classic shade tree mechanic who could fix anything that had an engine in it. There is a man in the church where I minister is almost a reincarnation of my dad. The church fellow cannot sing though. Otherwise, in habit, demeanor, and abilities they are two peas from the same pod. He worked for years as a mine-mechanic in the mines around Kokomo and Leadville Colorado. I remember the bizarre working hours my father had. Sometimes he went to work at 4:00 in the afternoon and got home after midnight or go to work at 3:00 in the morning and get home around noon. The shifts changed every two weeks. I do not how he was able to establish any pattern of sleep. I do remember that regardless of the time of day he got up or got home, my mother had a hot meal on the table for him.

The greatest year I had with my dad was when I was 13 years old. I spent the entire summer working in the woods with him. My working was certainly illegal because of my age, but no one seemed to care. I had my own ax and I worked alongside my dad as he cut trees for lumber. My job was to help to trim off the limbs. We walked up the mountain every day together, worked hard all day and then came back to the logging camp for supper. Some weekends we would return to Leadville to be with the rest of the family.

When I became a Christian and later went into the ministry, my father was very disappointed. He wanted me to have a good job as the result of a good education so that I would not have to struggle as he did. He did not see that happening in the ministry. Sad to say he never accepted Christ. He was a loner for most of his life and trusted only my mother. Every other friend he had and many families had betrayed his trust to the point that he trusted no one and died without any friends. At his funeral, the only people there were friends of mine and friends of my mother. My father died as he chose to live—alone.

His death was the hardest event I ever faced in my life. After than I had a lot of concern for people who lost loved ones. In the year after my father died, I began attending funerals especially for people whom I knew were not loved by many. I realized that funerals were for the living not the dead. The saddest funeral I attended during that time was for the child of one of my students. The baby was a beautiful normal little girl. However, when she was born, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her throat and before they could get it off she was dead. This was the first baby for the couple and she died in such a tragic way. I was the only person at the funeral. No grandparents, friends, or relatives. I wept alongside the couple as they laid their child to rest. I promised myself I would never allow anyone to go through that alone if there was some way I could be there. I have kept that promise and have attended funerals for people I never knew because I knew someone I knew that needed comfort at that time loved them.

This Day in History—December 7

This Day in History—December 7, 2007

For older Americans December 7, 1941 is a day "that will life in infamy." Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands was attacked early on a Sunday morning resulting in the sinking of much of the U. S. Navy as well as the destruction of most of the aircraft on the ground. The event plunged America into World War II. Congress declared war on both Japan and Germany at the same time. I was not old enough to remember this when it happened, but in the congregation where I minister there are people who remember well the event. Some of them would fight in World War II and some would lose loved ones there as well.

It is hard to believe that the last time we had a man on the moon was in 1972, 35 years ago. That person was Eugene Cernan, who commanded the last Apollo flight. Along with that, it is interesting to look at the aircraft we use and discover that much of it came into existence before that time as well.

It is also noteworthy that the Unites States officially entered World War I on this date in 1917. In just a year, the armies of America would provide the necessary assistance to drive the Germans back to Germany. It is always offensive to me that the French forget so easily who rescued them in two world wars or otherwise they would still be part of the German empire. The French are a very ungrateful people as far as I am concerned. Perhaps the next time we should just let them wallow in the control of their enemies.