Not Peace, but Division

"Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? 
No, I tell you, but rather division."  Lk 12:51

This was a part of yesterday's gospel reading.  Just after I finished my post on atheism and anti-theism,  I went to mass and heard this reading.  It's funny how that happens at times, and then I find myself thinking that there really must be something for me to learn here that I'm just not quite getting.  

Most people like to think of Jesus as this very calm and peaceful man, who spoke softly and acted gently toward everyone at all times. I'm not so sure that is the accurate portrait of the man who came to bring division, or who turned over the tables in the temple, or who was known to scold his followers for their folly and misunderstandings.  People who are passionate in their mission tend to lead with a very fervent and energetic way, and they don't back down easily from whatever it is they are trying to do or the point they are trying to make. 

Imagine Jesus, the man who was going to be put to death for the sins of the world, sitting around with his followers calmly telling them that the fate of the world rests on their shoulders, and, if they feel so inclined, they need to go out to the world and let everyone know.  With a message of that level of importance, I'm pretty sure it wasn't just a calm and quiet day.  Proclaiming that He came to set the earth on fire and to bring division was most likely not stated in a soothing monotone voice, either. So, this peaceful and loving messiah has now said that He came to set the earth on fire and bring division, not peace.  Look around!

I would have to say, at this point, He certainly achieved His goal! There is peace nowhere. In Egypt, we have Islamists torching Christian organizations and killing Christians, as well as other people, in large numbers.  In China, to openly practice a true Christianity can bring death to the one practicing as well as a great threat to their families.  In many Arab countries, to convert from Islam to Christianity means death, or, at the very least, banishment and compete detachment from family and friends. Up until now in America, Christians have had it pretty good. Compared to most places, we still do, but we are also slipping into a very shaky territory when it comes to openly and truly living out our faith. 

The Freedom From Religion groups are getting larger and larger and building up more and more steam, and their goal is to completely secularize everything audible and visible to the majority.  They are offended by everything religious, and they will stop at nothing to ensure that not even the most significant aspects of history can be displayed if they have something to do with a religion.  http://dispatchpolitics.dispatch.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/2013/07/07-17-13-freedom-from-religion.html
There even had to be a court case about the labeling of food in a grocery store http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/tag/usa-new-york-kosher-jewish-freedom-religion-food-kashrut/

Both of the above examples have to do with Judaism, not Christianity, but the point is that God's people are always being told that we can't be pushing ourselves out into the public eye. As in this example http://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/15083-ffrf-victory-cross-removed-from-steubenville-logo where the city had to change its logo to NOT include the University that has been there for years and years and aided in the prosperity of the city. It's ok for the people and businesses of the city to profit from the Christians being there, but don't even think about including it on the city's symbol! 

So, to make a long story short, there is division, and a lot of it, and it will continue. As time goes on, Jews, Christians, and any other religion that likes to make itself public will be sqashed by the fact that there are people who are made so incredibly uncomfortable by the thought of faith and morals that they can't even stand the sight of a basic symbol. Now, I know I'm going to get blasted by that last statement, so just let me say that I know anti-relgious people have morals, but let's stop playing that game. It is obvious that there is a big difference between Christian morals and secularist morals. One is grounded in absolutes, and the other in relativism. Hence the fact that there is more...DIVISION. 

I don't think all non religious people are bad, or that their morals are "loose". There are non-religious families who have very conservative morals (especially once they have children), and they are good people! I'm not bashing anyone or their moral grounding, but I am pointing out that there are differences, often big ones, that do cause issues and arguments. The problem is, we can only agree to disagree for so long before, inevitably, we will be faced with an issue that we can't avoid debating or discussing. Just remember to always be loving, no matter what! Division will happen, but hatred doesn't have to. 

Atheist or Anti-theist

I've been doing some reading and thinking about atheist viewpoints, and I've come to realize that there are really two distinct camps that are quite different in both their views and their approach. Actually, if you look closely, there are more than two; however, only two primary distinctions that really stand out to be of major importance.

The first is the typical view that there is no God. These atheists simply accept the belief that there is no God, and that everything can be explained through science and reason without the "need" for a Creator or an overarching religious belief system. They have no hidden agenda, and they simply seek to live a good life. Most people I've personally known that are in this camp are good people, who truly are compassionate and seek to live good lives. Their morality may be different, but they accept that it's okay for people to have a difference of opinion.

Then there are the others: they claim to be atheists, but what they really are is anti-theist. I hate to say it, but these are the people that make me want to react violently. These are the people who spread hate and hurt all over the place, and set out to make anyone who has a belief in God look like a band of fools and bigots. They are angry, insensitive, arrogant, and down right loathsome. As a Christian, I have to love these people, but I really don't like them at all. Not only do they think they are so much better than anyone stupid enough to believe in God, but it is also literally impossible to attempt any type of rational discussion with an anti-theist. They claim to be intelligent and only believe in reason and what is tangible, yet they do nothing but argue emotionally and irrationally without any ability to process or accept counter information of any type. Their mind is made up, and by lack of god, they are going to be stubborn as hell for all eternity.

