Jesus The Water of Life

http://the-american-catholic.com ^ | April 12, 2014 | Donald R. McClarey

[NKP_Vet]

Something for the weekend. One of the most powerful depictions of Christ on film from the movie Ben Hur (1959). A wonderful melding of music and dialogue as Christ goes silently to the aid of Ben Hur and gives him water. The wordless encounter between Christ and the Centurion was amazing, as the Centurion’s face registers bewilderment, shame and curiosity as he has a totally unexpected encounter with the Divine. Whatever the actor who played the Centurion was earning that day, it wasn’t nearly enough.

[NKP_Vet]

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." - John 4:13, 14

[Dan in Wichita]

Ben-Hur, starring Charleton Heston, remains my favorite movie of all time. The scene where Christ gives Ben-Hur life-saving water was unforgettable.

Also to be remembered was the scene many years later in the movie, where Ben-Hur recognizes the man being crucifed was the one who gave him water when he was dying. Goose bump time.

[knarf]

I don't actually know, but he looks a lot like Ernest Borgnine.

Ben Hur is a powerful film in SO many ways.

A line I've had from that film, for maybe 40 years is;

You once asked how do you fight an idea ... I'll show you ... with another idea

[bimboeruption]

Watching this is a wonderful way to start your day. It will definitely charge your batteries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE#aid=P7t-ilr-2DA

[NKP_Vet]

That was great!

[loveliberty2]

"You once asked how do you fight an idea ... I'll show you ... with another idea. . . ." - a statement which should be the motto for those who, today, understand and treasure the ideas of liberty upon which America's Constitution was founded!

Those ideas, however, must be the antidote to the counterfeit ideas imposed on today's youth by today's so-called "progressives."

IDEAS OF LIBERTY:

(from America’s Founders and Presidents)*

“The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.” (Jefferson - 1774)

“Statesmen may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone which can establish the principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.” (John Adams - 1775)

“The Sacred Rights of Mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the Hand of the Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.” (Alexander Hamilton)

“Without God, there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first and the most basic expression of Americanism. Thus the founding fathers saw it, and thus, with God’s help, it will continue to be.” (Dwight Eisenhower)

“The same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe, the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.” (John F. Kennedy - 1961 Inaugural)

“…it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor….”(George Washington)

“Now the virtue which had been infused into the Constitution…and was to give it…the stability and duration to which it was destined, was no other than…those abstract principles…proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence—namely, the self-evident truths of the…unalienable rights of man…the…sovereignty of the people, always subordinate to a rule of right and wrong, and always responsible to the Supreme Ruler of the universe for the rightful exercise of that sovereign…power.” (John Quincy Adams, on the occasion of The Jubilee of the Constitution - 1839)

"Today, across our nation, we see consequences of decades of gross neglect and outright censorship of the Founders’ ideas from textbooks and from our public discourse. We have allowed counterfeit ideas to dominate the public square, and the Founders’ principles have been crowded out. Unwittingly, many teachers and other unknowing officials have participated in the agenda of an unelected mind-controlling elite whose tyrannical actions have robbed generations of Americans from reading or studying the ideas that made America free. Like termites, they have eroded our foundations as effectively as if they had burned the books. Yet, not once have they been willing to call it by its rightful name—censorship. Once, in America, stifling ideas about the Creator and Creator-endowed liberty was considered unthinkable. . . .

"The ideas of liberty must be passed on from generation to generation if liberty is to survive. These ideas, when they are allowed to be examined freely, will prevail, because their appeal is to reason and to the love for liberty that is deep in the human heart. John Adams warned: “The people of America now have the best opportunity and the greatest trust in their hands, that Providence ever committed to so small a number…if they betray their trust, their guilt will merit even greater punishment than other nations have suffered, and the indignation of Heaven.”

