My New Life?

Well, I have now been in Germany for over two weeks. My wife swears it's a month. I suspect she's trying to make me feel good...

When I was offered this job, I was unsure whether it was what I needed to do. Last year I discerned within the Episcopal Church for the priesthood, and was found to not yet be ready. It was disappointing, but I trusted that the committee was under the Lord's influence. Therefore, I told the company on the day I spoke with them that I would have an answer that Thursday morning, after talking with my family and praying. That Wednesday, over a period of fourteen hours, I watched as the Lord tied up every end that could possibly keep me in the US.

I told my wife, Darlene, that we should sell off everything we own (except for family heirlooms which we'd put in storage) and "become gypsies for the next fifteen years. We'll retire when I'm sixty-five, buy or build a little bungalow, and retire to our rockers, hobbies and travels. She readily agreed. We already have our first weekend trip to Liechtenstein planned for when she arrives later this year.

I'm living currently in the southwest of Germany in the Mannheim area. I have been enjoying exploring my new job, the area, and this interesting, new language. One of the things that has impressed me about Mannheim is the transit system. This place is somewhere between the size of Columbia, South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina. The RNV (Rhein-Neckar Verkehrsverbund, or Rhine-Necker Traffic Group in English) is a thoroughly modern transit organization that covers the Mannheim and Heidelburg areas and the area in between. For about $300-a-month I can buy a pass to take me anywhere on the system for that month. Not too bad, but I also, along with everyone else here, pay a 19% Value-Added-Tax on EVERYTHING that is bought here. That's on top of all other taxes Germans pay.

Ford and Chevrolet market models here unseen in America, as does Smart Car. They have at least two other models, one of which is a nifty, little sports car. You can also buy a Peugeot (French), Skoda (Czech), though I've yet to see a Lada (Russian) or a Yugo (Thank God!).

Even with all the choices, I doubt I will buy a car. You can get nearly anywhere in the area on RNV, as long as you are in Baden-Wurttemburg state. I am staying across the state line in Hessen, in an old town named Lampertheim. Founded in 832, or thereabout, it is a clean and comely, bedroom community that contrasts with a grittier, industrial Mannheim. My first impression was The Village from the AMC mini-series "The Prisoner." My second thought was the town in the movie "Truman." Clean and quaint, though the scourge of spray-paint graffitti is quite prevalent.

I am living currently in a hotel room that is small. The room is approximately 10x15 feet including a small bath. But I have German TV, and CNN Europe in English. I have the ONLY balcony room in the place. At 20 euros-a-night, I can't beat it or complain.

I work on an American Army compound, Coleman Barracks, for a defense contractor. I am doing essentially what I have done for the past fifteen years for the South Carolina National Guard, working on Army helicopters. Ironically, my first job on the hangar floor was on a Koninklijke Luchtmacht (Royal Netherlands Air Force) AH-64D Apache.

Some of the things I've encountered have raised my eyebrows. There's the "Everything's a Euro" store, and yes, it IS what you would think. There's also Woolworth's stores still here. There's also footbal, American-style. The Weinheim Longhorns play here. And a convertible Mini Cooper will cost you $24,000.

The weather here is everything I've ever heard. The week I arrived it was quite warm (highs in the 80's, lows in the fifties.) More recently, it has turned into Seattle weather - cold and damp. I've joked that they should have contests in the papers: "Draw the Sun, Win a Prize!"

Nevertheless, the area has entertainment possibilities that blow my mind. I could never imagine such back home in my area. Mannheim has a ballet (I've met one of their ballerinas, a 21-year-old Australian who also tends bar at a local Irish Pub). The city is currently co-hosting the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. Additionally, upcoming concerts by Skorpions, a-ha, Deep Purple and Simply Red, to name just four, have caught my eye.

Culturally, the Turkish population in Germany is to this country what Mexicans are in the US. Turkish restaurants abound, and like most food, I like it. I've also discovered a wonderful Italian store in Lampertheim that specializes in meats, wine and cheeses from Italy. And an ice cream stand near that store has wonderful treats.

