That Arrogant, Fun-Loving Narcissist

Well, the transgender population (ca .3% of Americans) wins the prize---Pres. Obama's support and backing. They will be allowed, if he has his way, to enter the restroom, shower, locker room, dorm of their choice, the one that fits their gender identity. "Who cares?" you say---I do . . . and apparently hundreds of thousands of others.

Some states are going to fight the Federals over this issue, but short of the unlikely events of another civil war or withdrawing from the Union, they are doomed to failure, I fear. So, where do we stand? 

Some say we who disagree need to modify our attitudes to more closely match the modern state of tolerance and protecting the rights of the minorities. I'm thinking it's time we begin again to focus on the "common" good and "common" rights. I'm thinking I, too, have rights [esp. privacy] that should also be protected. Conflicting rights, eh? Now what do we do?

Some reasonable solution(s) is surely out there. Pres. O(bomb)a dropped this on everyone with no real prep of any kind. I'm guessing that arrogant, fun-loving narcissist is having a good laugh about this in the privacy of his luxurious bedroom at night with his spouse. 

Despite our prankster-President's glee, many folks in our country now have pointed at them a loaded gun full of stress bullets. School administrators---administrators of any sort---must now decide how to deal with the myriad problems and lawsuits this directive would create should it be enforced as law. 

I think the costly solution is probably the best one: Begin the process of modifying current restrooms somehow into individual, private stalls. [Brings to mind the nifty two-hole outhouse we had when I was a kid.] Super expensive? I know. Make bathrooms in all new facilities individual-use ones. Retail store managers have the same potentially expensive and legally lethal problems as public administrators.

Another approach is to just ignore it:  It will go away just as did the furor over abortion---just as we're able to overlook various genocides around the globe. We Americans are getting better and better at looking the other way, rather than dealing with explosive and repulsive problems.

Hey, I think maybe I'm already not seeing it as such a . . . . .

At the Forefront of Our Being

Not sure where I got this: "Nothing can touch me unless it first passes through the will of God." Maybe, it's mine. But, I absolutely believe it, and the idea is alive within me and has been ever since I became a Christian---actually, longer than that I think. I attended many a church service and participated in many a Bible study (admittedly as a child) before I became a confessed and commissioned Follower in my 30's. 

If "everything" that happens to me is "allowed" by God, then I guess that means it has His sanction---His green light, so to speak. And if that is the case, then it's my function to accept it and deal with it and keep on driving through it, no matter what I may think of it. God might give Satan permission to enter one's life, as He did with Job, which suggests Satan cannot crawl into the lives of those in the Body of Christ through simply his own volition. And I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, nor shall any man pluck them out of my hand---John 28:10. And I think, by extension, no angel. God's permission is completely necessary. Other Biblical examples revolve around the vulnerability of the unsaved and the good that Christians can gain and our ability to bear the tribulation.

Well, that got fuzzy, didn't it? I look at the pathetic condition of our current American culture and cannot help but believe that we have pushed God to the point of setting Satan completely free. He is already the Prince of this world, but God has up to now placed some restrictions upon him and has, at times, intervened in human history against Satan's desires (most notably in the Christ's appearance as a lowly human). Evil behavior is threatening to open doors to even greater evil behavior---and devastation.

Perhaps, it is not as gloomy as it appears on the surface. Perhaps, we can still smile and laugh out loud. Perhaps, a revival is at hand. Perhaps, we may in greater numbers recognize again the wonderment in the event of Christ's resurrection---and the pending possibility of our own, if we claim Him. There is hope for this world and those in it. We must keep the cross and resurrection of Jesus at the forefront of our being, every moment of our living. We must because through our years we must drive our way through pain, guilt, and loneliness---difficulties of various sorts. Only God can comfort us now, and only God can provide us an eternal life of Goodness.

And so, even yet I contend . . . Nothing can touch me without first passing through the will of God.

Can't Quite Get to "That" Point

Just don't care anymore. 

Well, that's not it exactly . . . rather, I'm having more difficulty caring about people who don't care themselves and won't change. This problem could be completely solved for me if I really could just quit caring completely. And I know it's true that when people no longer get frustrated or upset, you can rest assured they no longer care. Just can't quite get to "that" point.