What I have found largely in common in the two groups, is that both are primarily (and I know this doesn't apply to every single one, but what I found in many articles/blogs) driven to their lack of faith by some tragedy or loss. They are lead to their atheism by questions that they feel are answered inadequately, such as "Why would a loving God allow __________ to suffer and die in such a horrible way", or "How could God sit back and watch the world rip itself apart?"
This is very understandable in the sense that those types of issues are difficult to process, and it seems that no one ever really has an answer.
Others are guided into a lack of faith by other people they look up to, such as a college professor or an author. I used to think it was largely an issue of science, but I've found that isn't true.  There are huge numbers of believers involved in scientific fields of research and study.

So, what I've mostly learned from all of this, is that there are people who are atheists because they are seeking the truth, and there are those who are anti-theists because they hate the idea of anyone believing a different truth.  Either way, they are people who deserve the same love and compassion that Christ teaches us all to give, and we should always remember not to allow our own personal emotions to cloud the fact that we know we are children of God whose purpose is to show love and be a light in the darkness.

On Dragons

For the record, I love dragons. I love the idea of something so large, beautiful, and powerful flying through the sky and hunting its prey. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with the mythical stories and fantasy fiction of dragons. When Christopher Paolini released Eragon, I was so happy to have a new series devoted completely to dragon lore. To say I devoured the books would be an understatement. Waiting between installments for the release of the next in the series was borderline torturous.

I bring up the subject of dragons, because there are those who feel that all dragons are representations of evil characters, or that they are among the monsters of fantastical mythology, and I want to set the record straight. Also, considering the quote that I have placed on my Facebook page as the cover photo, I feel that I need to explain what that actually means to me and why I chose a quote that appears to say I want to kill dragons. For those of you who have not visited the FB page, the quote is this: "Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

Discussing dragons can be somewhat controversial in certain circles; however, I feel that you can't assume that those who are "into" dragons are automatically included in some sort of gothic circle. There are those, like myself, who love dragons in the same way that I love unicorns; primarily as a magical other-worldly creature spawned from something in the past that led people to tell tales and create legends of times and places we can only see in our wildest imagination or deepest dreams.

As I said, not all dragons are evil. They are creatures that can be either good or evil. Take, for example, the dragons in The Inheritance Cycle. The nature of the dragon depended on the character of the rider he was bound to. In these stories, the dragons and humans are extensions of each other. They end up, just as men always have, fighting each other in a gripping battle of good and evil. In most fantasy stories involving dragons, they are bound somehow to a human companion or they are a type of extension of a person. Consider Maleficent: the beautiful creepy evil witch villain from Disney's Sleeping Beauty. She allows herself to transform into a fearsome dragon in order to try to prevent Prince Phillip from breaking her spell and rescuing the princess, but the dragon is only evil because Maleficent is evil.

Often, Satan in the garden is represented as a dragon. There is even a popular Christian children's book called The Dragon and the Garden in which the "serpent" is portrayed and illustrated as a dragon. So, we have good and we have evil in all things from the beginning of time.

When I chose Chesterton's quote, it wasn't to say I think all dragons need to be defeated. Using a dragon as a metaphorical powerful enemy makes perfect sense, though. Look at what dragons are capable of compared to humans! How terrifying would it be to have a dragon that was with the enemy forces and you were faced with the task of defending yourself and defeating the enemy to achieve a good end? Knowing that we can defeat a powerful enemy is the key to winning any war. What Chesterton is referring to is the dragon of evil, of tyranny, of heresy, of modernism in society.  I chose the quote, because we are at war every day with powerful enemies, and it is important to know that not only do powerful creatures exist, but that they can be beaten.

"Never grow up, never grow up, never grow up...Not me..."

The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. 
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”  Matt 18:1-5,10,12-14

There is so much said here in this short passage about who we should be and how we should  live our lives. Every time I hear or read this passage, something new stands out that just didn't seem to be there before, and, today, I think I had one of the biggest "aha" moments of all.
I have often heard people say, and I never really disagreed, that Jesus means for us to have faith like a child: unquestioning, blind, innocent faith.  I guess there is something true in that statement, but as I read the passage today, something completely different came to mind. 
How many children do you know that don't question? Seriously, think about it (especially those of you who are parents of younger children, or who work with younger children). I have never met a child who didn't question just about everything. 
From the time they can speak at all, they are questioning. I remember my daughter as a toddler going around to everything, pointing, and asking "What's this?"  About a year later the "why?" stage began. She's twelve now, and she still questions EVERYTHING. 

