Dare I? Politics... Part III

My final installment in the politics series. :)

When all is said and done, I think that it's important to realize that the political situation locally, nationally, and internationally seems like a HUGE DEAL, but I don't think it's healthy to become obsessed about it. Governments have ebbed and flowed, we've had conservative presidents and liberal presidents, and the world has had evil leaders and gracious ones. I think that it's important to do what one can to have a positive effect politically, but I've met people who freak out about our current political situation, and it sucks the joy out of them.

I believe God's bigger than any leader on earth. I also have a feeling that he finds politics less significant than we do. No leader has ever stopped the sun from rising. Nobody has stopped flowers from blooming. Babies still have infectious smiles. There's still joy in hugging and laughing. There are people doing good. We complain about how evil the world is, but God's still here loving us and blessing us and being as in control as ever.

Politics is significant, and yet it is also completely and utterly insignificant.

Dare I? Politics... Part II

I'm going to pick a generally hot topic, abortion, to illustrate part of why I think that it's hard to have a conversation about politics today. I apologize in advance if I have misrepresented anyone, but I am going write based on what I've understood from listening to people. The following statements are probably generalities, and I'm sure that some people differ from the generalities.

From what I can tell, people who think that abortions should not be regulated do so because they think that it would be regulating morals that should be decided by the individual. They may or may not think that abortion is an OK thing to do, but regardless they do not think that it is an issue that should be decided by the government.

On the other side, those who wish for the government to regulate abortions do so because they believe that they are protecting the life and rights of an unborn child. In addition, they may be working against abortion for the protection of the mother (since abortion can have long-term ill effects on the woman.) I think they believe that this is a moral issue significant to the state and national government.

I think that the underlying question isn't really whether or not abortion is OK but rather if it's an issue appropriate for our government to decide for us. A bumper sticker I saw recently stated: "Don't like abortion? Don't have one!" This may seem like reasonable logic stating that we should all make our own moral choices, but then again, it probably wouldn't seem as reasonable if someone had the sticker, "Don't like murder? Then don't do it!" That is because it is the current paradigm to believe that the government should, for the greater good, regulate murder.

Which brings me to my real point: I think that we don't have all the answers. I think it is extremely unfair to label people who don't want to regulate abortion as "pro-death." Similarly, I don't think that it is fair to view those who want to regulate abortion as people who simply want to regulate morals and take away freedoms.

We get so wrapped up in our own perspectives that it's hard to see that the other point-of-view isn't hateful, evil, or crazy. I'm not saying that we shouldn't develop (informed) opinions, but I am arguing that it is harmful to become too wrapped up in a belief. Since none of us holds all of the truth, it seems like we should be more open to listening to others to learn and understand more. Maybe if we all let our guard down, we'll be able to sort things out better. Or maybe not. I don't know...

Dare I? Politics... Part I

Talking politics can get kind of ugly. If I'm talking to someone on a different part of the political spectrum, I often walk away from conversations about politics with my hackles raised because I feel like I was constantly under attack. This is pretty weird since most people I talk to about such matters are generally reasonable people. So, why can't we have a simple conversation?

Reason One: People often assume that because I am a follower of Christ that I am politically conservative. This is not a good assumption. I agree with a lot of liberal ideas. Does this make me a bad person? I tend to think not. :) However, I have found that some people will make fun of or attack things that I believe because they assume that I am politically conservative like they are. I try not to be offended, but it certainly does not feel great. Not a good way to get into a civil conversation.

Reason Two: We're all so convinced that we are CORRECT. Uh oh!!! Picture a conversation between two people who completely disagree but neither person can imagine that his or her view has any flaw. Defenses certainly are going to quickly go up. How can anything productive happen? (As a note, this happens when talking about God too. I think that people feel attacked by Christians, and I can understand why. I'm not saying people need to compromise beliefs, but I think we should definitely be more conscious of how we are treating people.)

Reason Three: So cliché, but I'm going blame the media. :) Seriously though, I think that to keep ratings up, news networks are spreading hate, maliciousness, and lies. It's just so much more interesting when there's a conspiracy theory afoot!! I think both sides of the spectrum are guilty, and this makes all of us unsure about what is truth. It also gets people who believe the maliciousness extremely riled up. How can we make good decisions this way?

I'm sure that there are other reasons too, but these are the ones I've been thinking about recently. I'm going to do a second post on more thoughts related to this subject.

