The Dawn of Redeeming Grace

Silent Night is such a familiar song. I have sung Silent Night in church or elsewhere maybe 200 times or more and followed along with the words probably over 1,000 times. We even sing it in German sometimes during our Christmas Eve candle-light services. The third verse of Silent Night makes a reference to "the dawn of redeeming grace". For some reason, this year, that short phrase of five words has stuck in my consciousness through the Christmas season and, now, well into the new year.

The Dawn of Redeeming Grace... In the song I suppose it is a reference to the birth of Jesus, the Christ child, who is our one true path to salvation. The Gospel of John, in chapter 1- verse 9, describes the coming of Jesus as "The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world". A new light was coming. A dawn of a new day was coming that would change everything. There was another dawn -- Easter morning - when the diciples went to the tomb and saw that Christ, sacrificed on the cross, had defeated death and the massive burden of our sins and had risen in glory.

But that phrase represents an actual happening - the word "dawn" can be a verb as when something 'dawns' on us. The dictionary says that there are three aspects of the word "dawn" when used as a verb: 1. to become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions; 2. to appear or develop; and 3. to become light.

We experience the Dawn of Redeeming Grace on a personal level many times during our lives. At baptism we are brought forth into the light of salvation, even though we may not realize it until much later. At our confirmation we again experience this special dawning as we comprehend what God redeeming grace actually is and means to us on a personal level. We also experience this through the bond of communion when we personally accept Jesus' body and blood in the form of the bread and wine. This is our one physical interaction with Jesus taken on the most private and personal level but also in a public way with the "body of Christ", the other members of the congregation. Through this dawning we experience a new light of God's love and forgiveness of sins.

There are many other times in our life when we have this dawning experience - maybe in the face of a newborn child or an act of kindness or personal sacrifice. We may recognize it in the face of someone we love or during a brief encounter or conversation. It may come as we appreciate the wonder of nature or recognize a special blessing. At the end of our life, we again will experience the Dawn of Redeeming Grace but this time as the first light of a new glorious and everlasting day. That day was made possible by the very first Dawn in Bethlehem and the suffering and death of Jesus followed by the glorious Dawn of Easter morning.

Thanks be to God.

Intolerable Acts

As a response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed a number of punitive laws in 1774 that became part of what was known as the Intolerable Acts. Maybe we should borrow that phrase in the wake of the Tucson shootings and recognize that there are "intolerable acts" that demand attention and redress today in our society and daily activities. Here are some examples…


1. Using gun sight target images to designate your political opponents.

2. Inviting your supporters to fire an assault weapon as part of your political rally.

3. Broadcasting diatribes over the public airwaves that serve only to incite hatred and intolerance.

4. Construing the Second Amendment into a ridiculous excuse to carry firearms wherever you please or to own a personal arsenal of assault weapons.

5. Shouting people down or bullying opponents or others into silence.

6. Viewing those who don't agree with your point of view as expendable.

7. Persecuting legal aliens or redefining citizenship to eliminate those you don't like.

8. Imposing your own version of religion as the national standard at the expense of other religions.

9. Propagating or spreading hatred and intolerance of those whose personal and private choices differ from your own.

10. Knowingly characterizing false statements or unsupported rumors as factual news on TV or other broadcasts.

Union Pacific's Steam Train Comes to Town

Occasionally the Union Pacific Railroad brings out its majestic steam locomotives for special runs. We had a visit from one of the trains here in Jefferson City over the last couple days.

The train was making a run east from Cheyenne Wyoming making stops along the way. I was at the millbottom near the tracks when it came into town. You could hear the whistle before you could see it coming along the river bluffs. There were a number of moms and dads with their little children standing along the rails....too close by my estimation and too close for the yard supervisor who was trying to get people to step away from the tracks. That was an impossible job for one man since there were people located at several places as the train came in. The drive wheels are about five feet in diameter.

I was surprised by the lack of smoke as it was coming in but it was slowing down so it wasn't putting out a lot of effort. I suspect it will be different as it starts up and pulls out of town. The locomotive has a coal car and a couple water cars plus some antique UP passenger and postal cars.

Today the train was parked at the millbottom, the site of the old roundhouse that was demolished in the late 1970s, and was available for visitors. They had the old postal car open as a gift shop selling railroad prints and memorabilia. The locomotive had stairways set up for people to climb up and look into the cab at the controls and an engineer was there to answer questions. The crew members were obviously excited and pleased to be part of the trip and were eager to have people see the train. There was a crowd of about 100 people coming and going and lots of conversations that often started with "My dad worked for the ______ railroad and...." Lots of stories about train trips.

Presidential report card

John Zogby issues a weekly report card grade for President Obama in US News & World Report. I haven't paid much attention but it seems like he gives out Cs and a few Bs and maybe an occasional D. Looks like a C-average president - more or less. That magazine is pretty conservative so I guess that isn't too bad.

