How gullible am I? No, I’m not “send your bank account number and social security number to the exiled Nigerian prince” gullible, but I am pretty gullible when it comes to my friends. If I care about you, if I truly trust you, then chances are that I will believe any line of bullshit you throw my way. My friends have gotten me a couple of times with really silly, ridiculous stuff. These lies I been caught believing are pretty embarrassing, too embarrassing to mention here, but I don’t kick myself for long about those. I do, however, beat myself up when it comes to some stuff. I get upset with myself for being stupid enough to believe it, even though it’s not my fault. The situations are usually ones where I’m being lied to, or being mislead, and the person won’t or can’t come clean with me. The stupid little pranks and lies my friends feed me, they usually cop to as soon as they hear me say “Really?!” But the ones that get my goat are the ones I figure out on my own and have to stomach so as to not create a confrontation. Yeah, I should call them out on it, but what does that do except to embarrass them and make you look more like the ass than them. I’ve done it before…not pretty. So I sit, and let these charades go on, knowing full well the truth or at least thinking I do. This allows me to elaborate and embellish these “truths” I believe thus angering and upsetting me even more. My gullibility knows no bounds and neither does my imagination until I can’t take it even more. Then I just shut down. Ugh, I’m in the middle of one of these right now and just can’t shake it. Whatever you do, don’t get me started.
Now that I’ve put my frustration out there, I have to say, I can’t wait for my new golf clubs to arrive. I haven’t played golf since my best friend’s wedding and have been itching to start up again. Sure, sure, I am admittedly not that good. Yes, I do have one of the wicked slices in the known world of golf. But, amidst the numerous shots that find their way almost directly to the right, there are some glimpses of hope. One avid recreational golfer even commented that I had one of the smoothest swings he had ever seen. I know I could be a great golfer. If I got any genes from my father, then the golf gene should have been one of them. For someone who has only played recreationally his entire life, he is one of the best I’ve seen. He consistently plays below par with a set of clubs that is far from the cutting edge. In fact, whenever I mention that he should get new ones, which is his excuse, “Why? I’m playing just fine with the ones I have.” I know that he started playing golf in his late twenties, and I’m in my late twenties, which means that someday I could be as good as him. I don’t appreciate golf as much as he does, and certainly don’t watch it for hours on end on Sunday afternoons, but someone I could…who knows. Anyway, I stoked mostly about the new clubs I am getting. As some of you may know, my golf clubs were stolen unceremoniously from the toolbox in the back of my truck a month or so ago and I’ve been doing my research and been trying to make a decision about what to replace them with. I opted not to get some top of the line, state of the art, albeit used clubs and decided to get a nice set of middle of the road clubs. I don’t need something fancy, I need something that will be reliable and help me improve my game through improving my mechanics, not by clubs. The other thing I am excited about is buying a new golf bag. Golf bags have come a long way since I bought my old one, and I am learning to appreciate how the bag can make a statement about you more than the clubs or your game. I’ve got the one I want picked out, but I am waiting to see what the head covers on new clubs look like so I can make a decision about color. Yes, I am color coordinating my clubs and my bag. No, I am not gay; I just want to look professional. Look professional, be professional…that is one of my mottos. That, and…everybody wang-chung tonight.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Catholic Answer Series: Church and Biblical Teaching on Alcohol
Our Puritan legacy in the United States, which sees pleasure as the doorway to vice, makes it difficult for many people to understand this difference between virtuous and vicious drinking. If alcohol causes drunkenness, they think, then the sole moral question concerns whether you should drink it at all, and if so how much. Fundamentalists and many Evangelicals have an aversion to wine. At their communion services they substitute grape juice. They claim that at the Last Supper Jesus didn't use wine and that in a more general context drinking wine (or any other alcoholic beverage) is proscribed by the Bible. Two chief verses are cited by the anti-wine crowd: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise" (Prov. 20:1); "And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery" (Eph. 5:18). Other verses used are Proverbs 23:21, Habakkuk 2:15, and Isaiah 5:11. We should read closely. In Ephesians 5:18 Paul doesn't say, "Do not drink wine." That would be a complete prohibition. Instead, he says not to drink wine to excess--quite a different thing.
However, what Aristotle said about anger applies equally to drinking. It is not right to avoid anger absolutely…we must acquire the right habit, or in other words, school ourselves to feel the right amount of anger towards the right person, on the right occasion and for the right length of time. The same goes for drinking. It is not just the right amount that is important, but the right context, the right company, and the right drink. The Catholic Church teaches, and common sense corroborates, that wine, like food, sex, laughter, and dancing, is a good thing when enjoyed in its proper time and context. To abuse any good thing is a sin, but the thing abused does not itself become sinful. "Everything is lawful for me," writes Paul, "but not everything is beneficial. Everything is lawful for me, but I will not let myself be dominated by anything" (1 Cor. 6:12).