Reflections on high school days

Piano. Every time a performance came around, the sinking feeling fell upon me. The palms became sweaty, and my heart was running a race of its own. I'd nervously walk up to the piano bench, bow, and sit down to begin my piece. My knees would start to jump as I began to mangle the piece that I had practiced for a hundred hours at home. I'd cringe as I reached the end... panicking... hoping that I had not played as horribly as I had imagined. As I returned to my seat in the audience, I'd burst into tears of disappointment and dismay.

Public speaking. The idea of giving a speech induced a frantic, trapped feeling for years. As I gave my speeches, I'd speak quickly and turn a lovely shade of red. As the girls' team captain of the XC team junior year, at an all-school assembly our team wanted to honor our wonderful coaches by having me say something nice about them. I don't remember a thing about what I said, but I do remember some reactions. My friends called me long-winded. My teacher, Mr. Montgomery, looked me in the eye and told me he was proud of me.

A broken heart. In ninth grade, I became close friends with a boy and developed feelings for him. He decided to suddenly stop talking to me and avoided me as much as possible. Being a 14-year-old girl, I lived the following months in a whirl of confusion, angst, depression, and tears. As I recovered and found hope, I grew stronger. As an adult, I still don't understand what happened to our friendship, but I am grateful for the strength that I found.

Friendship. On our way home from school, Joannah, Becca and I decided to buy ice cream cones. Becca dropped hers on the ground, and she burst into tears. (I think she was having a bad day...) Feeling her pain, I threw mine on the ground next to hers, and Joannah quickly followed suit. Becca thought we were crazy, but I think she knew that she was more important to us than ice cream.

Confidence. Near the end of my senior year, as I was walking through the hall, my Spanish teacher of three years came from behind me and put her arm around me. She told me something to the effect that she enjoyed watching me grow up the past four years. She saw me change from an awkward, shy individual into a "beautiful, confident young woman." A treasured comment.

Knowing everything. At some point in high school, I started feeling like I had things pretty well figured out. I knew what was right and what was wrong. I probably made a lot of people pretty frustrated. I'd like to think that I'm at least a little wiser now. People and life are deeper and more complicated than I realized.

Love and belonging. After 13 months of dating, Andrew broke up with me near the end of senior year. I felt a remarkable sense of loss, although not the hopelessness I had felt in the past. I went to youth group a few hours after he broke the news to me, and I couldn't help but the cry through the whole thing. Before, during, or after, only the person right next to me noticed that anything was wrong. The next day at school, anytime we had free time in a class I'd discretely burst into tears. One of my friends noticed. The next school day, she gave the office a bouquet of tulips to deliver to me.

Whew. What a journey just remembering these small pieces of my life five to nine years ago... Thanks to everybody who loved me through it all.

I don't get the joke...

I've heard in a few places about an email being spread around talking about a bumper sticker some people have these days. Here is an excerpt from the email:

"a car in front of us had an Obama bumper sticker on it. It read: "Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8". Mike's Bible was lying on the dash board. He got it, opened it up to the scripture, and read it. He started laughing and laughing. Psalm 109:8 "Let his days be few; and let another take his leadership.'"

I am trying to understand why this is so funny and why it's being spread around. The only way I can see it as potentially amusing is if people are simply saying that they want Obama to not get re-elected. Unfortunately, this just means that the scripture is extremely ill-used. My first impression, which I believe is supported if you read the following verse (Psalm 109:9 says “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.”), is that people want Obama to die. Fortunately, I doubt that most people sporting this bumper sticker are wishing this upon the Obamas. Unfortunately, I don't think that the people spreading the idea of praying Psalm 109:8 are considering the murderous sounding context of the entire Psalm.

Be careful with what you say! There really are churches out there praying for Obama to die, whether by natural causes or by assassination! They are on the news spewing their hatred. By associating yourself the Psalm 109:8 prayer and saying it is good or funny, you could be aligned with their hatred. Is that what you want?

I don't care if you agree with Obama's policies or not, but I think the whole idea that he's a very evil president who is going to completely corrupt and destroy our country is very far-fetched. Please disagree with policies without being filled with hatred toward the person! Be wary of bias in the media stirring fear and hatred. Remember that if you want to get rid of evil in the world, it's far more effective to fight it with love and goodness instead of more hatred and anger.

