Friday, February 11, 2011

An Invitation to Grace

On the way back from a visit today I was listening to National Public Radio’s coverage of the events in Egypt. Hosni Mubarak has resigned. The people are ecstatic as hopes are high. One person interviewed said that in 6000 years of Egypt’s recorded history the people have never gotten to speak this way and choose a government for themselves. If that is true, and it very well may be, that is remarkable to me. Truly we are blessed here in our nation, warts and all.

I want to shift gears and focus a moment on grace. You have often heard (from me) that each day we have opportunities and invitations given to us by the Lord to serve him with our lives. We can choose to show mercy, compassion, generosity and forgiveness – to name a few. The question is, Are we open to these invitations?

Recently, in a Smithsonian Magazine article, there was a cover piece written about the history of the Colosseum. It was quite fascinating. In it a story was told about Emperor Gallienus. He ruled Rome from 253 – 268 AD.

It seems the Emperor’s wife had been swindled by a local merchant. He had sold her glass jewels instead of authentic ones. Of course, this turned out to be a bad idea. As his punishment the Emperor sent him into the Colosseum to face a ferocious lion. (So much for an eye for an eye.)

Well, when the cage on the arena floor opened a chicken walked out of the cage and the crowd roared with laughter and applause. The Emperor had the herald proclaim, ‘This merchant practiced deceit and then had it practiced on him.’ And the Emperor let the man go.

I wonder if the merchant learned his lesson.

In the world today if you practice mercy, it will be noticed. If you are gracious, even when you’ve been wronged, this will catch someone’s attention. When you are generous; people see it. If you are patient when you don’t have to be or when it is very hard to be, someone just might wonder… ‘How in the world does he or she do that?’

And then a witness can begin.

Blessings,

Ande

Your comments are welcomed at ande.myers@gmail.com.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Prayer for Egypt

Have you watched much international news lately? I have been interested in the goings on in the Middle East more than normal, first in Tunisia and now in Egypt. As you may know, protests began in Egypt two weeks ago and they began with a few thousand people. It was relatively quiet. Only one week later, literally hundreds of thousands of people assembled in Cairo to demand the removal of long time President, Hosni Mubarak. These ensuing protests have not been quiet at all.

Mubarak began ruling thirty years ago when then President Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated. Mubarak was wounded by the gunman in the attack but survived and began his presidency declaring a ‘state of emergency’ that was imposed then and has not been lifted. This ‘state of emergency’ has severely limited the freedom of some 80 million Egyptians. (Currently newspapers and websites have been shut down and some estimate that up to 15,000 Egyptians are political prisoners.)

It is interesting that many of the protesters are young and many have spent significant amounts of time in the United States and Europe. In other words, they have seen democracy and now wonder, If much of the world can have freedom, why can’t we? This is a good question.

Why the riots? Well, with the current government and the institutions that have been developed the people have not been heard. They feel they have no voice. (Much of the info I have seen concerning this crisis is found at the Economist and the Washington Post websites.)

Several years ago I attended an inauguration here in the US. My cousin, who’d worked for the then Senate Majority Leader said, I don’t care if you voted for him or not. I don’t care if it is your party that has won or not – you just have to attend an inauguration.

Sure enough, my cousin was right. I witnessed a peaceful transfer of power. The people had been heard; the majority ruled; and the minority ultimately respected this. It is amazing that this happens so often in our nation. What a blessing!

Join me in praying for the Middle East and for Egypt in particular. We in the West have an opportunity to help with new directions for democracy. Increased freedom in this corner of the world will be good for all of us. Let’s pray for our Egyptian neighbors today. For God so loved the world…

Blessings,

Ande


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