Consider the Poor

     We lie back on our leather sofas, with our high definition flat screens serving as the stage for jaw dropping hits on Monday Night Football, while simultaneously stuffing our faces with popcorn and whatever other combinations of snacks might make us full. If food was cooked, perhaps we trash the leftovers in nonchalant fashion once too full for movement. Then,  if our team loses and our night is so ruined that our mood also stumbles, we succumb to complaints. This is even prior to the realization that we have to wake up in six hours to sit in our chairs, in our offices, and work ALL day. Then the grumbles increase. We think to ourselves, what a crapppppy night. We proceed to sulk into our bathrooms to brush our teeth, and then plop onto our king-size beds enveloped with extra pillows and down comforters in our master bedrooms that can be both heated and air conditioned. But perhaps we consider the temperature. Too hot. Though our rooms are closer to 69 degrees when we prefer 67, we manage to fall asleep. Our eyes shut.

     RINGGGGGG, RINGGGGGG, RINGGGGGG! That six hours later is passed. There might be time for a snooze or two, and then its time to wake up. Get up. For some, its just another day to grind through. Its another day to pass by. For others, the day is seen, as everyday is, as an opportunity to "get money" (because money is precisely what our world is so infatuated with).

     Regardless of which of these persons you are -- or perhaps you're different -- there is still a cycle. It's a monotonous, viscous cycle that leaves little room for the renewing of our minds. Even if we claim to enjoy our lives because we "get that cash" during the week and can spend our Saturdays partying with our peers and mix in family time with a hangover recovery on Sundays, we are still victimized by the cycle, or the bubble that is public society. We get comfortable, and despise that which is uncomfortable. This, I believe, is our greatest sin. This is where we fall flat on our faces, sometimes without realizing it, and simply don't care.

     We humans become so attached to our routines, to our cycles, to our calenders and schedules that what consumes such things consumes us. We have check lists. Things to do. Parties to attend. Money to make. Food to cook. And to eat. We forget one thing: we are blessed.

     No, I'm not talking about the "blessed" that you see on people's skin in ink form, nor the "blessed" that you see tweeted all over the internet. I am talking about the beyond numerous amount of gifts we have been given that we absolutely do not deserve. I am talking about the reality in which we throw away our leftovers without hesitation. Our realization of this blessing is never fully understood. When we think we're blessed, we don't grasp just how blessed we are. Our abilities to eat, sleep, drink, and have opportunities to posses money on a daily basis are abilities others die for. Such blessings we abuse and under-appreciate.

     We shouldn't feel shame for being spoiled by God. We should embrace our good fortune. But how we embrace it, I believe, tells us a lot about our character and understanding of servant-hood. If we cannot share our blessings and serve others physically, we ought to certainly do so mentally. This doesn't mean we need to shed a tear for the 22,000 in poverty who die each day because of dirty water, malnutrition, disease, hunger, lack of shelter, squalid surroundings, and dehydration among other things. It does mean, however, that we are ignorant and selfish if we don't put our blessings to use to serve others. If we continue to publicly exclaim that we are blessed, we ought to realize we have an overabundance of met needs and wants. Therefore, if we can admit this, we should also admit that we have more than enough to share, and consequently, care. Solution: Start sharing!

     A former college professor of mine once said poverty should not be a thought or margin of our budgets, but instead, it should be the priority of our budgets. While extremists such as Leo Tolstoy would surely agree, I realize such a statement is completely life changing if taken to heart. I understand the difficulty behind that because I have been a selfish individual for 22 years of my life. But if we are not willing to meet our call to defend and support the oppressed to the best of our abilities, how dare we proclaim our blessings and proceed to do little to satisfy our conviction.                      

     If we can't give to the best of our abilities, we must first start with the least of our abilities. Baby steps will grow, and the margins of our budgets might eventually become the priority of our budgets. So if all else fails, if we cannot begin to surrender our blessings to others, then we must start somewhere; we must consider the poor.

Boundless Mind

He seeks amusement as a child with a sand castle. 
But instilled in him is greater than a playful yearning, 
deeper than a daring desire. His fire needs no match – 
no Bunsen burner’s necessary. Nor can genetics describe
this domain boundless by thought, caged by openness, 
space that is no longer space, but devoured by subconsciousness. 
Unshakable, unstoppable, and uncontainable – his mind 
needs no rush yet needs no rest. A labyrinth with no exit – 
a blessing and cursing in one. But there is no one. 
Post-modernism inflicted on consciousness, so as awareness
cannot be directed. No nuclei of ignition, but ideas appear 
like stars across our unknown universe. His thoughts feel, 
his feelings think. His mind unshackled at birth. To try to contain
it is to stop all birds from flight. It’s not abnormality, for normal
does not exist. Nor can it be deemed submersed ideology, 
but purely recognized as bliss.