I don't know how other presidents were graded if he did....but you need something to compare his grades to. Here is my tentative list....it might change over time but this is it right now....
Note: My biases are obvious and I don't grade on a curve.

Obama --- (C) -- Still serving - Widely hated because he is black and people think he is Muslim (!). Right wingers are unhinged that he won the election and can't get over it. Pro-Obama voter expectations ran too high, he tried to do too much right away then not enough, not bold enough when he had the chance, he finally passed health care reform, struggled with the worst economy since the depression...thanks to GW.

GW Bush --- (F) -- A failed presidency and a general disaster, failed at the Afghan war when it could have been won, started the Iraq war as a fraud, destroyed the US and then world economy and the federal budget. He went through a huge budget surplus with nothing to show for it. He seemed not to take the job seriously. Slow response on September 11th terror attacks. Was willing to let others do his decision making. His Vice Prez Cheney should be in prison along with some cronies.

Clinton --- (B) -- Easily distracted but the smartest president in recent decades, fixed the economy and left a huge budget surplus, not bold enough to make major changes (tried on health care but failed), should have intervened against Serbia much sooner. Was impeached on political grounds. Things went almost too good and that made the subsequent failures look really bad.

GHW Bush --- (C) -- Defended Kuwait when invaded by Iraq, he was reasonable, economy went bad and he couldn't fix it. Supported and signed the NAFTA treaty. First president after the Cold War and mis-judged what that meant...the New World Order was not what he thought.

Reagan --- (D) -- Will be counted as a mediocre president. Needed to be impeached over Iran/Contra scandal but Dems were too meek. He used a fraudulent invasion of Grenada to gain votes and was always involved in Nicaragua and El Salvador civil wars. He was old and senile, slept through cabinet meetings. He destroyed the national concept of "the public good" as a governmental role and responsibility, he spent the government into record deficits. USSR collapsed from it's own weight and economic failures but he gets unwarranted credit. Perhaps manipulated the hostage crisis to help win the election in 1980...but would have won anyway, probably. A Crackpot did shot him but he lived.

Carter --- (C) -- Not very memorable as a president but had good potential. Not a foreign policy guy - supporting human rights was his only policy. Made some bad decisions and failed to accurately measure rising tide of Islamist power. Shah of Iran's ouster and the hostage crisis did not have to be the mess that he made of it. Economy floundered. Certainly more effective as a former president.

Ford --- (C) -- Brought stability after Nixon's resignation. Served less than a whole term and was not elected but appointed. Considering the mess, he did OK. He also pardoned Nixon which was not popular. A Crackpot tried to shot him.

Nixon --- (D-) -- Opened the door to China. Some domestic policies were not too bad. Escalated the Viet Nam war and invaded Cambodia. Eventually ended our role in the war by negotiation. He actually was a crook. Resigned in disgrace due to Watergate break-in and cover-up. Paranoid and had an 'enemies list' but as time went on he really did make enemies. Power hungry and did not believe he was restricted by the constitution....president could not break the law as he saw it. Probably could have done some jail time if not pardoned.

Johnson --- (B-) -- Took over after JFK assassination and continued Kennedy's policies for a while. Escalated the war in Viet Nam - this was his undoing. Enacted many long-lasting social programs as the War on Poverty. Crude and hard to get along with but effective.

Kennedy --- (C+) -- Popular but lasted only 3 years before assassination. First Catholic president. Started the Peace Corps and served as an inspiration for a generation of young Americans. Bay of Pigs invasion was dreamt up under Eisenhower but JFK went along with it....a bad idea. Did not reach out to Cuba when he could have. The Cuban missile crisis was the closest we have gotten to a nuclear war. Began US involvement in Viet Nam on a small scale that grew out of control under LBJ. Relied very heavily on his family (brothers, etc.)as advisers.

Eisenhower --- (C+) -- Peace and prosperity - post-war hero president. Initiated some major infrastructure projects - highways, etc. Civil Rights problems began and he supported desegregation and racial civil rights. Probably didn't understand Cuba or Castro.

Truman --- (C+) -- Presided over the end of WWII and most of the Korean War. Took over when FDR died but was ill prepared - grew into the job. Took on Gen. MacArthur over Korea war plans and fired him. Had to get the US economy back on track and rebuild Europe and Japan after the war. Decided to drop the A-bombs on Japan that ended the war - still controversial but it ended the war. Supported the UN.

Roosevelt --- (B+) -- FDR was elected 4 times and brought the country out of the great depression and through most of WWII. Initiated Social Security and a wide range of programs to help recovery after the depression. Pretty much saved UK with lend lease and convoys during the war before we were attacked at Pearl Harbor. Began Manhattan Project to build the A-bomb. Was wheel-chair bound due to polio. Still popular.