WAXING PHILOSOPHICAL

     Philosophy goes back at least 2300 years to Plato who was considered the “father” of it. An American philosopher of 1892 vintage defined P. this way – “Life involves passions, faiths, doubts, and courage. The critical inquiry into what these things mean and imply is philosophy.” Josiah Royce Basically Philosophy asks WHY and WHAT.
Some “Why” questions: 
-  Why does the toast fall off the breakfast table & hit the floor jelly side down?
-  Why do little girls run & scream, while little boys torment the house pets & climb trees?
-  Why do cats purr & rub your legs, while dogs bark & lick your face?
-  Why is air invisible? Why is God invisible?
Some “What” questions:
-  What would McDonald's be if we were all vegetarians?
-  What would the U.S. be if JFK hadn’t been assassinated in 1963?
-  What would the U.S. be if MLK hadn’t been assassinated in 1968? 
-  "What is man, that thou dost make so much of him, and that thou dost set thy mind upon him, dost       visit him every morning, and test him every moment?” Job 7:17
-  What is the purpose of re-inventing the wheel?
      Now I realize most of the above “philosophical” questions are “small potatoes.” The BIG question for me is this: Why is our country & world departing from the faith & religion of the Bible and turning to all sorts of “other” approaches to God, or no God at all. The zeitgeist of the time seems to be “anything but Christianity.” Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, New Age, & lots of others are having spurts of growth & respect while the faith of the Bible and its value system is too often suspect. Our schools & universities prefer atheism & our government philosophy seems to be shifting away from the faith of our founding fathers. We’ve gone too far with “separation of Church & State.” The recent Supreme Court decision to endorse same-sex marriage flies in the face of the religion we came here with from Spain & England. (Tampering with the definition of marriage the way they have has surely caused all our founding fathers to turn over in their graves.)
     The Bible was a main source of truth/right & wrong that established our western society. Our body of laws & thought parallels that material revealed to Moses in Exodus 20-23, then expanded on in Leviticus & Deuteronomy. Nowadays we seem to be getting away from our “roots” and going with atheism, false religion & “political correctness.” It’s not difficult to look at the track record of Israel of old and see the same patterns of decline. The Old Testament is complete w/the story. It also helps answer the big question WHY.  -- “Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.” Jeremiah 2:11 I find it interesting that people & nations with non-Biblical religions don’t seem to change their false gods. But Israel & Christian people who have the Real McCoy don’t always hang on to it with tenacity. We’ve got out of the paid-for new touring class Mercedes and got into a rusty 1962 Volkswagon with bald tires & knocking motor that smokes. (For a word on “backsliding” see “Patterns” link 59.) We have allowed “change,” and “re-inventing the wheel.” Again, WHY – and WHAT will the outcome be??
     Well, I don’t claim or want to be a philosopher. H.L. Mencken said, “There is no record in human history of a happy philosopher.” I just want to maximize life satisfaction and let the “Whys” and “Whats” take care of themselves. “Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, (philosophy) or in things too high for me.” Psalm 131:1 Choose Jesus, He is alive. His salvation & blessing answers MANY questions without “Waxing Philosophical.”

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