I am excited to announce my book “Sticks and Stones” is now available on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. If you would rather listen to a book than read, click on one of the following sites. If in the United States, click: https://www.audible.com/pd/B07W5NFH5M/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-160335&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_160335_rh_us If in the United Kingdom, click: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B07W5NC8X9/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-160335&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_160335_rh_uk
Who is an immigrant? “A person who leaves one country to settle permanently in another. The word “immigrants”, as understood in U.S. immigration law, are persons admitted as legal permanent residents of the United States.” (Google 2019). There is a story about a man who was called to leave his homeland to find another. His wife came with him because she believed that the one who promised was faithful. Descendants were born based on this promise. Many died in faith without receiving the promises even though they saw from a distance and was pleased. They confessed that they were immigrants. They made it clear that they were looking for a homeland. If they had been thinking about the country that they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return to it. They were longing for a better country.
It is my belief that we spend too much time saying she said, he said and not enough searching for the promises that will help us make a better country. Is this day of polarization different than any other day in history? I think not. Just read a little history back in the early part of the twentieth century around 1914 or maybe around 1939. Were we not polarized then? Yep. Go farther back in history and you will discover time and time again conflicts over whatever. You name it! But along the march into the present, we have forgotten that we are all on a journey, I hope to the promised land. We can choose dissention that breeds contempt and puts us all into fear or anxiety. Or, we can choose faith that all will be well if we just continue to believe. “Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see. The elders in the past were approved because they showed faith.” Why can’t we?
Who is right and who is wrong in a debate? That is the point of a debate. To be able to determine the reality or facts not unfounded opinions. (www.debate.org) Debate is healthy but my fear is that we are taking sides not based on reality or facts but opinions based on our tribe. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. The man in the story above was called to search for a better place. I am sure he was given many opinions on both sides to sway his decisions to go or stay. He had to consider who was giving him advise to determine his path forward. I believe if we base our decisions on mere opinions; we would never have put a man on the moon. But we did. How? We were focused on a higher goal than mere politics. I believe we should set aside our politics long enough to focus our sights on a greater prize. Go by faith like Abraham and Sarah did in search for the promised land. They were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. (Hebrews 11:1-16)
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