For Quiet Confidence.

(This prayer comes from the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer)

O GOD of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength; By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I found this prayer to be convicting, particularly taken in connection with our weekly wing chapel reading of Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ. As a Christian living in the modern world, and particularly as a college student, finding time for quietness and solitude is itself a grueling process. Balancing eighteen credits and

seventeen hours of work a week while trying to deepen friendships with a few close friends leaves little time to be alone. Yet it is often when I am alone that I am best able to search out my mind and heart and try to conform them to the image of Christ.

Something that I have found extremely helpful to finding this solitude is the Book of Common Prayer and the wisdom and truth it contains. The prayers often seem perfectly fitted to guide my soul back from the dizzying swirl of life

into a closer alignment with its anchor, the Lord Jesus Christ. I have found that by pushing evening prayers to the very last thing I do and making morning prayers the first activity I engage in upon waking I am able to find this time of solitude and realigning.

One thing that I have really begun to appreciate through the use of the Book of Common Prayer and attending (though only once so far) the Church of Our Savior - Oatlands is the Christocentrism of the Anglican faith. Having grown up in more Baptist circles, I had been more inclined to think of God most often as the Trinity. While God does exist as the Trinity, thinking of Him primarily in that way can lead to a sort of abstraction of the Divine (at least it did for me). Taking a course in Metaphysics last fall and this new found wisdom in the Book of Common Prayer has lead me to a much deeper and fuller understanding and appreciation for Christ as part of the Godhead.

This new focus has been incredibly beneficial to my spiritual life as having a clearer understanding of who Christ is enables me to attempt to conform to him in a more effective manner. One of the most fascinating aspects of this for me is that in reading seemingly not at all connected to my conforming to Christ - reading Sartre for example -my initial reaction was not a logical analysis of the argument of the work, but rather an attempt to see how it conformed to "the mind of Christ." This bringing all things in subjection to Christ should not have been new to me, but the lack of having a Christocentric theology made this unclear.

I encourage you to focus on Christ. Christ is our Savior, our Brother, our Advocate, and our Example. We are to strive to conform to His image. Combine this Christocentrism with large (as a college student as large as you can) amounts of solitude, reflection, and soul realignment - it will bless you beyond measure. Though this may seem trite, do not let the busyness of life deter you on this track, you have no idea what you are missing.

Reflections on Revolution

'Religicide' in Iraq an article published by Christianity Today details the persecution that formerly protected Christians are now facing in the newly democratic Iraq. "Just before the 2003 war, Christians made up some 1 million of Iraq's then-25 million citizens. Saddam Hussein viewed Christians as "peace-loving" and largely protected the historic community." Now "a large percent-age of Iraq's ancient Christian population have fled their conflict-ridden country. Many fear that Iraq's centuries-old Christian community is on the verge of extinction." Large numbers of Christians have lived in the region since the days of the early church; now they are fleeing en masse. Exit Visa: Iraqi Christians Look for Safe Haven, also by Christianity Today, details the increasing number of Iraqi Christian refugees and the problems they face both in Iraq and in their attempts to find a new home. The establishment of democracy in Iraq has not been good for these Christians; minorities play an important role in dictatorships as they can help to dilute and diffuse opposition to the dictator. As such they are often protected. Before the U.S. establishes democracy by fiat, or before we welcome "democratic" revolutions especially in Islamic countries, we ought to consider the toll they will take on oppressed minorities and, if nothing else, do our best to assist and protect them.

But this ill-treatment is not limited to religious minorities. Dr. David Aikman, formerly an international correspondent for TIME magazine, details the persecution facing women in these Islamic countries in his American Roundtable article: Arab Unrest and the Status of Women. This can be seen clearly in the treatment given to western female correspondents by the Egyptian revolutionaries; they have been repeatedly groped and sexually assaulted. Aikman points out that the problem is societal and cultural, not merely political - in the Czech Republic the revolutionaries made a conscious decision not to behave like the Communists in their treatment of them. This has not been the case in the Egyptian revolution. As Aikman notes, "When Egyptian women protested in Cairo's Tahrir Square for better political and human rights for women, they were outnumbered and shouted down by belligerent men. Oh, and a statistic worth knowing -- especially for women tourists to Egypt -- is that 93 percent of Egyptian women report having been manhandled in public settings; and 98 percent -- can you imagine, 98 percent? -- of foreign women have reported the same thing in Egypt." The situation in Libya appears to be similar. Aikman ends his article with a sobering analysis of the state of democracy in such nations: "if half the entire population is being abused by the other half, what hope is there for the benefits of democratic rule?"

Post-Mubarak Egypt has Islamists calling for modesty police, an article in the Jerusalem Post, details some of these abuses perpetrated by the new regimes and revolutionaries. Muslim mystics, who are not supported by mainstream Islamists, are being killed in Egypt. Calls for the institution of a Saudi Arabia-esque modesty police force have Egypts secular political leaders worried about the establishment of an Islamic regime.Sa'id Abd Al-Azim, a leader of the salafi movement in Alexandria, said "If the Christians want safety they should submit to the rule of God and be confident that the Islamic sharia [law] will protect them" The head attorney of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights, a Coptic Christian, claims the revolution has been taken over by radical Islamists. The article goes on to point out that "[in] Bahrain, unrest has evolved into a conflict between Sunni- and Shiite Muslims and the U.S. has pulled back from supporting Libyan rebels over concerns they are dominated by Islamists." One is forced to remember that the U.S. allowed a similar revolution in Iran.

These circumstances illustrate the folly of rejoicing at the creation of a democratic system without the inculcation of the democratic principles necessary for democracy's existence. These principles are found in true Christianity (the first major religion to treat women with dignity and honor). Better a dictatorial regime that limits the freedom of the press and assembly and uses its countries wealth for personal gain than a faux democratic system that allows, or even encourages, the murder of large numbers of its citizens and oppresses half the population in the name of religion.

Countrymen, My Countrymen

(This poem is a reflection of my mood on November 6, 2008 and again on January 20th.)

Where has discernment gone, countrymen, my countrymen?

When will your eyes see your error, what you have done? When

“The days have gone down in the West … into shadow,”

And the world of men falls into chaos below?

What will you say when your world is no more,

You who have chosen to give up this war?

What will you do when they come to your door,

And there is no escape anymore?

Will you then take back this empty choice?

Why did you follow naught but a voice?

Why did you choose this, what were you offered?

How were you deceived by what was proffered?

And why was it so easy?

Where has your courage gone, countrymen, my countrymen?

When did battle become the choice that you feared most? When

Did freedom lose all to the dream of endless peace,

And the ever vain hope that all battles might cease?

“Is … peace so sweet as to be purchased at

The price of chains and slavery”, yes, that

Is the question left unasked. And hereat

We must never shrink from the just combat.

But how will your strength return again,

Once you are conquered what will remain?

Why did you lose heart, why did you give in?

What caused this cowardice to begin,

And can you be brave once more?

Where has your freedom gone, countrymen, my countrymen?

When did its value fade, what did they tell you, and when

Did they begin? How is it that what you held dear

And sacred and inviolable now you fear?

You could give it up without a tear!

How foolish your choice soon will appear.

What will you then do to change this doom?

Will you wait ‘till your land is a tomb,

And the “forgotten people” you become?

What then, what then will be reckoned the sum

Of the greatness that you lost?