INTERLOCUTORS

From My Perspective - - -

At the birth of this nation, many notable men made a contribution. Not all had religious scruples based upon a valid belief system. One such man was Thomas Paine. He was reared a Quaker but never embraced “religion” as anything he valued for himself. In the course of time and events, he became a prolific writer. As such, he was an Interlocutor of his time – one who “takes part in a conversation or dialogue...a person who questions; an interrogator.” In London (October, 1774), he met Benjamin Franklin who encouraged and assisted him to emigrate to America. With a letter of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin, Paine was employed as managing editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine, to which he contributed miscellaneous poems and essays. In Philadelphia from 1774, Paine became a journalist and essayist. After the publication of his pamphlet, “Common Sense”, he continued to inspire and encourage the patriots during the Revolutionary War in a series of pamphlets called, “The Crisis” (1776-1783). In one of those pamphlets, he wrote: “These are times that try men’s souls” that described the beginning of the Revolutionary War. In those same pamphlets was another pithy comment, “Lead, Follow, or Get Out Of The Way”! Another statement from that series was, “If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.” In less than 20 years (1792), he would pen in his pamphlet, The Rights Of Men: “A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.”

In the governance of our nation today, we have many Interlocutors. While some love to speak, few do so with substance and/or conviction. They have become “Politicians” who say what they must to certain groups so they can garner votes. There are many voices speaking - but equally - many who will not Lead, or cannot get themselves to Follow, and who have been in political office for so long that the preservation of their “career” has allowed them to just Get In The Way. This nation, and many nations in the world, are in very desperate situations. Reuters News Service for November 20^th reports, “U.S. economic and political clout will decline over the next two decades and the world will be more dangerous, with food and water scarce and advanced weapons plentiful, U.S. spy agencies projected on Thursday…The National Intelligence Council analysis Global Trends 2025 also said the current financial crisis on Wall Street is just the first phase of a global economic reordering…China and India were likely to join the United States atop a multi-polar world and compete for influence…” Other nations will be vying for power and influence.

Consider these things with me - - - These are times that can (and will) try men’s souls. In Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, he begins by quoting two atheists: “Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” (“Bertrand Russell), and Andrei Bitov, a novelist who lived in Russia’s atheistic communist regime: “Without God, life makes no sense.” In his own way, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon allowed for the multiplicity of gods, but ultimately came to believe people should worship him as their god/idol. He had a dream/vision of a huge image of himself erected. After Daniel interprets his dream, we read in Daniel 2:46-47: “Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel, Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery." Did he truly mean what he said? In Daniel 4:30 we read Nebuchadnezzar’s words: "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" He is driven from his palace into the fields and becomes like an animal feeding on the grass, and being covered with dew. Then we read in Daniel 4:34-35, “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: What have you done?" God can and will make a difference in the lives and affairs of men and nations – if only – they would “seek the Lord while He can be found, and Call upon Him while He is near…” (Isaiah 55:6-9).