the rubble

Well, the election results were, for the most part, a big dissappointment. I really wanted to stay in bed this morning, but I realized that it would be pretty much impossible since I haven't banked up two years worth of sick time and vacation. I think that the most dissappointing and telling result was that of our stem-cell intiative here in Missouri. The reason that was more discouraging than the Democratic reboud was because there is much more of a moral and ethical element to the stem-cell debate than to any other debate that may occurr in the halls of Congress.
The fact that the people of Missouri have succumbed to the lies of the scientific community really causes some despair. As much as I want to believe that somehow science will provide our society with cures for many diseases that harm us now, I wonder whether, at the very core level, if we should even be looking for those cures. I often struggle with agreeing with the premise that we should find cures. Our world is based on sin, and because of that sin, God promised that our days would be numbered. I know that disease is also a result of sin, and I know that God has given us the wisdom and knowledge for cures of diseases. So where does that put our attempts to cure something that is a result of our own depravity - a disease that has existed almost as long as people themselves - a disease that no type of stem cell or medication will ever cure - sin.
Beyond the connection between science and spirituality, there comes a question of why we are trying to cure these diseases. Are we curing these diseases to glorify God? to rejoice and use the knowledge that we are given by Him? Or, are we attempting to make these strides for the glory of nothing but ourselves and our "advanced" society? Someone pointed out to me that thousands of years ago, people developed the technology and understanding of how to build buildings, and they then attempted to use that technology to build a tower in Babel. The result of that was not accomplishment, it was the destruction of a people and God rearranging society in a way that would prevent people from reaching Him. We've got the technology, or so it's been claimed. So, as we start to use that technology, are we destined to cause our society to implode just like Babel?
Finally, along the same lines of wondering why we seek these cures, comes the question of our value of life and death? Do we value our lives so greatly that we would do ANYTHING as a society to prevent death? And in attempting to prevent death, are we forgetting what glorious and wonderful things await us when we go home? It appears that our world, of course, has forgotten what will be waiting for us then, and perhaps when you look at it that way - what is waiting for some people is a whole lot worse than death. But as Christians, we forget that death is a good thing. I am certainly guilty of that - as the mere fact of turning 40 next year frightens me. We are not just in the world now, we are part of the world - a part of the world that treasures and holds on to life, and the stuff that comes along with it, so tightly, that we forget that there is so much better shead. Our desire to prolong that life, to put off our going home to Christ, is so great, that we are willing to sacrifice our ethics as a society to prevent that end. Perhaps if we suffered more in life, the thought of glory would be that much sweeter.