Hello Friends,

Today I want to talk about truth, fact, and our obsession to always be right.  The sad thing is…we ALL know what is going on…or at least we think we do!  At one point in my life I was an extremely religious person. I held specific theological and dogmatic views about people, reality, and God. I put myself and God in a box and dwelt only there while simultaneously trying to convince  others that they needed to join me.  To this day I am still learning and growing and trying to keep my mind open to what God has to say and not of what man tries to convince me. However, sometimes I am still caught in debates about religion, politics, theories, and historical “facts.”  These debates get me nowhere and usually leave a bad taste in my mouth. I guess sometimes I am a glutton for punishment.  I know better than to argue(“debate”) with people when I know it’s not going to end well. We all have this drive to convince others we are right and that we know what we are talking about. We debate a laundry list of “facts” calling them truth. We are involved in multiple platforms of social media where we argue with each other endlessly. However, I have come to see this as very counterproductive and very unwise when trying to love people. A wise person will listen, think, and act accordingly. In my experience the truly wise among us do not offer outright advice or direction about aspects of life they know little about. If they do have knowledge of a particular subject they will usually try to lead us there in love and very subtly. I try my best to look to God for advice when trying to solve issues, that is when I am not blinded by my own pride and ignorance. Usually when I think I have a situation or problem figured out myself, I learn that I was completely off. It takes God to step in and say, “OK, now lets think about it this way or do this differently.” However, every “blue moon” I find myself debating away and trying to convince people of “facts” that I don’t even really believe myself. We all tend to do this for some reason. Today I caught myself debating a coworker about government, religion, and general ideas regarding people and their nature. My coworker and I have completely different belief systems and that did not play out well when I decided to ask a few questions. I truly respect this person and consider them very wise in may ways. My coworker made a few statements that I  considered to be ludicrous. I usually try my best to ignore these comments and move on about my life, but today I just felt like I had to say something. I tried to present  different views and ask questions regarding the authenticity of these “facts.” Well that was the wrong thing to do! By the end of the conversation I had been “put on trial.” My coworker started questioning the quality of  my college education, my “limited” life experience, and my “generational bias” because I tried to question some of their statements. I would say I held my own, but that provided me little to no consolation when it had ended. We left the discussion in a civilized manner, but I became disheartened. I am not the kind person that wants to argue another’s beliefs to the point of a ugly debate. I truly have nothing to prove! I just wanted this person think outside of their box. I  have been that person at one point, but not now. However, sometimes I  still fall in that regard simply by questioning and trying to grow. I have come to realize that people have very strong beliefs about specific issues that they are not willing to let go of easily! I have also realized that it is not my job to change them!  That is OK! We are here to love people not to convince them of our “truths.” If we indeed have something truly valuable to offer another person, I believe that God will take advantage and work through us. Anything that keeps me from loving my neighbor does not belong in my life. We must all learn to approach these situations in our lives with love, understanding, and patience. We are never going to convince people with a barrage of facts and theories than most of the time are continuously debated among scholars as it is. Father, I ask that we would enter these situations in our lives with humility, patience, and love. I pray that you work through us and provide genuine guidance in all these matters. Amen.

We must be aware of our own shortcomings and look to become better people with each passing day. Let us become less “knowledgeable” but continually grow in wisdom.

your brother,

Spencer

Hello dear friends,

I have been pondering a few aspects of life and I want to elaborate on my thought process. What is life? What is important in this short physical existence? Well the fact is that many people have many different answers to those questions. Religion would tell you that the most important aspect of life is to follow its tenets and rules so that one may have eternal life with a deity. Humanists might tell you that you should live a life by which you do not harm others and do your best to uphold certain ethics. Governments would say that you need to be a productive citizen and probably quote you JFK. I think there is truth to be had in all of those answers, but people tend to take one or the other to the extreme. I think the hardest for me to grasp is that a person is created to do a “job.” Please don’t misunderstand me, I think that all people have purpose, but that is completely different from many “careers” and work choices that people choose to  endure. Let me paint you a picture of my meaning. You are born in America, you go to school for the first quarter of your life and “learn” how to be an “adult” and do a “job.” You then work said job for 30-40 years if you are lucky and try your best not to get too sick during that time. You then retire and relax/travel for maybe 5-10 years while still trying to “stay afloat” with your health. You then die and your children continue the process. Now if this reality has not scared you yet, let us look at the specifics. In my experience most people that have depression, mental illness, and other deficiencies can trace their problems to their childhood. We hear about “daddy issues” or “mommy issues” like it is a common and accepted reality. Why does it have to be this way? Why not try to break this crazy self-destructive pattern? However, I am getting ahead of myself, let me bring it back a little. We go to “school” where we learn to be “good citizens.” We have trouble all through school with bullying, lack of interest, social anxiety, and outright rebellion in many cases. During this time our parents are working 24/7  and still dealing with the problems they faced as children while also trying to raise us. Now, let us pause here for a second. Many parents are so busy with their work that they tend to put their children on the back burner, if in fact they are on the burner at all. This tends to cause all sorts of problems in the family that linger throughout life. This is insane!!!!! Why on earth would we sacrifice what is most important to us for work and money? Well that is easy, we do it because in many cases our family is not or most valuable treasure. Now let me be clear, I understand that sometimes people must take jobs because they need to feed/clothe their family. However, we all should be working towards our passions in life instead of worrying about a lifestyle or the endless grind of greed. You might be stuck in a certain job for a few years, but that is fine if you work towards your real goals. However, nothing should come in the way of your family. Yeshua the Christ teaches us that we should love our neighbor as ourselves and love God with all we have. These two things would solve all the problems in existence if they were truly put in practice. The truth is all life is about, or should be about, relationship and loving others. We have relationships with the earth, the animals, our communities, and our families. Unfortunately, in most cases these relationships are not healthy. I truly believe that the causes of all of our “sin” and grief is due to our lack of true relationship. One major problem is that people do not know how to truly love! We as a people have forgotten what love means. I think there is only one antidote for this great affliction. I believe the first step is to develop a relationship with God. I know that sounds very cliche, but let’s think about it. If we cannot have a descent relationship with our creator and one who loves us above all others, how can we ever hope to improve our quality of life or the others around us? Once we have established a relationship with God, we then strive to recover from our sickness with each and every act that follows. We truly need to apply love to our every decision and thought process. Is this a loving action? Is that a loving thing to say?  If we apply love to every aspect of our lives we will win in the end! We should apply it to work, passion, creativity, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and all of our relationships. We all must strive to follow the teachings of Yeshua if we are to ever recover from our sickness. There is so much more I feel like I could say, but I will leave this here for now. It is a continuous journey, but we must be willing to take the first step and be vigilant.

your brother,

Spencer

 

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