DOES EVERY LIFE MATTER?

SCRIPTURE OF INTEREST

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27 KJV).

MY COMMENTARY

DOES EVERY LIFE MATTER?

I am talking about do all lives matter. That is a very important question that is in the forefront in many people’s minds. Really! Think for a minute and ask yourself that question. Does every life on this planet matter? For some people all lives do not matter.  Right now, in our world this subject is being pushed into the faces of everyone. So I ask again do all lives matter and if they do, to what degree?

This subject has really been in the news lately especially since police happened to be on the wrong end of certain murders that have taken place in Minnesota and recently a black man shot in Wisconsin. So, this has created protests and violence where people are crying out against what they consider injustice being exhibited by the police. So the question arises in this situation which has to do with Black Lives matter. The problem with this issue is that the focus is on the Black Lives Matter organization and unfortunately, many people have not done there due diligence by conducting proper research on this particular group. I say this because there is a difference between the Black Lives Matter organization and the slogan Black Lives Matter. The black lives slogan covers every black person who does matter. They are not beneath anyone nor are they above anyone. They are part of God’s creation like anyone else.

While I am on this subject about black lives let me also say that every black life matters whether they live in the United States, Canada, Africa, Israel or any other country in the world. They are important to God because He made them.

Let’s not stop there because there are other people that matter as well. What about the elderly like me? Are we important to our society or are we simply a hindrance to our society and to our health care? I want you to know that without us none of you would be here. God made us and whether you like it or not God will judge us as to how we treat the senior’s in our society. This pandemic has revealed to us how the seniors have been treated and looked after in some of our nursing homes in our nation. According to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, they have received emails recently from family members “whose elderly parents and grandparents are suffering abuse and neglect in nursing homes. Government lockdown measures have made it illegal to visit these vulnerable seniors, so they are deprived of the love, attention and personal care that they normally receive from visiting family members. The neglect of elderly people who are confined to their rooms, unable to move or enjoy fresh air or exercise and in some cases are subject to abuse, violates their Charter Section 7 right to life, liberty and security of the person.”

What about children? Do they matter? Oh we will say “yes, they do matter.” Okay what about the other children that have not been born? Do they matter? For many of us the answer would be “yes.” Unfortunately, based on the number of abortions done in the United States and here in Canada I would suggest that unborn human beings do not matter. This is a crying shame and disgraceful. Here in Canada we have the government soliciting abortions by sending money to other countries to fund abortions. This absolutely is not right. This type of action shows that unborn babies have no value whatsoever and can be discarded like a piece of meat. They call this free choice. I call it murder. Unborn babies matter.

Every human being matters whether they are black, white, brown, babies, the elderly or those in between because God made each and every one of us. Look what Psalms 100:3 KJV says, “Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Now that tells me that we are very important to God. He values us incredibly and Matthew’s Gospel tells us what Jesus said, “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31 KJV). So far we have seen through scripture that every human being is valuable to God. In fact Jesus said something else that shows how valuable children are to Him.  “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a mill stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6 KJV). Does God value the little children? The answer is a resounding “yes”.

Scripture points out to us that God knows every human being that has ever lived, or ever will live. In fact scripture tells us that God knew about you and me even before we were conceived. Psalms 139:13 – 18 ESV says “For You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I could count them, they are more than the sand, I awake, and I am still with you.”

Though we have all sinned yet we see that God who values you and me did something about rescuing us from our dilemma by sending His Son to die for us and giving us the opportunity to experience repentance, forgiveness and eternal life. What an amazing God! “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). Oh there’s more “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men slackness: but is longsuffering to us-word, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 KJV).

Q AND A

Question: What is the ultimate goal for a Buddhist?

Answer: Buddhism is considered to be the fourth largest religion in the world with approximately 520 million adherents. The largest concentration of Buddhists are found in China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Buddhists are scattered in smaller numbers throughout the world.

Buddhism was founded by a native of India, Siddhartha Gautama (563 – 483 B.C.), during the sixth century B.C. as a result of a spiritual experience during which he claimed to have attained “enlightenment.” He became the Buddha, or “enlightened one,” and began to teach others the path to this desired state, which he called the “Middle Way” because it eschewed the extremes of both affluence and asceticism. Gautama won thousands of followers, but for 200 years after his death, Buddhism was confined to his homeland. Not until King Ashoka ruled India (274 – 232 B.C.) and became a proponent of the new religion did it spread to other countries. Today there are three major branches of the religion: Mahayana Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism, and Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism.

The core beliefs among Buddhists are diverse. However, most Buddhists share at least the beliefs contained in Buddha’s Four Noble Truths:

• Life is made up of suffering.
• The cause of suffering is a craving for temporal things.
• The key to freedom from suffering is to eliminate this desire.
• The means to eliminate desire – and therefore suffering – is the Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

The ultimate goal in life for a Buddhist is to reach “nirvana” – a state of existence that is free from all desire.