From Hopeworks Community.... an old post... seems relevant right now Much of our public discourse has come down to an argument about who deserves our contempt. Sometimes it seems that believing anything means nurturing a deep personal disdain for those who disagree with us. Conversation about important things is a matter of who calls the most names in the most convincing fashion. In our zeal to doubt the integrity of others, we ignore that the labeling and stigma we apply to others leaves our own integrity in sad repair. All is noise, and in the frantic attempts we make to turn the volume up, the answers we seek seem more illusion than real. Our “truths” no longer bring us closer together, but seperate us into opposing camps where we comfort ourselves with pretensions of purity and purpose. Ideology has replaced ideas and what we believe we know is not important because of what it tells us about the world, but because of how it defines who we are. We have become banner people and think in sound bites and slogans. This is played out in all kinds of arenas. Our politics seem to deny the possibility of integrity for anyone. We are too embroiled in the process of slander and name calling and the consequences of political actions so often seem of little concern or worry. It all seems to be about making a point and being right. I have this vision of all the little Pharisees running around pointing to themselves while their country faces destruction. We prize those things that polarize us and leave those that pull us together unattended. I think that I am naive. I dont think meaness and cruelty in the service of purity is ever okay. I think we need to be less concerned with what we know or what we believe, and more concerned with who we are. A truth that obligates me to disdain others and see them at best as stupid, if not immoral doesnt seem to me to much of a truth. I believe I can stand up for what I believe without insisting that others stay seated. I believe that Fox News is not the only template for reality. I believe the difference between Rush Limbaugh and God is that God at least knows he is not Rush Limbaugh. And I am every so thankful that I am not God. My faith tells me 2 things above all others. God is the father of all of us. And he doesnt make no jokes. And he doesnt make no junk. And even people who disagree with the things I hold most dear are capable of acting like that. What I know or what I believe gives me no monopoly on what I can become. The second thing is that all of us are sinners (and I know that is about as politically incorrect as I can be). We are all fallible and have an amazing ability to make bad choices and then justify them in the highest sounding way possible. We are all capable of using others for our pleasure and purpose and then dispensing with them as little more than trash when they no longer serve our purpose. People that I agree with about major things have the ability to radically dissapoint. As do I . And often I do. Life is about more than what point I make. And most certainly I am not the point to be made. It does not matter how many stars I accumulate, how much money I have, how well I am known, or how much power I have. Life is not about making myself the tallest building in the world. For none of us are buildings no matter how frantically we try to lay the bricks. We all live by faith I think. All of us have beliefs about what life is about and how we should spend our time. Even those who say all faith is illusion and convention live by the faith that what they say is true. Life is about caring for other people. It is more about reaching out to others than pointing fingers at them. It is less about knowing the right things than it is about being the right kind of person. It that world it doesnt matter how you are labeled. There is no need for a Robert Enke to step in front of a train, because he is afraid of what people will think of him. In that world life is more that Boardwalk and Park Place and racing to get hotels and houses. In that world we know that in the end it all goes back in the box. In that world the question is not whether or not you have won or lost, but rather or not you are lost and need someone to lean on. I have strong beliefs and ideas and I think they are important. But none of this ideas place me under obligation to hold those who disagree with me in contempt. Feel free to disagree with me at every turn and that is okay. And when I forget, as I am sure I will, that life is more than a mirror for my glory please point that out too. And that will be very much okay. Take care and remember the words of the old song. “There aint nobody right if everybody’s wrong….” Have a great day.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 22:25:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015