Life On Earth is a Test

It's interesting.  There are people who wonder what the point of life on Earth is if the afterlife is eternal.  What is the point?

The POINT is that life on Earth is a test.  Some people get harder tests than others.  But how hard the test is, is probably the opposite of what you think.

The "easier" your life is, and the more money you have access to over the course of your life, the harder the test is.  The people who grew up in poverty and those whose lives were exceedingly difficult- THOSE PEOPLE had a relatively easy exam.  All they had to do, basically, was not become real assholes later in life.  Those who had access to lots of money and never were in real need, THOSE PEOPLE HAD A REALLY HARD TEST.  If you have an abundance all your life, how you treated people who were really poor is very relevant (amongst other sin issues).

I'm telling you now- be aware that if you are independently wealthy, that what qualifies as a "passing grade" will be quite different than someone who grew up in poverty.  God doesn't take hoarding sitting down.  God gives a shit about suffering in the world and what you choose to do with your wealth is important.

Everyone should take their exam seriously.  Judgment will be fair in the end.  No one will get away with being shitty.  Justice comes to everyone.  Be aware that God is paying attention to how you spend your money and whether you care for those in need.  God gives a shit about the poor, the homeless, the people with terminal illnesses... God gives a shit about those who were dealt a rotten hand.  Take care about how you manage your money and what you think about God's precepts.  They matter.  God doesn't take sex outside of marriage lying down either.  God gives a shit about how you spend your time.  Live wisely.

The Role Christianity is Supposed to Play in Building Character Into People

I just streamed an episode of The Daily Show where a retired Four-star General told John Stewart that he should help instigate a debate on character in terms of how it can lead our country to being a better place.

Fundamentally, this general did not give a really good reason for people out there to "give a shit" about being empathetic or compassionate.  Ultimately, without some kind of impetus, hardly anyone is going to care about having better character.

I know it is possible to have good character without being a Christian.  And fundamentally, much of what passes for Christianity is built around being "good people" who prayed a dumbass prayer and now think that Heaven is essentially owed to them, and that they get to decide whatever standard they want to follow, without regard to what God really wants from them.  Ultimately, that leads to a culture where people are really out for themselves, and "their religion" makes them good only in a certain kind of way that is ego-centric instead of other-centric and Christ-centric.  All of it is purely grace-abuse and "cheap grace" as Bonhoeffer said, either in terms of lowering the bar that Jesus set in the Sermon on the Mount, or by just disregarding Jesus' ethos altogether and doing whatever we want.

I want to say this though, about... about agnosticism and atheism.  It fundamentally lacks a reason to give a shit about other people in any significant way.

I had a friend... we'll call him Roger.  Now Roger was pretty honest in his dealings.  He was very kind to his friends and family.  I'm quite confident he didn't cheat on his taxes, I'm quite confident that he probably did give at least SOME money to charities, although that subject never came up, it wouldn't surprise me if he did.  HOWEVER, he was unwilling to take any real risk that had the possibility of blowing up in his face.  He... wouldn't pick up a hitchhiker (as an example) because there was always a risk that they would hurt him.  I don't think he gave to beggars, because he didn't know how the money would be used.  He was unwilling to take any real risk in his personal life where things could theoretically end badly for him.

Now, would some say he's a good person?  OKAY.  But without a God telling him to give a shit about his neighbor, without a God intent on judging him for not taking any real risks in terms of helping people, there is a solid ceiling for his righteousness.  And honestly, that ceiling basically exists for a good portion of the world's population.

As long as you aren't "saved by grace" and feel a debt to God to be repaid by caring for the people he cares about, you will have little reason to not think the world revolves around you.  Fundamentally, IN ITS BEST FORM, Christianity can and should cause people to look outward and give a shit about the needs of others.  That's what "being a Christian" is supposed to mean, something fundamentally different than just taking care of yourself or even just "doing a good deed so you can talk about it later."  Grace from God is supposed to lead to compassion for others, and when it doesn't, there is a fundamental misunderstanding on what the purpose of God's grace for you was actually for.  God's grace for people wasn't meant to be so humanity could exploit God to do whatever the fuck they want and have it as "hellfire insurance."  It was supposed to be for the purpose of teaching us to give a shit about all the needs that are around us, so that we help people we come across who are in need.  That is what being a Christian was supposed to be about.

I HATE Mediocrity, and You Should Too

There's this thing I've come to see in my life that I don't really understand... some day, I hope someone explains it to me.

