Pietisten

Life, prosperity, health

by Penrod

“The real game is the game you are in.”

The mystery of life and personality remains and always will. It is life. Life is always on the move and cannot be captured. Our bodies of needs and urges and ultimately death that make our existence possible, quite graciously make themselves subject to our minds; we are conscious, and we live in the independence of personal life and freedom. Amazing. Astonishing. Improbable! And, yet, there it is. Here it is.

Look around. Take in the vastness of reality and the variety of human life and human living. It takes a lot of attention to even scratch the surface. Complexity confronts us pilgrims everywhere. All of creation is required to provide a foundation for the actuality of our bodies, personalities, and social lives. Pay attention, we should, to how much is already here for us when we arrive from the womb and as we proceed as persons, keeping in mind how ignorant we are. One old and familiar name for this provision (providence, from pro videre, to see ahead), I chuckle to say, is reality.

In reality, the threats to civil society are great. Conflict abounds. Never have peace makers been more needed. The most important thing for human survival and for fostering human life is peace. Let’s do what we can for peace, let’s be aware of the efforts of people who are peacemakers right now, let’s praise them and be glad for them. As for ourselves, may we be tender-hearted and tough-minded, as Dr. King preached years ago. His text was “Be wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.” This makes me smile because it is a guiding premise of this journal. The recommendation to be practical and loving comes from Jesus by virtue of the scribes to our great Brother Martin — and to us. Dr. King got it from Jesus. Jesus understood that we are always in action. Living does not stop until we die. Meanwhile, there are no time outs, no commercial breaks. Humans are in an amusing predicament, don’t you think? Amusing if one is relatively safe. Unfortunately, many persons do not have food, clothes, shelter, or safety.

I came across the common Egyptian greeting from 4,000 years ago wishing persons “life, prosperity, health.” That’s pretty cool. It’s a blessing that creates goodwill and makes for peace. Life, prosperity, health to you.