If Jesus had shunned wine and wanted his followers to do likewise, as these Protestants claim, why did he so frequently make use of wine in his parables and activities? Simple--he didn't disapprove of wine drinking, so long as it conformed to the biblical guidelines of moderation. The Bible tells us Jesus drank wine (Luke 7:34)--often enough, apparently, that his detractors accused him of being a drunkard--and that his first recorded miracle was to turn water into wine (John 2:1-11). Some anti-wine people say the kind of wine that was approved is the kind that doesn't intoxicate. But the Greek word for wine, oinos, used in the "don't get drunk on it" verses, is the same word used in the "it's okay to drink it in moderation" verses. Besides, all true wine has alcohol and can intoxicate; "wine" without alcohol isn't wine at all.
Properly used, alcohol is a stimulus to conversation, a solvent of awkwardness and a reminder that life is a blessing, and other people, too. The Bible refers of the goodness of wine when used correctly: "You may then exchange the money for whatever you desire, oxen or sheep, wine or strong drink, or anything else you would enjoy, and there before the Lord your God, you shall partake of it and make merry with your family" (Deut. 14:26). Other pro-wine-drinking verses are Genesis 14:18; Ecclesiastes 10:19; Sirach 31:12-31; Psalm 104:15; and 1 Timothy 5:23. After reading the account of the wedding at Cana one might legitimately wonder why, if Jesus turned water into grape juice, John goes out of his way to quote the headwaiter's remarks: "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one"? No matter how freely one drinks grape juice, it won't impair one's ability to discern between good and inferior grades.
What is the Biblical teaching on the use of alcohol? Based on the 247 references to wine and strong drink in the Bible, based on the life of Jesus, and in light of the common arguments that arise in a discussion on this topic, we find a simple (and, perhaps to some, surprising) answer. The Bible has several warnings against drunkenness, but only one caution against the responsible use of alcohol in celebration and with meals. That caution is to be careful, when you are in fellowship with Christians with a weaker conscience, that you don't cause a brother to stumble. A total prohibition against the use of alcohol is conspicuous largely by its absence. “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration, or a Sabbath day” (Colossians 2:16).
However, what Aristotle said about anger applies equally to drinking. It is not right to avoid anger absolutely…we must acquire the right habit, or in other words, school ourselves to feel the right amount of anger towards the right person, on the right occasion and for the right length of time. The same goes for drinking. It is not just the right amount that is important, but the right context, the right company, and the right drink. The Catholic Church teaches, and common sense corroborates, that wine, like food, sex, laughter, and dancing, is a good thing when enjoyed in its proper time and context. To abuse any good thing is a sin, but the thing abused does not itself become sinful. "Everything is lawful for me," writes Paul, "but not everything is beneficial. Everything is lawful for me, but I will not let myself be dominated by anything" (1 Cor. 6:12).
If Jesus had shunned wine and wanted his followers to do likewise, as these Protestants claim, why did he so frequently make use of wine in his parables and activities? Simple--he didn't disapprove of wine drinking, so long as it conformed to the biblical guidelines of moderation. The Bible tells us Jesus drank wine (Luke 7:34)--often enough, apparently, that his detractors accused him of being a drunkard--and that his first recorded miracle was to turn water into wine (John 2:1-11). Some anti-wine people say the kind of wine that was approved is the kind that doesn't intoxicate. But the Greek word for wine, oinos, used in the "don't get drunk on it" verses, is the same word used in the "it's okay to drink it in moderation" verses. Besides, all true wine has alcohol and can intoxicate; "wine" without alcohol isn't wine at all.
Properly used, alcohol is a stimulus to conversation, a solvent of awkwardness and a reminder that life is a blessing, and other people, too. The Bible refers of the goodness of wine when used correctly: "You may then exchange the money for whatever you desire, oxen or sheep, wine or strong drink, or anything else you would enjoy, and there before the Lord your God, you shall partake of it and make merry with your family" (Deut. 14:26). Other pro-wine-drinking verses are Genesis 14:18; Ecclesiastes 10:19; Sirach 31:12-31; Psalm 104:15; and 1 Timothy 5:23. After reading the account of the wedding at Cana one might legitimately wonder why, if Jesus turned water into grape juice, John goes out of his way to quote the headwaiter's remarks: "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one"? No matter how freely one drinks grape juice, it won't impair one's ability to discern between good and inferior grades.
What is the Biblical teaching on the use of alcohol? Based on the 247 references to wine and strong drink in the Bible, based on the life of Jesus, and in light of the common arguments that arise in a discussion on this topic, we find a simple (and, perhaps to some, surprising) answer. The Bible has several warnings against drunkenness, but only one caution against the responsible use of alcohol in celebration and with meals. That caution is to be careful, when you are in fellowship with Christians with a weaker conscience, that you don't cause a brother to stumble. A total prohibition against the use of alcohol is conspicuous largely by its absence. “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration, or a Sabbath day” (Colossians 2:16).
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