Good Grief. Who Do We Think We Are?

I'm beginning to age. And that's okay. It's the established process of life. 

However, in my older years, certain things stand out more than others, as I consider my life and experiences. Telling lies, even living those lies, has become so acceptable; cheating of all kinds has become more than marginally okay, provided one can find some kind, almost any kind, of excuse for it; living behind a false and perhaps glorified facade of hypocrisy has become okay, even expected.

Not to say that deliberate deceit, dishonesty, and manipulative deception are somehow new; they obviously are not. Yet, there's an acceptance, an approval, a shutting of the collective eyes more and more to these immoral practices that concerns me.

Lying and cheating are curses that will grow along with children as they grow, and once they get good at it, usually increase pretty quickly, and it is nearly impossible to correct. Pinocchio's elongating nose leads inevitably to a donkey. Each lie makes the next one easier to tell. Now, politicians, theologians, and celebrities of all types have learned to tell the really big lie, then "sincerely" apologize as a foolproof way to further whatever their cause or need.

Watching the USA's society generally slipping into moral decay causes me to feel very old---and tired. While I'm at it, let me consider another practice that I'm observing that I don't believe was prevalent when I was younger. Most Americans have a very strange and sentimental grasp of the meaning of unconditional love. God's love has conditions; He is not Big Daddy ready to supply our every whim. He is the creator, the Lord, of this majestic universe. Pardon me, as I dip my feet into the waters of theology, just to wade out a little way.

Even in the Garden of Eden, God gave humans a condition---we could eat of anything in the garden freely, EXCEPT the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Later, God sent his son Jesus to die for our sins---God's integrity, His justness, His holiness, His love are conditional upon the cross and Jesus' death and resurrection. Our eternal future is completely conditional upon our faith in this expiation, this mandatory reconciliation.

Love, true love, involves the ebb and flow of innumerable responses on our part---and our responses are always conditional. God has good will [love] toward Man alright, but outcomes of this love depend upon our responses. God's love in His relationships with us is always available, but conditional. So what?

God's love has conditions---His conditions. We should not conclude that all He really wants for us is happiness and easiness and possession of all our wants. Life is about Him, not us. Heaven will be about Him, not us. We are to worship Him, not His worshiping us. So . . . quit being so full of yourself and look to God and look to other humans---build your life there in love for them.

God's love is not some small, wimpy, Romantic, slobbering-all-over-you, you-gorgeous-wonderful-you, love. He doesn't somehow owe you that, nor does He ask me to love you in that manner either. It's a love that is intentional, thoughtful, purposeful, and freely given.

That's what I'm seeing in my old age:  People are living in a pseudo-world of narcissism and seem not even to be aware of it. Even in the Church, God's Church, humans have become more important than God and His will. Ah, but I ramble . . . that's what old age will do to one.

Hmm . . . more important than God and His will? Good grief, who do we think we are? Get over this false interpretation of unconditional love and quit basing your life on lies and cheating.