We should always be asking ourselves: Is what I'm doing truly a good thing? Will what I'm doing help or hurt my ultimate cause? How will people interpret what I am saying/doing? Am I viewing a "cause" or "morality issue" as more important than people?

Good Stuff

Recently I've decided that it's hard to find a balance between cynicism, realism, and staying positive. In high school, I think I tended to try to see whatever was good in things (primarily the government, events, etc), and I think that I tended to be blind about some important shortcomings. Throughout college, I feel like I've come to understand how things and people "really are" in various aspects, and it sometimes just isn't the nicest to know. As a result, I feel like I am a bit wiser, but also more negative. It's so easy to see how messed up things are in the world and feel overwhelmed, but I don't think that's what we're meant to do. How does that help anything? Instead, I'd rather see good and give good away.

So, this is what's good to me. (Corny sounding or not, I promise it's all true. ;) )

It's good that I have a lot of friends and family who love me. I have a dear, devoted, loving husband who makes each day better than what it would have been otherwise. I have been given all the material possessions I need and more. With hard work, I do well at what I do.

I like hot cups of tea! I enjoy the sunshine, rain, snow, wind. I like it when trees leaves change colors, and I watch each day as the leaves come back in the spring. I like being able to run, play, laugh, dance and sing. I am glad that today Matthew and I sat together and drew hand turkeys.

I like sitting around talking to people... and laughing with people! I like growing closer in relationships. I appreciate that Facebook makes it so I can "like" or comment on peoples' statuses so that they know that I care about what's going on with them.

I like the bubbling feeling of hope when listening to something inspiring.

I look forward to good in the future while enjoying the now. I look forward to painting my kitchen plum purple someday... having kids and enjoying that miracle (at least most of the time, right!?)... learning new things.

There's a lot of good in life always, and I think that most people can find their own list. I want to constantly carry my list with me and live thankfully all the time. If I don't, I feel like I'll just add to the world's problems instead of spreading the good around.

So, thank you to all those who give yourselves to me, and thanks to God who is the giver of all good things.

It’s the calm of the storm that comes blowing in
It’s the springtime saying I'm back again
The clouds that roll by
Crossing moonlight
Me and you love – everything's alright
Standing in the rain with nowhere to go
Laughing and we're spinning and I hope that you
Remember this day
For the rest of your life
Me and you love – everything’s gonna be alright

And it just might be
The prettiest thing that you'll ever see
It’s a new day
Oh baby, it’s a new day
If you look outside
To see a beautiful sunrise

It’s a new day

Robbie Seay Band - New Day

"Those People"

Something I've been thinking about lately is the idea of labeling people. In psychology last year, we talked about how labeling people creates a feeling of "us" and "them." I think that anybody can relate to this idea (sports teams, school rivalries, cliques, etc.) I also think that creating groups can be good because it creates common ground to build strong relationships. However, it also can cause people to become arrogant and self-righteous.

One place that I think that this idea of "those people" is becoming more and more evident today is, unfortunately, within the church. Generally, there has been the notion of "the sinners" for ages. From what I can see, this is a label used primarily by those either genuinely seeking absolute morality or just those who use their societal status of "moral" as an excuse to demean others. We are commonly told that it was the cheating tax collectors, the "loose" women, or the general "Gentile sinner" who were viewed as the lesser, lower people of the time in Jesus' day. These people were avoided (and perhaps feared?) by many who were claiming to live by God's word.

From what we know, Jesus didn't put up with the nonsense that was occurring. While I definitely don't think he encouraged people to do wrong ever, I think that he saw all humans as having potential but being imperfect. Instead of excluding, he included, and by loving people he changed their lives. It wasn't by trying to convince them that they were bad people, but it was by showing them what was good so that they wanted it.

Today, I feel like we again have select groups of "sinners" that are looked down upon. I think that it is most often the case when it comes to controversial issues. Homosexuals, people who support abortion, people who are "too liberal"... These labels are used to look down on people. People spend a lot of time fighting for these issues politically, and many people become vehement and perhaps hateful. Some people simply radiate a distaste for certain people when they talk about them.

But why? What makes these people any worse than anybody else? The answer: nothing. We have no right to judge.

What should we do? What we should always do. Love people. I think that the reason God dislikes sin isn't because he's worried about labeling us or ranking us from good to bad. I think he wants what's best for all humans, and when we hurt ourselves or each other, it hurts Him and our relationship with Him and others. Most people realize they aren't perfect; that's not the problem. I just think we need to be more like Jesus and simply love people without worrying about what that makes us look like.

God works in people's spirits. Let him guide people on their paths. When was the last time you saw an argument about moral issues change somebody's mind? That's not your job. Just love them so that they can see God.

(As a note: It's "funny" because I think that I struggle with this same issue in a different manner. I find it difficult to love the people that go on protests with signs that say "God hates gays" or people who think they can decide who's a worse sinner. I too have to realize that, from my point of view, these people are wrong, but I can't judge them or find myself to be better than them! Otherwise, I have reinforced the idea of labeling and putting myself of a pedestal above them. Exactly what I don't want...)

Marriage

Between having our pastor talk about marriage for a few weeks and completing my first year of marriage, I've thought a lot about marriage this summer. Here are a few things I've learned.

For a marriage to be at its best, the husband and wife both have to be unselfishly seeking good for the other person. For example, I tend to want to spend more time hanging out together than Matthew does. I often am suggesting that we do something together. While Matthew wants to spend time with me, he sometimes would rather be doing something on his own. We started getting frustrated because neither of us were feeling satisfied. However, when we realized that we needed to put each other first, I started letting Matthew do his own thing more often, and Matthew started offering to do things together more often. Amazingly, we're both happy. There are so many times when this principle applies. It is incredible how making someone happy makes you happy.

I have also been realizing how much our love for each other should be, and is, a reflection of God's love. I know marriage is supposed to show other people how God loves us, but it also shows me and Matthew. Last night as we were falling asleep, my mind had thoughts racing, and I was worrying a little bit. While curled up to Matthew, he smoothed my hair from my face, and rubbed my back. With that small action, my thoughts slowed. It reminded me that my husband loved me, and it also felt like God's own hands were calming me and telling me to sleep.

What is the truth?

One of the biggest changes that I've made recently is my understanding and approach to truth. I think that this started with my wondering about interpretation of the Bible. I realized that a lot of arguments the church has are about interpretations of this book. For example, some churches allow women to preach, and others believe this is out of the natural order of things. I think that the passage of scripture most widely referenced is a letter from Paul to the Corinthians where he forbids women from speaking in the church. From my understanding, some people believe that since it is in scripture, it is a universal truth that must be carried out today. The other side of the argument might say that this letter was written to a specific church in a day and age where women were not educated and therefore may have been spreading falsehood. Who's right?

Suddenly, I realized that I didn't know everything, and I never will. I grew up being told that the answers are in the Bible, and that's often true, but even if an issue is directly addressed, people can interpret things differently. Some interpretations are obviously self-seeking, but some seem to be equally sound in logic. In these cases, it seems clear that God is the only source of the ultimate answer. And, despite some peoples' claims, it is often very difficult to know who is speaking: God or self.

When you realize that you can't know everything about what's true, it suddenly becomes very important to decide what you can cling to as truth. For me, through my experiences, through others' experiences, and through historical records, I find it impossible to believe that there is no God. I find that I believe that Jesus did die and rise again to remove all the wrong that I've done. I do believe in God's Spirit in man. Now, I asked, what do I do as a result of this? What I came up with was that all that I was required to do was love. There are so many details involved with loving that I know that I was just vague. Truly, I think that a root question that is at the bottom of many arguments in the church is, "How DO we love?"

For me, throwing out the concern about needing to know the truth and have a position on every issue freed me. It has made me less judgmental, open to listening, and willing to think critically. I don't necessarily agree with people on everything, but I am better able to see why they think what they think. These people we disagree with are generally not as evil as we make them out to be. I think they are generally just approaching things differently but still trying to do right.

Mind you, I'm not saying it's not important to seek truth or to ask God. I think it is, and I think that if you believe something is wrong, you definitely shouldn't do it. However, I want to be open to realizing that I could be wrong in my beliefs based on incorrect interpretation or understanding, and so I shouldn't condemn others for behaving differently. I think that's why I should love people and then let God work with them like He works with me.

All in all, I think that this switch in attitude has made me more open and loving person. I also think it helps me to love more genuinely and feel less self-righteous. I'm hoping that by accepting that I might be wrong I will be better able to love and not less able to spread truth.