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Seen on a student’s T-shirt: The journey is the thing, not the destination
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To the Editor:
If a journey is more important than reaching the destination, what is the purpose of the journey? This gives us cause to think in spiritual terms. Before sin there was no destination. Adam and Eve were already there. When sin entered through the disobedience of our first parents, “the Lord God sent fallen man out of the Garden of Eden” (Gen.3:23). Paradise was lost. Adam and Eve were sentenced to having a journey through the dismal world to judgement. A good description of the hopeless journey of fallen man is Cain’s life after he murdered Abel. He was cursed from the earth, “a fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” The journey was not attractive, Cain said, “my punishment is greater than I can bear.” It was not a journey without a destination. Unless Cain repented he was damned. The journey of fallen mankind is a miserable journey. Look about in this sinful world. What is thought to be good times are only temporary and a delusion and mask, reality of anguish and misery of life, and then the sinner dies.
But God out of His heart of love was determined to salvage the situation. He promised the Savior - His own Son, Christ bore the sins of the whole world and endured the punishment of hell. In baptism the Spirit of God gave us new life through the washing of regeneration. He set us on a new journey, a journey to a destination. As difficult as our journeys and trials may be, they serve to focus on the destination the return to paradise. Trusting in Jesus our Savior, in whom we have full and free forgiveness of all our sins, the gates of paradise are open to us and all who in faith cling to Him.
The journey through life is nothing without a destination. Dressed in the robes of Christ’s righteousness, we shall wear the crown of life. Each of God’s children by virtue of God’s grace and Jesus atonement can sing with honesty and conviction, danger and sorrow stand round me on every hand, heaven is my fatherland, heaven is my home. (TLH660) The destination is reached. Blessed peace at the end of the journey.
Milton A. Meyer
Caledonia, Minn.
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Showing Christianity
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To the Editor:
To be a Christian means to be like Christ. Christian [Christ Like]. One needs to die to ones self and live for Christ. Live for the Glory of the Living God. Live to bring glory to God. The word of God says we are the Glory of God so we should live like that.
We that are called to be Christians should die to everything that is against godly principles. We need to teach others to be like Christ. He sent us a helper which is The Holy Spirit. The third one in the God Head. He is our helper. We are to do what we are taught in Gods word [the Bible]. When you understand what the bible really is it is easy to keep the laws of God. The Bible is our guild to living Christ like, living the way Christ did. What would Jesus do?
We should ask that question to the Holy Spirit before we make any move or do anything. We live in a world that is slowly destroying itself. The world is corrupt and getting worse. God said the earth would pass away and a new earth and new heaven would come. Man is doing a good job of destroying it. Satin [the god of this world] is encouraging in every way he can to destroy Godly principles. The Bible is out and replaced with lies. Lies keep filling peoples life’s.
People are afraid to stand up and voice there opinion when it comes to Christianity. Christians should speak out when it comes to teaching our children, and when it comes to morals. But no one does. They say let someone else change things. I will just go with the flow and rely on God’s grace. That is all well and good. If it wasn’t for grace none of us would be here. Meanwhile the enemy is laughing his head off and making more trouble for everyone of us.
When will Christians stand up and do what they were put on this earth for? Oh that is right what are we hear for? What is life all about? Is there meaning to it?
Of coarse there is. Life is a gift from God. We are here for a purpose and we need to understand that and live it to the fullest.
Wake up people God wants us to help. HE DOES NOT NEED OUR HELP, but HE WANTS us to help. It is for our own good that we help. If we are in Christ we are then, a new creation in Christ. That means what ever Jesus dose we are there because we are in Him and with Him. The word says all things were made by Him and NOTHING WAS MADE WITHOUT HIM.
If we are in Him then we are doing things with Him.
May God bless your day.
Marion Davis
Caledonia, Minn.
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Not living in the real world
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To the Editor:
Sen. Ropes and Rep. Pelowski don’t seem to be living in the real world. They have introduced spending bills by which small towns in Southeast Minnesota would be given more money by the state. This is done to fan the flames of partisan politics. Because of the bad economic climate, tax revenues were down over the summer adding $1.2 billion to the $5-6 billion state budget deficit.
The only reason to propose spending bills is to get them vetoed by the governor. These politicians don’t care about the cities. They only care about getting re-elected. Sen. Ropes flippantly remarked, “In terms of all the gigantic budget numbers we’re looking at, I would think we would be able to find a few thousand” for a small city.
