WEBVTT
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This is simple thought, simple prayers.
00:00:14.755 --> 00:00:15.615
Here's a simple thought.
00:00:15.615 --> 00:00:22.410
George Washington was an icon, war hero, leader, president.
00:00:22.410 --> 00:00:30.009
He was a conquering legend On par with Charlemagne or King Todd or Cyrus the Great or Octavian, only sans all the controversy.
00:00:30.009 --> 00:00:38.883
By most not all, mind you, but by most standards he was considered a decent, if not good, human being, especially in view of the massive amount of power ceded to him.
00:00:38.883 --> 00:00:48.045
So it is strange indeed to take this monumental human and read about a less than grand demise.
00:00:48.045 --> 00:00:53.994
Basically, washington was slowly bled to death.
00:00:53.994 --> 00:00:58.082
One might expect this of a general at war.
00:00:58.182 --> 00:01:02.351
Only Washington, by this point in his life, was a 67 year old statesman.
00:01:02.351 --> 00:01:04.144
He was very much retired.
00:01:04.144 --> 00:01:10.703
He spent his time farming and dreaming and trying just to help out the newly formed United States however he could.
00:01:10.703 --> 00:01:14.873
But very little of this would cause bloodshed.
00:01:14.873 --> 00:01:18.846
No, it was the leeches that did that.
00:01:18.846 --> 00:01:26.326
You see, washington had come down with an illness that left him nearly speechless, with swollen throat and sweating dread.
00:01:26.326 --> 00:01:31.828
An overseer of the estate was called in and he leached Washington.
00:01:31.828 --> 00:01:33.915
This was the common practice of the day.
00:01:33.915 --> 00:01:42.710
This is like their Tylenol I come home and I'm not feeling well and my wife throws some Tylenol at me in the same way, and this day they would just throw leeches on each other and then go sleep it off.
00:01:42.710 --> 00:01:44.706
And then came the doctors.
00:01:44.706 --> 00:01:47.197
For a man like Washington, one doctor would not suffice.
00:01:47.197 --> 00:01:53.692
Three doctors arrived and two of the three physicians this sounds like a continental infomercial of sorts.
00:01:53.692 --> 00:01:58.858
Two of the three physicians agreed we need more leeches, so they leached him again.
00:01:58.858 --> 00:02:01.126
And then they leached him again a third time.
00:02:01.126 --> 00:02:04.558
The youngest of the three doctors spoke against this.
00:02:04.558 --> 00:02:12.568
He felt the throat operation was a better bet at saving Washington's life and that more bleeding would diminish Washington's dwindling strength.
00:02:12.568 --> 00:02:17.905
He needs his strength to fight and he can survive this, but we have to stop with the leeches.
00:02:17.905 --> 00:02:30.131
This doctor was ignored and Washington was leached again and he was bled again, basically to death.
00:02:30.131 --> 00:02:40.643
He died quickly the next day and he was so swollen and so weakened he didn't get this grandiose send-off speech that you would expect from some conquering legend.
00:02:40.643 --> 00:02:43.188
He had two very short words.
00:02:43.188 --> 00:02:45.735
He said "'Tis well".
00:02:45.735 --> 00:02:47.659
Then he died.
00:02:50.044 --> 00:02:55.412
We hear this tale and perhaps we're somewhat appalled at the care he received.
00:02:55.412 --> 00:03:01.067
We forget in our modernity that these were the standard methods of the day.
00:03:01.067 --> 00:03:03.692
No, what we see is what this was.
00:03:03.692 --> 00:03:07.283
This was the path to destruction.
00:03:07.283 --> 00:03:13.152
And so it goes At the individual level.
00:03:13.152 --> 00:03:22.562
In every age, in every heart, there are paths to destruction, and these paths are as common as leeches to the experts of that day.
00:03:22.562 --> 00:03:26.308
They're totally normal things to those around us.
00:03:26.308 --> 00:03:34.270
But these things bleed us, they drain from us life, vitality and freedom.
00:03:34.270 --> 00:03:37.120
They steal from us, they kill us, they destroy.
00:03:39.264 --> 00:03:45.596
And John 10, jesus speaks on the leech work of evil on the human heart.
00:03:45.596 --> 00:03:55.555
He says that the thief, evil, the evil one, the thief comes to steal, to kill and to destroy.
00:03:55.555 --> 00:04:08.455
But it's subtly done, it's acceptable, it's sneaky, it might be slow, it can even be applauded while it's going on.
00:04:08.455 --> 00:04:13.066
But make no mistake, it's the antithesis to life.
00:04:13.066 --> 00:04:19.788
Having your blood leave your body does not make you more alive, it makes you less alive.
00:04:19.788 --> 00:04:26.584
So where are the leeches in your life?
00:04:28.975 --> 00:04:31.822
Like Washington, we have a sickness.
00:04:31.822 --> 00:04:40.475
The symptoms are shame and hiddenness and resentment and bitterness and pain.
