THE RIPPLING EFFECT cont.
When a spiritual principle is violated or disturbed it may
not only show up spiritually but likely as a physical ripple as
well. Let me share a modern example of the rippling effects
of a spiritual law violated. The principle: God promises to
bless those who honor Him. A little more than 30 years ago
June 17,1963 the Supreme Court of our land ruled that it
was unconstitutional to have prayer and Bible reading in
public schools. The court was trying to be fair to those who
do not believe in God. Perhaps shocking to some I agree
that we need a fair system in the public school system when
it comes to religion. Incidentally to be non-religious is also
the practice of religion. It is called practicing no religion.
The court should have consulted God on the matter to
see what He wanted to do with Madeline Murray O’Hare’s
lawsuit. God said, “. . . a fool says in his heart that there is no
God.” What our court system did not realize was that an
official policy banning God from the schoolhouse was going
to cause a real “Nor Easter.” In our part of the country it is a
wicked storm that brews from several directions, mainly north
and east causing all kinds of havoc in its wake.
This present work however is not about prayer, the Bible
and the schools. The illustration is used here to establish in
the reader’s mind just how important and real the rippling
effect is in the spiritual realm. Let’s look at our illustration
from two scenarios: When one single move is made it is likely
that a host of other actions follow. To ban prayer and Bible
reading from schools opened the door for other copycat
bans. One school system followed by forbidding one of its
teachers from having a Bible on the desk. He was not even
allowed to claim that it was literature. This would render
college courses useless where the Bible is used as a sample of
classic literature. In fact this would probably cause all colleges
to revamp their literature curriculums. Interestingly enough
this same school system would have no problem with this
teacher having a copy of Mein Kampf, or the writings of
Chairman Mao on his desk. Along about the same time some
other school systems ruled that teachers could not wear
religious jewelry such as crosses, lapel pins, etc. on their
person.
Then came the prohibition of the singing of Christmas
Carols, using religious holiday decorations, gospel choirs,
graduation prayers, and the list goes on and on. Now more
and more the names of major religious breaks are being
changed to more politically correct titles. “Christmas break”,
has been changed to, “Winter break.” “Easter break”(which
I personally agree should be changed to “Resurrection”) is
now being changed to, “Spring Break.” These changes in
our first picture have been very active and visible. Our second
scenario has been just as active but has somehow escaped
the conscious view of many. When the Supreme Court agreed
with Madeline Murray O’Hare in 1963 the spiritual pool
began to ripple. All this time no one had asked God what
He thought about the situation. But please know that even
though we were not listening, God was speaking. I think I
know what He said! I’m sure I know what He said! In fact I
see Him saying it, in my mind: He bends over with a
gentlemanly sweep in a bowing position: “My friends,” He
said, “I will leave. You may have it all to yourselves.” Can you
imagine we asked God to leave the schoolhouse? He just
smiled and walked out! No protests, no whimpering, no
argument, just those simple polite words, a smile and He
was gone.
That part for us was simple but that was just the stone in
the pool! After that day things started to change. The rippling
was on.