When it comes to people's jobs and what they do for money, many people like being good at what they do.  It's why people get college degrees and such.  Not everyone does this, but... going to college to get a degree that people are hoping they'll use for work is common enough, I don't know that I need to speak on working to be good at your job.  

However, what about everything else?

For me, I want to be good at most everything I do.  It's why I've read many chess books.  It's why I've watched videos on how to take care of cats.  It's why I listen intently when my dental hygenist gives advice on how to better care for my teeth.  And don't think I just read and not put it into practice- it's why I have two litterboxes for my cat instead one, or why I feed my cat wet cat food one meal a day (it's too expensive to do both meals that way)... or why I get my cat's nails clipped once a month.  It's why when I see someone on the street begging, I give some thought to helping them, almost without fail- and if I say no without thinking about it, THEN I often question for hours whether I did the right thing or not.  There are SO MANY THINGS I do because I've given careful thought to my ways, that the list would be staggering- it's just the way that I am.  If I'm going to do something, almost invariably, I'm going to do it well- that's how I live.  What I don't understand is, why aren't other people this way?

Why are people content with being mediocre?  Why don't other people read books about relationships and think hard about the decisions they make?  Why do people settle for half-assing it their way through life?  I'm guessing there are others out there who want to be excellent in all that they do, but where are they?  I think... people pick and choose what they want to be good at, or are content to assume they already know everything and don't feel the need to try to learn.  Few people want to be good at basically everything they do.  I don't like to think of myself as an exception, but... I don't think I'm exactly the rule either.

I would exhort you to not settle for mediocrity.  Work to be the best at all you do.  Don't settle for just "being okay at everything."  If there is something you aren't good at, then learn.  Talk to someone who is better informed than you are and follow their advice.  We all can get better at what we do.  Whether it's caring for your teeth, taking care of your pet(s), making things work with your significant other, etc... I exhort you to learn and try to grow.  Don't settle for anything less than excellence in all you do.  The world is full of mediocrity.  Don't be like them that way.

My Struggle With My Need to be Right

You ever have one of these moments where you realize you could be a better person, if you could just let something go?

I'll be frank.  I LOVE to be right.  

Now... I'm mature enough to avoid arguments that I think are unhealthy.  It's not that I have any thought that I might be wrong, it's just that I have a healthy respect for how hard it is to change people's minds and how much emotional energy gets invested in these arguments is too much for me.

But I have to be right.

I watched a comedian tonight admit that even though he was in an accident with a drunk driver, because the police officer at the scene was a piece of work the comedian was found at fault for the accident  He spent lots of time trying to nail the Los Angeles police department, because the officer knew that the comedian was not at fault and wanted the comedian to pay anyways.  At a point he realized that while he was right about the accident, that the way he was handling the situation was destructive.  So he did something I don't think I'd be able to do- he let this go and he paid for the guy's car.

I don't know if I could do that.

I know there was a situation I was in that can make me relate to this.  This is hard to talk about, but I think it might be therapeutic to talk about, and frankly it's the biggest experience I've had with this.  I had technically committed a crime.  I had.  However, there were extenuating circumstances that I felt if I could give justice to them, that I could be acquitted.  Yes, I had committed a crime, but the person that I committed the crime against WANTED me to commit the crime, or at least they (in a way I understood) communicated to me that they wanted me to commit this crime.  Anyhow, this was a hard situation for me.  Not helping matters was the fact I was not mentally well at the time (which I'M CERTAIN does not change the fact that this person wanted me to commit the crime- I wasn't that out of it).  Anyhow, I remember my lawyer telling me that if I took it to trial "I would lose."  Great lawyer.  Sigh.  The sad part is, I didn't learn the lesson I needed to learn from this- that sometimes you have to let go of your need to be right.

It's hard letting go of being right.  I'm pretty convinced I'm rarely ever wrong.  Don't get me wrong, I know it does happen.  It's just not super often.  I'm not very good at letting go of being right.  I think this is going to have to be an area of growth for me over the next five to ten years.  I've got to let go of my need to be right, even if I'm 100% certain I'm right.  Sigh.

Jehovah Jireh

 Tonight I had an epiphany.

Okay, so... as I'm trying to fall to sleep, a couple of situations were on my mind that I'd like to play out in certain ways, and I realized something that was a big help.  But first, an explanation about the title.

Jehovah Jireh means "on the mountain God will provide."  Now I believe God gave Abraham this name from when Abraham almost had to sacrifice his son- the provision spoken of is the ram, that replaced Isaac for the sacrifice.

