Ex 32:1-10
“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him: “Come, make us a god who will go before us, as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him”.
Obedience not only involves doing the things that God commanded right away, but it also involves waiting on God and His instructions through His spokesman or the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the various means that He has chosen to reveal His will.
This is crucial because the flesh has the tendency to take over with impatience and rash decisions are made against God’s will. Of course, we deceive ourselves by choosing our own sign by which to interpret God’s will. Or we could be deceived by our enemy and falling into the trap of thinking it’s our own thought when in reality it was suggested by the enemy. We then proceed to make things happen in our own strength in order to fulfill our own wishes or desires and when they happen we are so happy and feel so blessed because we feel our prayers have been answered until God opens our eyes to the reality of our condition and the disposition of our hearts.
Of course nothing happens that is out of His sovereign rule, so He will use even our mistakes, our sins, our disobedience to teach us a lesson, discipline us so that we can learn and grow.
The flesh wants to be in control of the situation and inevitably, this attitude and following actions cause men to sin and lead to disobedience. Just take a look at Abraham and Ishmael, and Saul and Samuel.
The children of Israel knew that it was God who performed the miracles leading them out of bondage in Egypt , but they had to blame Moses because they couldn’t wait.
Aaron had no business making a proclamation about a feast. The Lord had told them in Egypt that He would give them instructions about where, when and how they were to worship the LORD.
The irony is that while they were taking matters into their own hands, God was at work giving the instructions to Moses.
The questions to us is: “Are we going to take God at His word and believe what He says even if it means waiting for His delay in answering our prayers or are we going to act in the flesh and bring about the things that we desire thus worshipping the idols of our hearts in disobedience and rebellion against God”?
Most of the time when we are impatient we don’t realize that God in His loving kindness towards us is working on our behalf to bring things and people in our lives, ordering the circumstances to bless us and do us good because He loves us and knows what is best for us.
Jean-Louis.
Light is sown like seed for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Psalm 97:11
Sunday, February 13, 2011
SAUDADE - NOSTALGIE
Tu me manques
comme la muse
manque au poète,
comme le croissant
manque au café au lait,
un beau matin de fête
comme le frutti
manque au tutti,
Eh bien voilà
il ne manquait
plus que ça!
comme une forêt sans arbres
comme un palais sans marbre
des lèvres sans baisers,
comme hélas
mes bras qui se lassent
de ne pas t’enlacer,
comme un train sans gare
comme un au revoir
sans larmes, sans mouchoir
pour pouvoir les sécher
comme une nostalgie
sans sujet ni objet
sans coucher de soleil
ni de vermeil
le moindre soupçon
pour servir de fond
à ta gracieuse silhouette
qui s’estompe innocemment
dans le grenier des souvenirs
remplissant ma tête
comme un gentil zéphir
dans ce maelstrom menaçant
comme une sourdine
sur une trompette
annonçant l’accalmie,
comme lors d’une tempête de neige
sans flocons d’avoine
sur une nappe fleurie
d’un bouquet de pivoines
au lieu d’un blanc linceul,
au petit déjeuner passé
à bavarder tout seul
dans un monologue
sans écho pour partager
nos souvenirs du temps passé,
sans crainte de se méprendre
sans peur de trop d’émoi
dans le besoin d’apprendre
chacun à se comprendre
sans raison, ni pourquoi
à l’aube du voyage de retour
dont nous avons rêvé, toi et moi
dans le domaine éternel
de notre grand amour.
Jean-Louis. Décembre 2007.
comme la muse
manque au poète,
comme le croissant
manque au café au lait,
un beau matin de fête
comme le frutti
manque au tutti,
Eh bien voilà
il ne manquait
plus que ça!
