The Absurdity of Doing The Same Thing…

The absurdity of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is beyond comprehension. This happens in people’s lives, organizations, and governments. 

Having the ability to see what is going on before it actually happens is a rare gift; it is called insight. Winston Churchill had the insight to see that Hitler was a dictator intent on conquering the world. At the same time, Hitler appeared to people like Charles Lindbergh and Lady Astor as a gifted world leader. Lady Astor hated Churchill for his criticisms of Hitler, so once she said to him, “If you were my husband, I would put arsenic in your tea.” Churchill responded, “If I were your husband, I would drink it.” There were plenty in the world media who praised Stalin for his transformation of the Soviet Union while ignoring the atrocities that were so common. They said that Stalin was a man of the people who really cared about lasting and meaningful change.

George Orwell saw through the lies and deception of the purported utopia of Communism by Comrade Stalin before most of the world did. Orwell wrote an allegory of what Stalin’s Communism really was in the short book, Animal Farm. It was published in 1945, though it could have been published earlier; publishers were afraid to do so.

The book describes a rebellion led by a pig named Napoleon, who took over the farm owned by Mr. Jones. Napoleon made many wonderful promises to the animals—all animals would be equal; all animals would have an equal share. Life would be better on Animal Farm now that Napoleon was in charge. But, life didn’t turn out to be too good for the animals—except for Napoleon, of course, and the rest of the pigs and his dogs who served as his guards. Napoleon took care of himself and frequently changed the rules to benefit himself and his fellow pigs. I highly recommend the book because it is relevant to what we see happening around us today, with the fascination with Socialism and Communism.

Socialism and Communism order everyone to be, act, and think alike. They do not tolerate any diverse thought. Totalitarians always have a strawman—someone who is responsible for the chaos. For Hitler, it was the Jews; for Stalin, it was the wealthy, educated classes. Their arrows are pointed at someone. Anyone who does not endorse and affirm everything they espouse is targeted and harassed, and even harmed. Search the world over, and you will not find a country with a better justice system or less prejudice than the United States. Yet, there are people intent on overthrowing our system of government. This revolution is about Napoleon and his fellow henchmen taking over the farm. Napoleon will constantly change the rules and lie to his followers. Still, it’s the animals that really get hurt —and it’s we, the ordinary people, who are losing our freedoms.

On Wings of Eagles

Eleanor came home one evening to find her children huddled together. She wondered what they were doing with such interest. When she finally got a glimpse of what was going on, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Right in the middle of the circle were several baby skunks. She screamed at the top of her voice, “Children, run!” Each kid grabbed a skunk and ran!

The people of Israel were like this when God rescued them from slavery. Each one grabbed something from Egypt and ran in a different direction. They grabbed hold of idolatry and cultural ways that were not like God’s ways, but like Egypt. God had a lot of work to make an obedient people out of this group. They were often disobedient, faithless, and obstinate. Nonetheless, he had chosen them, and their life as a free nation had begun.

Once when I was working at my computer, one of my little granddaughters was sitting in my lap. She was digging in my shirt pocket. As I looked out of the corner of my eye, I watched the stuff all being extracted piece by piece from my pocket. She examined each piece very meticulously: my glasses, my pens, my papers, and I thought that was all I had, but she kept putting her little hand deep into my pocket. I didn’t pay much attention because I thought she had pretty well cleaned me out. After a few minutes, I noticed she was relatively quiet and wasn’t fidgeting. I looked down at her, and she had found a toothpick and had it in the corner of her mouth exactly the way I do. She was imitating me. The one thing we want to do is learn to imitate Christ and not this world.

As parents and grandparents, we should remember that our kids and grandkids are imitating us. We may not realize it, but they are absorbing everything that they see and hear. We want to learn to imitate him and not the people around us. We also want to live in such a way that those who are watching us will be imitating Christ when they imitate us. God was proposing to his people that they learn to imitate him, not the people around them.

Exodus 19:3-6 Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel:  ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.  Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

They had seen God, what did—10 incredible plagues that broke the chains of slavery. They saw it and experienced it. They exited Egypt in mass by the hand of God. They saw God deliver them from Pharaoh’s hand when they were between his army and the Red Sea. How many times had God swooped down and carried his people on eagles’ wings? They had arrived at the mountain where God promised they would come. God had made good his promise, and now they would worship him on his holy mountain.

This is a picture of a mother eagle caring for her young. Eaglets are especially helpless, remaining in the nest for as much as 3 months until they are big enough to fly. The eagle builds an enormous nest, 6 feet in diameter and 5 feet in depth, for its eaglets. They are delighted to play and wait for their food to be delivered to their mouths. They live this comfortable life unaware of the day they will have to fly. Getting the eaglets out of the nest is a gradual process. The birds are taught to flap their wings to build coordination. They are enticed to venture out near the nest and flap their wings to build muscle. Food is often reduced, but ultimately, the eaglets have to take the leap. “When it is time for the young birds to leave the nest and learn to fly, the eagle stirs up the nest, but does not abandon her young. If they experience difficulties, the mother swoops down below them. She lifts them on its wings, bringing them back to safety.” They are now expected to leave the nest and learn to fly. They have become quite comfortable and don’t want to leave the nest. Now staring down two thousand feet through the holes, they decide that Mom is serious about this thing called flying. She watches each one. They are hundreds of feet in the air, learning to use their wings for the first time is a frightening experience, but when they fail to fly. She spreads her wings and swoops under them and carries them back again to try again.

Such an illustration is what Moses said God did with Israel, time and time again, in the wilderness. No incident is as graphic as this —the crossing of the Red Sea and his provision and safety in the desert. They had been delivered from slavery, but they were vulnerable to starvation and to attack by their enemies. So God lifted them up on his mighty wings, providing them with food, water, and victory in battle. He does the same for us today!