Where I'm going with this is, we all have things we struggle to let go of.  We all have situations we want to go our way.  Whether it's a job we're applying for, a relationship of some kind (be it friendship, romantic significant other, etc.) we want to work out, an illness in the family we want to be healed... whatever it is, there are always things we want to go our way.  In the moment when we let go of those things, not only do we give ourselves the freedom to not worry about them- which might allow us to rest easier and sleep better- we also position ourselves such that God can do what he wants in the current situation, be it give you what you want, or give you something else that may actually be what you need.  

In life, we want things.  All of us.  Without exception.  Our ability to... "hold things loosely"... is a huge key to being content and happy, that will serve all of us well.  God will meet the need.  Maybe not in the way we are hoping for, or when we are hoping it will happen... but he will.  If you are a child of God and you are following God's will in your life to the best of your ability (we all have struggles- these struggles do not preclude us from receiving this promise), then you should realize that God is going to take care of your needs.  As long as we keep this in mind, we can stop worry about the specific way in which he does it or about the specific situations that you want to pan out your way.  Those situations may not pan out your way.  In time though, God will provide for your need, in the way he sees fit.  Our job is to trust him with our needs and not worry too much of how God does it and just believe that he will, even if it means having to walk away from things we want.  I found this to be very freeing- hopefully it helps someone else out there too.

What Owning a Pet is Teaching Me About My Faith

I had an interesting moment just now.  

I was refilling my medication weekly box, that allows me to know whether I've taken my meds or not on any particular day.

I have a cat now, named Helix.  And he was fascinated with what I was doing.  He thought I was making something for him.  However, I knew that what I was dealing with could easily be poisonous for him,  possibly even deadly poisonous.  If I dropped something on the floor and he ate it, it could be horrible.

So what did I do?  I put Helix in the bathroom!

He hated it.  He wanted to be let out almost immediately.  What he didn't realize was I was protecting him.  I didn't want him to get hurt.  As soon as I had the box full, I let Helix out of the bathroom.

What's the lesson here?

God does the same thing to us.  God protects us from things that we aren't even aware of.  You lost something right before you had to leave and you lost time finding it?  Maybe God was protecting you from an accident.  Someone is late to an appointment?  You don't know how that could be for the best, but it might be.  All the circumstances in life you don't like MIGHT be protecting you from something worse.  Or maybe it's a delay between a promise given and a promise fulfilled?  Maybe that way you'll appreciate the fulfillment all the more?

The truth is, we don't know the whole picture of why God does what he does.  And we (myself included) all need to give God the benefit of the doubt.

The Prophets of Late Night

Here's looking at you, John Oliver.

Also to a lesser extent- Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers all fit the profile to one extent or another.

I know what you are thinking- most of them aren't Christians.  Okay?  However, you don't have to be a Christian to have a similar function as a prophet.  All four of these guys spoke truth to power while Drumpf was president.  None of them shied away from criticizing the then-president.  

John Oliver is probably the one who most exemplifies this.  His recent pieces about welfare reform and timeshares are just the tip of the iceberg on how John tackles today's issues head on and tries to correct the issues that plague our culture.

In a lot of ways, a prophet is just someone that likes to speak the truth about issues to people, in the hopes of acquiring a course correction.  Often, what a prophet says is unpopular with some people.  A diehard prophet isn't afraid to say many things that are annoying or "against the grain" of popular culture to the people of their age.  While it's true that what these comedians say is not especially unpopular to a good percentage of the population, it also is wildly unpopular with another sector of the populace, and to me that's bold for modern culture, particularly as a comedian whose survival depends on being popular.  And annoying people in power seems at least a little risky, and these four have never feared retribution from Republicans or the Republican Party, or at least didn't fear it enough to shut up about the things that grieve them.

It's not just political speech either.  I watched this video here and it's obvious to me from this video that John sees the absurdity of the Oscars.  And I watched a tiny bit of the Oscars, and I get the feeling that Jimmy Kimmel kind of sees the absurdity as well- these vastly wealthy people self-congratulating on stage over doing their jobs... it's not the most impressive aspect of our culture.  I mean, you know Stephen Colbert's heart is in the right place- anybody who has seen "The Colbert Report" knows that Stephen has been functioning as a prophet in the political arena for some time now.  

We need more people willing to speak truth to power.  We need more people who have sold themselves out for the cause of truth and righteousness.  It's true, I wish they were all Christians, but sometimes you take what you can get.  I for one am grateful for these "Prophets of Late Night."  I hope you can see their value, too.