00:04:40.475 --> 00:04:49.206
I mean there's more, the symptomology list, there's more, but it's not about the symptoms as much as it's about where are we turning for healing?
00:04:49.206 --> 00:04:57.461
Or, even more pointedly, are we turning to a healing that is actually bringing on more and more destruction?
00:04:57.461 --> 00:05:04.627
The leeches were the cure for Washington, but they were also the cause of his death.
00:05:06.117 --> 00:05:06.899
Do we identify?
00:05:06.899 --> 00:05:10.543
Do we identify that the leeches aren't working?
00:05:10.543 --> 00:05:12.244
Do we identify that that's a bad route?
00:05:12.244 --> 00:05:16.524
Do we identify that, even though everyone else is clapping for this, or that it is destroying me?
00:05:16.524 --> 00:05:21.165
One doctor stood by and said no, go a different way.
00:05:21.165 --> 00:05:22.156
He was not heated.
00:05:22.156 --> 00:05:25.596
But perhaps in our own life there's a physician who says go a different way.
00:05:26.617 --> 00:05:28.343
And we can turn our ear towards that.
00:05:28.343 --> 00:05:37.295
That's my prayer for my life, and now I'll just pray it for yours as well, god.
00:05:37.295 --> 00:05:40.202
Help us find a better way.
00:05:40.202 --> 00:05:49.822
We can't just have more leeches and more leeches and more leeches thrown on to cure us of a sickness where leeches don't work.
00:05:49.822 --> 00:05:54.161
We need a better medicine, we need a better remedy.
00:05:54.161 --> 00:05:56.860
So be that medicine, be that remedy for us today.
00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:02.459
Open our eyes to see the things that are destroying us, make us aware of what's doing.
00:06:02.459 --> 00:06:08.718
Battle against our bodies, against our minds, against our very souls.
00:06:08.718 --> 00:06:26.725
And let us fight, let us find better ways, let us listen to other voices, not just the ones of kind of conventional worldly wisdom, but deeper and truer routes of wisdom, of thinking, of truth.
00:06:26.725 --> 00:06:29.937
God, just help us.
00:06:29.937 --> 00:06:46.463
Help us not to be stolen from Help us not to be killed, help us not to be destroyed, give us a vitality, give us a strength, give us a courage, give us life and give it to us abundantly.
00:06:46.463 --> 00:06:48.918
This is our prayer today.
00:06:48.918 --> 00:06:52.596
Lord, help us, amen.
00:00:13.253 --> 00:00:14.755
This is simple thought, simple prayers.
00:00:14.755 --> 00:00:15.615
Here's a simple thought.
00:00:15.615 --> 00:00:22.410
George Washington was an icon, war hero, leader, president.
00:00:22.410 --> 00:00:30.009
He was a conquering legend On par with Charlemagne or King Todd or Cyrus the Great or Octavian, only sans all the controversy.
00:00:30.009 --> 00:00:38.883
By most not all, mind you, but by most standards he was considered a decent, if not good, human being, especially in view of the massive amount of power ceded to him.
00:00:38.883 --> 00:00:48.045
So it is strange indeed to take this monumental human and read about a less than grand demise.
00:00:48.045 --> 00:00:53.994
Basically, washington was slowly bled to death.
00:00:53.994 --> 00:00:58.082
One might expect this of a general at war.
00:00:58.182 --> 00:01:02.351
Only Washington, by this point in his life, was a 67 year old statesman.
00:01:02.351 --> 00:01:04.144
He was very much retired.
00:01:04.144 --> 00:01:10.703
He spent his time farming and dreaming and trying just to help out the newly formed United States however he could.
00:01:10.703 --> 00:01:14.873
But very little of this would cause bloodshed.
00:01:14.873 --> 00:01:18.846
No, it was the leeches that did that.
00:01:18.846 --> 00:01:26.326
You see, washington had come down with an illness that left him nearly speechless, with swollen throat and sweating dread.
00:01:26.326 --> 00:01:31.828
An overseer of the estate was called in and he leached Washington.
00:01:31.828 --> 00:01:33.915
This was the common practice of the day.
00:01:33.915 --> 00:01:42.710
This is like their Tylenol I come home and I'm not feeling well and my wife throws some Tylenol at me in the same way, and this day they would just throw leeches on each other and then go sleep it off.
00:01:42.710 --> 00:01:44.706
And then came the doctors.
00:01:44.706 --> 00:01:47.197
For a man like Washington, one doctor would not suffice.
00:01:47.197 --> 00:01:53.692
Three doctors arrived and two of the three physicians this sounds like a continental infomercial of sorts.
00:01:53.692 --> 00:01:58.858
Two of the three physicians agreed we need more leeches, so they leached him again.
00:01:58.858 --> 00:02:01.126
And then they leached him again a third time.
00:02:01.126 --> 00:02:04.558
The youngest of the three doctors spoke against this.
