Healthy Much?

What’s with being super healthy? I know that I cannot live out my dream of eating candy all day long and hoping that the milk I dunk the Oreo’s in will balance off, but we have issues here in the West. At the expense of being genuinely happy: we count percentages, we say no to enjoyable foods, we work out way too much, we stand in front of many mirrors and step on scales, we feel bad when we’re not ‘in shape’ and the list goes on. I understand that there is a certain healthiness that is good (my candy life-style is bad, I know this), but what is the mostly Western psycho-healthy life-style good for?

Here are a few stabs at positive points:

1. Being pleasant to others. It is true, the saying ‘easy on the eyes’ did not come from nothing. But do you really sweat 4 times a week so that other people can look at you and not be horrified?

2. Being attractive to others. This is more like it. This is the reason that when you DO go for your run or weight-lifting that you have no sleeves or anything covering your tummy (well, for those who have something to show there; I’ll keep the mo-mo thank you). You want others to look at you and say, ‘oo-la-la.’ You also, like some animal, want to be made of the right stuff to attract a suitable mate. I said like some animal . . . that’s weird, I thought our brains set us apart . . . maybe our souls, regardless there are plenty of people who buck the number scale for attraction. Besides, there really is much more to a person than their looks (seriously, I’m banking on this one). Not that it is at all wrong to enjoy someone else’s beauty, especially your spouse’s, but one bad accident can change their physical physique: do you really want to base a marriage off of something as mutable as skin and bone structure?

3. Feeling good about yourself. Most of the time this phrase can be translated into ‘good self-esteem,’ which can equally be translated into ‘I like me,’ which can just as easily translate into ‘I’m arrogant and think I am the center of the world.’ When I look in front of the mirror and the shadows are right and it is just dark enough to be very visible I do not think good about myself, I feel great, I feel like I’m something special that the world has been missing for quite some time. What really IS good is more so feeling comfortable—without everyone else’s commentary—with yourself, regardless of how your body is shaped. Lie 3 exposed.

4. Live longer. This is good. I am not going to say that I want to die young and hope everyone else does too. Even the Bible speaks of long life as something positive. However, there is a big difference between hoping you live long and demanding it. People who are always in the gym and always watching what they eat seem to want to demand more life out of Life: look what I’ve done, give me days!! This is silly. What prevents us from dying when we are 20 or 120: not our choice. People who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day may live decades longer than the person who never ate a calorie more than he should have.

Ultimately we fear death. There is a sense in which this is not a bad thing at all. However when we fear death so much that we try and wield the reigns of life, there is something wrong. I am not a Fatalist or a disguised Fatalist (Realist), rather simply one who understands how the world turns and who really is in control of things. The Bible is very clear about this subject and there are three aspects:

A. The Ruler of this World. He is also called the Devil, Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness, the Father of Lies, the Deceiver, but he is also called the Ruler of this Present Age (of this World). When he tempted Jesus by telling the God-man he would give him authority over all the earth, it really was a temptation because the Devil DOES have the authority (thankfully Jesus is patient). In the book of Job (pronounced with a hard vowel sound like boat) the Devil inflicted Job with the death of family members, the loss of wealth, and personal hardship and physical suffering.

B. The God of the Bible. Read the Book, he’s all up in there. God is above the Devil, while the Devil does what he does on the earth God is telling and allowing him to do so—the Devil is leashed up. In the book of Job again we see that the Devil first had to ask permission of God to do the harmful things to Job and his family, God allowed them to happen. God even appoints the seemingly terrible things that happen in life: he even appointed that Jesus, his very own son, be unjustly murdered.

C. We are the final aspect. But some things do not make complete logical sense. I understand down to the most minute aspect how a seed grows into a tree and then produces fruit, but it still does not make sense. So too it is with our responsibility on earth. If you believe that the actions you take and do not take control the world (not in a dictator way, rather have an effect on the world) than you must have the most ulcers out of anyone. There is no way that you can believe this and still get up in the morning. If you think that the world will be tremendously effected by the decisions you make you would be crippled with anxiety because you know you will make a mistake that could kill someone and no one can live with that understanding all the time and not go crazy. You call it chance or fate or providence, regardless, you believe there is something other than your personal decision that dictates the flow of life. You know that you do not determine who gets cancer and who misses getting hit with a bullet when everyone around them does.

