[PRCo] Best / worst - resend

Thu Dec 25 14:30:21 EST 2008

This comes with the warmest and heartiest of wishes for a very Merry Christmas 
for each and everyone here.

May the New Year bring untold blessings and the peace of your soul in these 
troubled times.

Mr.Cramer;

You wrote:  "There are two things certain in the world (no, not death & taxes): 
"  May I quote you that I do not have to pay taxes and that I shall never 
die?--(Big Smiley Here)

It is always good to be thankful for blessings isn't it but the comments about  
'best' set me to thinking.  As with most if not all other things in life it is  
'relative.'  Our parents and grandparents each thought they lived in the best of 
times;  this was oft mentioned in the 1950s, very often.  If each of them 
thought their lives the 'best'  which we now claim, then it stands that future 
generations will think the same.  Our lives then become relegated to good, bad, 
and terrible don't they  'relative'  to future generations.

Eskimos live substantially different from us;  some leave that for 'better'  
elsewhere and some are quite content living as they do.  They also feel they 
have the  'best'  and could actually look at as as pampered, coddled, lazy 
couldn't they.   What is  'best'  for one is abhorrent to another;  in this 
example  'best'  is  'relative'  to culture.  We can't set a standard because  
'best' is personal.

Actually, the statement that I remember from the 1940s and 1950s is this:

We live in the best of times  'and'  we live in the worst of times.

Please consider the following:

*Man recognizes that nuclear warfare could lead to self-annihilation - first 
........time in history and this happens in our lifetimes.
*For the first time in history the 48-states have been attacked and this by 
........terrorists;  that threat is not eliminated is it.  The longer it is dormant the 
........more we forget;  we are then complacent and totally surprised when it happens 
........again.   While one hopes such a reality is 'if'  it still seems more like  
........'when.'
*Famine this decade alone has killed untold thousands in Africa.
*Genocide in recent history - Bosnia, Africa, elsewhere - may have reached and 
........even surpassed Holocaust proportions.
*The President of Iran convened a summit in 2008  (this year!) to declare the 
........Holocaust a lie;  bigotry / hatred of Jews has not disappeared.
*Neo-nazis /  'skinheads'  in the  U.S.A. and other places in the world echo 
........previous statement.
*Whether or not global warming is a reality can be debated but melting sea ice 
........at the North pole allows passage of ships in the summer for the first time.  
........That melting is happening infinitely faster than scientists have indicated such 
........changes between ice age and normal temps happened in the past.
*Land Ice in Greenland and elsewhere is disappearing at alarming rates.  There 
........seems to be good reason for concern;  measures need to be taken for coastal 
........areas.
*Some diseases of the past gone;  others have taken their place.
*The following from the main editorial of the 12/6/2008 Economist:
--American mutual-fund assets declined by $2.4-trillion - 1/5th value - since 
........beginning of 2008.
--In Britain the drop is 25%
--Value of global stock markets shrunk by $30-trillion, or roughly 50%.
--The above has significantly impacted retirement possibilities for many in 
........U.S.A.
*Unemployment in Detroit is 20-25%
*More URLs below but quote from one:
--"...there is little hope the markets will avoid having their worst yearly 
........performance since the 1930s."  'We'  have put ourselves back in 1930s haven't  
........'we.'

"Look...!  What massive stones!  What magnificent buildings!"
"Do you see all these great buildings?  Not one stone here will be left on 
another; every one will be thrown down,"  Jesus replied.  Mark-13:1

Christ's prophesy  'did'  happen within several decades and may happen twice 
more (Bible prophecy sometimes covers several far removed time frames thus the 
observation that  'history repeats.')  While this is quite specific other 
Scripture indicates that this world will be greatly  'shaken' (not destroyed)  
but nothing we know will remain.  City skylines, luxury homes, bungalows, 
igloos, thatched bamboo huts with / without a furnace are not important and will 
disappear.  (Main water line froze upon one coal delivery.  Coal literally 
dumped on curb and we had to shovel it into the coal bin in the cellar which 
left the pipe exposed.  Definitely remember installation of gas furnace.)

"'Foxes have holes and birds... have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to 
lay his head.'"  Matt-8:20.

Jesus was homeless.

"'For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the 
world until now--and never to be equaled again. 

If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive,...'"  
Matt-24:21-22a  We push ever closer to the end of the age don't we.

If this / these are not important then what is important?

Technology has improved our physical creature comforts but  'quality of life'  
should be measured in relationships.  This is difficult isn't it.  Male / 
Female;  Husband / Wife; parents / offspring;  sibling rivalry;  other 
relations;  friends;  acquaintances;  city to city; state to state;  nation to 
nation.  We often say that anything worth having is worth working for and it  
'does take much work'  to maintain relationships doesn't it.

Let's cut to the chase:

"'There is no one righteous, not even one;  there is no one who understands,  no 
one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; 
there is no one who does good, not even one.'"  Romans-3:10-12.  St.Paul is 
quoting OT Scripture here, some from 1,000-years before his time.

Psalm-30 describes the  'depths, pit, slime' of human existence.

"...for I am grieved that I have made them."  Genesis-6:7c - God speaking  (just 
before the Great flood)  of  'humans'  He created.  We are of the same fabric.

'Relative'  to God we come up wanting and this translates into our 
relationships.

'Best'  seems infinitely far in the distance doesn't it.

HOPE:

Christmas provides  HOPE  for the  'Best'  --  Guaranteed  'Best.'

Not one person seeks after God but God seeks to redeem All.  In His Mercy and 
Grace (un-merited favor, not deserved)  He provides a way out.  Sin entered the 
world through Adam and the curse of sin and death is on  'all creation.'  Every 
created thing decays or disintegrates or wears and falls apart and  'dies.'

Christ  (God in the flesh)  lived on earth to do what man could not do  --  live 
a perfect life and offer Himself as the unblemished lamb of sacrifice for sin.  
God requires a blood sacrifice for sin and while man can offer that it also 
extinguishes his life.  Christ being God sacrificed self, tasted death, and rose 
victorious over death to give us the same   HOPE.

Christmas is a  'reminder'  of the  GIFT  God  Himself offers in the Person of 
Jesus Christ to each and everyone perpetually until the fullness of time is 
completed.  This GIFT   needs to be received to be of value.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever 
believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  John-3:16

What is your decision this Christmas?  Tell the world  --  "Go tell it on the 
mountains  --  that Jesus Christ is born!"

As friends through Pittsburgh Railways Company it is my hope that each and 
everyone of us - regardless of differences of opinion - shall agree on the need 
for The Savior Jesus Christ and that we all shall meet in Heaven as the 
likelihood of such a meeting here on earth seems highly impractical.

Phil

Evidence of the  'worst of our times:'

Stocks Fall Tue Dec-23-2008"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081223/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks
"...there is little hope the markets will avoid having their worst yearly 
performance since the 1930s."

Nov-2008 Home Sales Fall 8.6%:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081223/ap_on_bi_ge/home_sales

Econ decline 0.5%:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081223/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown
"As the longest recession in a quarter century intensifies, analysts believe the 
small decline in economic activity in the third quarter has worsened 
significantly in the current fourth quarter." ... ""It will get a lot worse 
before it gets better,""

IL Gov:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081223/ap_on_re_us/illinois_governor