Fountain of Thoughts: Scandalous Sin

The depravity of man. Sin, in other words.

My brother was home this last week. That is my excuse for not posting. It was great! He's gone now. Sadness. However, in the words of the great authors, "that is neither here nor there."

Speaking of great authors, I was reading recently a contemporary of my favorite author, Charles Dickens. I've read a couple of Wilkie Collins's books before, so last week I read a couple more.

Wilkie Collins by the way, was English. He was the first person to write a highly acclaimed/classic mystery, but he wrote for other genres as well. His most famous book is The Moonstone. His brother, Charles Collins, was also an author and the brother-in-law of Charles Dickens. Dickens is most notable for his books: Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.

Before last week, I had only read The Moonstone, and one other. Reading those, I wasn't really able to see much past the book. However, as I read more of his books, I was fascinated to see some of the author's personal viewpoints and character as portrayed in his writings. I was struck by several threads I saw among each of his books.

1st: Wilkie Collins was a realist. This was interesting because I am a realist. I hate it when characters in books are perfect and never do anything wrong, which brings me to point number two.

2nd: Wilkie Collins portrayed the depravity of man better than any other author that I've ever read. (Please see footnote at the bottom of this post) In The Legacy of Cain in particular, Collins showed distinctly how through Adam all men sinned. Collins concluded that yes, there are generational sins, but that those sins are not necessarily the sins of the immediately preceding generations, but ultimately are the sins of the first generation, Adam and Eve. This was a fascinating concept. I had never really thought about it either way, so I found it very interesting.

However, all that is not my real point, but merely a precursor, or rather the context of my real point. While thinking through one of the books later in the evening, the phrase 'scandalous sin' came to mind. I don't remember my train of thought leading up to the phrase. But that phrase stopped me.

A scandal, by definition, is a sin. A scandal, by more precise definition, is a secret sin made public. And that is what stopped me. A scandal is something everybody hears about. That is the definition of public in this case. The opposite of public is private. The definition of private is 'confined and intended only for those immediately concerned. Usually one or two people. Something personal.' We normally think of scandals as something at which to be horrified.

Have you ever realized, as I did that evening, that all sins are scandalous? Think about it. There is no such thing as a private, personal, sin involving no one but yourself. All sins, including those we think involve only ourselves, really include at least two persons. A sin involves you, the sinner, and the one or ones you have sinned against. Thus, the sin is no longer private, but public. In a situation where you think you have not effected anyone, you have sinned against God. And in a situation where you think you have only effected one person, you've actually hurt two. God, and the other person. All sins are scandalous. All scandals are things at which to be horrified. Therefore, all sins should be viewed with horror. Do you view all your sins with horror? or to lighten up a hefty subject with a play on words, are you scandalized by your sin?

As Christians, we've probably heard all our lives that God is watching us and He sees our sins and that we'll be held accountable by Him for them. Deep down, we believe all that. But do we live like it?

This is a topic that I've been thinking about a lot lately. It's been brought to my attention through more than one thing. My post is too long already. Next up is part 2: Degrees of Sin?

Here's a little preview:

We say there is no such thing as a little white lie, but do we live it? Do we think of that little lie we told as something about which to be horrified? I'm certainly not anywhere close to perfect in this area. Are you? we say getting a little mad sometimes is good to clear the system. If we say this, though, that means we're only murdering our brother an equally small amount, which must be equally good for clearing the system, right? To quote my brother, "Really, people? Really?"(See Matthew 5: 21-25)

Footnote: I do not recommend all of Wilkie Collins's writings. In most cases the sins central to his story are not described explicitly and are adequately punished before the end of the story. In each book, sin was never upheld as good. However, Collins was not a Christian and, in one of the books I read, I felt that the sins were more explicit than was edifying and that the consequence/punishment of the sin did not adequately convey that the sin was as bad as it was. Since standards are different in every household, I strongly recommend that parents preview books by Wilkie Collins.

(This has been, Fountain of Thoughts: Scandalous Sin. Look in next time to read: A Day in the Life of:__)

Tidbits of: Kansas

Most people rarely ever hear anything about Kansas these days. And usually, we associate it with it's most ancient history. I.E., Bloody Kansas. The admission of Kansas to the Union was an additional spark to the Civil War.

The state became known as Bloody Kansas because factions from the North and South converged on Kansas hoping to sway it's admission as a free or slave state respectively. The factions fought each other. While neither side really won anything, an influx of legitmate Northern settlers shortly after caused the territory to be admitted as a free state in 1861.

