Thursday, April 03, 2008

Yes and no.



Mug: Another anonymously-made "gift" mug, this one from KERA 90.1 FM. A really pleasant drinking device: good handle, decent heft, nice tactile experience, with an attractive decoration.

Coffee: 100% Columbian Supremo beans roasted in San Antonio, ground this morning in Dallas at Ft. Tipperary.

Comments: The mug promotes the "exclusiveness" of KERA/NPR radio listeners/subscribers. I take exception to that sense of exclusivity, superiority, and elitism that such claims imply. To be somehow "better" than our fellow man is a stain that runs deep in the human soul. From that breeds lawlessness ("the laws don't apply to me"), greed and avarice ("you're not worthy of that possession, so I'm taking it"), immorality of all sorts ("I'm not hurting anyone by my actions"), and eventually, self worship ("I am my own God").

In this life, we are common. Common is good: Common law, Common Prayer, Communion. Weighed against any other human life, mine has no extra (or less) weight in God's scales. I am not special. I do not have any special privileges, whether or not I expect them. I am no better and no worse than anyone else, regardless of how "good" or "bad" they may be. I am not "one of a kind". I am "of a kind".

Except, except... in God's eyes. He made me to be the same as everyone else, but unique. He did not make me "special" in any way. However, He uniquely made me. I am the same as everyone, but I am individual. He knew He made ME. He knew He made YOU. Uniquely, we are formed in His image.

So I am the same as you. Uniquely the same.

Postscript: That's my wife in the photo, enjoying a Spaten at Scholz Garten in Austin following the birth of our first grandchild (Hosea Downing). She truly is "one of a kind".

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