Welcome, May!

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The past few weeks have been stressful. Training new employees, dealing with difficult customers, not sleeping well, not exercising (I’ve gained 20 pounds in the last two years), getting through family drama (two life-threatening events in the same day, 2000 miles apart: my dad’s heart attack in NM and a 9 year grandchild starting the rest of his life with Type 1 Diabetes) . . .  My CrossFit lifestyle withered into oblivion when I lost my job at the University in 2020, as Covid got going. Deep depression brought me to a standstill as I took a few months to try to reset. Since then, my physical status has been on steady decline. Now my daily schedule looks something like this: Work 3-11 pm (on a good day), Go to bed at 4 am, get up between 10:30 am and noon, get booted up and go back to work. If I get one day off a week I’m fortunate. At least I don’t have to work all night for now. That was the worst.  So I haven’t had time or energy to do much, even read, much less write. And since my

Kingdom Man: Silence, I Kill Me!

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Just a thought here (perhaps a subject of discussion), so hear me through: we read in Genesis 3:6 that Adam was present when Eve was deceived. The word translated “with her” carries the weight of Adam standing by as a companion. The key point here is Adam’s silence. He did nothing to stop her, thus taking the full responsibility of that sinful action on himself.

That’s an amazing picture that takes little imagination: one stands by doing nothing while watching someone else fall, get beaten up, fail.

I return: while personal responsibility is one major lesson in this action leading to the fall of mankind into sin, perhaps there is another matter to consider. First, think of Jesus standing before Pilate just scant hours away from being crucified. Pilate asks Jesus (John 19:9), “where are you from?” and Jesus says nothing (stay with me here). Next Pilate asks an intriguing question: “You do not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority to crucify you?” (John 19:10)

Jesus’ answers, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above . . .” (John 19:11).

Now: Is it possible that Adam’s silence was a gross misapplication of authority? He was given command by God to rule over creation, so was he overstepping his bounds by declaring himself to be supreme authority over his wife and the forbidden tree by his silence? Did Adam think that nothing would happen to him if someone else disobeyed the command of the Lord?

The horror.

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