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PDFIn his famous 1953 essay, "The Hedgehog and the Fox," Sir Isaiah Berlin wrote, "The fox knows many things, the hedgehog knows one big thing."
Berlin used this ancient Greek thought to differentiate the vast differences of people and what they believe---their worldview.
He wrote the hedgehog is directed by one big idea or principle, while the fox travels many roads and paths believing that all ideas and principles are different, yet equally valid.
Relativism.
God's eternal Truth creates purpose in people.
Relativism offers a menu of "equal" ideas, leaving the individual to create his own "truth" and destiny, which most often leads to narcissism and personal conflict in regard to moral beliefs.
The story of Texas Senator Ted Cruz is a story of certainty and clarity of purpose taught to him by his father.
Rafael Cruz told CBN's David Brody this story.
Hundreds of pastors in Iowa anointed U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, praying for them in a closed meeting where they collectively promoted an agenda to abolish the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), get rid of Obamacare, champion religious freedom, defend marriage and fight abortion. The meeting was held on Friday.
Both Sen. Ted Cruz and Senator Rand Paul may very well run for President of the United States in 2016.
David Brody, with CBN News, sat down with the senior Cruz in a Perkins restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa this past Friday where Cruz told him this story:
David Brody: "Talk me about your son and his rise. This must be a thing of God. It's meteoric."
Rafael Cruz: (Ted Cruz's Father) "Yes, but you know something, this is not something that started a couple of years ago. Let me go back to when he was maybe four. When he was four I used to read Bible stories to him all the time. And I would declare and proclaim the word of God over him. And I would just say, ‘You know Ted, you have been gifted above any man that I know and God has destined you for greatness’. And I started making declarations about the Word of God over him every day.
When he was eight years old I was very active in an organization called the Religious Roundtable. This was a coalition of Christians and Jews who was very instrumental in helping Reagan get elected. I was on the state board of the Religious Roundtable, so when my son Ted was eight years old, all we talked about around the dinner table was politics because I was so involved with the Reagan campaign.
So during that time is when I asked him so many times, ‘You know Ted, when I lost my freedom in Cuba I had no place to come too. If we lose our freedoms here where are we going to go?. There is no place to go.'
As Ted enters high school the Free Enterprise Institute organizes a group of five kids, called them the Constitutional Corroborators, now Ted is reading the The Federalist Papers, The Anti-Federalist Papers, and each of the five kids memorized the entire US Constitution. So before my son left high school he was passionate about the constitution. He was passionate about freedom and free markets and limited governments.
And before he left high school he knew without a shadow of a doubt what his purpose was. And it was to defend and protect freedom and the constitution, to fight for free markets and limited government. And it became a passion in his life. So this is not a trajectory of three years, this is a trajectory of 30 years.”
The path to purpose proceeds on stepping stones of certainty.
In our changing world, the certainty is God's Word. God's Truth. And God's Word is a Promise.
Lewis Smedes has said, "Yes, somewhere people still make and keep promises. They choose not to quit when the going gets rough because they promised to see it through. They stick to lost causes. They hold to a love grown cold."
Smedes says, "When people make promises to others we stretch ourselves into circumstances that no one can control and ensure that we will be there no matter what the circumstances turn out to be."
"And," he says, "when you make a promise, you create an island of certainty in a sea of uncertainty."
Relativism has created a cultural sea of uncertainty.
Many political leaders have become better known for lying than for leading.
Many are more remembered for their self service than their public service.
There are some tough decisions ahead of us, yet those decisions provide a significant opportunity to, with God's help, change the culture and change the future.
Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Active. Be Blessed.