Mi Crisis Es Su Crisis

Posted on February 21, 2017 · Leave a Comment

broken-heart

Sitting on the receiving end of love is the easiest thing in the world to do.  Loving unconditionally, however is the most difficult thing to do, consistently.  I’m not talking about “easy love”.  Easy love is our love for kids, spouse, friends and family.  We love our kids.  Why not?  They start out so darn cute and cuddly that we become devoted to their happiness and well being from start to finish. We love the spouse.  Again, big deal.  Why not love the person whose fate is inextricably tied to your own. Marital love/romantic love comes with music to inspire, books to instruct and movies to motivate.  Marital love has a long, built in learning curve to boost its success. Familial relationships and friendships also fall into the “easy love” category.  Easy love is wonderful, but there is so much more required of us.

The amount of information available to help us optimize easy love is inexhaustible, but what of universal love?  Isn’t that where we fail?  Universal love is extended to those we don’t know.  Its motive is the greater good.  It means respecting all of humanity, not just the part that loves us back or appeals on a personal level.   It deserves so much more effort than we give it, because it can transform the world.  Universal love doesn’t revolve around self.  Maybe that’s why it isn’t very popular?

Universal love is easy to manufacture, but we withhold it like misers.  Hoarding love shouldn’t be a thing, but it is.  Miserly withholding of love diminishes it, rather than preserves it.   How do we change?

The first step is to stop elevating perception of a group over the reality of the individual.  People tend to have the same basic needs and desires: beyond that each person is uniquely made.  Show interest in the uniqueness of every person you encounter, and you’ll find his story.  Knowing a person’s story fosters understanding and connection, which are essential components for love.  Approval often follows on the heels of the understanding and connection, but not always.  The good news is that approval is not necessary for love.

Universal love requires operating with a motive that doesn’t factor in self interest.  We must stop thinking of people as a mass of sameness, ascribing values to them based on some malformed impression about *one of the categories they fall in to.  If we refuse to see a person’s individuality, we can’t claim to love them.

Why care about “universal love”?  Our country is experiencing profound upheaval.  I believe it’s our lack of love that’s brought us here.  We have a collective case of self interest on steroids, and it has bred disconnection and division.  We’ve gone to our separate corners to care only about those issues that personally affect us, to the exclusion and detriment of issues that other Americans are facing.  If only for pragmatic reasons, we need to seek each other’s perspective and solve our problems with compassion/love.  This approach will bring new solutions to issues like immigration reform, racism, education reform…not to mention everyone’s favorite whipping dog, The Affordable Care Act!  Lately, the attitude has been,  I don’t care if your home burns down as long as mine is okay.  Guess what?  That doesn’t work, because we live in an apartment building.  Sooner or later, my crisis will become your crisis.

 

* We aren’t just a function of the nationality, gender or religious category we fall into.   We can claim membership to dozens of categories.

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Get a Load Off

Posted on January 12, 2017 · 3 Comments

HoleInWall

“But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again.”  C.S. Lewis/Mere Christianity

Dear Christian;

I haven’t written anything in weeks.  I had nothing because my vision of what I wanted this blog to be (reflective, but upbeat) was at odds with all the things I’ve been thinking and feeling since the elections last November.  I’ve been affected in a way that was profound and unexpected.  What happened?   I love politics.  I love to debate the merits of the policy du jour.  Not so this time, because this election was never elevated to discussions on policy.  Instead we were continually tripping over behavior that most of us would not tolerate from even the most casual acquaintance.  No good good come from the leadership of a guy who has been accused of defrauding students (Trump University), whose charitable foundation admitted to violating a ban on “self dealing”, who publicly ridiculed a disabled person, and…so much more.  I’ve felt isolated, wondering why I felt the sting of this election so personally, when everyone around me has moved on.  I’ve considered the suggestion that much of my angst was a result of my tendency to over analyze.  Maybe I’m one of the many whiny babies and sore losers that some in the media have made reference to.  I don’t suppose it matters anymore, because today is the day I move on.  I’m intentionally looking forward with certainty and confidence.

Of course, before I move on; here’s what I need to say.

