Category Faith

Jan 4 2017

Yonder

I recently read an article which documented the little known relationship of J.R.R. Tolkien and the love of life, his wife Edith. Tolkien, along with the other “Inklings” were noted for one liners and titles intended to shock, pique the reader’s interest, and demand thought. Tolkien’s letter to his son on the eve of the young man’s wedding was no exception with the first sentence being, “Men are not monogamous.” The elder Tolkien’s subsequent explanation of that statement is the inspiration for this poem, but if his introductory statement has you thinking, “What the…?”, please read the article.

Yonder

If its pleasure you seek
Sole in the company you keep
Insatiable will be your desiring

Soon you tire of the now
Convinced the here is the how
All delights for you are denying

Yonder lights are much brighter
Their garden yields sweeter
If he could find “Yonder”
Always dreams there are fonder

He chaffs at the yielding
To the needs of his building
He sees the work now as his fettering

He curses his gifts
He builds instead rifts
And looks away far for his bettering

Yonder lights are much brighter
Their garden yields sweeter
If we could find “Yonder”
Where dreams are much fonder

To win we find losing
To love we face choosing
It is not for the weak and the reveling

For in our natural state
We tug, champ, and debate
As to love’s here and now are just meddling

Yonder lights are much brighter
Their garden yields sweeter
If I could find “Yonder”
Whose dreams are much fonder

For I am the causing
For a future that’s rousing
I miss what is real and is happening

For here there is pleasure
But I make the measure
By embracing the work that is beckoning

I am building a family
To neglect that is tragedy
This my choice and my reckoning

My choice is to love
Yes, its taught from Above
To love here and now is not settling

Yonder lights are not brighter
My garden here is much sweeter
The learning if we ponder
To love here and now and not “Yonder”

                                               – Andy Torbett

 

Apr 20 2016

My Response To The NFL Attacking Georgia

Because the NFL has interjected themselves into the debate on Religious liberty and furthermore has chosen to persecute and advocate against Christians who stand by their convictions of faith and conscience, no matter how unpopular or out-of-style those convictions are, which is their unalienable Constitutional right, I must exercise my own rights, those selfsame unalienable rights, my birthright as an American citizen, and stand beside my brothers and sisters, my fellow citizens in Georgia whom you, the NFL, through misguided arrogance believing the monumental wealth you have acquired from the marketing of the play of a child’s game, combating over a misshapen leather ball, somehow grants you license to trample the basic aforementioned unalienable rights of the very citizens whose monetary and popular support of your game, your product, has granted you the enormous wealth you enjoy and abuse.

 I will stand with those you persecute in Georgia and I will no longer watch, purchase, or any way support your product, your business. The NFL should be in the business of football, not trying to bully the citizens of the United States into changing the fundamental structure that has produced and supported the very free society that grants the platform on which a colossal entity such as the NFL can be built.
I have been a football fan since I was a little boy so it is with no small regret that I have severed any ties or support to the NFL. I have deleted all my fan accounts and put my memorabilia in a closet hoping my favorite sport will come to their senses and return to being just that, a sport. Until then, please delete my email account from your list.
 We live in a nation where not only are we afforded the right to be controversial and pursue agendas that might make others uncomfortable, but we are also afforded the right to disagree with those agendas and say “no”.  Your disdain for that basic unalienable right is more than troubling and in more plain speech, perhaps you should just stick to your business; that is, playing a game with a little leather ball.
With much regret and frustration,
Andy Torbett
Mar 25 2016

Wrong Answer or Wrong Question?

 

The great warrior chieftain of the Hebrews was preparing for a crucial and pivotal battle in the Jewish people’s nomadic quest to reclaim the land of Abraham. The night before the battle, Joshua left the encampment for a contemplative walk. As he surveyed the walls of the city they would attack in the morning, he noticed in the pale moonlight a soldier before him with his sword drawn. Joshua quickly put his hand to the hilt of his sword and called out to him asking, “Are you for us or are you against us?” Imagine Joshua’s surprise when the warrior answered, “No!”

 

Joshua had set the parameters for their relationship with the two options in his challenge to the perceived opponent. The nameless moonlit warrior completely ignored the premise of the question. The second half of his response gives inkling to why this warrior so disdained Joshua’s challenge.

 

The full answer was this, “No! I am the Captain of the Host of the Lord!” While Joshua might have been thinking, “Wrong answer”, this Captain was emphatically announcing “Wrong Question!” Joshua was informed in no uncertain terms that Host of the Lord is on nobody’s side and that Joshua better get on their side. It would seem that even in the modern enlightened age we live in today, we still struggle with asking the “Wrong Questions”.