Most importantly, I have found a church. The English Church Heidelberg meets in a former convent chapel in the old portion of the city. This area was spared allied bombing in World War Two. The building is small (four rooms if you consider the narthex/lobby, the bell tower, and the main parish), but the church membership is vibrant with a Briton raised in California and his family, some German Anglicans, a wonderful lady from Sierra Leone, to name but a few. Additionally, we have a world-circuit riding Kiwi priest and his wife, who will be here for five more weeks. The building is shared with an Old Catholic church, whose priest serves communion twice-a-month to we Anglicans when we lack a priest.

So, here I am. I'm still unsure about exactly what God wants of me here. But, whatever it is, I am anxious to enjoy Europe as do His work!

Whatever that may be.

She Blinded Me With Science

“She blinded me with science!” It’s a line from British musician Thomas Dolby’s 1982 song of that same title. I love the song – it’s catchy, fun, and has that great catch phrase. And it so reminds me of the world today.

One of the great ruses used by the modern neo-atheist is to use science to prove that God, religion and the supernatural do not exist. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, et al., have been trying to use logic to point out that there is no scientific laws, rules, definition or reason justifying the existence of God. I can accept that.

I do know, though, that the hand of God has been guiding me, and that those people I know who have given their lives to God and his service are the happiest I’ve ever encountered. I KNOW these things. I see these things. I also know that many have given themselves over to IDEOLOGY, and are violent, miserable, sad or just frustrated. These latter people are the true fodder of the books of the atheists.

What is far more unfortunate is the tendency of people in our culture to want science to prove their faith, or whatever belief they may have. And this is where things can get dangerous.

We are all born with certain strengths and weaknesses, talents and foibles, desires and urges, that we have to deal with and handle in our lives. I know, as I’ve had to handle a few. I have a violent temper that has gotten me very close to serious trouble in the past. I am also a VERY sexual animal, with quite a powerful libido. Yet, I have been able to control these things, mostly through the realization that to lose control of them is to commit sin and to do wrong.

God challenges us all with various things. Some of us are born with an urge to drink way too much. It can kill us eventually. I’ve known at least two people who have died from destroying their internal organs with alcohol.

I’ve known people who have destroyed promising lives with drugs. A close friend in college did just that. A classic image of a Preppie – penny loafers, khakis and button-down shirts were all that occupied his closet – he left after our freshman year with a 0.0 GPA and a habit that included marijuana, pills, acid and cocaine.

Still others suffer from kleptomania. This is a disease that makes people totally incapable of not being a thief. They MUST steal to satisfy their urges. I had a soldier some years back who was jailed and discharged because he had an insatiable desire to steal. He was an excellent soldier otherwise, technically and tactically one of our best. But he was convicted of theft, jailed, and eventually kicked out of the army. Tragically, he had a wife and children, but his moral compass had been crushed.

We now know from modern science that in almost all these cases, there is a genetic or chemical reason for these illegal and immoral actions. It is the same with homosexuality.

But, in our society, we justify homosexuality’s ‘morality’ by using science and genetics. By this logic, we should scrap Alcoholics Anonymous, get rid of all laws concerning drugs and narcotics, toss out DUI and DWI laws, and make stealing legal. Why? Because these ARE lifestyle issues. And since these issues are illegal or immoral, we are causing these people great suffering by making them feel as though they are wrong. It hurts their feelings to find out that what they desire is immoral.

Some people get satisfaction from hurting others. They enjoy torturing animals or people. It gives them a sense of power and well-being. Being homosexual does the same for those who a predisposed as such, despite the obvious fact that homosexuality is a practice that has caused many deaths due to disease. What, really, is the difference?

We have embarked in our society on a wave of empowerment that uses science to usurp morality. We grey in the areas that some groups have been able to convince us are white and aren’t, or vice versa (no pun intended). Seriously? Why are drugs and alcohol illegal in some or all cases? Because, first, they are immoral, and second, they are dangerous. Stealing is immoral as it hurts us all as a society. Homosexuality should still be immoral because every society in history that adopted homosexuality as ‘normal’ soon found itself destroyed. Not because of homosexuality, per se, but because the idea that what is wrong is actually right destroyed those nations’ moral compasses. And they were then destroyed.

Now, illegalizing homosexuality is not what I advocate. But allowing homosexuals to take over the nation’s moral compass is wrong. Homosexuality is and always has been wrong in moral societies. Using science to justify immoral behavior is at once perverse, and is aberrant and abhorrent. Science is NOT morality, though morality IS based in logic and science. Don’t let us be fooled.