00:02:04.558 --> 00:02:12.568
He felt the throat operation was a better bet at saving Washington's life and that more bleeding would diminish Washington's dwindling strength.
00:02:12.568 --> 00:02:17.905
He needs his strength to fight and he can survive this, but we have to stop with the leeches.
00:02:17.905 --> 00:02:30.131
This doctor was ignored and Washington was leached again and he was bled again, basically to death.
00:02:30.131 --> 00:02:40.643
He died quickly the next day and he was so swollen and so weakened he didn't get this grandiose send-off speech that you would expect from some conquering legend.
00:02:40.643 --> 00:02:43.188
He had two very short words.
00:02:43.188 --> 00:02:45.735
He said "'Tis well".
00:02:45.735 --> 00:02:47.659
Then he died.
00:02:50.044 --> 00:02:55.412
We hear this tale and perhaps we're somewhat appalled at the care he received.
00:02:55.412 --> 00:03:01.067
We forget in our modernity that these were the standard methods of the day.
00:03:01.067 --> 00:03:03.692
No, what we see is what this was.
00:03:03.692 --> 00:03:07.283
This was the path to destruction.
00:03:07.283 --> 00:03:13.152
And so it goes At the individual level.
00:03:13.152 --> 00:03:22.562
In every age, in every heart, there are paths to destruction, and these paths are as common as leeches to the experts of that day.
00:03:22.562 --> 00:03:26.308
They're totally normal things to those around us.
00:03:26.308 --> 00:03:34.270
But these things bleed us, they drain from us life, vitality and freedom.
00:03:34.270 --> 00:03:37.120
They steal from us, they kill us, they destroy.
00:03:39.264 --> 00:03:45.596
And John 10, jesus speaks on the leech work of evil on the human heart.
00:03:45.596 --> 00:03:55.555
He says that the thief, evil, the evil one, the thief comes to steal, to kill and to destroy.
00:03:55.555 --> 00:04:08.455
But it's subtly done, it's acceptable, it's sneaky, it might be slow, it can even be applauded while it's going on.
00:04:08.455 --> 00:04:13.066
But make no mistake, it's the antithesis to life.
00:04:13.066 --> 00:04:19.788
Having your blood leave your body does not make you more alive, it makes you less alive.
00:04:19.788 --> 00:04:26.584
So where are the leeches in your life?
00:04:28.975 --> 00:04:31.822
Like Washington, we have a sickness.
00:04:31.822 --> 00:04:40.475
The symptoms are shame and hiddenness and resentment and bitterness and pain.
00:04:40.475 --> 00:04:49.206
I mean there's more, the symptomology list, there's more, but it's not about the symptoms as much as it's about where are we turning for healing?
00:04:49.206 --> 00:04:57.461
Or, even more pointedly, are we turning to a healing that is actually bringing on more and more destruction?
00:04:57.461 --> 00:05:04.627
The leeches were the cure for Washington, but they were also the cause of his death.
00:05:06.117 --> 00:05:06.899
Do we identify?
00:05:06.899 --> 00:05:10.543
Do we identify that the leeches aren't working?
00:05:10.543 --> 00:05:12.244
Do we identify that that's a bad route?
00:05:12.244 --> 00:05:16.524
Do we identify that, even though everyone else is clapping for this, or that it is destroying me?
00:05:16.524 --> 00:05:21.165
One doctor stood by and said no, go a different way.
00:05:21.165 --> 00:05:22.156
He was not heated.
00:05:22.156 --> 00:05:25.596
But perhaps in our own life there's a physician who says go a different way.
00:05:26.617 --> 00:05:28.343
And we can turn our ear towards that.
00:05:28.343 --> 00:05:37.295
That's my prayer for my life, and now I'll just pray it for yours as well, god.
00:05:37.295 --> 00:05:40.202
Help us find a better way.
00:05:40.202 --> 00:05:49.822
We can't just have more leeches and more leeches and more leeches thrown on to cure us of a sickness where leeches don't work.
00:05:49.822 --> 00:05:54.161
We need a better medicine, we need a better remedy.
00:05:54.161 --> 00:05:56.860
So be that medicine, be that remedy for us today.
00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:02.459
Open our eyes to see the things that are destroying us, make us aware of what's doing.
00:06:02.459 --> 00:06:08.718
Battle against our bodies, against our minds, against our very souls.
00:06:08.718 --> 00:06:26.725
And let us fight, let us find better ways, let us listen to other voices, not just the ones of kind of conventional worldly wisdom, but deeper and truer routes of wisdom, of thinking, of truth.
00:06:26.725 --> 00:06:29.937
God, just help us.
00:06:29.937 --> 00:06:46.463
Help us not to be stolen from Help us not to be killed, help us not to be destroyed, give us a vitality, give us a strength, give us a courage, give us life and give it to us abundantly.
00:06:46.463 --> 00:06:48.918
This is our prayer today.
00:06:48.918 --> 00:06:52.596
Lord, help us, amen.