 

As a result of some of the activism work I do, there are a certain news feeds that I follow pretty regularly. I was very disappointed one evening to read a startling question on a story through what I thought was a conservative outlet. The question was in reference to the presidential primary and it read, “Which candidate has the answer to save America?”

 

Whether you believe the Captain in the pale darkness was an angel, a Christophany, or just a character in morality fable, I for one found a sudden empathy for his frustration that necessitated a demand for a third option. Yes, that rumbling you hear is our Founding Fathers spinning like tops in their graves. Will someone please stand up and say “No” to a one-man solution?

 

This is a Republic! It is not meant to fixed by one man, no matter how big his hair or… whatever… that… is. We are not supposed to be deciding if the Constitution is on our side or not. We can’t change it so we can “get those people because they deserve it and they’re mean to me.” We can’t force businesses to stay in this country even when it makes us mad when they leave. Why? Because the Constitution says you can’t, that’s why! We need to stop asking and trying to make the Constitution be on our side, when we are supposed to be on the Constitution’s side.

 

No, the Constitution is not Theocracy, but for the love of the Republic will somebody please stand up against this push to anoint a savior? Can we please stop looking in the ballot box for the messiah? When will Americans who love freedom stand up amidst this desperate din and shout? No!

Feb 25 2016

Of Beliefs, Convictions, and Gronk’s Party Boat

 

Much has been made this election season of the amount of Christians that are voting for Donald Trump. To help quantify the consternation, many have floated ideas to the why and how of the disconnect between the professed beliefs of Christians and the history of Donald Trump varying from the issues of the day outweigh personal beliefs to Trump is the second coming of Cyrus the Great…wow, on that last one. I’m leaning more towards the less apocalyptic explanation with a much simpler and fundamental twist.

 

It boils down to beliefs and convictions. Just as many who call themselves conservatives, tea partiers, or libertarians have shown a complete lack of conviction on their professed beliefs in the constitution to vote for Trump, so have Christians been exposed for their lack of conviction concerning their Biblical beliefs. Simply put, times of desperation show the courage of your convictions. Many Christians of today simply don’t believe the Bible.

 

“Now hold on,” some of you might say, “haven’t you ever held your nose to vote for someone?” Yes, I’m a conservative Republican in the State of Maine. I have permanent scar tissue in my nose from holding my nose so much. Still, never in my life have I had to deal with a candidate in my party that violates every belief system that I have on every single level, which is compounded by the fact that the man is a pathological liar.

 

Those of you that have followed my column/blog may remember that one of the mantras I preach is to never believe what a candidate says during a campaign. Look at what they have done and said outside of the election year, in their life history. So now we have this man, who has crafted a whole new persona for this election, which continues to morph hither and yon, whither the winds blow in his best interest, and I am supposed to turn a blind eye, soul, and intellect to the warning billboards littered all along the road of destruction Donald Trump has paved?

 

I think not. Truly, Donald Trump has become the Republican Barack Obama. Trump’s followers were interviewed in the latest caucus in Nevada. The overwhelming reason they gave for voting for the man was change. Where have we heard that before? The billionaire refuses to give details on his policy but is big on grand promises with no substance. Where have we heard that before?

 

All those that oppose him, he mocks, humiliates, and demeans. Saul Alinsky? Where have we heard that before? The only difference between Obama and Trump is that, where as Obama is willing to trample the Constitution to achieve his goals, Trump will crush and pulverize the Constitution to achieve his. Imagine the day, and it will come if Trump is elected, that we would prefer Obama.

 

He believes single-payer healthcare works, is for universal healthcare, has a history of supporting gun control, supports raising taxes, establishing mandates, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, supports Eminent Domain and has a rabid following that defends his questionable past. No, I’m not talking about Barack Obama. This is Donald Trump. They’re both big fans of Hillary Clinton, which could explain why Trump will be taking the stand on trial for fraud. My goodness, we could have two Presidential candidates splitting time between the campaign trail and standing trial for felony charges.

 

And for Christians, the man opened the first strip joint casino, brags openly about sleeping with other men’s wives, publicly joked that he’d like to date his daughter because of her beautiful body, his latest wife,who would be First Lady, poses sans clothing in various racy glossies, and has used questionable business practices to bilk people out of their personal wealth. He claims to read the Bible every day and we believe him? What Bible? The Hugh Hefner version?

 

It is increasingly clear to me that people cannot believe the things they say they believe and support this man. It’s more a desire to follow the crowd like kids hopping on the Gronk Party boat to be part of the “in group”. Once again, it’s not about truth. It’s about hope and change!

Update: New information has surfaced that shows Trump preferred to use foreign workers rather than pay American workers to build his Florida hotels and Trump Towers.

Update: David Duke, former KKK Grand Wizard, has come out to publicly support Trump.