comme une forêt sans arbres
comme un palais sans marbre
des lèvres sans baisers,
comme hélas
mes bras qui se lassent
de ne pas t’enlacer,
comme un train sans gare
comme un au revoir
sans larmes, sans mouchoir
pour pouvoir les sécher
comme une nostalgie
sans sujet ni objet
sans coucher de soleil
ni de vermeil
le moindre soupçon
pour servir de fond
à ta gracieuse silhouette
qui s’estompe innocemment
dans le grenier des souvenirs
remplissant ma tête
comme un gentil zéphir
dans ce maelstrom menaçant
comme une sourdine
sur une trompette
annonçant l’accalmie,
comme lors d’une tempête de neige
sans flocons d’avoine
sur une nappe fleurie
d’un bouquet de pivoines
au lieu d’un blanc linceul,
au petit déjeuner passé
à bavarder tout seul
dans un monologue
sans écho pour partager
nos souvenirs du temps passé,
sans crainte de se méprendre
sans peur de trop d’émoi
dans le besoin d’apprendre
chacun à se comprendre
sans raison, ni pourquoi
à l’aube du voyage de retour
dont nous avons rêvé, toi et moi
dans le domaine éternel
de notre grand amour.
Jean-Louis. Décembre 2007.
"The Joshua Tree" a Desert Parable - Near the Desert Gate
Written and published by Jean-Louis Mondon
Note from the author:
Now you can listen to the MP3 audio-file by clicking HERE
Note from the author:
Now you can listen to the MP3 audio-file by clicking HERE
To go back to the previous chapter click: Here
Chapter One
Near the Desert Gate
May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 16The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind. Psalm 115:16
As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” 10Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11You
will be enriched in every way to be generous on every occasion, so that
through us your giving will produce thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthiens 9:10
Some years have gone by. Still wearing his self-imposed blindfold, our lonely pilgrim, in spite of his condition, has traveled quite a distance to a remote and desolate place where even with the best eye-sight, experienced men have some difficulty finding their way. But now, he is not only blind and ignorant, but hungry, thirsty and exhausted. His only desire is to find a place of rest, an oasis that his weary soul has dreamed of and longed for, ever since his journey began. However, he despairs of finding such a place because, as he looks at himself and his surroundings, that haven seems to recede further in the hopelessness of his situation.
Thinking that the end was near, he had just resigned himself to accept his fate. After all, what could he do? Years ago, during the turbulent years of his adolescence and his early manhood enough vigor and idealism filled his heart to fight against real or perceived enemies. Little did he realize that the causes that he so wholeheartedly embraced were only detours in his life. Neither did he know that the weapons he used in the battle, securing short-lived victories, would eventually be the very means of his defeat. Now years later, all his resources spent, the overwhelming dread of an impending doom coursed through his weary body and soul.
Thinking that the end was near, he had just resigned himself to accept his fate. After all, what could he do? Years ago, during the turbulent years of his adolescence and his early manhood enough vigor and idealism filled his heart to fight against real or perceived enemies. Little did he realize that the causes that he so wholeheartedly embraced were only detours in his life. Neither did he know that the weapons he used in the battle, securing short-lived victories, would eventually be the very means of his defeat. Now years later, all his resources spent, the overwhelming dread of an impending doom coursed through his weary body and soul.
He remembered the time when dreams and aspirations seemed so reachable. With concentrated effort, coupled with the unswerving tenacity that had been characteristic since his childhood, he had managed to accomplish a few challenging things in spite of disappointed scoffers, and other critical individuals that make it their business to see that nobody rise above the level of mediocrity that they have established as a standard for themselves. He didn’t quite yet understand the outworking of his life. Nevertheless a sense of destiny kept him going in spite of past failures that slowed him down and had forced him to change course many times on his uncharted journey.
But this time, it was different. The surrounding landscape was so unfamiliar and his weary mind could not draw enough inner strength from one of the reassuring pictures that his fertile imagination would produce in time of crisis. No enemy in sight to slash with a quick turn of his sharp tongue, one of his favorite weapons to cut down to size any who threatened to make him look smaller than he already felt. Nothing to grasp, no helping hand, no end in sight, no sight to see but a sea of sand, solid waves of shifting shadows blown by a merciless wind. Looking back, he discovered that his tracks had been erased. No chance of ever going back.
A hazy grey cloud inside his head overwhelmed the pure azure sky overhead and in spite of the strongest efforts of his will, he could not break through out of it. Until now, will power had been his best ally, the means by which he accomplished almost anything, whether it was the most menial tasks or fulfilling the deep desires and dreams of his life.
