Deliver us from evil

   And deliver us from evil...

   Those words come from the Lord's Prayer.  Martin Luther (the Lutheran reformer) says in his small catechism:

We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

  For the Christian who believes firmly in God's promise of salvation through Jesus Christ, these word's provide hope and healing.  We know that even in the midst of the most horrific circumstances that God will have the last say.  He will rescue us from the body of death and this world of evil.

   But to those who don't believe, this world can be a horrible place filled with evil.  They cry out to those with "political power" and say:

   DELIVER US FROM EVIL!

   Fear and sadness rule the day and rule the arguments.  We want to prevent this from happening again and fool our emotion-driven-brains into thinking that a political task force and a new set of laws will be able to "deliver us from evil".  We cry "Do whatever it takes to keep this from happening again!" but you know deep down they can't.

   After 9-11, we feared flying again and said we should not let people with box-cutters on planes to do what the 19 hijackers were able to accomplish.  The government obliged and now children as young as 2 have been "frisked" by adults (how many are pedophiles we do not know) at the airport.   grandmothers who could barely walk have been stripped searched and humiliated.  We have been regarded as "guilty until proven innocent" and we allow them to remove all manner of items from our possession in the name of  "safety and security". 

   Later, a shoe-bomber tried (and failed) to take down a plane with explosives put into his shoes.  Now we gave up the right to not bare our feet in public and are forced to take them off and place them in containers and handled by TSA agents.  Then another bomber tried to use different liquids in separate containers and assemble the bomb mixture on board the plane.  So, we gave up the right to bring our own refreshments, toothpaste, mouthwash, makeup, perfume, deodorant, hand-sanitizer, etc.. 

  Then another bomber used his underwear as the method to conceal the bomb and we gave up the right to not be searched without a warrant.  Now we allow our teenage daughters and wives to be ogled by old men sitting behind computer screens, filling their corrupt minds (and probably flash-drives) with detailed images of their bodies.   We give up the privacy of our private parts all so we can get to where we need to go.

   After 9-11, we passed the Patriot Act.  In it we gave up rights in our communications and our rights on the internet.  We allowed warrant-less searches and seizures of property.  Under it's powers, the FBI only needs to have a minute amount of reason to believe it to be connected to a terrorist situation and they can enter your homes or tap your phones and search your emails.  Just ask General Petraeus, how the FBI was able to access his personal emails and those of his mistress without obtaining a warrant from a judge?  Answer: The Patriot Act.   If they can do this to a 4 star general, who can they NOT do this to?

   Freedom, to some, is to be feared above all.  To them, too much freedom is a scary proposition.  With freedom comes uncertainty and with uncertainty comes fear because I don't trust what you might do with that freedom.  Freedom therefore has become equated with evil and must be limited, controlled, and even taken away if necessary.   To the politicians, the taking away of liberties and freedoms is "delivering us from evil".

   The truth is that on the same coin of freedom comes both good and evil and there is no way to separate the two.  They are 2 sides of the same coin.  Slice the coin in half and you still have a head side and the tail side.  Slice it in half again... and you still have 2 sides.  In fact you will have 2 sides until... the coin is completely gone.    No one likes evil (except for the evildoers).   For example, evil exists even in our courtrooms.  Everyday, people are charged with crimes they did not commit.  Those in charge knowingly do this, because they know they can get away with it (I have witnessed this in person).  The very system put there to insure our freedom and our rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is the cause of pain, suffering and misery.  Those intrusted with the safety of others abuse their power.   Do we do away with the courts?  No!  Will we be able to remove the evil from them?  No!     Our courts, government, fertilizer, poison, guns, knives, axes, cars, airplanes, trucks, etc.. all have their place and purpose in our society, but they can also each be used for incredible evil as well.

   This is why The Lord's Prayer does NOT say:  "Guard us from evil"  or  "Protect us from evil".  Instead it says "deliver" which implies that evil WILL COME TO US.  It will touch our lives at some point and we will have to deal with it.   We ask that God will some day set all things right and take us from this vale of tears to where no evil can harm us again.

   Only God can truly "deliver us from evil"