What does all this have to do with being overly healthy? When your health begins to dictate all you do and do not do it has already controlled you and you are bowing to a subservient master: you are being controlled by something other than God and even less than man. You cannot escape death, no one can. But you can laugh at the future knowing that eternity is in the hands of a God who loves you . . . unless you do not love him, then you should be afraid to die because if you die being a rebel towards God, you’ll be judged for it. However, like the All-State Insurance guy says, if your in God’s hands, your in good hands. And being in God’s hands means you can be a little less trim because you are worried about bigger things than what others will say; you can be a bit more round and not freak out that you will never attract a good spouse; you can know that your future is okay, ultimately. This is no license to be a glutton and not give a cent about your health, but put it where it needs to be, somewhere further down the list of priorities than it is. And go get some Dairy Queen, please.

Why are we Surprised?

Surprised. Surprised by what? You ever wonder why it is that people get surprised by anything? I’ve heard is said countless times: ‘Expect the unexpected;’ but even then you cannot control the reaction you sustain when something surprising happens.

The typical male American hero is a man not surprised by anything. When an explosion happens just behind the greased up and ripped dude, he doesn’t move a muscle. When people die he turns into an overly pragmatist with a touch of stoic realism: ‘people die, life happens,’ and he moves on,

Well we all know that the movie man is not real, we hurt when people die, we wet our pants when explosions happen, and on average, we’re ‘over-weight’ and not terribly good looking. We surprise fairly easy actually. Take, for example, the singer Susan Boyle. Susan was a contestant in Britain’s Got Talent, the British version of American Idle (really it is the other way around). The Scotswoman stepped onto the stage before a young audience wearing a 70ish stay-at-home-mom dress and overall she was not an externally captivating woman; however, as soon as she began to sing everybody’s jaw dropped and by the end she was met with a standing ovation and much praise from her judges. Why was the world shocked by this? Mainly it is because she looked like she fell off the boring bus 3 decades ago and has been lost ever since. Her demeanor projected a certain precedent but her abilities shattered that precedent: she did not fit her mold. This is the basic reason why we get shocked: when someone or something breaks out of its expected norm of behavior. Why are we shocked when a baby says momma for the first time? We’ve heard hundreds of people say momma, I can say momma and no one cares; it is that the baby was not supposed to say any coherent word yet. Guys, why are we surprised when ugly dude (2) lands a beautiful wife (10), because that is not how things are supposed to work, dude messed up the number scale.

Well here are some things to be shocked but not surprised by:

--People doing evil things to other people. You want evidence that people are generally bad, look at babies. You take something they want away they’ll scream, crap their pants, hit and refuse to eat until they get it. Why should we not be surprised; people are evil, we live under an actual curse where we want to and do . . . do wrong (somewhere 8th grade boys are giggling).

--People doing nice things to other people. Even though we’re all evil, we are still made in God’s image and though the mirror is broken we still got some pieces that rightly reflect who he is. So just because the lady at the store smiles and forgives you when you cuss at her baby who wont shut up, doesn’t mean she loves God, rather there are some things that she can let go.

--People claiming they’ve found complete contentment in life. Don’t trust `em, seriously. Life sucks, even in the bubble of the United States, and if someone says that they are okay with life they are either clinically crazy, so sheltered an infant would be shocked, or a cult leader. Granted people can have pockets of contentment, but seriously, keep one good eye on that person. The world is broken down and bleeding, we can laugh and cry; be happy and want to kill our self all in the same day: the world was not supposed to be this way. There is a difference between saying you’re content, living an island life-style throwing back margaritas and being content because you know that one day you get to push the ejection button out of this mess.

--People doing heroic things. There are plenty of principles people live by that are inches away from Christ, but, as the saying goes, a miss is as good as a mile. It takes something special to be brave, and not many have it. However we must remember that we can gain the whole world but still lose our soul.

--God being who he says he is. Hope you don’t miss this one. I get mad when people don’t answer me as soon as I like; I get overexcited when my team wins; I get the blues on occasion; I cry when I really hurt; I laugh at jokes; I have goals and desires and life will crush me, but I will not be surprised when I meet God. He will be much greater than I imagined, much more than I imagined and I’ll be surprised by that, but I will not be surprised that he is good, that he is full of justice, and that I’ll be pardoned of all my wrong simply because I believe that what Jesus did is true.