Nevertheless, everything was now so totally new and different. The unexpected had taken on the form of the impossible. A slow giggle emerged from his cynic side as he remembered the old adage "where there is a will, there is a way”. In his present situation, the reverse would apply, “where there is no way, there is no will”.
For a moment he mused with a bit of his personal philosophy: "people should not throw empty words into the air or on pages of books where they are going to travel through the ages, carried by airwaves or copied endlessly by scrupulous scribes and maybe deceive countless generations raised on clichés and slogans spouted by unscrupulous demagogues. Even if one stumbles upon a truth worthy of being shared and embraced, it is too late to enlighten those who have gone before. There are also situations and attitudes that prevent the truth from being known and proclaimed on a large scale".
Such was his predicament. “How silly of me, he thought. Here I am thinking of a way to warn and save others from the tyrannical oppression of the mind and I can’t even save myself."
Going back to his anti-cliché, it dawned on him that perhaps, it is true; where there is no way, there is no will or at least no will that will provide a tiny hope for a way. Could it be that the conditions which lead to the deepest despair are designed to force us to abandon any hope that we might place in our human resources, whether individual or collective? It seems that is only when all the doors have been slammed shut in our face that we realize that the One who slammed them shut is the same One who can open the door specifically stamped with our name.
But this time, it was different. The surrounding landscape was so unfamiliar and his weary mind could not draw enough inner strength from one of the reassuring pictures that his fertile imagination would produce in time of crisis. No enemy in sight to slash with a quick turn of his sharp tongue, one of his favorite weapons to cut down to size any who threatened to make him look smaller than he already felt. Nothing to grasp, no helping hand, no end in sight, no sight to see but a sea of sand, solid waves of shifting shadows blown by a merciless wind. Looking back, he discovered that his tracks had been erased. No chance of ever going back.
A hazy grey cloud inside his head overwhelmed the pure azure sky overhead and in spite of the strongest efforts of his will, he could not break through out of it. Until now, will power had been his best ally, the means by which he accomplished almost anything, whether it was the most menial tasks or fulfilling the deep desires and dreams of his life.
Nevertheless, everything was now so totally new and different. The unexpected had taken on the form of the impossible. A slow giggle emerged from his cynic side as he remembered the old adage "where there is a will, there is a way”. In his present situation, the reverse would apply, “where there is no way, there is no will”.
For a moment he mused with a bit of his personal philosophy: "people should not throw empty words into the air or on pages of books where they are going to travel through the ages, carried by airwaves or copied endlessly by scrupulous scribes and maybe deceive countless generations raised on clichés and slogans spouted by unscrupulous demagogues. Even if one stumbles upon a truth worthy of being shared and embraced, it is too late to enlighten those who have gone before. There are also situations and attitudes that prevent the truth from being known and proclaimed on a large scale".
Such was his predicament. “How silly of me, he thought. Here I am thinking of a way to warn and save others from the tyrannical oppression of the mind and I can’t even save myself."
Going back to his anti-cliché, it dawned on him that perhaps, it is true; where there is no way, there is no will or at least no will that will provide a tiny hope for a way. Could it be that the conditions which lead to the deepest despair are designed to force us to abandon any hope that we might place in our human resources, whether individual or collective? It seems that is only when all the doors have been slammed shut in our face that we realize that the One who slammed them shut is the same One who can open the door specifically stamped with our name.
By this I mean that man basically is a poor chooser. He imagines that out of all the tempting opportunities presented to him, he is capable of selecting by and for himself the ones most suitable to him. All the while, there is a door with his name on it, but he cannot find it, so focused that he is on the other doors. The question is and remains: How does a man abrogate his will?"
Oddly enough, deciding to give up one’s own will is in itself an exercise of the will. Actually, it is more the recognizing of one’s proper place in the eternal scheme of things. I think there is a good reason why Adam and Eve were placed on earth in the garden of Eden and not on one of the stars. God is in His heaven and Man on planet earth which is his proper domain.