What has blown me away, and kept me stuck is my confusion and disappointment at the large number of Christians that voted for the President-elect. I can’t wrap my head around it.  The math doesn’t work.  Our faith is in Christ, who commands us to love others as we love ourselves.  We watched or read tweets from a man who blatantly insulted, vilified and bullied humans from all walks of life.  Supporting that is the opposite of love.  God is moral and just.  Why would we choose to support a leader who almost daily shows a lack of regard and compassion for the earth and people that God created?  It isn’t reasonable for a Christian to believe that a just Supreme Court will spring from the nominees of a man who has exhibited blatant immorality?  I feel certain that the means will not net the hoped for end.  *You reap what you sow

God gifted us with free will.  We choose freely to follow Christ.  Our obedience to Him flows from a submitted heart, not the law.  We have been commissioned to share Christ by modeling the life He led; not by ramming the law down people’s throats.  Aligning ourselves with any leader who repeatedly espouses disdain for every value we are supposed to hold dear does deep damage to our cause.  We are to foster change in the way people want to live. We do that with compassion, cheerful generosity and kindness.  I sincerely believe that God weeps at the thought of us trying to achieve His purposes by any means necessary.  Christianity isn’t losing the cultural war because of its values.  It’s losing, because many Christians adhere to the letter of the law, while shamefully ignoring the Spirit.  Isn’t that what the Pharisees did?

The election is over, but the need to be clear about what you believe and where you stand as a Christian is urgent.  Christianity was never about seeking personal comfort.  Even its founder billed it as difficult.  Choosing to follow Christ is a grave, but noble decision.  Choosing to live that decision means relying on tradition and groupthink won’t cut it.  Prayer and soul searching followed by action will.

Writing my thoughts has been cathartic.  My intent is not to hurt or alienate, but to share what I believe to be true while providing a little food for thought.

Meanwhile, I appreciate the opportunity to share what has been foremost in my thoughts.  Thanks!

Please share your thoughts whether you are opposed or in agreement with mine.

*Galatians 6:7

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I’m One To Judge

Posted on November 5, 2015 · Leave a Comment

In my previous post I wrote about God, The Judge.  The just, merciful and gracious judge.  That aspect of judge and judgment is in a league of its own.  It’s all taken care of.  God’s judgment is complete.  Case closed (haha).

Lately, it’s man’s judgment that I find myself thinking about.  I listen to the news, think about our world and find myself wondering…

Where’s the judgment?  Good judgment.  People react, become emotional, even outraged, without seeming to have spent a moment on reflection, fact gathering or assessment.  I call this lack of judgment.  Please be clear.  Judgment is not gossip, petty speech designed to belittle or “foolish talk”.  “Judgment” as defined in The Merriam-Webster Dictionary is  the act or process of forming an opinion or making a decision after careful thought.

Again, where is the judgment?  There’s a lot of “foolish talk” jamming the airways and polluting our world.  Sadly, this talk accomplishes nothing useful.  Anyone can find an outlet overflowing with foolish talk, tailor made to appeal to any worldview.  Anger and frustration flow unchecked.  An illusion of  satisfaction develops, growing from having vented to an audience that was convinced at “hello”.  This is tragic because it means that very few challenge and very few are challenged.  The intention necessary for true judgment is not exerted.  People get stuck on indignation, never graduating to sober, balanced judgment.

So what?  Why judgement?  Because the act of judging a situation confirms who you are and what you believe.  When one takes the time to ponder a situation, the fruit is less extreme and more thoughtful.  Good judgement is an indicator of character.  As judgments are made, boundaries are simultaneously set.  Ultimately, judgment is important as it affects who we vote for, what we stand for and even in many cases how we spend our money.

When clear, sober judgment is at play, an awareness of nuance develops.  This awareness of nuance is necessary for examining the many statements that are made and tossed around so often, they become accepted as truth.  For example, objecting to policemen killing unarmed citizens (criminal or otherwise) is not a stand against the institution of law enforcement, any more than expressing distaste for rapists is a stand against men.

Please assess, contemplate, then judge.  Exercise the little used (of late) impartiality muscle.  If we all do this, the world will be a better place.  Don’t take my word for it.  You be the judge!!  haha

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