Religious Diversity in Louisville

Louisville Kentucky like most of America has a great diversity of religions. This was evident when recently a major Hindu temple was dedicated in Louisville and over four hundred people attended. This will now be a focal point for Hindu’s from Kentucky, southern Indiana and Tennessee to come and worship. In a nod to American culture they hold their worship services on Sunday.

An interesting note to his event is that they purchased a former Presbyterian church building and converted it into a Hindu Temple. They were happy with the fact that the building had been built for religious uses and consider holy ground. Some years ago two small Presbyterian congregations merged and sold one building to a developer who in turn sold it to the Hindu sect.

Louisville has almost all the world’s religions represented here. 

Past Present Future

Past, present and future: this is not about grammar but more about where we are. We always live in this state of being and how we view it is important to our success in life.

PAST: The past is history and we can not change it but how we view the past can change us. Many of us ignore the past and are doomed to repeat the mistakes made there. Some of us are stymied by our remembrances’ of the “Good Old Days”  and live there rather than the present. The successful person will learn from both the mistakes and successes of the past and use that knowledge to press on to greater success in our present.

PRESENT:  Here we are in the present. This is where we live all the time so what are we going to do with it? Is our present filled with thoughts of what could have been or day dreams about what might be if only?  Living in the reality of the moment can be a key stone for living successfully. What you do with your now determines everything else, make it count.

FUTURE: One way or another, this is where we are all going. Each one of us has a place in the future and the possibilities are wide open. What goals do we set for ourselves and what is our step by step plan for reaching our goals? Our day dreams can be important for success if the dream becomes a goal and a path is laid out for reaching it. Planning early and taking action is the key to success.

Remember your past, live in your present and plan for your future. Success is all up to you. 

Hobson’s Choice

We often believe that we Americans have a great freedom of choice but truth be told we are not always free to make the choices we might like, because there are often restrictions that are out of our control. Success is usually a case of knowing when you can make a choice and when you can not.

I am reminded of a figure of speech that is called “Hobson’s Choice” that describes any situation for which there are no alternatives. T his comes from an eccentric livery stable owner named Hobson who lived in seventeenth-century England. Hobson insisted, as and unbreakable rule, that his customers seeking to rent a saddle horse from him must either take the animal who happened to be tethered nearest the door or take none at all. There is your choice take what is offered or walk. Sometimes it is better to walk than to take a runaway horse.

As Christians we will face many choices. Some of them will be wonderful and some will be difficult but the virtue of the Christian life is to find the goodness of God in whatever choice we are called on to make. What do we choose to let dominate our lives? We are ready to face our choices only when we are ready to look for the will of God in each decision. To pray over each choice to discover the goodness of God in all we do in His name. 

The WWW Questions

When I traveled to Jordan I was stopped by customs agents coming and going. Both the Jordanian and American customs agents asked me three questions before letting me pass. 

Who are you?

Where are you going?

What do you have to declare?

These are good questions for Christians to ask of ourselves as we look to the future. These are good focus questions to help us with the challenge of being Christians in our fast changing world. We can restate them as:

Who are we?,

Where are we going?,

What do we have to declare?

Who are we? As Christians, what is our role in our community and the world? How do we define our relationships with God, the Christian Church, other Christians and most importantly non-Christians?

Where are we going? More to the point what is God calling us to do and be as a part of God’s mission? Are we just sitting here doing nothing? Are we going in the right direction? Are we going fast enough?

What do we have to declare? What is our witness to a world in need of God’s love about the Gospel of Jesus the Christ? In deed do we bother to declare the Gospel to non-Christians? 

The answers to these questions are significant for marking the difference between a healthy growing church and a social club that has religious overtones. My goal is that my answers will reflect a life dedicated and faithful to Jesus Christ and his mission.