There is something to be said and certainly to be emulated about the humbleness of the old farmer or gardener bowing his tired frame down to the earth to plant the seed after preparing its womb to bring it to germinate into new life. His bowing down is the best expression of worship, of total dependence upon the One who provided the seed, the nutrients in the earth, the rain water and the sunshine to make the seed grow. The One who provided the intelligence to develop the skills to create the farming implements and the methods. The Creator of the spirits and hearts of all mankind created the first Man to be an earth dweller and a farmer, not an astronaut".
Oddly enough, deciding to give up one’s own will is in itself an exercise of the will. Actually, it is more the recognizing of one’s proper place in the eternal scheme of things. I think there is a good reason why Adam and Eve were placed on earth in the garden of Eden and not on one of the stars. God is in His heaven and Man on planet earth which is his proper domain.
There is something to be said and certainly to be emulated about the humbleness of the old farmer or gardener bowing his tired frame down to the earth to plant the seed after preparing its womb to bring it to germinate into new life. His bowing down is the best expression of worship, of total dependence upon the One who provided the seed, the nutrients in the earth, the rain water and the sunshine to make the seed grow. The One who provided the intelligence to develop the skills to create the farming implements and the methods. The Creator of the spirits and hearts of all mankind created the first Man to be an earth dweller and a farmer, not an astronaut".
While pondering on his helplessness and the present failure of his predilection for escaping reality, a salient idea emerged from the forefront of his consciousness. He needed a point of focus to gather his ever fleeting thoughts as a pinpointed laser ray to reach its target.
On this hopeful note, the story continues with a surprise new chapter.
To continue to the next chapter click: Here
http://thelightseed.blogspot.com.br/2011/07/joshua-tree-desert-parable.html
Jean-Louis.
He picked up a handful of hot sand. Making a fist and placing it on top of his other hand also formed as a fist, he slowly and deliberately let the sand pass through this improvised funnel in the shape of an hourglass and let the grains escape through the lower fist instead of gathering them as a real hourglass would. The sand cascaded in a continuous stream onto a growing mound on the desert floor.
“Tempus fugit”(time flies), he ironically thought to himself as he tirelessly placed one hand on top of the other in an endless circular motion. This simple concentration exercise turned into a Sisyphean (siss-SIF-eean) task but provided a physical, reassuring point of contact against the vastness of the desert, the limitless amount of sand and the inevitability of the passing of time.
"Well, he said to himself, finding the courage to cling to a positive thought as a life buoy in the middle of this vast ocean of sand extending as far as the eye could see, everything begins with a zero, then comes one...from zero to one the distance is very short and if I continue counting every time I take a step, at least I will be making progress."
Believe me, in the desert, things get reduced to the simplicity of zeros and ones equations out of sheer necessity. What lies between zero and one is a little like asking what came before God. Who wants to be number zero? Men usually want to be number One, women hope that men will tell them they are a 10. Even on a pain scale, I don't think that there exits a zero, I have never seen anyone without pain, visible or hidden.
The choice is clear. I said choice, not answer.
Believe me, in the desert, things get reduced to the simplicity of zeros and ones equations out of sheer necessity. What lies between zero and one is a little like asking what came before God. Who wants to be number zero? Men usually want to be number One, women hope that men will tell them they are a 10. Even on a pain scale, I don't think that there exits a zero, I have never seen anyone without pain, visible or hidden.
The choice is clear. I said choice, not answer.
On this hopeful note, the story continues with a surprise new chapter.
To continue to the next chapter click: Here
http://thelightseed.blogspot.com.br/2011/07/joshua-tree-desert-parable.html
Jean-Louis.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The Joshua Tree - a Desert Parable - Sighing and the Divine Response
Written and published by Jean-Louis Mondon
September. 1st. 2017 UPDATE:
Now you can listen to the complete recording of "The Joshua Tree"
ebook thanks to an excellent and true work of love, cooperation of my good friend w. c. whitaker who graciously lent his vocal talent and
skill as a reader and sound man.
