three men named martin

often here in the home where i live i speak in passing to our former director, martin armanderez, who still lives here in retirement.  martin always says hello, and in response i usually say hi, martin; and then i think back some sixty years ago when, here in fort worth, we had two episcopal clergyman named martin.  one was mr. martin, who was the rector of saint andrew's episcopal church in downtown fort worth.  saint andrew's is what used to be referred to as low church.  that is, it was somewhat more protestant and less obviously ceremonial than the more catholic episcopal churches, a division that goes back not just to pioneer times, but to divisions in the nineteenth century church of england which is the mother church of the episcopal.  at any rate, mr. martin preferred not to be called father martin, but mister.  at about the same time, the rector of saint luke's in the meadow episcopal church in east fort worth was a father martin who was rather high church, as was st. luke's at that time.  it has been said that one day mr. martin encountered father martin on the streets of downtown fort worth where they greeted one another, one saying, "hi, martin", and the other responding "'lo, martin".  it is just a coincidence that our former director here in east fort worth is named martin, but is it entirely a coincidence that the personification of the anglican church in jonathan swift's "a tale of a tub" is called martin also, perhaps in deference to martin luther, the initiating figurehead of the protestant reformation, although not necessarily of classical anglicanism.  it might be worth noting however that the american episcopal church maintains very close relations to american lutheranism.  that's one more martin for the story. 

american christianity

according to wikipedia, in 2015, 75% of americans professed some form of christian belief.  that is just three years ago.   admittedly, many of  those are radical revisionists who have rejected the moral authority of large portions of the holy scriptures. nonetheless, it may not be an exaggeration to think that a  majority of those believers hold the Holy Bible in high and special esteem. therefore, i do not  find it at all surprising that their should be a political upheaval and revolution in american society against the prevailing or apparently dominant atheistic and agnostic teaching of most of our institutions of higher learning.  to some extent this explains the current political dilemma.  there are those that pay lip service to the Christian religion, but their hearts are far from it.  my only serious complaint about president trump is that he is often crude and uncouth and out of harmony with any realistic assessment of the claims of Christ.  nonetheless he is serving a purpose, a purpose much larger and broader than his personal idiosyncracies.  there are two essential earmarks of authentic christian morality in my opinion.  one is the protection of innocent human life whether born or unborn.  the other is the sanctity and necessity of holy matrimony as the standard for all human sexual behavior.  these are bedrock christian issues.  the anti-intellectual rebellion that we are witnessing today may well be a clarion call for a return to Biblical authority and morality.  the new testament standard is very high.  we are all called to holiness.  is it too much to expect the same from our leaders where it is often now in evidence but not universal by any means.  as for human charity, that should go without saying.  we hope and pray that every human being will have an opportunity to achieve his ultimate destiny of freedom from constant anxiety and worry, a senseless chase after the things of the flesh, and a hopeless denial of the life of spirit.