Westchester County is a very old and storied part of New York State. It' s earliest inhabitants were the Lenape followed by the Dutch, and then the British. Westchester was home for a time to General George Washington when he established a military headquarters in the War of Independence against the British in White Plains, New York. Furthermore, due to the counties' close proximity to New York City, Westchester County also figured prominently in the history of New York and by extension the history of the whole United States.
Many homes still exist in the region which tell the story of New York life in all its' historic context. There is the restored early Dutch settlement at Philipsburg Manor. The modest home of revolutionary war firebrand, Thomas Paine and the home of author Washington Irving, whose most famous writings include The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Over the years, I have enjoyed visiting many of the historic homes of the Hudson River Valley.
One of them, the Armour-Stiner house has only recently been open for public tours. I was very keen to view this mid-nineteenth Century home which was built in the shape of an octagon. It's unusual shape was influenced by the writer Orson Squire Fowler whose book extolled the virtue of building octagonal structures. His philosophical point of view effected a mini fad of sorts which resulted in thousands of octagonal buildings being constructed in the United States and Canada. Today, only eighty such structures are left in the U.S. After forty years of exhaustive research and labor the Amour-Stiner house has been faithfully restored to its' former glory. When I heard that it had finally become opened to the public, I signed up for a curated tour.
I knew I was in for a spiritual bumpy ride as soon as I began my tour. It was then that the docent informed us that the Armour-Stiner building was based upon the design of Donato Bramante's Roman Temple (1502). She showed us photos of the two buildings side-by-side and the resemblance was astounding. The Roman Temple was built for good she said, while this building not so much! It was built for pleasure. I don't know what anyone else on the tour thought about that statement but I was shocked and intrigued at the same time. Not to mention the fact that I wasn't sure the Roman temples were built for good either. Didn't some questionable practices occur in them? What did she mean by her statement? Heaven only knows that I was about to find out!
I forgot my initial thoughts as we started to delve into the history and renovation of this amazing house. Many interesting people have lived in the home. One of them, Joseph Stiner was a very successful retail tea merchant. At one time he had seventy-six tea /coffee establishments in Brooklyn and Manhattan. He might have been the first person to start a chain store. The current owner is from a family of architects who took an interest in bringing this home back to its original state. This involved analyzing paint chips and doing historical research to ensure an accurate presentation. The furniture and lighting fixtures were all original to the house having somehow miraculously been kept in storage all these years. He did a great job because I felt like I was back in 1872.
But, there is one thing that I forgot. Whenever you have old homes or buildings there are almost always ghost stories associated with them. This home was no different. When we got to the third floor of the structure, we found ourselves in a room with a crystal ball smack dab in the middle of it. When I had to go to the bathroom later, I also noted that there was a Quiji board in the basement.
In the third floor room the docent reminded us that when this house was built seances were all the rage. The United States had just been through a devastating civil war. Many people lost loved ones and in the search for answers some sought to contact those they lost so suddenly through occult practices.
The paranormal did not stop there. The docent also told us the story of a young couple who married despite parental disapproval only to loose their life shortly afterwards in a steamboat accident. It is said that the young wife manifests herself in that third floor room to this day. For the second time on this tour I wondered what people thought of that comment.
Do the dead come back as ghosts? Can they communicate with us through a person, a crystal ball or by other means? Did anything happen at the Armour-Stiner home, or is it all just an entertaining tour story? Can viewing the events manifested at this home through the lens of Christianity shed some light on the topic?
First, I would like to note that many reliable witnesses have reported unusual occurances in this house. Therefore, I do think something happened. But, was it a ghost or something else? The Bible describes both a physical and a spiritual realm of existence. When God prepared the Jewish people to enter the land of Canaan, which He had given them, there was one very ugly fact facing them. Deuteronomy 18:9-11- When you enter the land (Canaan) the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft or cast spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
God informed them that the place they were going was a ceaspool of evil. He warned them not to get caught up in the evil goings-on or to emulate that behavior. The more I see of life, the more I see God's immense wisdom. We all reach our own land of Canaan and it is critically important to access the situation before we get into trouble. When we face a challenge we should start by deciding to follow God in whatever struggle that we are facing. Luckily, we don't have to face anything alone. We have God, the Bible and one another. From age to age the occult beckons and calls people towards its' practice.
