Tony's Take
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Why Am I Running Away?

7/15/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
​I have tried an experiment of sorts on myself; since July 2nd I have deleted Facebook from my computer and phone in an attempt to avoid the vitriol that has filled what once was a friendly and often funny sharing of news and views.  At times in the ensuing two weeks, I have posted some items to Facebook via other venues but have not followed what others have posted or said since then.  Some of the feeds I get I have missed, but for the most part, have not had Facebook withdrawal symptoms other than, perhaps, being able to relax and enjoy today each day. 
Recently, however, I have wondered at this withdrawal from the sometimes (often?) vilification of each other that does occur on Facebook.  What started this questioning of my motives was an article I read on the Gospel Coalition’s website that had some rusty wheels turning.  The writer spoke to many of the issues that seem impossible to share views rationally on, and he did it in a way that, while disagreeing with some of what he said, had me nodding my head more and more.  A lesson I was taught in a particularly unforgiving place (prison) that we can disagree without being disagreeable had escaped me for a time.

Another thing at issue is what an old guy named Mordecai told a young Jewish maiden who had married a king, that she perhaps had been born for just such a time (Esther 4:14).  Scripture tells us that God is Sovereign over all that he has created, including who is born when.  As Mordecai asked Esther, so I began asking myself that perhaps there is a purpose in such media that can be used to pour oil on troubled waters.  What change can one person bring, whether through such media as Facebook or in another setting?  Frankly, I don’t know, and that is not the reason why I have decided to dive back into Facebook again.  One voice speaking is often drowned out by the cacophony of noise that voice is speaking in the midst of,  but it is speaking.  By remaining silent, I was, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “Silence in the face of evil is evil: God will not hold us guiltless.  Not to speak is to speak.  Not to act is to act.”

So, I am back (cue the band, please), but you will NOT see me re-posting vitriol (even if I find it to be accurate, which it usually is not).  I also will not re-post some of the memes I’ve seen denigrating any candidate (they often do too good of a job themselves); what I hope you will see is a calm response to the screaming opinions that fill the internet and Facebook.  Do I put myself forward as some wise person who has all the answers?  No indeed; God has that job, and I am glad of it! One voice can make a difference to someone; will it be mine?  Don’t know and that is not my concern.  My duty to my King is to speak His Word to a world that is lost and dying and refuses to accept that.

Mankind seems bent on self-destruction; there is little, if anything, I can do to avert this as I am only one voice.  But I am one voice, and I will speak and not remain silent.  I consider myself an independent as neither party of the established political regime has fully satisfied my longings for myself or my nation.  As the turmoil continues to increase and the violence occurs with increasing frequency (whether against each other as in Dallas or in external attacks such as that occurred in France), we need calm, rational discourse, not screaming epithets at each other.  If you choose to keep following me (whether on Facebook or my blog at www.tonystake.net), my hope is that you will find someone who does reflect Messiah to a world that is in desperate need of Him.  Whether you accept such or not, I will keep speaking, and my hope is that somewhere, some time a single person will hear and pause to reflect instead of hurling more offal.

We do live in interesting times, and it is a challenge to keep one’s head when all about you are losing theirs, but if we do there is hope.  But even if all of us descend into chaos and anarchy, the King still reigns and will finish His will for this sad world.

Until then, the journey continues…


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Photo Business

    Author

    Former submarine sailor, paramedic and nurse who journeys toward the horizon ever hopeful, though at times less sure, of reaching that far place.  

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All
    Anniversary
    Band Of Brothers
    Business
    Cancer
    Cats
    Cat Theology
    Christ Mas
    Christ-mas
    Civil Rights
    COVID-19
    Dr. Martin Luther King
    Equine Assisted Psychotherapy
    Faith
    Family
    Gethsemane
    Grace
    Harborreins
    Heroes
    Hope
    Life And Death
    Lynch Syndrome
    Military
    New Year
    Orphans
    Our Children's Place
    Overlooked Victim Of Crime
    Palm Sunday
    Peaceful Protest
    Photography
    Post Traumatic Stress
    Power Of Words
    Prejudice
    Prison
    Protest
    Racism
    Second Chances
    Struggle
    The Corrall
    Theology
    Time
    Triple Fork Creek
    Uncertaintly
    Unemployment
    Unsung Heroes
    USO NC
    USO-NC
    VAMC Durham
    Veteran Suicide
    Wetland Conservation
    Wonder
    Yoga Warrior

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly