Pretending Everything is Alright

 

            Social interaction is a normal part of everyday life. We see friends, we see relatives, we see acquaintances and neighbors make decisions that impact themselves and impact others. Sometimes those decisions are made for all the wrong reasons, oftentimes those decisions come from a foundation of selfishness and greed.

               Looking in from the outside, we can see that one of these people look back and regret the choices they have made, and see the consequences of those decisions. Aside from self-deception, those of us who are watching from a distance can see that these people are simply pretending like everything is good, alright, and acceptable.

               There are at least two responses to situations like this, one, we can be critical, we can be judgmental, and we can condemn them for being focused only on their own desires without concern for the impact of their decisions upon others. Two, we can remain silent and watch them decline into despair and regret, knowing that any words we offer will be rejected.

               The imagination is a terrible thing; everyone imagines a possible reality in which all of their problems disappear and are resolved by the promises that someone else made to them. Too many people think of themselves as flawless, wise, and on a path that will lead to happiness and fulfillment. The person who begins down a path toward an imaginary end, will one day realize that they made multiple bad choices, that they burned bridges that cannot be repaired with a goal of satisfying themselves while ignoring others.

A Vessel Void of Value

 

            If someone takes a few minutes and searches through their home, they will find a great number of containers that are designed to hold specific things, and other vessels that you would only use in certain situations and not for storing other things. We see an example of this throughout the Old Testament; some things were designed and identified to be used only for holy use and not for common use.

               The tabernacle that was designed by God and given to the people of Israel to be used during worship and sacrifice could only be used for religious purposes. The ark of the covenant was not even to be touched by human hands and was only for containing the written law, Aaron’s rod that budded, and was topped by two golden angels.

               We have a similar situation in the New Testament regarding the Virgin Mary; YHWH sent the angel Gabriel to communicate the message that she was chosen to be the vessel for bringing about the incarnation of the Son of God. Just like one would not use containers in one’s kitchen for holding unclean items but only for food items.

               I encourage everyone reading this brief collection of thoughts to consider your own life, and what you put in your heart and mind. You need to understand that if you have been baptized into the people of God, you are no longer your own and should only be taking into yourself those things that are holy and will identify you as different from the culture around you.

               Sometimes it is a sad reality that some people will make the decision to label themselves as a follower of Christ, but then live a life that is not holy, pure, or righteous. What kind of vessel are you? Are you filled with and contain only those things that are holy, or do you allow corruption, perversion, and hatred within yourself? Work hard to be faithful to your claims about yourself and be a vessel used only for those things of value.

Our Words and Our Actions

 

            Unfortunately, far too many people only think of themselves when they speak or when they act. The things we say and the things we do will have an impact on those around us. Because we do not know the way others were raised, the way others treated them when they were children, or if others had parents who loved them, we need to remember that those in our social circles did not necessarily have the benefits, the love, and the care from others.

               If you spend all of your time, your energy, and your money only on making your own life more pleasant, you are living a life that is selfish and incorrectly directed. As we are seeing in the news from the UK, the ‘Gang Rape Inquiry’ that was recently published and made available for anyone to read, the psychological, emotional, and physical trauma that these 250,000 white British girls endured for the past seventy years is very difficult to comprehend.

               These decades of abuse are a great example of how someone’s worldview directly impacts the quality of life of those around them. These decades of selfishness and contrary worldview to the West have destroyed the joy and the reality of a good life for a massive number of girls and their families. For someone to be abducted from the street and abused for multiple months by large group of strangers will obviously have a seriously negative impact on their overall wellbeing.

               On a much smaller scale, the words we speak to others and the way we treat others will have an impact upon them, but not to the same degree as what we have recently learned what has been taking place in the UK for so many decades. We all need to consider our goals, our plans, and what we hope to achieve as we move through life. If we are seeking to only please ourselves, find satisfaction for ourselves, at the expense of the wellbeing of others, then we are aligning our lives in a very bad way.

               Destroying the psychology, emotions, and health of someone else just so that we can feed our own pleasures and end goals exposes a terrible way to live one’s life. One could easily say that when someone introduces a destructive approach to life that is contrary to the normal life of the culture in which you live, he ought not be part of that culture and should relocate himself somewhere else that is in agreement with his preferred approach to life.

Only in Nightmares

            All of us live and move through multiple social circles and it is a rare instance that everyone in these social circles is a pleasure to be with and interact with. Regardless of the social circle, we occasionally will meet someone, interact with someone, and while we watch them act and speak, and sometimes we wonder ‘how are they able to be successful in any manner when they are borderline mentally handicapped’.

               People will say and do things without giving much depth of thought to their actions or words. Sadly, too many people don’t reflect on what they’ve spoken or done, while we may replay the conversation over and over in our memory long after the interaction was complete. Often these are palm to face moments, where we are left dumbfounded with what someone else said or did. Unfortunately, we will think of a better response, minutes or hours later and wish that we could go back in time and respond appropriately.