This was true in biblical times as we can see from the above scripture passage, it was true in the mid-nineteenth century as we can see from the historical record, and it is true now. To continue, some of the practices in the Armour-Stiner house are the exact practices God cautions against in Deuteronomy 18. That was a no-no. Next, were the manifestations in the house that of the womens' ghost? For that answer, I would like to reflect upon the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man which Jesus told in Luke 16.
Going to Luke 16:26 we learn that no matter how much the rich man wants to come back to the earth after his death that he can not. Between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us. Jesus pretty much set the record straight on ghosts, they do not exist! So, if it is not a ghost, what is really happening in a ghostly manifestation? While ghosts are not real, the work of the devil is.
Satan has the power to lie to people when they are in a vulnerable state and convince them they they are talking to a dearly departed loved one. What an awful thing to do to one dealing with grief and in need of real comfort. But, that's just who Satan is, and that is why God told us not to have anything to do with practices that can summon him.
Speaking of practices that summon him, remember that Quiji board that I saw in the basement? Well, that and the crystal ball are part of the origins of many ghostly happenstances. That is why God is so adamant about telling us not to do these things. The good news is that God empowers the believer not to be afraid of such things. They have no power to hurt a spirit-filled believer in God. Satan is a defeated foe whose days are numbered. So remember, ghosts are not real!
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Friday, August 2, 2019
Out Of Control
My recent blog post In Control begs a counterpart entitled Out Of Control. After all, for as many people who are control freaks, we could probably find an equal quantity of people who are Out Of Control. In fact, many social commentators speculate that we are moving in that direction. This would mirror a law of physics, i.e. the law of entropy. Entropy is that tendency of the universe to move from an organized phase to an unorganized phase. Could this be happening societally as well?
In preparation for writing this post, I perused the morning news. With more than abundant data from around the world to justify the choice of my weekly musings, I was bowled over by the number of articles with the words anarchy, chaos, and disorderly conduct in their titles. A plane in Mallorca, a plane in China, anarchy in cities all over the globe. Chaos seems to be just beneath the surface everywhere.
All of this points to moral collapse. People no longer have a moral code that is conducive to smoothly running homes, or societies (and apparently airplanes). We often don't agree on standards of conduct in an office, in a restaurant, or in our community.
Agreement is essential to anything running smoothly. Agreement in a town and among its' residences regarding beauty helps to create a nice environment to do business and raise one's children in. Agreeing on just when you should lower your music at a house party or when you should shut off the backyard flood light and stop playing basketball can help build good neighbor relationships.
Out Of Control seems to be the new normal. The tolerance the world has for bad behavior has been getting higher and higher until we have reached a point where we justify it. Agreement is the key to why this is happening. When we agree that "I'm okay, you're okay" without any examination of the facts, anything goes. When we agree, that what's good for me, is not necessarily good for you, we are in agreement with chaos.
1 John 3:4 gives an excellent description of this, it declares that "All sin is lawlessness." So, where sin exists, we see the breakdown of order. All order or lack of order in our life comes from what we decide is the truth. A long time ago, God declared and taught the truth to a small group of people in a remote desert. He chose these people for a pivotal mission that would benefit all of mankind. He told them just what the truth was and He established and declared what is right and wrong. God did not ask these people to take a vote.
This one and only true God, had already given his credentials to this small Semitic tribe. He told them that He created the universe and them. He told them He has always existed and always would. After promising that He would raise this rag-tag group up to more than they could ever be, He delivered on those promises and then some. He delivered them out of an oppressive situation by supernatural means.
Then, at the moment that He deemed correct, He entrusted to them one of the most precious gifts that has ever been bestowed upon humanity, i.e. the perfect formula for how we should live. That gift was the Ten Commandmemts. How badly we have treated this precious gift. It is exactly what Adam and Eve choose to do with the beautiful gift of perfect unity with God.
The Bible is, among other things, a vast commentary on these Ten Commandments. A commentary that is sublimely rich with meaning for our daily lives. The Bible is like a mine. You have to dig down to get the precious wisdom that you seek, but it is all there, and we have never needed it more than now!
Today, I saw crazy all around me. The way people are living makes no sense. People would rather take a picture of you bleeding on the street than help you to stop the bleeding or call an ambulance. Parents act as immature as their children in this youth obsessed culture. People would rather rescue an animal than take in a child who needs to be adopted. Senior citizens are unloved and neglected. It all amounts to anarchy and rebellion against God.