I want first and foremost to thank my Heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus for the Holy
Spirit´s inspiration for the birth of a seed planted in my heart in 1988
as I was pondering at the way His providential hand had guided me all my life. That seed, birthed in
a simple thought of a lost man walking in a desert grew throughout subsequent years of
further learning experiences and the inspiration from the Word of God into this spiritual
journey that I am finally able to share with you.
I
also want to express my gratitude to all the "Joshua
Trees", examples and models who helped shape my life by letting the
Truth, the light and the life-giving Lord Jesus grow and manifest the
fruits of love, abiding in Him and serving others faithfully in words
and deeds where ever He planted
them. If you are listening to this or reading the parable, you know who
you are.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named
it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." I Samuel
7:12.
Link to the MP3 audio file.
Link to the MP3 audio file.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon
the name of the LORD, the Eternal God (Genesis 21:33). Here is old
Abraham just planting a tree and living by his well. Why are we told
this? It is symbolic of what is taking place in his heart and life. The
tree immediately brings to mind Psalm 1, which says the man of God will
be like a tree planted by rivers of living water, bringing forth its
fruit in season. Here is a life that is fruitful, that is concerned
about those immediately around and is pouring out blessing into their
lives and hearts.
Abraham calls on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal God. If the church
desires to do anything to help this poor, blind, bleeding, struggling
world in which we live, it will only be as Christian people rediscover
what it means to live daily in the strength, the power, the purpose, and
the glory of calling upon the Eternal God. This is what writes joy in
our hearts, joy that the world is so vainly seeking to find. Abraham
found joy, and thus he was the center of blessing to the land of the
Philistines. In finding and rediscovering those springs of spiritual
strength, he did more to advance the cause of social justice and welfare
in the land of the Philistines than any of their programs and plans
could have done.
Excerpt from Ray Stedman´s devotion. Continue reading "This Thirsty World"
Note from the author: Now you can listen to MP3 audio file by clicking HERE
Prologue
SIGHING AND THE DIVINE RESPONSE
"The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, (or sigh) longing for your commands. Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name. Direct my footsteps according to your word." Psalm 119:130-133.
The LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst." Daniel 9:4.
Sighing is not the only prerogative of lovers languishing and waiting for the beloved or the facial expression of discouragement of a student facing homework that is beyond his intellectual capability. It is in fact as inherent to man as laughter is.
All sighs do not possess the same value or meaning. There are sighs that loose their weight in the immensity of a cruel, merciless universe that can lead to despair and even death in the absence of a saving answer. Such is the condition of the human being without God. Can the answer to the mysteries of life be found without asking pertinent questions about it?
In my generation, Nihilism, the Absurd of Eugene Ionesco’s theater, artistic expressions such as the painting “The Scream” by Edvard Münch, the literature and the life style of intellectuals such as Camus and Sartre were faithful mirrors reflecting the alienation, the despair and the perplexity, all, experiences of our modern life. They had no valid and satisfying solution to offer for the complexity of increasingly insurmountable problems. The influence of their promising modern ideologies and philosophies have only produced a bitter fruit poisoning the existence of a humanity close to her last sigh.
However, there is another sigh that comes out of the depth of the human being.
In Ecclesiastes 3:11, the wise King Solomon declares that: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity (the desire for or the thought, concept or essence, of eternity) in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end”.
It is the act of sighing or panting that best expresses this absolutely essential need of a human being suffering from separation in the search for his creator who alone can satisfy his deepest need. ( As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you)
The Lord God is the Father (Creator) of the spirits of all mankind (Acts 17:25) and he wants to guide us by his Word, by the sound of his voice on our way back to our eternal home. In Numbers 27:15, 18, Moses said to the LORD, “May the LORD, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd”. So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;
What about you my reader, my friend, are you asking yourself these same questions? Do you know these deep sighs that will only be fully satisfied with a response that would fill the deepest part of your soul? God knows your thoughts even before they are formed in your brain. In fact, it is he who is seeking you. He is just waiting for you to sigh, he understands the burdens that we all bear.
Jesus invites you: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. Matthew 11:28.
To be continued: HERE
Hope to see you again.
