Will We?

When I look at everything in this world, my world, that I have to face, I sometimes feel daunted. But occasionally I sit back and look at my world from multiple perspectives, and I realize that my world is NOT that tough. I have food, shelter, family and friends. I have clothing and amenities, although I (and I’ll assume other people too) take these amenities as necessary to life and fulfillment of life. They are not.

 

I stress out over problems and obstacles and annoyances that some would dream of having. I have a mortgage. I have car notes. I have medical bills. I have a family to feed and clothe. But I’ll look at it this way. I got to buy a house. I got to buy cars. I was able to get medical care when it was needed. I am blessed in this world to gaze upon a woman, find her the most beautiful thing I have ever seen on this earth, and watch her fall in love with me instead of someone else. ME! I have three children who have their health and love me. I have jobs that pay me money regularly. My wife has one too. I am blessed.

 

I am blessed.

 

Say that out loud.

 

“I am blessed.”

 

Say it again…I’ll wait…for real…I’ve already typed this so after clicking Post, I will wait.

 

Think about this. No matter what you are going through in life, you logged into Facebook through some sort of electronic device you own, borrow or provided through public use. You have access to the internet. You can read and talk about whatever you want; whatever religion, belief, political and social topic you want…or feel the need. That’s a long way from others. Others that may be just a few steps or blocks away. Others who don’t have a home. Others who sleep under bridges or in forests or clearings. Others who for any number of reasons which are NOT my business or yours, have fallen on hard times.

 

My belief is that God exists. I believe that God sent Jesus to this earth to provide everyone the opportunity to spend an eternity with our Creator after life for us here is over. I believe that God sent the Spirit to be here while we are on this planet until our final breath. You may not believe that, but I think we can come to an agreement that the things we go through in our own 1st world lives pales in comparison to those among us who are “without” and to those in this world who are in far worse human environments than our own.

 

I believe that we can support each other. I believe that we can uplift each other. I believe that we can intercede for each other through our actions, both seen and unseen. I believe that we can change the world. The question is – Will we?

 

Will we change the world? Will we unite on common ground instead of trying to draw others to our side?

I Wanna Be a Bee

This morning, amidst the wind and rain, I noticed a bee on a flower. It struck me that this bee could go back to its hive to sit out the storm, but it is hard wired to do it does. 
This hard wiring is how I would compare nature to our calling in Christ. We are called to go and do. We are called to spread His message. This bee isn’t hiding. And a few minutes later more bees arrived. They know what they are supposed to do, and they do it. I want to be a bee.
I want to suck it up in the storms and go and do. My mother says, “Go. Be. Do.” I say she was spot on in the spiritual sense: Go. Bee. Do.

I wanna be a bee.

Calling out Dehumanization

From a man I have known most of my life and for whom I have the utmost respect. You can read his post below or check out his page on Blogspot.

Calling out dehumanization

Language is powerful. Language shapes the way in which we view the world, other people, and ourselves. Recently, Ann Coulter tweeted regarding the presidential debate and used the word “retard” with reference to President Obama. There are, of course, the problems of the sophomoric level of political discourse that this demonstrates and the total disrespect of the office and person of President Obama. The larger issue is the ongoing dehumanization of persons with cognitive disabilities. Many people with cognitive disabilities are not able to advocate for themselves. There are of course exceptions, such as John Franklin Stephens, who wrote an open letter to Coulter appealing to her to stop using this demeaning term. To his credit, he was much more charitable than I would have been.

The issue here is not political correctness. It is about rejecting dehumanization. When we reduce people to one word or one characteristic, we do not acknowledge their full humanity. This is particularly the case when we reduce people to a single demeaning term. People with cognitive disabilities such as Down Syndrome are fully human, deserving of the same rights and respect as every other human. It is only in recent decades that we have really begun to acknowledge this in our society, as we have moved away from the widespread practice of institutionalizing such people and regarding them as unable to learn or to contribute to society. We still have a long way to go, and comments such as Coulter’s represent a big step in the wrong direction. If we could learn to see people as God sees them, how much better off would we all be?

I’m the father of a child with Down Syndrome. I honestly do my best to remain cognizant of the fact that most people are not like my son, Sean, and most people aren’t used to interacting with someone with Down Syndrome. But when an inappropriate action is not accidental, but fully intentional, and carries dehumanizing consequences, it is incumbent upon Christians to call this out.

