Advice to the young...and old.

View From the Sidelines: “To Serve Mankind” This noble phrase may not have the noble connotation it may first bring to mind in our 21 century “All Lives Matter” atmosphere. But I will come back to this later.

In the 8 years that Barack Obama was President I was pretty much oblivious to the work his administration was doing. I heard all the haters bringing the bad news about his birth origin, his policy about immigrants, his stand on women’s rights including reproductive rights, his stand on recognition of the rights of homo-sexual and people of gender identity. And to tell the truth I was much to occupied trying to pay my bills, get through the deaths in my family, and fulfilling the oaths to public safety my job included, to think much about; Why The First Afro-American President representing the people that lived under 400 years of Government endorsed enslavement followed by 153 years Government endorsed oppression, was getting such a hard time.

Now we are almost 4 years into President Trump and with Covid-19 lockdown I can be anything but oblivious to this Presidents’ policies and think about what I am seeing and hearing by way of public response.

Two things stand out in my mind: First from the Obama administration even though I do not understand homo-sexuality or the other sexual identity issues there was never a Constitutional issue about their rights in my mind. These People in the words of the Constitution which I and all the Presidents have sworn to, plainly states “Natures God gives every person the Freedom to pursue Life, Liberty, and Happiness.” However the shear number of gender identity people that came “Out” absolutely floored me. I was astounded at how many people identified this way and were being denied their Constitutional Rights. It taught me a great deal about how systemically racially I had been taught history, and how the News Agencies had represented The World to me.
Second: In the Trump administration I have seen the other side of this coin in “2nd Amend’ers” who are preaching gun toting as their basis of Constitutional exercise of Citizen Responsibility. Using the platform to mask their agenda, perpetuation of Jim Crow race based oppression. It also floored me how large is the number of people in this mindset.

It occurs to me the complete Irony of the Age that these two camps are set against each other. When once in ancient Greece they were once one and the same. In Sparta where the homosexual King Menelaus set his homosexual Spartan army in motion to lay siege to Troy. Kill Paris, prince of Troy, and retrieve his Helen. Perpetuating the yet again major issue in our modern society, Male subjugation of the Female to solely fill reproductive duties.

I am left out on a limb of my own making but for-warned by my Savior Jesus who said, “The World which has hated me will hate you as well.” And I am hopeful in His words, “You who lose your life for me will gain it. But those who try to save their own lives will lose it.”

Jesus stood on a mountain top and was revealed with Moses and Elijah. In the Bible we are given accounts of people and Names and numbers associated with those names. But for we Christians the name Jesus and the number 3 of the Holy Trinity are the most important. So that when any 3 of something occurs it reminds me of God in the Holy Trinity. Moses, Jesus, Elijah, (who was John the Baptist by Jesus own words in Gospel) are to me the Biblical past, present, and future or Alpha and Omega, who is – was- and is to come. Moses was the history of God, John was the present announcement of The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and Jesus is God incarnate – to come and Judge – Raise – and – Fill God’s Kingdom.

The interesting thing is Jesus revealed this presence to his human disciples and told them, “You will do all these things and more.” Many are the times Martin Luther King Jr. is called a modern Moses. El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz announced the coming of a new Nation and died a painful death possibly not much different than John the Baptist’s decapitation. Abraham Lincoln certainly brought “the winnowing fork,” and “sifted the wheat from the chaff,” in the horror that was the Civil War. And few would discard the evidence that Adolf Hitler filled the shoes of a Satanic Anti-Christ. Jesus’ own words declare, “they will say He (Jesus) is here, or He is there. But do not believe it. No man knows the hour of My (Jesus’) coming.” If we see Men filling the Transfiguration positions on the mountain top in our times, MLK in Moses on the right, Abraham Lincoln holding the middle ground, men like El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz on the left like John, we should take Hope that God has the Mountain Top secure and The Coming of Our Lord is assured. Hallelujah. Come soon Lord Jesus.

So to conclude “To Serve Man” the high ideal sounding phrase, one like unto many of the high ideal sounding phrases being tossed around today may not be at all “high” or “ideal”. Divided camps of any nature are a dis-service. The old saw, if you are not going to a part of the Solution, you are a part of the Problem. Flags and Phrases and easy sound-bites ie. “To Serve Man” may not be the answer.

FOR: TO SERVE MAN – A COOKBOOK FOR GASTRONOMIC DELIGHT OF SPACE-TRAVELERS

Could be the book you are opening!