The 2024 Christmas edition of The Status Quo: An Electronic Newsletter is dedicated to those Christians who struggle to be better Christians. Put another way, this article is dedicated to all Christians because we all fail Him at one time or another. Following the teachings of Jesus Christ is a lifelong journey filled with challenges, pitfalls and lessons learned. Take for example when wayward Christians believe political expediency permits government to traumatize His little ones. These confused Christians believe that stopping illegal immigration as expeditiously as possible permits placing serious mental and physical obstacles before His little ones. In other words, the teachings of Jesus Christ take a backseat to political expediency even if children must suffer. For the last time. children are not like other people. They count!
The Light of the World II
The Light of the World was posted this past Easter as one Christian’s last effort to persuade Americans that when a person rejects the messages of Jesus Christ that rejection impacts one’s life. The life identified in that article was that of Donald J. Trump and the message was Mr. Trump’s rejection of Jesus Christ’s over the course of his adult life was taking its toll on his physical and mental capabilities. Mr. Trump was going to prove the validity of the article’s assertions.
Since there is no one who commands more worldwide media attention than Mr. Trump, it seemed logical to cite him as an example of how rejecting Christ’s message can negatively impact one’s life. Born with two silver spoons in his mouth, Mr. Trump’s life has been so dissected and analyzed that this Christian believed he knew that Mr. Trump rejected the teachings of Jesus Christ, and the effects of this rejection were starting to take its toll on him. It was starting to take its toll, but the toll was not being paid by Mr. Trump. It was being paid by another failing Christian; one whose hubris made him believe his relationship with Christ and the sacrifices made in service to Christ elevated him to a place where he could judge someone without knowing them or having walked in their shoes.
To those who think rejecting Christ’s message to love another does not come at a price, this Christian can set the record straight. Within just a few weeks of posting The Light of the World and gloating over the perceived deterioration of Mr. Trump’s faculties, this Christian was lying on an operating table fighting for his life. Following 5 hours of emergency surgery, the odds of my survival were put at 50/50 by someone whose job it was to know. Five months later, this Christian would undergo a second surgery that carried with it an even more painful recovery than the first surgery and that recovery was agonizing. Yet the physical deterioration was not the most disconcerting.
The truth is The Light of the World was not posted in the hope Mr. Trump’s mental and physical capabilities would deteriorate further, however, all of April, May, June and July this Christian watched Mr. Trump’s speeches eagerly looking for signs of deterioration. In fact, this conservative Christian even watched Jimmy Kimmel since he was sure to mock every miscue of Mr. Trump despite never having watched Jimmy Kimmel before this year. Nevertheless, this Christan tuned in every night like so many other lemmings. Makes one wonder if the “most secure election in American history” was so secure.
It is true that I may be overreacting. The lingering confusion is the result of contracting COVID in late summer of 2024. Or that the incident that gave rise to the emergency surgery in May and the second surgery in October was the result of a freak accident that could have occurred at any time to anyone. Maybe. What is certain are two undeniable facts. First, I must apologize to Mr. Trump as well ask forgiveness for the indifference shown to the ailments of someone I do not know. Mr. Trump may be a failing Christian and if he is a failing Christian, that would make him just like you and me.
The other certainty is that it’s time for this Christian to stop thinking he can change the status quo with the pen. Twenty-five years of watching this nation fall from grace has been depressing, especially when you have chronicled the free fall for all to read. As for watching the American people let it happen, that has been heartbreaking. Imagine how naive this Veteran was to think that posting The Meaning of Sacrifice on July 4, 2000, would be a call to action for all Americans who knew the status quo in America had to change or our republic was doomed. Little did I know that sacrifice was something that would become anathema to Americans. Sacrifices were things others do, not them. How pathetic. How American.