Negative Disturbances

Whenever we have the opportunity to make human assessments, the assessments we make will always betray our doctrine of man. We can always glean from what one person has to say about another, their doctrine or philosophy concerning man in general.

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. Matthew 2:3.

The comments made here in Matthew focus on the negative because there is something negative that is disturbing Herod and something negative brewing within him. He hears about Jesus being born and the magi looking to locate Him so that they could worship Him. Herod immediately begins to feel threatened; so much so that his behavior becomes pathological and results in the death of thousands of innocent children.

Well, this negative something is in all of us and we need to deal with it. We must come to terms with the fact that there are some negative qualities that are common to all human beings. We know this because we realize how difficult it is to honestly say what we will or will not do in any given situation. Peter, you recall, was one of the closest disciples to Jesus. He loved Jesus and Jesus loved him. But he lied, cursed, and betrayed Jesus to save his own skin. He walked and talked and dined with Jesus for three years. He had seen miracles performed and heard sermons preached and claimed he was willing to die, yet denied even being acquainted with Jesus.

Now, we have never seen Jesus, never walked with Him, or talked with Him in the same sense that Peter had. So we have to come to a consensus on human nature. Man was born in sin and shaped in iniquity. We possess the capacity to do all kinds of negative things. We see it in others and we see it in ourselves, do we not? Yet, through the power and might of Jesus Christ, we are enabled and empowered to overcome the negative and the stronghold of sin. Jesus bore our sins on His shoulders at Calvary, thus releasing us from their yoke. When we view life and live life consistent with the will of God, old negative thoughts and behaviors pass away. Behold! All things become new.

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. http://www.clergyservices4u.org. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach. Her new book, Out of Deep Water: A Grief Healing Workbook, will be available soon.

MORE RESOURCES:

Spirituality, Evidence-Based Medicine, and Alcoholics Anonymous - Am J Psychiatry (subscription)

Supply-side spirituality - World Magazine

Spirituality institute to celebrate first 10 years - Charleston Gazette

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-0fd=Rurl=http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200811280579cid=1275695122ei=7Us0ScSMO5nK8ASr_Zj-AQusg=AFQjCNEHGALoRezcU13iutvwqoWvkerEKAbSpirituality/b institute to celebrate first 10 years/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCharleston Gazette,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobrNov 28, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The West Virginia Institute for bSpirituality/b will celebrate 10 years of service to the community with an open house from 2 to 4 pm Dec. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-1fd=Rurl=http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200811280582cid=1275695122ei=7Us0ScSMO5nK8ASr_Zj-AQusg=AFQjCNHUipDGM5szLAh_I5EdUd1fznHcFwKeeping the faith important in tough times/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCharleston Gazette/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1275695122hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Anne Rice shares personal tales of spirituality - The State Journal-Register

Journey to find spirituality hits a dead end - Centre Daily Times

Exhibit draws on spirituality - Hattiesburg American

Former Art Professor, 13-Year-Old Daughter Killed in Attacks - Washington Post

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_2_virginians_alan_scherr_and_daughter_na.htmlcid=1275160133ei=7Us0ScSMO5nK8ASr_Zj-AQusg=AFQjCNE-X9aNNDofODp4xk5TVE_hmMzKfAimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=-lQ1AthsdMEJimgurl=assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/11/29/amd_americans.jpg width=80 height=47 alt= border=1brfont size=-2New York Daily News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-0fd=Rurl=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112801360.htmlcid=1275160133ei=7Us0ScSMO5nK8ASr_Zj-AQusg=AFQjCNEmniT93-o7YvFoVRMb0ouOnQVwdwFormer Art Professor, 13-Year-Old Daughter Killed in Attacks/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWashington Post,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobrNov 28, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Kendra Nichols and Emily Wax Twelve years ago, Alan Scherr committed his life to meditation and bspirituality/b, moving his family to the Synchronicity b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-1fd=Rurl=http://www.getreligion.org/%3Fp%3D4176cid=1275160133ei=7Us0ScSMO5nK8ASr_Zj-AQusg=AFQjCNHrnftut0i0z717sAzv0ZcI_yt4cwSynchronicity, tragedy and Mumbai/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrGetReligion/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-2fd=Rurl=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_2_virginians_alan_scherr_and_daughter_na.htmlcid=1275160133ei=7Us0ScSMO5nK8ASr_Zj-AQusg=AFQjCNE-X9aNNDofODp4xk5TVE_hmMzKfA2 Virginians, Alan Scherr and daughter Naomi, amongst the many b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNew York Daily News/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-3fd=Rurl=http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/local_news/lives_of_alan_and_naomi_scherr_celebrated_with_words_tears_and_prayer/9084cid=1275160133ei=7Us0ScSMO5nK8ASr_Zj-AQusg=AFQjCNEYiHOzPzQABWrhr7FuHgCBmxwLJwLives of Alan and Naomi Scherr Celebrated With Words, Tears and Prayer/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBaltimore Jewish Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-4fd=Rurl=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/world/asia/29victims.html%3Fref%3Dasiacid=1275160133ei=7Us0ScSMO5nK8ASr_Zj-AQusg=AFQjCNEgawrFfvJS_edqqhiUKQAy18AEIgnobrNew York Times/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-5fd=Rurl=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122792148884565837.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsjcid=1275160133ei=7Us0ScSMO5nK8ASr_Zj-AQusg=AFQjCNHGCK-Io3W_RgfuwU3zgoCrz3f4JQnobrWall Street Journal/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1275160133hl=ennobrall 728 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Missions of faith end in sorrow - Chicago Tribune

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Spirituality: Students shared their views on spirituality - The Daily Advertiser

Spirituality Fair Held at Local Springfield Hotel - Ozarks First

Spirituality - Google News

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