Pastor Peters Propounds Positively Pursuant To That Old Precious Word: 'NO'

One of Mel Brooks' more inspired films was 'Silent Movie'--not one of his blockbuster pics, by any means, but inspired. One of the great scenes involves the great French mime Marcel Marceau, who, bless him, broke out of his mime role for one magical moment and intoned the word 'NO'. It's the one word spoken in the movie, and it was a moment of genius. Completely unexpected, shocking even, to emerge from the lips of that most famous of all mimes. Brooks, as always, was jabbing the culture in the ribs. We never expect to hear that word, assuming always that whatever we desire should be met with 'YES' instead.

Fast forward almost forty years, to a Lutheran pastor in a Tennessee parish, who takes up the subject again. As always, erudite and reasoned, Pastor Peter shares with us all why 'NO' is such a crucial word, one the culture desperately needs to hear:

It seems that the Church is the lone voice speaking to the culture that "no" is not only within our vocabulary but it is the wisest and most positive path you can take in so many instances. Saying "no" is not all the Church says but it is the beginning of the conversation. You cannot begin to speak of the benefits or morality of self-denial until first you admit that saying no to self is itself a virtue. The Church begins with the proposition that saying no is not only possible but it is beneficial to us and to our culture. Indeed, the rule of desire is not freedom at all but the worst of all possible prisons.

That last line is especially pithy, is it not? 'The rule of desire is not freedom at all...' This idea stands in direct contravention to the entire present culture, which in OS's humble opinion, has turned openly pagan. It worships what it creates, consumes, manipulates, and assumes that this is all the life there is to live--so let's go for the gusto, ya'll!

Pastor Peter's citations of St. Paul ring loudly these days, words written to people living in another pagan culture, long ago and far away.

Now, if some enterprising publisher could only coax a book out of Pastor Peters...