It's the big "whatever." I want to say that until people start considering my feelings, I'm not going to worry about theirs. My disappointment level would be substantially reduced. A few have walked away from me lately. Don't get me wrong: There are no tears or wiping of distressed eyes---it's just the urge to say, "why bother?" But, just can't quite get to "that" point.

I would like to say that the opinions of others aren't important any longer. No, they're important, I guess, to someone, just not that important to me. I've seen a lot; I've heard a lot; I've lived a lot in my 70 years. I have my own well-established format. I'm not "set in my ways"---just not hearing much of anything anymore that changes my mind. Dangerously close, I fear, to getting to "that" point.

But my Jesus said---no, commanded---that we must love one another! Good grief. It's difficult many times to love myself, easier in most ways to love God---but nearly impossible to love certain other humans. I'm not speaking necessarily about those horrendous folks; they are another story entirely. The self-focused, it"s-all-about-me ones are my greatest challenge; I always want to be mean to them. I want to slather them with sarcasm. It's an urge I have to fight with all my might . . . and I often fail.

Albert Camus said, "To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others." And Miguel Ruiz stated, "There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally." A degree of happiness and freedom may be available when one gets to "that" point, eh? According to Shannon Alder (a definite and negative track is followed) whom I paraphrase: No communication - no respect. No respect - no caring. No caring - no understanding. No understanding - no compassion. No compassion - no empathy. No empathy - no forgiveness. No forgiveness - no kindness. No kindness - no honesty. No honesty - no love. No love - no God. No God - no peace. No peace - no happiness. So, how did this rambling get around to talking about happiness and peace and freedom?

At 70, I'm reasonably happy (more so when the aches and pains are less), and I have complete peace in knowing my eternal destination. I know the love of God; I have my freedom in Him. I guess I'll just go on caring as much as I can and let the chips fall where they may, no matter how others react to me. Probably, they'll say it's none of my business, that I'm pious, that I should just leave them alone. Oh, well . . .

A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples , if you have love for one another.  ---John 13:34-35

Stop Being a Pseudo

Resurrection---wow, what a concept! When early followers of The Way told others about Jesus, this mysterious event caught their attention and their imagination and made them marvel---and believe. And Christianity exploded upon the pages of history. Now? . . . well, it's not spoken of much. It might make other people look at you askance, and they might comment to others about you behind your back. Even in many pulpits it is seldom mentioned and, then, only in the most abstract terms. In actual, every day, get-up-and-have-some-coffee terms, Jesus died. Then, He came back to life three days later. His spirit returned into his revitalized body. He walked and breathed among other living humans. They recognized Him. If you can't believe that, you're lost. It takes time; even His disciples who were with Him needed time to grasp the fullness of the event. If you do believe in His resurrection, then you'd best start behaving like you do and stop being a pseudo.

What are the powerful implications of this belief in the resurrection of Jesus? For one, His teachings must be remarkably important! So, learn what those lessons are. Right? The super-sophisticates (they're everywhere, they're everywhere!) in our nation today seem to think otherwise. My awe is invoked by how phony the lives of so many are. Lies abound. Deceptions rebound off every truth they encounter. They only value the things or people that have direct relevance to their personal well-being. [Yep, I know, this applies to some of the rest of us at times, as well.] Put your nose into the God's Word; join Bible study groups---learn the lessons Jesus taught and try to put them into practice. It's much more important than all the mundane activities of your daily life: dishes, laundry, mowing, movies, facebook, television, etc.

Just think about that mystery---that plausible impossibility---and what its implications are for you. When you die, you also may be resurrected at some point: Your spirit may reunite with your renewed body. Then what? I'm not sure I can really grasp the total significance of it, but it does in itself give me Hope that death is not just an end, a finality. I believe in the resurrection (now you're dead, now you're alive again) we humans will experience, and as a result, I have accepted Jesus as my Savior and (most of the time, except when I falter) my Lord.

Can you figure out what is real? Can you recognize reality? All kinds of people are out "there" trying to convince you that they know and that you should meekly and immediately accept their ideas of existence and meaning. I'm doing that to you right now . . . but I'm  also asking you to read the Word, listen to some people who are believers, read some pertinent writings---then, you'll be in a better position to accept or reject. But, first and foremost, I ask you to keep thinking about this idea of a resurrection. Yep, just think about that! 

John 11:25-26  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Do you believe this?