From the Preacher to the Preached: Unskilled

You’re on the Penthouse
holding a mojito
chirping articulate prose

They’re on the sidewalk
downing a Mad-dog
groaning unthinkable woes

John: the disciple whom Jesus Love

'The disciple whom Jesus loved.'

These words come from the Gospel according to John in the Christian New Testament. There is something you need to know about these words, the author of John kept writing them in his book. He keeps telling his audience that he is the one whom Jesus loved.

I remember when I first discovered this truth. How dare John, I thought to myself. Who is he to parade the words, who is he among Andrew, James, even Peter to claim that he is the one whom Jesus set his affection? When I would reread the Gospel of John I would continuously get angry at John, for I saw him as the most arrogant and obnoxious figure in the whole Bible. John is speaking these words and often, as he said presumptuously, ‘of course I am he who Jesus loved.’ I came to the conclusion that this guy was not going to be heaven, there apparently was not room enough for his ego, he thought that he was so great therefore God loved, that he must be some kind of special deal to God.

My judgments are all in the past because I could not have been further from the truth. Yes I realize now that I turned what John said completely on its head. The first time this phrasing occurs, in speaking of John, is found in chapter 13 of John’s book. Immediately prior to our phrase is something extraordinary. Jesus, whom John and 11 other guys had been following around the country and being taught by, said, ‘If you want to be great, be the servant of all.’ Jesus then took each of the twelve men’s callused and dirtied feet and one-by-one began to wash them using his own clothes as a rag and his own hands to hold their feet as he poured water over them and scrubbed them clean. They knew that Jesus was God. Jesus knew he was God. Yet, Jesus served them; Jesus was literally on his knees before them.

John heard the sermons that Jesus preached, he heard the stories Jesus told, he saw the way that Jesus lived day in and day out. John also saw how his life did not compare. John knew Jesus was right in saying that no one can ever be perfect just as God the Father is perfect. John was realizing more and more that he was a failure, that he needed help, he needed saving, his eternity was in trouble. Speeding ahead, Jesus is murdered and John and the others are scared and not too sure what to do, but then Jesus almost casually shows up in their house. He is alive, he beat death, he paid the penalty that John was to receive!

John knew how much he needed saving and now there was one who really could save his soul. Would that Savior reject him, wouldn’t he be annoyed with John’s sins? No! And this is why we find John saying over and over and over that he is the one whom Jesus loved. The repeated statement is not an exclusive statement that John is the only person Jesus loved, or even that John is the only disciple that Jesus loved. Rather, John cannot and should not get passed the fact that he could be and is loved by the perfect God and creator of all things. His song is simple and humble: ‘Do you realize that God loves me?! How can this be, I am not worthy, I am wicked. Yet it is true, God loves even me!’

What Was It?

I have the presence of something absent,
the wisps of dissipating veins,
a fog so subtle you cannot mark
when it is not.
When is a wave just a current?
A noise just a wind?
Is the ache of something standing
or something rightly ripped away?

Some Thoughts on Earth Day

Can I be honest? (I think I heard you say yes.) I do not believe that man has created the warming of the earth. Everyone knows Al Gore does not believe it either, just like we know that he did not invent the Internet. He is a businessman and a good one too; he helped create a world-wide scare that has produced billions of dollars worth of profit. I do not dislike the man for his endeavors, I think he's rather good, maybe ethically he could use some work but who is perfect.

The earth is pretty large, do we really think that we can have such a great impact on it, I mean humanism is one thing but dang. Besides, our options as far as 'going green' are more like 'going backwards:' all those batteries that last only 5 years in hybrid vehicles are made of highly toxic materials that are very harmful to the earth; the light bulbs that we have been demanded to use have more mercury in them than the planet of the same name; the wind and solar harnessors could keep a pot of water boiling for a year if they combined all their powers like captain planet's followers; besides, most things that are being done are replacing people with--AH!--robots and just like a person in the boom of the machines a century or so ago, I protest and say I wont wait around while computers take-away my job! Maybe the Terminator movies were not too far off.

I love the earth, but I do not worship it: I am a created thing and it is a created thing, God created us both. I do not mind leaving around a carbon footpath for others to follow me by, and I do not appreciate people telling me that I am destroying the earth.

