He Knew All That He Would Endure

This is the night when Jesus was betrayed by one of his own. His friends asleep, he prayed in agony that this cup might be taken away. He did not have to allow this torture. And yet he did, out of love for us. And as our friend Stephen Rouhana describes in the beautiful poem below, Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to him. The image was so horrific that he sweat blood. Still, he chose to die in this way out of love for us. Amazing love.

You Knew

Stephen W. Rouhana

February 23, 2018

Every bruise of the fist, Every choke of the chain,

That was only the start of a time full of pain...

You knew.

Every lie to be told, Every false accusation,

The Total rejection of the Israelite nation...

You knew.

Every slap on the cheek, Every spit in the face,

The unbearable sin of the whole human race...

You knew.

Every welt of the rod, Every tear of the whip,

Every inch of your skin, as it started to rip...

You knew.

Every poke of a thorn, Every scratch on Your skull,

Every moment of hope that the pain would get dull...

You knew.

Every pluck of the beard, Every taunt and derision,

You could have said "No," it was all Your decision...

You knew.

The taunts of the crowd, their ridicule and laughter,

On your way to Golgotha and what would come after...

You knew.

The wound on your shoulder, The scrapes on Your knees, 

The destination ahead to be nailed to the trees...

You knew.

That three times you would fall and impact the street,

The holes in Your hands, and The holes in Your feet...

You knew.

Every drop of Your blood, and the hole in Your Heart,

Your last human breath as You finished Your part...

You knew.

You knew all these things, before You ever said yes, yet, You still went ahead.

YOU KNEW and YOU LOVED, so you still went ahead.

Copyright 2018 Stephen W. Rouhana

Used with Permission

Did Joe Biden Do Something Wrong?

Joe Biden has been accused recently of inappropriately touching women, of making them feel uncomfortable.

It bothers me that many conservatives are belittling these accusations, claiming they are politically motivated and instigated by Biden's opponents for the democratic nomination. Well, that may be. But let's look at the accusations themselves.

Lucy Flores claims the following happened at a 2014 rally for her campaign for the Nevada Assembly:"Very unexpectedly and out of nowhere I feel Joe Biden put his hands on my shoulders, get up very close to me from behind, lean in, smell my hair and then plant a slow kiss on the top of my head." (CNN interview)

Well. In the above video Biden claims that he is always trying to connect with people in an effort to help or support them. He says he's striving for a human connection. Well, Senator Biden, there are connections and there are connections.

Biden is not denying that the above incident happened. So there is no comparison between this case and the confirmation hearings of Justice Kavanaugh.  Please. Don't even go there.

Biden claims that the boundaries protecting personal space have changed. No, they haven't. A generation or two ago, if a man did this to a woman he might have been slapped. If anything, I would say that the boundaries in many circumstances have loosened.

Mr. Biden, if what Lucy Flores says is true and, to my knowledge, you have not denied it, you were engaging in very creepy behavior. Yes, creepy. Please don't pretend that some years ago this would have been acceptable and only now that personal boundaries have changed it is not. No, this would never have been OK. And you did it in a backstage situation where you were clearly the person in power and where it would have been very difficult for her to even give you a what-the-heck-are-you-doing look.

Should Biden therefore not be nominated for president? Please. Donald Trump is the sitting president. Need I say more? But, yes, it would be my strong preference to have presidents with great personal integrity, who didn't need to make excuses for having violated a person's "personal space."