Jean-Louis.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
O Suspiro e a Resposta Divina
"The Scream" por Edvard Munch
O suspiro não é a prerogativa somente dos namorados apáticos na esperança de se rever o a expressão de desencorajamento dum estudante enfrentando um dever de casa alem de sua habilidade intelectual. Na verdade. é tão inerente ao homem quanto o riso.
Todos os suspiros não tem o mesmo valor o sentido. Existem suspiros que se perdem na imensidade dum universo cruel, sem compaixão que resultam em desespero e morte, por falta duma resposta salvadora. Tal é a condição do ser humano sem Deus. Será que se pode achar respostas válidas ao misterio da vida sem fazer perguntas pertinentes? Na minha geração, o nihismo de Nietsche, o teatro do absurdo de Eugène Ionesco, as expressões artísticas como o retrato “O Grito”de Edvard Münch, a literatura e a vida dos grandes philósofos existencialistas como Sartre o Camus eram ao mesmo tempo guias e os fieis espelhos da alienação, do desespero e da perplexidade, experiencias de nossa vida moderna. Eles propuseram nenhuma solução frente à complexidade dos problemas cada vez mais intransponíveis. A influencia das suas filosofias e das ideologias modernas ilusórias resultantes só produziram uma fruta amarga envenenando a existencia da humanidade sempre mais perta do seu último suspiro.
No entanto, existe um outro suspiro que vem do mais profundo do ser humano. Em Eclesiastes 3:11, o Mestre mais sabio afirma que: “Ele (Deus ) fez tudo apropriado as seu tempo. Também pôs no coração do homem o anseio pela eternidade, mesmo assim ele não consigue compreender inteiramente o que Deus fez”. (A versão francesa diz o que Deus fez do inicio ao fim).
Eu acho que o suspiro expressa da melhor forma esta necessidade absolumente essencial do ser humano sufrindo do afastamento com seu Deus em busca do seu criador que é a única pessoa que pode satisfeitar este desejo.
O Senhor Deus é o Pai (Criador) de todos os espíritos humanos e ele quer guiar-nos por sua palavra, pelo som da sua voz no caminho de volta à nossa moradia eterna.
Números 27:15: “Que o Senhor, o Deus que a todos dá vida (Criador de todos os espíritos humanos), designe um homem como lider desta comunidade para entar e sair em frente deles (parafrase da versão Nova Versão International em Inglês) para que a comunidade não seja como ovelhas sem pastor”.
Quem quizer sair, e conhecer a liberdade, deve em primeiro lugar achar a porta que dá à vida eterna, à nosso destino. Quem é este homem, este guia, onde está a porta para entrar e sair, como alcanzar a ela? Tantas perguntas, tantos suspiros.
E será que você, esta fazendo as mesmas perguntas? Você conhecem os mesmos suspiros? Serão plenamente satisfeitos só com uma resposta que poderia encher o vazio que existe no mais profundo do seu coração. Deus já conhece todas seus pensamentos ainda antes que você pudesse os pensar. Na verdade é ele que o/a busca. Ele espera que você suspire sinceramente e reconhece que o vazio que este suspiro produz é realmente a necessidade sua de encher este vazio com seu amor, sua paz e sua vida.
Jesus o/a convida: "Venham a mim, todos os que estão cansados e sobrecaregados, e eu lhes darei descanso". Mateus 11:28.
Meus leitores e amigos, este post é o inicio duma estória/parábola titulada “A Árvore de Josué” Uma Parábola do Deserto” em varios episodios.
Então vamos nos encontrar de novo.
Até mais.
Jean-Louis.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
War and its Cost from a Human Perspective
Five Star General, Supreme Allied Commander during World War II and President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, pointedly illustrated the ruinous consequences
of money funneled into the military rather than directed to society as a whole:
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone.It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this:
We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.
This, I repeat, is the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking.
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense.Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” (16 April 1953)
of money funneled into the military rather than directed to society as a whole:
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone.It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this:
- a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.
- It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.
- It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals.
- It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.
We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.
This, I repeat, is the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking.
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense.Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” (16 April 1953)
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