The Waters

Over the centuries life has been compared to the sea.  The waters are all of life's events and we are ships navigating the waters.  The waters get rough and toss us to and fro.  In the rough times we must do the unthinkable.  There is only one thing to do.  In the hard times, when the storms toss us up against the shores the only thing we can do is step off the ship.

Each one of us must do as Peter did.  When Christ bids us to come to Him we must step off the ship and walk on the waves (see Matthew 14:22-32).  As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus we can walk on the waves without fear.  Being a fallen people as we are, we doubt and see the fierceness of the waves taking our eyes off Jesus.  When we take our eyes from the Lord we will sink as Peter did on the sea.  Peter instantly does what it takes years of sink for many of us to do.  Peter called out to Christ to save him.  It is not a salvation of just water, the come, believe then do whatever you want brand, when Christ saves Peter from drowning.  Saves him bodily.  Salvation is not only a spiritual act, it is a physical act as well.  Peter enters into the water and is drawn out by a hand that is nailed to the cross.  Salvation is not water, but is also blood.  It must be both.  Without the cross and resurrection, the real historical act, baptism is meaningless.  If there is no  cross and Easter Sunday in history, then everything that is believed by Christians is a fantasy.  It is merely moral principles.  We are saved by entering into the waters and participating in Christ's death and resurrection  each and everyday.  Each day water and blood is given forth for us.  We must choose to be washed in it each day.  At the end of our days when we come before judgement; we will be judged according to how we lived in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Faith will be expressed in our actions, just coming to Church on Sunday is meaningless if it is not reflected in everyday life.  If we do not live the faith each day then we have sunk into the sea not asking the Pierced One to reach down to pull us back up.  When we do ask Him everything changes, we will falter and stumble, He stumbled under the weight of the cross as He carried it.  We are asked to carry a cross too.  Not on a chain around our necks or as a tattoo on our body.  We are asked to carry the same cross Christ carried.  Are we up for the challenge?  Christ thought so.

Modern knights Part 2: Who is a knight?

If a knight is a servant warrior, than who today would be a knight?  Are they only the ones who serve in our armed forces?  The armed forces are important and deserve our support, but not all serve for love of their lord.  A country is not really a lord anyways, the country is not a mutable idea.  A knight serves principles that are a rock foundation of their lives.  Yes, there are many modern knights in the armed forces and many who are not.  Those who pick up swords and fight because principles and justice demand it are knights.

Every person is called to be Princes and Princesses, the King of kings calls us to come into His family to be His sons and daughters.  The primary knights have always been the nobles, the family of the king and queen along with those who have been taken into the royal family for their deeds.  Every one of us is invited to become a member of a royal family, not an Earthly and temporal royal family, but an eternal royal family.  Every human being is invited to become a child of the living God; brothers and sisters of Christ.

Entrance into this family though carries a price though, we choose sides.  In entering the family of God we choose sides in a war we only partially see.  We choose to pick up a sword and shield and fight.  Our enemies are not liberals, Jews, Muslims, Taoists, conservatives, China, Mexico, or any other group you can think of being at odds.  The enemies we are in a fight with are principalities and powers who have rebelled against God, putting themselves first.  The battle is not about having all the money, power, food, the fastest car or biggest house; this war is about whether or not eternal  souls will spend eternity in Heaven.  The price of entrance into God's family is being willing to fight for the salvation of all souls.  No politics or nuances to the battle.  The salvation of all souls is the battle we are in, every Prince and Princess in the Kingdom of God is called to be a knight in this battle.

Modern knights: Part 1 what is a knight?

This is meant to be the first in a series of posts about the need for knights in the modern age and men to be men. Along side of men being true men, women need to be true women.  Both are molded from young ages by everything around them.  The molding can be to strength, courage, faithfulness and hope; or it can mold us into a mindless gollum.  A gollum is a mythical creature formed out of mud and has no will of it's own.  Human beings are not gollums, we have been given the gifts of a will and reason to guide us.  All of us need to remember who we are and made to be.  We live in a world that wants us to forget and turn into mindless gollums to do bidding of those who have bent themselves into power for themselves and their benefit.

In a journey into knighthood we must first ask, "What is a knight?"  Simply put a knight is a person who fights for the a king or ruler with honor, virtue, fidelity and courage.  These four are the foundations of being a knight.  We will get into each of them later.  These virtues have been lost in the modern world or are so watered down that they do not even have meaning anymore.  Even more importantly we have forgotten for Whom we fight.  A knight knows the will of his lord.  The truest knights know the will of the Lord and live according to His will.  When we loose sight of the will of our Lord we will loose sight of ourselves.

A knight without a lord to serve was lost, not only lost in knighthood also in who he is.  Every knight is meant to serve a master.  Freedom comes in submission to the just will of the Master.  Free not to do whatever he chooses,, but free to conform himself to the will of his Lord.  This is true freedom.  When we go against what we are made to be then we make ourselves into slaves.  A knight is a servant by nature so for a knight freedom comes in serving the Lord.

Lenten fires.....

There are times when it seems to me like people think Lent is a time of darkness, sorrow and mourning. Lent is not a dark time, it is the beginning of the light growing again in the world. That is at least what nature teaches us in the northern hemisphere, southerners get that going towards Christmas. Both are teaching us one thing, out of the darkness we come into light and life our Resurrection.

In Lent is not a time of sorrow and darkness, it is a time of fire. In lent we rekindle the fire that burns in us from the Sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary, becoming more of a light to the world. We do not sacrifice so that we are praised or recognized in the world. We sacrifice so we are joined with Good Friday each and everyday. On Good Friday lived each day we die to ourselves becoming Christ to the world. We start to live in the world but not of the world. We begin to burn with love and truth because we are becoming more like He who is Love and Truth. The darkness around us starts to dissipate with the light of Christ. It is only through Good Friday that we will come to Easter. With our eyes on Jesus we will go through the cross and grave to the resurrection, the impossible becomes possible when we keep our eyes on Jesus.

Every Sunday we celebrate Easter, everyday of the week we live as pilgrim people travelling from Good Friday to Easter Sunday; this is the mystery of our lives. The mystery is not a sorrow but a joy. A joy that makes life worth living in the light of Christ's love that is shown to us on Good Friday. Out of darkness comes a great Light and we carry that Light into the world. Lent is not sorrow, but is hope and light. A time of fire to be kindled in us on our daily journey from Good Friday to Easter.