“In the name of Progress”...the Wayfarer 3/9/14

“In the name of Progress”

 3/9/14

“That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.”

(Ecclesiastes 3:15)

“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”

(Ecclesiastes 1:2)

The words of this, as you know well by now, one of my favorite books of the Bible, hauntingly come once more to mind, as time marches ever forward.

The paraphrase of that opening verse, which I first heard from a mentor and teacher many years past, echoes across the years still more stringently and loudly each day I live, watching, warning, continuing to be ignored and deprecated by those too blind to see and to deaf to hear the words of that first verse, or that paraphrase given so long ago, that man learns nothing from history, except that man learns nothing from history.

Cain killed Able, because of coveting the favor shown him by God for the offerings given, whether with bare hands, or rock or club is not given us, but murder began.

In the name of progress, whether cloaked in trappings of defense, or with outright display of that same covetousness and greed, the ability to kill our brother has been enhanced constantly, ever more effective, ever more dangerous, but with the same end result of bringing death to individuals, or to large groups of individuals.

As each of those weapons developed, from rock, to a more easily held club; from sling that extended the reach of the rock; to sharp implements made from stone; to sharper, more lethal weapons devised from the use of metals taken from the earth; to knives, swords, bows and spears to extend the reach of those sharp objects; to gunpowder and its many uses that extended the reach of those weapons still farther; to the use of delivery systems by aircraft and missiles; to the use of the very chemical and atomic structure of God’s perfect creation, progress was made, is being made and touted as necessary.

None of these things created anything new; none of them drew us closer to the perfection and love intended when we were first created by God. None of these things made the world a safer, more beautiful place. None of them allowed the return to the paradise of the Garden of Eden before the fall of man from the grace given by God that provided for every need, and every care.

That grace was exchanged for knowledge of good and evil. Too bad that that knowledge does not extend to the complete knowledge and avoidance of evil, held before the acquirement of that knowledge.

Now that knowledge, of little, is taken to be knowledge of all. The more we know, the more we think we know, as mankind attempts to place himself on the same level as God. The more that knowledge increases, the more that evil extends its reach within a heart and mind corrupted by that knowledge that blocked the ability of Cain to love and care for his own brother, simply because of a jealousy of that brother.

Mankind grew in knowledge that day, so long ago, but lost a far deeper knowledge that manifests itself through love.

The progress made since then has only deepened and compounded the same jealousy and covetousness that ruled Cain’s heart, and rules the heart of mankind still, as each “new” bauble and device comes to be through the imaginings of the corrupt and imperfect mind taking us even farther from that perfect love and care intended for us.

Mankind continues to pursue the things he imagines to be new, continues to eat of that forbidden fruit as he was condemned through Adam’s actions to do.

With each bite of that fruit misery is increased, peace is decreased, the bounty of God’s blessing refused in exchange for the continuing progress proclaimed through the vanity of a creature still stubbornly ignoring, not only that first commandment given Adam, by God, but also, each one given since, ignoring also each covenant given, trading God’s wish to bless us for blessings promised through the progress of our own device.

The very bounty and beauty given us by God in the form of the plants and animals given us in that Garden so long ago have been subjected to the progress of mankind’s failure to cherish what was given and change it in ways that that knowledge proclaims can improve on it.

Again, with each “improvement” made by the virtue of imperfect minds, still more death is created through that progress.

That death manifests itself through the cancer and other diseases that come through the use or extended use of all that knowledge and progress.

Death, and its various means of delivery, will continue to be improved upon continually as long as man clings to that forbidden fruit, while continuing to ignore and reject what was originally given, and forget the very purpose given man when created to honor and glorify God while tending with love to those things given instead of searching for more of that forbidden fruit with which to poison ourselves.

Instead of choosing the fruit of the tree of Life that was not forbidden, the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is still chosen, the fruit of which is sin, bringing with it the fruit of death, isolation and separation from the light and love, that was and is available still if only sought in its place.

The book of Ecclesiastes tells us there is nothing new under the sun. This statement is absolute truth, as God knew about each of the things invented that mankind touts as new long before man, and saw that that progress of man could and can only lead to further separation from His intent for this creature that He loved enough to provide for, nurture, and allow the choice to accept or reject that love through the obedience, or disobedience that existed, and exists yet in the eternal soul placed in what became a corrupt and temporal body originally planned to exist eternally with that soul.

That soul is still eternal, still capable of being what God intended for it to be, still capable of receiving that original grace intended if it will only accept the grace given instead of the knowledge chosen in its place.

As I stated, covenants to place us back within that grace were given, and rejected by most of our kind, and continues to be rejected as the attempt to glean more of that knowledge is pursued.

“Progress” will continue as time is allowed to continue to exist, stealing the souls of those whose search for real and lasting progress of the acceptance of that original grace through the blood sacrifice of a Savior that could open their eyes to the path of that progress and where it leads as long as it is chosen above that offered grace.

Jesus, that sacrificed Savior, stated that whosoever will, may come, that whosoever believes can live forever.

The path back to that grace was given, and the means to that path given throughout His ministry in all that he taught and preached, summed up in a message of love to:

“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

He told us in Matthew to ask to receive that grace, to seek that grace diligently, to knock on the door to that kingdom to be granted entry.

Nothing will be given without having first asked, sought out, and knocking on the only door to the provision of that which is sought.

Jesus was, and is, that door.

The willingness shown throughout His life and ministry to love and grant that grace was not diminished by His sacrifice, but true progress was made that day for any choosing to admit the sinfulness of our own progress, and also choose to accept that progress by accepting Him and the teachings taught, the love both commanded to be given, and that given by Him for each soul, no matter how much “progress” would hamper the ability to make that acceptance.

As for me, I give thanks to God for the progress made in my soul the day I first realized my own insignificance, my own lack of understanding that could never be overcome through any learning or knowledge provided through man alone, and opened my mind and soul to the progress only available through that original grace given through Jesus, to become more than a knowledgeable sinner, educated only by the teachings of man, and become instead a sinner saved by that grace through a simple small word so full of meaning that it is unable to be understood fully by mere mind, but must be understood through heart and soul as well, Faith! Faith not in the progress or knowledge of man, but in God himself, in the ability of His Son to provide that grace necessary to be the creature intended despite the corruption and imperfection with which I was born, and will have until the soul within that body is released and given back to the care and further nurture of my God.

I remain that same simple sinner saved by grace through that faith, progressing ever closer to the perfection intended, not on my own, but with the constant consistent attention given by that Savior who alone may provide that help.

I remain also that soldier in His service demanded by Him to stand and resist the progress of mankind toward the false rewards being offered in exchange for eternal life, which provide only eternal death as I battle daily with Lucifer, who leads mankind cheerfully in his progress to that eternal death and separation from the promised love and nurture of God, intended for all, but accepted by few.

Accept the path toward progress to a final destination. Make your own choice of what to follow. Neither I, nor anyone else may ever make that choice for you, only give the options available for you to choose, but choose you must, both are not available, one or the other. Again quoting that old song, “Is you is, or is you ain’t?” Only you may choose, and only you and God will truly know that choice when it is made, but that choice will show the remainder of your life to others, guiding them in their own choice as well.

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

 Amen and Amen

the Wayfarer