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the HERALD Religion Wednesday January I 199 What is it that makes us human By JIM RYAN Herald Special Third Sunday In Ordinary Time Luke 11 1421 Jan What makes us human A difficult question It s seldom asked in such a direct way except in philosophy class But it is a universal question And it is posed constantly by everyone we know in indirect ways It was posed for me this past week by two writers Julian Barnes in his novel A History of the World in 10 Chapters and John Berger in an article in the Jan issue of the Manchester Guardian Weekly entitled Mad man in the Street The answer given by both writers is love Now love covers a pretty wide spectrum Julian Barnes leans toward romatic love John Berger leans toward compassion or agape love but both writers agree that the experience love that is common across the spec is the experience of seeing through the eyes of another per son For both men love is the when we see through another perspective John Berger puts it this way To forget oneself however briefly to identify with a stranger to the point of fully recognising her or him is to defy necessity and in this defiance then is a power which cannot be measured by the limits of the natural order It is not a means and it has no end Thev both agree that love is not necessary Julian Barnes writes Perhaps love is essential because it is unnecessary Love is anti mechanical materialist that s why bad love is still good love It may make us unhappy but it insists that the mechanical and the material t be in charge Julian Barnes goes on to Religion and Reality by Jim Ryan describe the effects of love it energizes it gives us purpose and individuality and it is tied to the truth Have you ever told so much truth as when you first in love lug in the gap between rhetoric and reality It just over a year since the Gulf War was declared Where were you on January 16 at about p last year I remember crying as I watched the CBC and the first reports of bombs in Bible Digest reflections For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound who shall prepare himself to the battle 1 Corinthians Christians are we sending uncertain signals and messages to the world Let s stand firm on the principles of God Word The world is watching us railing for railing but con tranwise blessing knowing thai ye are thereunto called that ye should inherit a blessing I Peter Anyone can repay evil for evil Christians should always do good so that God will receive glory and our lives recen e a blessing So then eery one of us shall give account of himself to God Romans 12 This is a sobering thought Are you ready to face the Lord It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn psalm 119 71 Yes blessings an come out of our difficulties Tough times help us to learn more on the Lord But the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear I Peter 15 When we walk with the Lord we will be ready to share a witness for Him The question is this Are we walking with Him as we should before thee as my people and hear thy words but they will not do hem for with their mouth shew much love but their after their of us know the teachings of the Bible Not as many of us practice them We must be serious about our commitment to the Happy is the man that always but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief Proverbs 28 Blessings come to those who respect the Lord Mischief comes to those who harden their hearts to God the choice is ours to make Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose Stripes ye were healed I Peter 24 Let don t forget what Jesus did for us on the cross He loves us very much Son of man prophesy against the shepherds of Israel pro and say unto them Thus the Lord God unto the shepherds Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves should the shepherds feed the flocks Spiritual leaders must examine themselves on a regular as to the motivations of their Remember we are here to serve Not rendering evel for evil or And they come unto thee as the people and they sit And as Moses lifted up the ser pent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up John 3 Jesus was lifted up on that cross to be the Savior of the world Have you put your trust in him NEW HOMES 8 minutes from Orangeville Baghdad My two week old son was asleep on the floor We were promised a New World Order but whether George Bush had a material or a spiritual world in mind it seem to matter much now What we are hearing about now is revelations about the lies that were spread to sell It gets a bit depressing John writes Between the experience of living a normal life at this moment on the planet and the public narrative being of fered to give a sense to that life the empty space the gap is mous In such gaps people get lost The answer that offers to those troubled by the gap is a compassion which refutes and is irreconcilable with any easy hope Give us the Lord year of favor Jesus spoke about the same kind of compassion that John Berger has in mind In this week s gospel Jesus talks about good news for the poor liberty to captives sight to the blind and freedom for the downtrodden At LARGE ESTATE LOTS IN SUBDIVISION BUNGALOW WITH WALKOUT BUILDERS 9423550 the end of his reading in this synagogue Jesus refers to the Lord s year of favor Now this is really neat It s a reference to the book of Leviticus and a beautiful extension of the idea of the sab bath We all know that Jews keep one day in seven holy But ac cording to Leviticus Jewish farmers also kept every seventh year holy In other words you were to work the land for six years but let it rest on the seventh year The Year of Jubilee is even more radical Aftei seven seven year cycles have passed all land takes a rest and everyone the land Furthermore anyone who lost his land because of debt had it restored to him This is the kind of promise that Jesus reads to the people Whether the Jews ever really practiced the Year of Jubilee or the Lord Year of Favor it was always set before the people as the Ideal they should follow This ideal the perfect sabbatical follows naturally from sion Let our New World Order become real through love the HERALD CHURCH DIRECTORY To your church special services calf our Advert Deportment at and ask for Barb ANGLICAN m Sunday School 9 a Si l9St Acton Sunday Services m 10 a Sunday School 10 JOa St Tht 17 Main St Glen Williams Service limes Sunday 00a m 10 St iiKhurcl do St Georgetown Service Times Sunday a 00 Thursday 10 r BAPTIST Acton Baptist Church Mill St E Acton Worship Christian Education Maple Avenue Baptist Church 177 Maple Ave Georgetown 873 9211 Worshipll Family Bible Hour9 30a m Coffee Fellowship 10 a Evening Praise 6 30 p m Baptist Church 1 S Georgetown 2184 Worship and Children s Program 11 00 LocationofLOVEINCHRISTFOODBANK Open Wed mornings CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY ALLIANCE Georgetown Alliance Church S Georgetown Service Times Sunday II am Sunday School 9 a LUTHERAN Windsor Carole Sts Georgetown Worshipll a Sunday School PRESBYTERIAN Knox Presbyterian Church Mam Sts Georgetown 877 7585 Worship 11 a m Sunday School 10 a m THE SALVATION ARMY Salvation 114MillSt Acton 1140 Sunday Services 00 a m Evening Praise p m Sunday School UNITED St Andrew I w ltd S Georgetown Worship St United hurih Georgetown am Sunday School 11 St United Main St Glen Williams Worship 9 Iff immanuel LUTHERAN CHURCH Windsor lid St Sunday School a Worship Service 1 00 a Rev Fritz Schmif NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH WHERE APOSTLES ARE ACTIVE T0DAT Sunday School SERVICES 10 30 Wednesdays 8 00 m HILLS CONGREGATION 150 Man St South Acton Reel of Sltphan Wignst A To AIT