Posted by Dr. David Watson

Bravery vs. Fear

“The difference between someone who is scared and someone who is brave is that the brave person is scared, but tries anyway. Bravery cannot exist without fear.”

On September 11, 2001 my future wife and I were in the middle of training in Manchester, England. We, and another American in the program, were asked to step outside the room. We were informed that two planes crashed into the World Trade Center buildings in an apparent terrorist attack. They wanted us to know before everyone else because it was our country and home. We stood there in shocked silence for a moment as a few details were given.

While we listened to the news, the rest of the students, from all across Britain, Europe, Africa and Canada, were told the same shocking news. A few, presumably with ties to America through friends and family, came into the hall to support us. I do not remember what words were spoken, but I do remember the tears.

So many people, almost three-and-a-half thousand miles away from New York City, were broken. I do not know what thoughts were flowing through their minds. Was it sorrow, fear, anger, bitterness, rage, confusion, compassion? After a few minutes of simply huddling together, our tears falling to the floor of the hallway, just as debris and humans were falling from the towers, the news came. Another plane had crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth plane seemed destined for the White House.

Fervent prayer ensued. We, as a community of Christians, prayed together in faith that the fourth plane would not make its destination. We prayed for divine intervention on a human event. Our prayers were already answered in the form of the brave passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93. All we found out at the time was that the plane never made it to Washington D.C.

Many stories have been told of men and women helping others evacuate. Many tales of people charging into certain death to do everything they could to ensure that others would not. Still, stories will never be told of those who could not escape, but faced death and stared it down. Those who stayed behind by choice so as not to leave those too beaten, broken, burned, bruised to die alone. Those who stayed behind to help others face fear. People who were brave for those who could not be brave.

If I ever need to teach my son the definition of bravery, I need not only look to my country’s men and women who serve in public, military and voluntary roles, but to those who were thrust into service. They are heroes too. Millions were scared that day. Thousands were brave.

Written 2011

Not Everyone Believes What I Believe. Proof: I am not in charge.

Careful: many on Facebook are quick to point out the faults of people they don’t know, and at times those they do know. This is a dangerous thing. I cannot rightfully cast a scornful or boastful opinion about or against anyone without first examining myself and my own heart. I have issues (let the jokes commence). Some known to others and some known only (in my belief) to God. Perhaps some are known only to God and I don’t even realize it.

I know some who see a news story about a pit bull terrier being put down, raise red flags and post less than friendly things on Facebook and other social media outlets. I know that when someone boasts about their favorite sports team or attacks their team’s rival, others join in the attack or boasting or counter with their own attacks or boasts in defense of their team. One person posts a religious reference and another counters it. One person posts a political view and other counters it. One’s parenting style is better than another. What I see is a society/culture of two dominating trends.

1. Out of sight, out of mind.
2. If it hits me on an emotional level, I’m hitting back.

Examples: We know (or should know) that some of the goods and clothing we purchase comes from developing countries where conditions for workers is below our standards of life. It seems we tune it out as we tune into the benefits we gain from the goods purchased. We see the coverage of the fight against Joseph Kony and the LRA, react to it, and move on with our lives. When something hits us on an emotional level, we give it an emotional response. Dangerous.

I live in a country that is not officially tied to any religion. Yes some founding ideas came from men who were influenced by their religion. If this country chooses to promote/allow freedom of religion, then it cannot stifle a religious view that doesn’t statistically/medically/historically do harm to others. If I disagree with what my elected government is doing, then I’m going to do my part and vote them out. That is my right and my duty. If my government agrees with an organization or group that I disagree with, should I raise a fight or protest against the group, or against my government?

Discussions are great. They are engaging, stimulating, sometimes fruitful. Debates are dangerous. Not because arguing is bad, but because sometimes our tactic is to use personal view as undeniable truth. We state religious views as fact. We quote statistics as evidence. That is a dangerous thing to do. Statistically, oddities occur outside of statistical norms. Statistically I should be blind or dead. I’m neither.

Careful. I have a set of beliefs that are influenced by many things. Do I think my beliefs are right? If I didn’t they wouldn’t be my beliefs. I am fine to share them in a loving and engaging way to those who may disagree, and fine to share them in a firm way with those whose beliefs align with mine if we disagree on a particular topic. Case in point: I think Manchester City should have ditched Adam Johnson and kept Shaun Wright-Phillips. I can share that with City fans I know; not to tell them that they are wrong, but to tell them why I think the way I do.

