TWO HUNDRED AND COUNTING / Part 200 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

When I began my GPS blog site it was with the intention of expressing my interpretations of ordinary life and world occurrences. I decided that a biblical theology had informed my worldview for decades and this would doubtless be reflected in my blog posts. It never occurred to me that I would ride one theme for as long as I have written about Paul and Zabeth Bayne and their quest for family redemption. Now I have written 200 daily posts related to them.

Having been a clergyman for over forty years you know I do not casually use 'redemption' in the above context as a reference to salvation. Rather, it is 'rescue', from an entrapment that is as riveting a story as the LOST television drama that aired its final segment on Sunday. For Paul and Zabeth the redemption issue is a settled matter for they devoutly believe in the Saviour of the Bible – Jesus, the incarnate God-man, Son of God who came into the world to lay his life down as a ransom for soiled humanity. Soiled in the sense that, if God is God, perfect in all that pertains to deity, humanity cannot approach him for relationship apart from Christ's substitutionary sacrifice. Paul and Zabeth have placed their faith and their hope of personal redemption exclusively in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Their family redemption/rescue is still undecided, at least as far as we know. Will the children be released to return to their mother's and father's house? This makes the story so compelling.

As with the extended fictional drama of LOST, viewers are waiting – waiting for the Judge to make a ruling. No one knows whether any of us who love the primary characters, will be as content with the conclusion as most people are content today with the final episode of LOST. You may think that the identity of the protagonists in this story is a matter of interpretation, that is, whether they are the MCFD social workers and managers or the parents of the three children. As an author I write the story with Paul and Zabeth being the principal protagonists. But this is not a fabricated script. This is reality. When journalists record the news, most of us want it up straight. We don't want a journalistic slant, a leftist or rightist or moralistic pitch. The reason why in my account Paul and Zabeth are the good guys is because I believe their story. If these two people were child abusers and refused to admit their criminality, an outcome that places the three children in another family home where they will be reared with security and opportunity for advancement, would translate into the MCFD team being the good guys and everything they have done would be viewed as good and the final result would be good. Yea team. However, if these parents did not harm their child and have never harmed their children, and have been maintaining their innocence in the face of allegations and court orders; if the medical examinations were correct but the conclusions were in error and; if all the medical data applicable to these children was complex enough to have been misjudged by the professional experts to whom the MCFD listened, then the parents are the good guys and when they are vindicated all the fans will cheer. Yea redemption.

But if despite their innocence, and despite the misrepresentation of their characters and conduct, their children are not returned to them, then this is nothing short of a Stephen King horror.
I can't believe it, 200 and still counting.

This is Part 200. Consider this! Two hundred days, 200 blog posts. And the Baynes have been (952) 946 days without their children. I stand corrected as per comment below.

Images:
Lost logo - ABC
Call to Repentance by Stephen Sawyer

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 62 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

A THIRD CHRISTMAS WITHOUT THEM


This will be the third Christmas that Zabeth and Paul cannot celebrate Christmas with their three children in their own home. Christmas 2007, 2008, passed without resolution of the trauma that intercepted their family because of a household misfortune and an unsupported medical diagnosis of a child’s injuries. It appears that Christmas 2009 will be similarly spent by mom and dad without the clamorous sounds of three children unwrapping surprises. Three small children not waking up on Christmas morning running in pajamas to the Christmas tree in mommy’s and daddy’s family room. Three small children who have been one year older each of the past two Christmases so the memory of Christmas at home fades just a bit more.

Two of the three children are small boys, whom the Ministry of Children has been compelled in court to admit, have never been harmed by their parents. Two small boys whom doctors have told the MCFD, are healthy and normal. Still the MCFD retains these boys and does so against its own lawyer’s counsel. Of course that health assessment was made just after the boys were taken from their parents two years ago when the boys were four and two years old. Having torn a two year old from his parents and forced him to live with other people in four different homes for two more years, then test his normality. If he is maladjusted or deficient in any way, it is not the parents’ fault. 50% of his chronological natural life has been messed with and a greater percentage of his psychological and spiritual life. AND THIS DID NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN! There was every reason to let those boys stay with their parents even twelve months ago. The case of the little girl, whose injury precipitated this awful situation would of course require a more challenging settlement process – a court appearance. Somehow the 2007 medical diagnosis would have to be disproven or dropped. A court date has been set for January 12-15, 2010. Regrettably the court case involves the future of all three children and whether they will be permitted to spend Christmas 2010 at home for the first time in four years or never again to know a Christmas with mommy and daddy Bayne.

It is painful to write this when I know that Zabeth and Paul read it daily and I know how unbearable the sentiments expressed are for them. But they are realists and they are also people of faith in the God whose love gave a Son at Christmas - the son Jesus about whose life and work Paul and Zabeth desire to nurture their children. And with God, nothing is impossible.


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Loneliness, Art, and Understanding Myself

Robert Genn, while explaining artistic creativity yesterday, provided me with an insight that helps me to understand the way I think and behave. Robert is a successful fine artist known internationally to collectors for his landscapes and to artists for his free weekly encouragement. Twice weekly an e-note, 'The Painter's Keys' comes to my mailbox. You can subscribe. Here is an excerpt from yesterday’s piece entitled, ‘Are you lonely this morning?’

“… With the exception of various forms of team art, most of the functioning professional artists I know have come to terms with the strengths and weaknesses of keeping their own company. Although less of a problem for introverts, this art can be learned. The art of effective aloneness includes the understanding that solitude is necessary for creative gain. "Most progress," said self-improvement guru Bruce Barton, "comes out of loneliness." Creative people need to dream and contrive on their own. "Dreams," said Erma Bombeck, "have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely."

I spent an entire working career in service to God, Christ, and his church. No apology. No regret. All of that was very public. For half of that time we lived in parsonages owned by the church. One was located beside the church. It was the proverbial goldfish bowl. I did all of the public duties and did them effectively. I was a diligent and creative pastor, crafting words that developed a reputation for predictably good ministry. That required concentration and private time. I received some criticism for the amount of time that required yet I relished such time.

Now as I try to paint, I love being alone. I need to be alone. This is the true me. I train myself to tolerate intrusions. I have struggled to be like most people I know who live to be with people. I have been self critical. Now I understand that innately, my creative DNA has shaped me for loneliness and that’s OK.

GPS Application

Apostle Paul advised, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). The counsel is to include God rather than leaving him out of something as ordinary as putting paint on canvas. Then even an artistic endeavour is a sanctified activity.