Which way is up?

There's a knot in my tail and I don't like it.  It's uncomfortable.  Everybody seems to feel that they can speak their piece and we listeners should listen raptly; isn't that why I have a blog?

This week, the media were fixated on a county clerk in Kentucky who chose the tenets of her faith over the job she had contracted to do.  She chose not to provide marriage licenses for same-sex couples, in defiance of a court order or two, as it was in opposition to her beliefs as a Christian.  The media circus grew each day, and I would not have been surprised to see a Slurpee truck set up to make some extra money on the daily crowd.

But this woman held her ground - right into a contempt of court citation and jail time.  Last I heard of the story, there was another wrinkle to her keeping her position as clerk stemming from the same root.

All I can say is she must be a better disciple than I.  I have fought my battles over my own belief in Christ and bear a lot of the scars, but I never stuck it out to the point where I would be arrested.  Fired from a job in a church, no less, for asking for others to commit their tasks to Him, yes.  Run by a small but effective group out of a nationwide volunteer group where I was given the opportunity to write public policy and advance those who could not speak effectively for themselves, yes.  And let's not forget that I was taken to task by state officials in that same organization because I refused to sanitize a prayer; the thought behind that (20 years ago, no less) was not to offend others who thought some of us were "holy rollers."  I've endured family splits over faith.  Just yesterday I was informed that my Jesus was "limited and painful to those who know Christ as the champion of the poor, the weak, and the downtrodden."

So is that the motive in the Kentucky showdown?  Is it firmly standing for the Word of God and what it says; is it now a matter of having gotten oneself into something that might end in embarrassment; is it lack of common sense in knowing one was defeated by a society that ridicules Christians openly?  What would I have done?  Call me chicken, but I would have lobbied against the legislation before it became law and when it did pass, I would have resigned my position in quite a noisy protest, I say safely from the comforts of my recliner and retirement.

I do have a reputation as one who will charge hell with a bucket of water; there's a long, well-intentioned wake behind me to prove it.  Sometimes I win, sometimes (more often) I lose.  My practical, patient, loving husband gives me free rein to swear I'll change this wrong to right until he's scraping me off the wall I've slammed my head into once again.  He gently chides me that I'm stressing myself out too much, but by that time the restaurant in town will tell me for the umpteenth time how they can't possibly modify their entry to conform with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992, and I'm coming out of the backfield with a full head of steam once again.

Mea culpa.  I always thought that 99% of my crusades were on the behalf of the poor, the weak and the downtrodden.  Maybe God's telling me to think it over some more.  In this crazy, mixed-up world we try to survive in today, I have a growing concern that right and wrong and up and down are all twisted around and not as well-defined as they once were.  I'll tell you why that concerns me, and that's because things that were once most definitely seen as unacceptable are now the norm.  We'll leave that there, but I think we've lost our Compass.  When we're in tune with Him, He may send you east and me west, but we're both parts of the same Body doing His work.  Unfortunately I have to say I perceive more do-it-yourself and don't read the Map work going on.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him, 

and He shall direct your paths.  -- Proverbs 3:5-6