The Fault, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars...

By: Mr. Curmudgeon
mrcurmudgeon@inthepublicsquare.com

The recent terror attacks in Mumbai, India, after thirty years of jihadist violence and mass murder, managed to seize the attention of an affluent Western World – if only temporarily – from its mind-numbing diversions.

Indian officials announced that the terrorist attacks resulted in 195 dead and 295 wounded, though these numbers are expected to rise. An Islamic group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed credit for the coordinated attacks on several of Mumbai’s luxury hotels and various police stations. Among the dead were two Americans; Alan Scherr, 58, and his 13-year-old daughter Naomi. The pair were on a pilgrimage to India organized by the Synchronicity Foundation, a meditation group headquartered in Virginia.

According to Bobbie Garvey, as spokesperson for Synchronicity, “Alan committed most of his adult life to meditation, spirituality and conscious living. He was a passionate Vedic astrologer and meditation teacher who inspired many people to begin a journey of self awareness and meditation.”

According to the American College of Vedic Astrology:

The purpose of Vedic Astrology is to avoid problems before they arise. The aphorism, ‘Pull weeds early’ describes a major purpose of astrology…In fact, Patanjali, a famous Indian philosopher who wrote the ‘Yoga Sutras,’ stated that it was important to know how to ‘avoid the danger which has not yet come.’ A good astrologer uses the tools of Vedic Astrology to forecast the times to promote events in one's life or to pull back, recognizing the indications pointing to some obvious serious risk.

Many secular Westerners reject traditional Judaism and Christianity in favor of the exotic philosophies of the Ancient East. Astrology, it’s believed, offers a roadmap to guide adherents along life’s path. In essence, Eastern mysticism provides a false certainty, making no demands of those seeking peace of mind in their comfort and affluence.

Politicians exploit people’s need for comfort and security to gain God-like power to affect, they say, a better life for us here on Earth. So far, they have failed to fulfill their constituent’s unrealistic wants.

The God of the Bible promises no such worldly comforts. Bad things happen to good people because the God of the Bible is neither tyrant nor cosmic errand-boy. He grants us the freedom to serve good or evil, the truth or the lie. The secular world views this God-given freedom as heartless detachment. This annoys and confuses an arrogant and pampered Western World, which views certainty, comfort and long life, as it’s due.

Islamic jihadists move to and fro upon the earth, seeking whom they may devour; no astrologer’s chart nor meditative self-awareness can predict or stop their destructive power. The fault, therefore, is not in our stars but in our deluded quest for an existence free of pain and want.

1st Peter reads, “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.”

The heroism of Job in the Old Testament was in his understanding that injustice and suffering (loosing his family, his health and fortune) was part of the cruel vagaries of this life, and that they were not to be laid at the feet of his maker.

Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, ‘naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

But then again, Job was not looking to the stars for guidance but to He who holds them in his hand.

--Mr. Curmudgeon