The moral law comes from God above and until we as individuals humble ourselves to see that, our life and our culture will continue to spin Out Of Control. The first step to change is to take a look at the way we do things. The premises and the conclusions that we take for granted go a long way to explaining why people are stuck in crazy cycles.
Do you really have to go drinking every Friday night? Do you have to do things because "everyone else does it ?" Are you Out Of Control with shopping? With tattoos? With your food? There are so many ways that our lives can get Out Of Control.
The next step is a conscious decision to separate from any bad influences in our life. Sometimes, that includes a friend or someone that we are dating. While this is painful, it is necessary.
1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us "Do not be misled : bad company corrupts good character." Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 6:17 states 'Therefore, "come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." These two verses tell us that as we step away from corrupt and sinful paths that we will have access and relationship with God. It leaves no doubt in my mind that there is some sort of spiritual rip tide that we are constantly going to have to negotiate if we want to stay a float with God.
In preparation for writing this post, I perused the morning news. With more than abundant data from around the world to justify the choice of my weekly musings, I was bowled over by the number of articles with the words anarchy, chaos, and disorderly conduct in their titles. A plane in Mallorca, a plane in China, anarchy in cities all over the globe. Chaos seems to be just beneath the surface everywhere.
All of this points to moral collapse. People no longer have a moral code that is conducive to smoothly running homes, or societies (and apparently airplanes). We often don't agree on standards of conduct in an office, in a restaurant, or in our community.
Agreement is essential to anything running smoothly. Agreement in a town and among its' residences regarding beauty helps to create a nice environment to do business and raise one's children in. Agreeing on just when you should lower your music at a house party or when you should shut off the backyard flood light and stop playing basketball can help build good neighbor relationships.
Out Of Control seems to be the new normal. The tolerance the world has for bad behavior has been getting higher and higher until we have reached a point where we justify it. Agreement is the key to why this is happening. When we agree that "I'm okay, you're okay" without any examination of the facts, anything goes. When we agree, that what's good for me, is not necessarily good for you, we are in agreement with chaos.
1 John 3:4 gives an excellent description of this, it declares that "All sin is lawlessness." So, where sin exists, we see the breakdown of order. All order or lack of order in our life comes from what we decide is the truth. A long time ago, God declared and taught the truth to a small group of people in a remote desert. He chose these people for a pivotal mission that would benefit all of mankind. He told them just what the truth was and He established and declared what is right and wrong. God did not ask these people to take a vote.
This one and only true God, had already given his credentials to this small Semitic tribe. He told them that He created the universe and them. He told them He has always existed and always would. After promising that He would raise this rag-tag group up to more than they could ever be, He delivered on those promises and then some. He delivered them out of an oppressive situation by supernatural means.
Then, at the moment that He deemed correct, He entrusted to them one of the most precious gifts that has ever been bestowed upon humanity, i.e. the perfect formula for how we should live. That gift was the Ten Commandmemts. How badly we have treated this precious gift. It is exactly what Adam and Eve choose to do with the beautiful gift of perfect unity with God.
The Bible is, among other things, a vast commentary on these Ten Commandments. A commentary that is sublimely rich with meaning for our daily lives. The Bible is like a mine. You have to dig down to get the precious wisdom that you seek, but it is all there, and we have never needed it more than now!
Today, I saw crazy all around me. The way people are living makes no sense. People would rather take a picture of you bleeding on the street than help you to stop the bleeding or call an ambulance. Parents act as immature as their children in this youth obsessed culture. People would rather rescue an animal than take in a child who needs to be adopted. Senior citizens are unloved and neglected. It all amounts to anarchy and rebellion against God.
The moral law comes from God above and until we as individuals humble ourselves to see that, our life and our culture will continue to spin Out Of Control. The first step to change is to take a look at the way we do things. The premises and the conclusions that we take for granted go a long way to explaining why people are stuck in crazy cycles.
Do you really have to go drinking every Friday night? Do you have to do things because "everyone else does it ?" Are you Out Of Control with shopping? With tattoos? With your food? There are so many ways that our lives can get Out Of Control.
The next step is a conscious decision to separate from any bad influences in our life. Sometimes, that includes a friend or someone that we are dating. While this is painful, it is necessary.
1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us "Do not be misled : bad company corrupts good character." Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 6:17 states 'Therefore, "come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." These two verses tell us that as we step away from corrupt and sinful paths that we will have access and relationship with God. It leaves no doubt in my mind that there is some sort of spiritual rip tide that we are constantly going to have to negotiate if we want to stay a float with God.
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