She should say, “I’m willing to seek corporate sponsorship for the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona this summer instead of using taxpayers’ dollars.” This event has been annually funded by about a half million of our tax dollars. As the chairperson, she wouldn’t have to look far for the “few thousand dollars” needed. As far as I’m concerned, the mayors of the cities would use the money more wisely than our legislators in St. Paul.
Let’s get real, because our economic problems are huge! Paul Ibisch wants the state to focus on bringing businesses and jobs to these communities. I’m backing Paul Ibisch for Minnesota State Senate because he’s a real conservative, and he wants to find real solutions. He just makes sense.
Doug Baker
Lanesboro, Minn.
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Maybe gridlock isn’t such a bad thing
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To the Editor:
Recently Senator Evan Bayh defined legislative gridlock in Congress as
non-accomplishment. Contrariwise a recent article by two lawyers (D.
B. Rivkin Jr. and L. A. Casey) in a nationally read newspaper declares,
“when they gathered in Philadelphia in 1787, the Constitution’s framers
had three goals: [1] Establishing a strong national government that
nevertheless respected states’ lawful prerogatives; [2] imposed limits
on the exercise of government power so as to protect the citizenry’s
life, liberty and property; [3] and create a stable and enduring
political system.”
These men had survived a French and Indian War and a very long
Revolutionary War at great personal cost, also understood the
importance both of stability and limitation (i.e. enumerated powers) of
the power of the central government in a symbiosis with state and local
government. This would require a genuine consensus in support before
any action by the Congress. So they deliberately made “legislative
accomplishments” quite difficult to achieve.
Time was when American children learned at school that for any proposed
legislation to become law it had to be approved both by the Senate (two
senators for each state) and the House of Representatives, receive
approval by the President and receive a two-thirds majority in both
houses to override the President’s veto. This means that most proposed
laws are never passed--exactly what our founding fathers rightly
intended back there in 1787.
Those who don’t like these rules and desire to overrule them or add to
them by amending the Constitution must produce an even more difficult
consensus. In over 200 years that has happened only 27 times.
Rivkin and Casey explain: the Senate was “itself designed to serve as
a brake on change.” James Madison, our fourth President, explained in
one of the Federalist Papers, “the Senate would be a temperate and
respectable body of citizens able to check the citizenry when
stimulated by some irregular passion.” Much later the Senate devised
an even more “conservative” rule making it necessary to have agreement
of 60 senators to close debate on a measure.
There is a wonderful consensus in this country that we have a very
good national Constitution. Up till now our supposedly great diversity
has not produced a different consensus in favor either of a more direct
democracy or a dictatorial President or Congress or Supreme
Court—though there have not been wanting efforts to change or ignore
the Constitution.
Those who treasure “diversity” as of superior virtue and who urge the
Congress, the President and the Court to enact a law such as more
government control of education of all children or “single payer” of
medical bills or something called “gay”, that is, homosexual marriage,
may have to wait a while. These proposals would require extensive
changes in our foundational document. Up to now they have not overcome
the Prophet Isaiah’s dictum of “Woe to those who call evil good and
good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put
bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
Robert D. Culver
Houston, Minn.
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Ropes supports local farms
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To the Editor:
I recently read that Sharon Erickson Ropes, our state senator, toured local farms to listen to the concerns of our farmers and to connect them with fine food markets in the Twin Cities.
She also talked about creating a website where we can find out how and where to get locally grown food. I think this is a great idea! We eat more healthfully when we eat locally grown foods. In addition, we support our family farms, create jobs locally, and reduce the time/energy it takes to transport our food long distances.
It’s good to see public servants like Senator Ropes take action and reach out to the people of our district, especially the farmers. This will enable her to make decisions in St. Paul that can benefit both our local farmers and consumers.
Kathie Geiger
Winona, Minn.
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Caledonia area youth are making a difference
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To the Editor:
The people of Caledonia and surrounding communities can be extremely proud of the caring, compassionate and generous kids at Caledonia Area Elementary School (CAES).
After the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, some of the youth from Immanuel shared with their class at school one way they would help the people of Haiti. The Immanuel Sunday School learned about helping Haitians by putting together health kits with basic hygiene supplies that are desperately needed in Haiti. A student council member from the Sunday School class took this idea to the CAES Student Council. The student council decided they would also collect materials for health kits.
Between the efforts of the elementary school students and the Immanuel Sunday School, they gathered supplies for more than 213 health kits. These health kits will be sent through Lutheran World Relief to Haiti (for more information about Lutheran World Relief see www.lwr.org/.
The youth of the Caledonia Area Elementary School along with many community members have made a difference in a part of our world that is hurting.
Rev. Steven E. Meyer
Caledonia, Minn.
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