As I write this blog today I have listened to the comments and apologies of the Rev. Jesse Jackson who has allowed his tongue to again steer his personal ship in the wrong direction. I don't write this blog to talk about the politics of the moment. Nor do I write to oppose or promote any party or political movement. I am writing to point out one more time just how contemporary the Bible is for all time. As I heard Rev. Jackson's comments I immediately thought of the book of James in the 3rd chapter beginning at verse 1:

"My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so."

I find that the older I get the more things are answered through the scriptures. Why is it we often find ourselves looking for the answers after the harm or foul has been committed? The Bible has truly given us the complete play book with which to live. I am sometimes amazed at my children when they have the miraculous ability to remember every line from a movie which they have seen. They can re-enact the scene with perfect inflection, sometimes even matching the dialect of the actor. And yet we struggle to remember the biblical themes which will truly be the saving grace which will shelter us along the journey, comfort us in our trials, and pre-empt embarrassing situations. The entire book of James can be read in an half hour, and instruction from it can be lived the rest of our lives. Maybe we could learn again from the stumbling of others in time to keep us from stumbling so often ourselves.

Experiencing the journey together with you,
Grace and peace,
R. Kirk Norman