The above short paragraph is Kansas' only claim to fame. However, in spite of it's negative known history, Kansas actually has some very interesting, but very little-known history. For instance, Kansas, like Texas, is very proud of itself. In April, they will be celebrating their 18th annual Story-Telling Festival. The festival combines fact and fiction set in Kansas to make it a highly successful state pride festival. I haven't been before, but I'm reasonably sure that it would be fun.

In 1889, Lincoln County in Kansas made history. How? William Feldkamp married Louisa Heiser. The wedding was "huge;" double the size of the average wedding. (About four hundred people came from all over the state) The wedding lasted two days! According to ancient tradition, the bride's brother rode a horse on Monday all over the county to invite people. He received a token yard or so of ribbon from the invited guests. By the time he finished he had about an hundred yards of ribbon attached to himself and his horse. (That would have been quite a sight!)

Kansas was the last state in the Union to have a flag. Here again, their individualism was at the root. Kansas wanted to be different, so their previous proposed flags were banners hung vertically rather than flags hung horizontally on a flagpole. However, no one could quite agree, and Washington D.C. refused to hang such an awkward flag in the city. Some people thought that a sunflower should be the dominant symbol on the flag. (Kansas is the Sunflower State) however, others argued that a sunflower is so close to a weed that it would be a disgraceful state symbol. In 1925, Hazel Avery, a seamstress, designed a flag. It was adopted two years later and is the same as it is today except that the word Kansas was added in 1961. Other attempts to alter the flag have been vigorously opposed.

Other Kansasian claims to fame include the fact that one Kansas woman, M.B. Best, witnessed the famous Lincoln assassination at the Ford Theater. Also, Martin Johnson, from Kansas, was the well-known author Jack London's cook. Martin Johnson, a boy with the old I-really-want-to-travel fever, saw Jack London's advertisement for an 'un-known person' who was to be included in a trip around the world. On answering the advertisement, he was asked if he could cook. Martin said, "Yes, a little. I can learn more." And learn he did. He hired on to a restaurant and spent his time there day and night. Jack London and his wife were forced to give up the adventure half-way in, but Martin continued the journey. He returned as Captain of the ship.

(This has been: Tidbits of: Kansas. Look in next time to read Fountain of Thoughts:__)

Stories of My Life: My Advice

This is a short post. Not because I have nothing to say, but rather that I haven't decided yet how to say it. So, I decided to change what I was going to say and save the other for later.

This time, I'm going to give you all some random advice based on various and sundry un-named circumstances in my life at the moment. In other words, the advice might sound just a little bit on the cryptic side. Oh, and another thing, some of it is not my advice, it's somebody else's.

1. Never assume. This could be phrased differently as "Don't count your little chick-a-biddy's before they hatch." In fact, it would be even better to not count your eggs before they're eggs.

2. If you do commit the serious mistake of making an assumption, don't tell people about it. It's never fun to have to tell people 'oops, I made a boo-boo. X ___ is not happening after all!'

That completes my random advice. A bit short. Oh well.

(This has been: Stories of My Life: My Advice. Look in next time to read: Tidbits of:__)

Snippets: New York New Year's

New Years' Day has passed already, but it wasn't that long ago, so talking about New York New Year's (say that five times fast) traditions still counts.

New York is the largest city in the United States. It is known as the 'gateway of immigration' and the Big Apple state. It's location on the waterfront is the basis of one of New York's most long-standing New Year's traditions.

The time-ball drop, or the ball-drop occurs at 11:59 p.m. on New Years' Eve. A large lit-up ball is placed on a tall pole located in Times Square. At the appointed time, the ball is lowered until it reaches the bottom of the pole precisely at midnight. In this one short minute, the ball drops over 75 feet. Millions of people gather to watch this short event. And it's probably a good thing that it's short. The average temperature is only one degree above freezing.

The time ball was used in the past to help sailors in the harbor synchronize their chronometers to the correct time. In those days accurate time-keeping was crucial for ocean navigation. At a set time, noon in the U.S., the ball would drop. Five minutes before noon, the ball would be raised half-way up it's pole to alert the sailors that it was almost time. It was raised all the way when there were only two or three minutes remaining. The time was carefully recorded the second the ball began to fall. In this manner, ships would be able to set their chronometers correctly. Time balls were in use for 80 years until the invention of radio time signals in 1924. Nevertheless, the time ball is used in New York each New Year. In keeping with their name as the Big Apple state, the time ball is occasionally not a ball but rather an apple. If you don't want to fight the crowds and pay transportation costs, next year, you can look it up on the Internet and watch it there.

Other New York traditions include the showering of confetti from tall buildings, fireworks, and the singing of Auld Lang Syne. New York is a city rich with history. Perhaps some other time you'll hear some more about it here.

Happy New Year!

(This has been: Snippets of New York. Look in next time to read: Stories of My Life:__)