               Those with whom we interact are very much like the food we eat, the money we spend, and whatever we choose to entertain us. If you desire to be strong and healthy, you will avoid fast food, processed foods, and empty calories. A better alternative would be to eat high quality food, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and homemade bread products. In addition to this you should be getting some exercise each day to be in control of your body.

               When we associate with shallow, empty-headed, and low culture people, we will be influenced by them. On the contrary, it is much better to find those who are older, wiser, and have more experience than we do, and make an effort to draw them into our lives to be a positive influence upon us. When wisdom, high culture, and excellence become our goals in life, we will be better, stronger, wiser and have the opportunity to positively influence those around us.

               To make good progress in becoming an excellent person, you should study history and find those in the past who made good decisions to be a light to those around them. These people will be focused on loving others, rather than entertaining themselves with childish whims or games. The person who refuses to be controlled and directed by worldly passions will be the one who makes a positive influence on their culture. A common phrase or idea is that silence is better than noise and gossip. Be the wise person that others will seek out for direction and assistance as they move through life.

Nothing Left to Say

 

            Everyone knows a wide variety of people in many different situations, with different types of relationships. If you are wise and attentive to the reality of how some people think and behave, you will be careful in what you are willing to share and discuss. Betrayal comes in many different forms; some will squeeze information and details from you in order to use this information to try to control you or ruin how others view you.

               You may think that you know someone, after having interacted with them for many years but then later learn that this specific person has been speaking poorly of you, criticizing you to others, and has been planning for a long time to destroy your name and reputation. With this in mind, be careful about what you share and what you reveal.

               It gives one a good feeling to believe that you can know and trust someone but then when everything falls apart and the long-lasting deception is finally revealed, you are left with anger, frustration, and disbelief. When those you love and who you believe loved you turn against you and begin speaking deception, you must make a decision on how you respond.

               You can respond with anger and give a reciprocal response of seeking to reveal their deception or you can respond with love and not allow this other person to win the small battle they have begun against you. As the historic Christian Church has always taught, no matter what others do or say about you, you are to respond with love and not anger or revenge.

               When you respond with love, you will find that the other person will be left with nothing to say or they may invent other deception to continue to try to destroy your image. Let your words and your actions tell the truth about you rather than what someone else is inventing in their imagination. When everyone else hears your words, and sees your actions they will hopefully come to understand that you are not shaped like what the person has invented.

Peace Rather Than Passion

 

            Everyone lives a different life with different interests and with different ideas about right, wrong, and how to treat others. Every person has different influences in their life, have different childhoods, different parents who may or may not have spanked them for their bad behavior. Some children were bullied as they grew up, some children were bullies when they grew up, some children chose the path of being kind to others, and some children chose the path of rebellion and violence.

               All of these things form a person into who they are today. Everyone has different levels of stress in their lives based on what they do for work, with whom they associate, and how they interact with their spouse, if they have one. Most people prefer to have less stress, less opposition, and less animosity from others. If you take a survey with questions built on one’s preference for peace or strife, in most cases people will prefer to have peace in their lives.

               Unless someone is retired, he or she will go to work, or will stay at home and take care of their children, organize their home and deal with the everyday stress of normal life. In most cases it is unavoidable to not have stressful interaction with co-workers, with spam callers, or with random people approaching our front door to share something they believe to be important.

               Life is better for you, for others, and for everyone involved if peace is the foundation in every interaction. When each person only focuses on their passions, their desires for themselves, and being entertained and distracted, the surrounding culture becomes nothing but an exercise in selfishness. In short, seek after peace, seek after doing good for others, and focus on being a good and kind person rather than being selfish.

It's All About Love

 

                If a person is honest with themselves, they should be able to review their life, their interests, how they spend their money, and how they spend their time. An honest review of these things will reveal what we love, what we find important, and what is the focus of our attention. Yes, it is true that we have needs that need to be taken care of, loved ones that need our assistance, and the reality of philanthropy.

               As we see in Holy Scripture, the follower of Christ is called to love God, love his neighbor, and pursue holiness. Is this what we find when we honestly examine and critique our lives, our time, and our use of money? I offer up the challenge to document how you spend your time, how you spend your money, and what you use to entertain yourself. If you are spending more time on social media, on television, or on entertainment in general than you do in worship, in prayer, or in reading Scripture, then you have something terribly misaligned in your life.

               The foundational question in all of this is, “What do you love?” This is easily answered by documenting time, attention, and money. An even better way to approach this question is to bring someone else into the discussion and allow them to draw the conclusion and answer. Another important aspect of this discussion is that of humility, if you are willing to allow someone else to critique your use of time, money, and attention, you will need to be humble and be willing to accept direction and guidance from someone wiser and more experienced than you.