Don't Tell Me You're Bored

Don’t tell me you’re bored.

Seek amusement as a toddler seeks his sand castle:

Use time to invest in someone’s life.

Maybe even give instead of take.

Make your professor’s day.

Study philosophy on your own.

Exercise. Pray. Write.

Don’t be superficial. Talk to someone.

Challenge yourself.

Do something you have never done before.

Tell your comfort zone to buzz off.

Start a new relationship, or rekindle an old one.

Plan for your future or revisit your past,

but don’t dwell in it.

Study. Analyze. Live.

Seek entertainment.

Draw a picture. Then throw it away.

Draw the leaves once green,

now yellow, orange, and red.

Watch people, and learn something.

Tell someone you love them.

Stare at a desk. And write about it.

Build something. Find something.

Write a song. Try to sing it.

Make something of your boredom.

Questions Without Answers

     I thoroughly enjoyed a group discussion I had in my English 420 class (back when I was still a college student months ago) about struggles, doubting, and questions of both faith and the Bible. It made me realize that if you look to the Bible as a handbook for life, you will ultimately run into problems. It is said that you should not pick and choose parts of your faith life to abide by. After our class discussion I have come to the conclusion that you have to. I must say I do try to sin as little as possible and be a good Christian (for lack of a better term) as best I can. However, we humans are naive if we do not admit there are not contradictory issues in the Bible (as Dr. Baker pointed out in class). Therefore, how do we follow both sides of a Biblical notion if it is contradictory?

     Moreover, some concepts of the Bible are argued to be cultural. Since our culture has changed substantially, are we still supposed to follow those? Paul told the churches that women should wear veils over their faces and not wear earrings while worshiping. Women (in America) do not do this today. Do we simply disregard this request because it is of the past? If we followed other aspects of ideals of women that were covered in the Bible, then females would have an extremely oppressed role in today’s society. Most women, as a result, do not follow all of the requirements of the Bible.

     Quite frankly, I believe the most important issue is not the rules of the Holy book, but the idea that all things point to Christ. In my opinion, what is most significant in a person’s walk with God is his or her personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Everyone’s is different. Therefore, I know this always happens, but, we should not judge others’ relationships with God if we do not truly know the extent of them.

     People also claim that doubting one’s religion is a sign of weakness in faith. Such a notion is blasphemy. Without questions, answers cannot be received. In fact, it is healthy to struggle because in the end, it makes a person rely on his or her faith more. If a person who is searching for God wants empirical evidence and proof, he or she will never be satisfied. We cannot and will not ever be able to prove the supernatural. Our proof is in the times we experience God working in our lives. The proof is in our personal relationships with Christ. Empirical data will never be the backbone of Christianity. Faith will be.

Motivation Transcending Time

     Death is and will inevitably be a part of everybody’s lives sooner or later. Our culture fears the acknowledgment of this fundamental aspect of life. We intentionally fail to endorse the idea of death as a habitual part of our fallen world. In our present society, we put youth on a pedestal. We human beings underscore the idea of remaining young, which begets the thought that wrinkles mean death is knocking at the door. We use aging as a nexus for lamentation. We sympathize for ourselves as we get older because our culture places a heavy emphasis on both beauty and living freely. Aging makes its easy to lose that “free” mentality and lose that physical beauty (which dominates today’s society). Such a concept can cause human beings to feel like lesser people when their beauty dissolves over time and death creeps in their minds.
     I am critical of this attitude (which leads to morbidity). We should cherish aging. We should value those who transform generations. As adults age and despondent feelings arise, they must push those emotions away. People need not count their days (especially with a negative connotation) because that is when they begin to lose their eagerness to wake up each morning. That is when carpe diem turns meaningless. That is when optimism turns pessimistic. That is when we stop counting the greatest moments in life, and begin counting the moments we will soon lose and never again experience. Therefore, in all we do, whether we are 20 years young or 60 years young, we must remain fervent about our lives, and never proceed to sulk as time goes on.

The Common Man

There is a problem when politicians have to whip out “Joe the plumber” or say they are just like the common man. That would indicate that we thought they had more value than us to begin with. Is a politician a greater person than an employee at McDonalds? No matter vocation, all are equal and all have limits. I know it is part of the campaign plan, but to have to tell a body of persons that you are on their level is unnecessary.

A Hidden Wound

We talk about race relations as if everything will be healed over time. We are lying to ourselves if we say the wound of racism has been healed. I don’t think it will ever be healed. Our past is affecting our present. We are not the first cause of racism, but we are secondary causes as well as beneficiaries. It was inflicted before our time, but remains an issue today. We too, are a part of the problem. We must acknowledge the wound, but not in a defensive way. We must admit there is a hidden wound that is festering. Reverse discrimination is becoming as much an issue as racism is. We must acknowledge racism in our everyday society, and do our best to manage it and shut it down.