Not everyone believes what I believe. Proof: I am not in charge.

Not everyone believes what you believe. My religious view of the Christian God as my creator and other things that stem from that doesn’t make me right. I believe that I am following the God that I believe in the way that my God wants me to follow…though not always since I am not perfect.

I assume that your religious views are different from mine in some way or many or all. That is fine. I love you. I believe that God created each and every one of us. I believe that there is an Evil that fights against what my God wants and has for each of us. I think make it too easy for that Evil to succeed when we argue and fight with each other instead of approaching our differences with love and respect.

IT IS NOT EASY. I hope that we can approach differences with the understanding that it isn’t easy to speak in love to those whom we disagree with. My own child will hear me say one thing sometimes and immediately come to some conclusion that I wasn’t headed to.

“Now I can’t play with my toy the rest of the day,” he shouted!

“I said you had to stop playing until you calmed down,” I replied.

I feel that sometimes we have the same type of reaction to what others say or type or write.

Perhaps we should approach the views/blogs/tweets/posts/emails/texts of others like this:

1. Eat healthy.  Don’t seek out hot topics when you’re tired or stressed or are otherwise prone to snapping. If your emotional or logical tank is full, don’t keep trying to put more in.

2. Chew properly.  Don’t take the topic in and swallow it whole and make your first reaction the sole reaction. Take time to savor and explore what’s being expressed. Heartburn can sometimes occur when we don’t chew properly. I think the same can happen with words.

3. Swallow. You don’t have to like broccoli to eat it. Chances are the words that you take in, if chewed properly, aren’t as poisonous as you’d make them out to be…although green beans…but I digress.

4. Digest.  I did not type React. Reflect on what you’ve seen or heard. Try to understand where it came from. What is the background of the person who spoke/wrote it? What are their views or beliefs? What was their childhood like? What were their parents/guardians like? Did some major event change their life or view of it?

5. Understand. Not agree, but understand.
Few people who know me really know me. Those few people can usually see why I say what I say pretty quick. Others who don’t know me look at me like I’m crazy sometimes (those few can make jokes here). Instead of a reaction (usually stemming from the “I am right and therefore you are wrong” mentality) reflect and attempt to understand.

For those of you who study the Bible and claim to try to follow its teachings, be careful what you say about others through social media and in your hearts. If we are to reach out to the world as Christians, should we be showing arrogance or hatred or judgement? I’m thinking we should show love and compassion. I don’t recall a conversation Jesus started with, “You’re wrong. My name’s Jesus. Nice to meet you.”

In my religion, only God has the right to pass judgement on what’s right and wrong and who has done right and wrong. I believe that all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Read this if interested.

Blessings & Curses

I recently gave 2010 a negative title based on recent events in my life. Today I was reminded of the damage words can inflict on our mentality. If I am negative in my thoughts and actions, my mind and emotions will lean toward negative tendencies. During the previous year, I was on the receiving end of many random injuries; a mixture of self-induced, situational and accidental.

The side of me that enjoys, even relishing at times, self pity chose to focus on the negative side of life. This is not right. This is not acceptable. This is not the attitude that I am to have. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 challenges me to see the good in each situation and find the the blessings in my life. I am further challenged to pray continually. That is where it gets tricky.

What is prayer? Is it me asking God for stuff? Is it saying thanks for things? Asking God to change other people who aren’t as good as me? Complaining? Or is it a conversation; an open dialog with my Father? Is it more than just talking when I feel compelled to speak? Could it be that I should seek to be in tune with the Spirit and Its guidance?

My wife quoted verse 16 of 1 Thessalonians 5 earlier today, “Be joyful, always,” and it hit me like a ton of bricks. She wasn’t even talking to me when she quoted it, but it spoke to me. This is not to say that I haven’t heard this verse before. This was the first passage that I read out of the Bible that started me down the path to salvation. It is something like the cornerstone of my walk with God, but I have let this passage and in all truth the entire Bible sit by the wayside while I live my life my way.

My life is not perfect. My life is without things. My life includes suffering and trials. Every life includes these things. But my life is not my own. My life is for the Lord. If I seek Him, seek to be in a relationship that involves communication on a regular basis, then I will find Him. If I ask to see the world through His eyes, I will see blessings in abundance. I have family and friends who love me. I have health. I have life eternally in Heaven.

I am blessed, not cursed, and I will prayerfully seek to see the blessings and share them with the world for the bettering of God’s kingdom.

Amen.