As much as this present generation is for their 'rights' and speaking for the inanimate objects that they feel need a hearing, no one has considered the thoughts of the very things that we feel are unpleasantly 'suffering'--I cannot bear to rightly call a floating piece of ice something that is suffering. Did anyone think that perhaps the ice wants to melt. They have been up north for so long, why not visit the islands in water form? Who are we to demand that those chunks of ice stay in that one place, maybe they feel enslaved to the poles and want to get away, maybe they feel like they deserve a vacation, after all some of those things have been ripped off and used by photographers for a long time! And the polar bear; they may not like the cold. Maybe they decided that living up north was not so great, they cannot build nice igloos to live in after all. So maybe we--if we can positively say we are the responsible ones for the sometimes warming of our earth . . . which we cannot--are actually doing these guys a favor, think of the rights of those poor creatures for heaven's sake, can't they have a say?

Think of the irony of this whole environmental movement, it is a slow dictatorship snarling at most of us. I find it ironic that the shift to the earth and all its soulless creatures has, in large part, turned the world's focus off of the previously known as third-world countries and their people. In comparison to environment worshipers there are hardly any great humanitarian workers. Like the UN most people just sit around and go, 'This probably isn't right, someone should probably do something about that . . . but not me.' I do not want to destroy the earth, I am thankful for it, but I do not think I am, at least in the way most think I am.

In the end people do not want to save the earth, they want to save themselves, their reputation, their lives. Businesses bow to the green movement to their mockery because they do not want to lose business; angry and self righteous people--usually coupled together like that--pick up on the green movement so they can think they are better than all those brown-content killers! And they feel justified in calling us names and saying we are evil; the quiet, never-doing-much type is thrilled in joining a community of single-minded people, they can be apart of something 'real;' the guilty folks who never feel like they measure up join because they are extended some kind of hope for their lives; the people who really are concerned with the earth worship it most often. We humans are a mess, myself included and we need big-time help. Saving the earth will not save our souls; condemning others while we look 'better' only condemns our own selves.

Christ, who I follow, is one day going to--shield your eyes--destroy the earth. It is true! But he is going to make a new one that is much better. There will not be suffering and sin or Satan, only real peace worshiping God, the creator of this earth. The only way to be there in his joy is to realize that you are not perfect and have zero chance of being so and that you need a savior. Then believe in Christ, believe he is who he says he is and believe that he has done all that he has said he has done. He is the only one who can take away your guilt and shame; your sin and allow you to go joyfully head-long into your suffering; he alone can give you perfect righteousness before the all-seeing Judge. Which earth are you living for?

You Want Sugar in That?

Today, as in previous days, Americans are having ‘Tea Parties.” No, there is very little if any actual tea in these “parties,” rather they are waving around the same type of flags as were waved in America during the 1770s screaming to our spend-happy government, “Don’t tread on us.” Though I am very happy that no one is really having their life threatened because of this I wonder if the violence of the first Bostonian Tea Party was the main reason it succeeded. American’s are not what we use to be, that is for sure. For better, maybe for worse, but there is no tenacity, there is no resilience, just a whole lot of couch-shouting laziness. “But they are outside and it is raining!” That is exactly how it was some days during our Civil War . . . except they were being shot and they were starving and they did not have real homes to drive back to or new cloths to jump into. I am not at all trying to compare our Tea Parties with the Civil War but I am trying to convey that we are not them, we have a great heritage of Americans behind us but that does not automatically make us great.

Yesterday I was looking at another country whose government was being protested. Thailand is an aesthetically beautiful country but it‘s government is not. People protest against the government and they get killed. This is no rarity as far as the rest of the world is concerned, governments in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Asian Regions all tout oppressive and aggressive governments. I am therefore aware of how nice it is to be able to go down to the Capital, say mean things to important people, and then go back home. But what would you do if this was not so? What if the American government started “sacking” people because they said something about the government that the government did not like? Friend, the reality of life is that nothing will stand forever, not even a fantastic government. Is your hope in the land that you live in, the people around you, the government over you? I know often my hope is, but think what a silly hope this is. Can the government save you from all diseases, they cannot save anyone from cancer. “But I know people who have gotten medical care” and that is a very helpful thing, but the government can only act as an aide, they cannot themselves go in and cure every one of its citizens, it is limited and it should be. There is only so much a government can do. Why put your hope in something else that has its own hands untied and yet is still unable to save and provide?

Yes, protest the buggers who are throwing money in the fire of their greed, but know that all the social change in the world cannot protect you from life, death, or eternity.