L2E PBS Frontline: Perpetua, Iconic Martyr and Unsung Hero

PBS Frontline: From Jesus to Christ
Part Two: The Prison Diary of Perpetua, a Martyr
Original Article Here

PBS has some incredibly detailed and informative pieces that they air, and periodically, they show one production that just sticks with you. For me the segment on the martyrdom of Perpetua, in the Frontline series From Jesus to Christ, was that piece.

In the early 3rd century, around the year 203 in ancient Carthage, North Africa, Christianity was quickly becoming a crime and recanting Christ was the only path to freedom. Perpetua, a pregnant North African woman chose to give up wealth, freedom, and eventually her life, instead of renouncing her faith in Jesus. Perpetua was charged and imprisoned for her faith. She had caught the attention of the Governor, who begged her to cooperate and pay her dues. At one point, her own father pleads with her, practically beating her into renouncing Christ in order to be freed, but Perpetua chooses death. As she documents her entire experience in a personal diary, she gives birth and has to give up her only child before she is sent to the arena. Her diary is completed by another Christian, possibly someone who admired her faith, came to visit her in prison, and went with her to the arena for her death. The diary concludes with Perpetua being mauled and tormented by several animals and then a trembling young gladiator is sent to execute her. Even in the face of her own executioner Perpetua is confident, tranquil, and resolved to the point that she guides the gladiator's sword to her own throat and he slays her.



Some may term that stubborn, but others would call it heroic. I belong to the latter group, and not only do I deem it heroic, but also obedient. Perpetua was a woman worthy of the calling*, a woman after God's own heart, for she did not need to hold violent protests to stand up for what she believed in, her heroism exuded great serenity and much submission to God's will. In one of Peter's letters to persecuted Christians, he writes that a woman of a gentle and quiet spirit is of great worth in God's sight.* And I believe that a woman of circumstance such as Perpetua could only be confident because of the fact that her death would mean freedom to be dispatched towards heaven. Historians have not found the diaries of many martyrs, in fact, its more likely that in the face of persecution, people often recanted their faith in Christ and then eventually repented and returned to the faith. Perpetua, however, was in a class of her own.

In one of the synoptic gospels, Jesus shares a parable about justice and persistence in which a widow consistently brings her case to the judge in order to receive justice. With much annoyance and little deliberation, the judge grants the woman's pleas and justice is served. The point of this parable is to show that persistence and boldness are rewarded. And given the fact that we live in a microwave society, where everything moves at the speed of light, and things are here today gone tomorrow, its not surprising that Jesus ends the parable with this question to his disciples, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"*

"In the blood of the martyrs, lie the seeds of the church." Are you willing to be a martyr for your faith?


Listen to the story of Perpetua

*(Ephesians 4:1) (2Thessalonians 1:11)
*(1Peter 3:4)
*(Luke 18:1-9)

Image from:
Christian Multimedia

L2E CNN.com: Balloon Boy Continues

Letter to the Editor CNN.com/US : Balloon Boy Saga Continues
Read the Original Article

Bizarre hoax, class 3 misdemeanor, possible felony charges, and flying balloon children are all synonymous with the name of mad scientist Richard Heene. (And that is the nice way of putting it). I mean when I first heard of this whole ordeal I was enraged. Who in the world would "accidentally" let there 6 year old get caught up in a weather balloon? I mean for goodness sakes when I was tutoring a 6 year old, I'd practically yank his arm right out of the socket so he wouldn't cross the street on his own, let alone mistakenly allow him to climb into my flying aircraft experiment and fly halfway across Colorado.

The parents, who met a few years ago at a Hollywood acting class, have appeared on a number of shows over the years, including "Wife Swap". Authorities and law officials strongly believe that the whole thing was staged and that the couple wanted to gain media attention and their own television show. Well it looks like they succeeded at that endeavor. Funny thing is, when the couple's son Falcon, aka the balloon boy, was asked why he would pretend to be in the balloon and later go hide in a box in the attic, he innocently told the media officials that his parents "wanted a show." After 2 or 3 interviews with that same response, Falcon mysteriously became sick and his father had to answer the questions for him.

In my unsolicited opinion, I think that if this was indeed a deliberate act for attention, the couple should suffer the consequences of their actions, maybe not to the fullest extent of the law because I do believe in mercy, but imagine what real emergencies the Air Force and police departments could have been tending to.

Overall, I think its a shame when your own son gives you up. But then again, some people know no shame. I'm just glad the boy is safe.



More on the Balloon Boy

L2E USA Today: Montblanc's $25,000 Gandhi pen

Letter to the Editors: Erika Kinetz and Anna Mathews
Original article here

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born today, 140 years ago.

And today, the popular German luxury pen-maker, Montblanc, commemorates his legacy with a handmade fountain pen. The pen comes complete with Gandhi’s signature, a saffron-colored opal, a book of Gandhi quotes, and a 26-foot golden thread. The cost is $25,000. Well, $24,763 to be exact. The controversy: Gandhi was a minimalist and a nationalist, who only promoted Indian-made goods, and to make him a “brand-ambassador and poster boy” for something he’d never support, is blasphemous to his legacy and to the nation of India.

Associated Press writers Erika Kinetz and Anna Mathews cover the controversy surrounding the $25,000 pen.

Kinetz interviewed Oliver Goessler, Montblanc’s regional director for India, Africa and the Middle East, who says that “Whatever brings Gandhi and his ideas back to mind can only be good.” He also said, “the idea to commemorate Bapu ("Father"), as Gandhi is affectionately known here, in a swish pen was born in India, not Europe. It's not an opulent pen. It's a writing instrument that's very pure.” Goessler also tells Kinetz that on Tuesday, Montblanc chief executive Lutz Bethge handed over a check for $145,666 to Gandhi's great grandson, Tushar Gandhi, for his foundation. The foundation will get an additional 10,000 to 50,000 rupees ($210 to $1,050) for each pen sold.

Gandhi’s great grandson and owner of the foundation says his foundation would use the money to build a school and hostel for rescued child laborers. Tushar further adds that his great grandfather “would have been amused that such a lavish and ostentatious pen was being dedicated to him. He wouldn't have possessed it.”

Well of course he wouldn’t. I mean picture a thin Gandhi wrapped in white sackcloth, with a $25,000 pen worth more than his entire ensemble and possibly all that he owned. Interesting.

Read the article here

Gandhi in a nutshell:

• October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948
• Assassinated by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse (who was executed in 1949)
• Principles: Truth, Nonviolence, Vegetarianism, Bramacharya (celibacy and purity of mind and body), Simplicity and Faith.
• Considered a minimalist, pacifist, nationalist, and self-described philosophical anarchist
  
• Most controversial issue: Possible racist. In 1908 he wrote on South African prisons and made what were considered to be extremely "racist remarks."
• Claimed that nothing in society should be done without the consent of everyone, down to the individual.

Quotes:

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians."

Later in his life when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied:"Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew."

Gandhi summarized his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth". He would later change this statement to "Truth is God".

Read more about Gandhi on Wikipedia