COUNTERFEIT IDEAS:

(from some of those whose views have dominated national educational policy)

“The idea of God is the keystone of a perverted society. The true root of liberty, equality and culture is atheism.” (Karl Marx)

Our thinking is enlightened “in the degree in which we cease to depend upon belief in the supernatural.” (John Dewey, father of ‘progressive education’ and 1st President of American Humanist Society)

“…democracy is a human faith and movement, unencumbered by supernatural preconceptions.” (John Childs, a protégé of John Dewey at Columbia)

“…the majority of our youth still hold the values of their parents, and if we do not alter this pattern, if we do not resocialize ourselves to accept change, our society may decay.” (John Goodlad, 1971 Report to President, Schooling for the Future)

“As in 1933, humanists still believe that traditional theism, especially a faith in the prayer-hearing God, who is assumed to love and care for persons, to hear and understand their prayers, and be able to do something about them, is an unproved and outmoded faith.” (Humanist Manifesto II, 1973)

“…the most important factor moving us toward a secular society has been the educational factor. Our schools may not teach Johnny to read properly, but the fact that Johnny is in school until he is sixteen tends to lead toward elimination of religious superstition.” (Paul Blanshard, The Humanist, March-April, 1976)

“It [the Nat’l. Education Association’s publication list] includes the delegitimizing of all authority save that of the state, the degradation of traditional morality and the encouragement of citizens in general and children in particular to despise the rules and customs that make their society a functional democracy. The NEA is drifting into exceedingly dangerous waters, and probably carrying more than a few teachers and pupils with it.” (Chester E. Finn, Jr., Ass’t. Sec. Of Education & Prof. Of Education & Public Policy, Vanderbilt Univ., 1982)

--------------

“Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines which conflict with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence…let me entreat you to come back. Return to the fountains whose waters spring close to the blood of the Revolution.” (Abraham Lincoln)

* Excerpted from ad series entitled, "Lessons on Liberty," by a Co-Editor, "Our Ageless Constitution" & "Rediscovering the Ideas of Liberty."

[knarf]

Thanx loveliberty2.

I'm a newly elected school board member and your post was apropos enabling me to formulate some thought patterns withwhich I was having difficulty

Tyhe quote, spoken by Marcellus, Judah Ben Hur's boyhood friend;

""You once asked how do you fight an idea ... I'll show you ... with another idea. . . "

Was exceeding poignant in that it was the impetus to attack Judah Ben Hur ...`Marcellus' friend.

Marcellus ended up a dead, broken and bloody man, but Judah's family was almost completely annihilated .. all because Marcellus wanted to prove a point to an outgoing senior centurian.

I recommend Ben Hur this week every night with the intention that you learn how American politicians wield power for many years and destroy that which they are supposed to protect.

And develop the ideas that counter the bad ideas in play today.

[BeadCounter]

Don’t forget Ben Hur, the 1907 and 1925 makes as well.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000582/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016641/

[cloudmountain]

Also to be remembered was the scene many years later in the movie, where Ben-Hur recognizes the man being crucifed was the one who gave him water when he was dying. Goose bump time.

There was a survey done on the best "God" movies. Ben-Hur was second, I think, to the the Passion of the Christ.
Yes, it was good bump time with that scene!

[definitelynotaliberal]

I haven’t seen or had much interest in seeing Ben-Hur, but now, I must. Thank you both.

[left that other site]

One of my favorite movies of all time.

In the Book, the Magi are recurring characters. They speak of the Prophecies of messiah, the Nature of God, and all kinds of wonderful things.

Of course, if they included all that, the movie would have been ten hours long! :-)

[cloudmountain]

I haven’t seen or had much interest in seeing Ben-Hur, but now, I must. Thank you both.

Neither have I. I only mention it because one of the channels, I forget which, is going to show ALL the "God" films this month. Ben Hur, which I had all but forgotten was mentioned.

[BeadCounter]

If someone else did not mention it, Ben Hur will probably show numerous times this week on various channels, it will be on

Turner Classic Movies Channel on 4/19 at 1:00-5:00 AM CST if one might wish to record it, I’m sure it is on numerous channels.

UP channel, 364 has The Passion on now, Barabbas afterwards.

Easter week always has a whole lot of these shows, great to watch if one has any of these channels available.

[BeadCounter]

UP channel maybe?? Maybe a few channels, UP is channel 364 on direct TV.

[cloudmountain]

UP channel maybe?? Maybe a few channels, UP is channel 364 on direct TV.

I don't have direct TV. Oh well. I'm watching "Jesus of Nazareth" now. I do know the story. :o)