It's all wrong

Everything is wrong and nothing seems to be done about it.  Obviously I am speaking metaphorically, but the general point stands.  I can only speak for what I see in America, but considering the influence and power that America holds, this is a pretty big deal.
The America dream. That of comfort, ease and wealth, has infiltrated and now controls everyone's thinking.  From birth, through school, through our days working and into retirement, the focus is on getting lots of money, entertaining ourselves and being comfortable.  We strive after pretty things, after distraction and after ease.  This is what motivates the entire clothing, music, movie and technology industries.
In raising our children, we push them to get a good education so they can make a lot of money so they can be comfortable and well off.
It seems as if we are willing to take on the appearance of American evangelicalism and be nice, thinking this is all that is required of us.
Personally, I need someone motivating, challenging and confronting me for the weaknesses, the sins, and the inconsistencies in my life.
How can we honestly do any less?

Practical valuation

Every so often, and it seems to be of increasing frequency, I have the urge to move to Russia and get away from western society.  Of course, I realize that everyone has their sins, that every culture deals with (or ignores) their sinful predispositions, but western culture, I believe is so subversive, that I am seriously driven to get away from it.
So the question that comes up at this point is this.  If it is valuable to mold ones life to turn away from sin, to seek after holiness and to love God with all of ones self, then the flip side would be true as well.  The culture in which we live here in America does not encourage us to holiness.  In fact, it does the exact opposite, that is, be comfortable and be distracted.
So if we truly value holiness, should we not do what we must to gain it?

The big picture

Every so often, I'll dip my toe into the world of big brother government conspiracy.  Tri-lateral Commission, Bilderberger, Illuminati etc kind of central banking, world control kind of stuff.  The validity of all this stuff, the allegations and various proofs, are much to be debated.  That is not the point of this blog. 
Here are my thoughts: it should come as no surprise that those people with lots of money are also seeking after power.  It should also come as no surprise that the masses are more than happy to be distracted by temporal pleasures.  Everyone has their own circle of life that they live out and control.  It may be that there are very powerful world leaders, elected and unelected, that are manipulating events and people in order to gain more money and power.  But ultimately there will be a final judgment.  We have our own lives for which we are responsible and there are global situations over which we have no control.  The things over which we are responsible are the things we will have to answer for. 
While it may be interesting to look into the conspiracy type of secrets, our responsibility is our own holiness and to love God and neighbor.  If we fail in these, we have completely missed the goal.  Loving neighbor should involve doing what we can to protect the innocent from perpetrators, which certainly can include big government.  But we shouldn't lose sight of the ultimate big picture.  God is in control and world events are not dictated by the whims of the wicked.  Everyone has their free will and sometimes we all suffer for the actions of others. But being focused on the eternal rather than the temporal will keep our lives in order.

A metaphor

Reality is like a visit to the Louvre in Paris.  Non religious people are like those who walk by the grand glass pyramid and no longer see it.  Non Christians are those people standing in line but refusing to pay the entrance fee.  Protestants are visitors who hang out in the bathroom, marveling at the glories therein and debating art theory.  Roman Catholics are like the guards in the security office, catching occasional glimpses of the art.  Eastern Orthodox are the museum patrons exploring and receiving guided tours through the various branches of the museum.

Justification

Contrary to what you may be thinking, this blog is not part of the long ongoing debate in Calvinistic circles on the modern doctrine of justification by faith alone.  I will be musing on something a little more practical.
This thought picks up where I have left off in previous blogs.  Some time ago, I ruminated on the idea of why we do the things we do.  I would like to pick up from there and consider how we justify the things we do and think.
Any justification we give for our thoughts, actions or interests can come from a variety of places.  We can deceive others actually quite easily.  We can deceive ourselves, but it usually backfires on us.  But we can never deceive God.  No matter what, no matter how articulate or complex our rationale or justification is for our thoughts and actions, if it is not honest, accurate or true, then it is all for naught.  The truth will be present and it may condemn us.
Do we justify it by appealing to common practice (but everyone is doing it)?  Do we justify it by speaking to our own desires (I want to do it, so it must be ok)?  Or is it simply a matter of not thinking about it at all?
We can think it through now and deal with the huge number of situations and sinful tendencies in which we find ourselves, or we can ignore rational thought and try to explain/justify ourselves before the judgment seat of God at the last judgment.
I'm thinking sooner is probably better.

Thoughts on expertise

Often times we hear or read about something that appeals to the expert for validation.  A subject is presented and then supported by the expert.  Or an expert speaks, presenting a new or novel idea, and his thoughts are embraced simply because he is an expert.
In some circles, it is nearly anathema to not listen to the expert.  "Don't question, just listen," seems to be the unwritten mantra.
Now I can appreciate the value of expertise and the wisdom that is typically included in expertise, but one cannot and must not mindlessly follow any human direction or advice.  We see an example of this in the science world.  The standard practice in science and medicine is peer review and documentation.  The scientist must "prove" his work and must document it to the point that it can be reproduced by a third party. His work must also be released for review and criticism, i.e., peer review journals.
A third thought is in regards to our circles of influence.  We tend to more quickly believe the thoughts and ideas of those from our own circles and distrust those from without.  This is probably a natural response, but a slightly dangerous one.  Because all men are fallible, including the pope, everything must be tested and checked.  Personally, I believe there's are three checkpoints to consider: Scripture, tradition and logic.  That is, the Bible, as given to us by the church, tradition, as in that which has always been taught and believed by the historic church and logic, as given to us by God.  This is not to say that everything must be logical, but that nothing can be illogical.
The main point here is this, consider the source, critique it against a known standard and pray for wisdom.

The practical subjectivity of reality

It could be that the title of this blog is not exactly accurate, so I'll explain a little. Everyone has had a lifetime of experiences and education that has formed who they are and how they think about things.  Following from this, everyone is different.  This means that the way people see reality and interpret common and uncommon events differ.  This is not to say that reality is malleable but that people understand reality differently.
I believe that one very important thing to glean from this observation is the fact that we cannot judge another person on the presumption that we understand what they are doing and why.  Our thinking will be different from theirs, the world that formed their thinking will have been different from ours and their rationale for why they do what they do will be different from ours.
The important thing here is love.  When we love someone, we do not judge them, we do not assume that we know better or would respond better than they in a situation, and we don't look down upon another for the situation they are in.  We must, as part of the body of Christ, love unconditionally and pray for all men.
As Jesus said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."- John 13:35