What does it mean, then, to be like a child in order to be greatest in the kingdom? Question everything, but be humble in your search and acceptance of knowledge. One thing about children, is that the world is full of wonder and awe. Each day is a brand new experience for them. They are not jaded by the world, and they haven't yet built walls to guard themselves. They do question, but they also trust the answers we give them. They look to those around them for safety and security, and they love immediately and unconditionally. Children want to be a part of things, and they are such joyful helpers. We should be more like them in our acceptance and love of others and in our desire to help, but also in our willingness to follow. 

One thing that is so precious about a child, is that they have no preconceived notions. Put a toddler on a playground with ten other toddlers, and it doesn't even matter if they speak the same language! They will find a way to communicate, and they will play together. There are no racial or social boundaries with children. They demonstrate perfectly the fact that we are created to love and live together in peace. 

The second part of this passage gets me every time.  How many of us have been that one lost sheep who strayed from the rest? Distracted by things of the world, or drawn away by something more appealing in that moment, we walk away and eventually become so engrossed with whatever it is that we can't find our own way home.  When that happens, we are always searched out and given the opportunity to come back.  

Love

I am sitting here thinking of all of the things I want to say this morning, and the thing that keeps poking at me the most is the conversation I had with my daughter last night before bed. 
Out of nowhere, she asked me, "Didn't Jesus say to love your neighbor as yourself?"
We talked about that, and about how everyone is our neighbor, not just the people we pick and choose. We discussed how loving and showing love doesn't mean liking, or even accepting everything about a person, but that we still are to love. 
We have all been in that place at one point or another where we love someone, but we really struggle with accepting things about them. Sometimes it's not big stuff, just attitude or how they raise their kids, but other times it's pretty big. Maybe they are gay and living with a partner, or maybe they have had an abortion, or maybe they have a drastically different faith path than you. How do we continue to show love to people who see things so incredibly morally and spiritually different? You see, Christians aren't told to respect their neighbor, they are called to LOVE their neighbor. There is a big difference. 

Respect: to hold in esteem or honor: I cannot respect a cheat.

to show regard or consideration for: to respect someone's rights.

to refrain from intruding upon or interfering with: to respect a person's privacy.

to relate or have reference to.   

None of those things means that we love someone. We can respect without love, and we can love without respect. 

I can love you, but that doesn't mean that if I feel strongly against something you are going to do that I will respect you and stay quiet. I will speak out, because I love you. I will interfere in the sense that my love for you and my belief in what I stand for obligates me to speak out. Does that mean I'm going to hound you about it for all of eternity? No, but it does mean I will continue to stand on my beliefs and love you in spite of yours. 

The problem that arises is that "friendships" typically don't withstand the pressure very well. It's sad, but true. Which is why most people, hiding behind the "respect"factor, just stay quiet and go along and don't say anything about how they really feel or believe in regards to a situation or a lifestyle. But that isn't love, is it? Love obligates us to do the right thing even if the person we are standing up to doesn't share our beliefs. It obligates us to be who we are, otherwise we are hypocrites and liars. So many people claim to leave Christianity or churches because of hypocrisy. This is a BIG part of that. You say you believe something, you profess a faith, but you don't live it. Will people get angry with you at times, and will you lose friends? Yes, but it won't be because of what you said, it will be because you didn't agree. Most people just can't handle maintaining relationships with people who don't agree with their fundamental life choices. 

It is unfortunate, really. Christians who live the commandment of love are the most hated people on the planet. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Matt 22:37-39.  Think of the implications of that. Love is not relativistic like our society, but it is absolute. I can't say "I love you, but go on and destroy yourself, because I respect you I'll stand aside." I have to say, "because I love you, I have to try to stand in front of this train that is barreling down the tracks toward you and protect you from the eminent destruction."  If you choose to throw me off the tracks and die, because of your determination to destroy yourself , at least I did what I knew was right in standing up for what I believed. I loved you to the point of being willing to sacrifice myself. 

We are hated, because we go against the flow.  That's ok, we may swimming against the current, but when it's all said and done, we will be stronger for it. 

To Burn, or Not to Burn...

Recently, I began rereading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This is one among a few of my very favorite books. I haven't read it in years, and since the last time I did read it, I've also read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. While reading Fahrenheit 451, all of these books have popped into my mind in one way or another, until I began seeing a striking common thread. Not only did it begin to make me think, but it also began to make me stop and look around a bit at the reality of what we are becoming in this society.

I will try not to throw in too many spoilers, because I hope that, if you haven't already read these books, you will take the time to thoughtfully read and enjoy each of the books I am using for reference.

If you haven't read them, and maybe even if you have, you are wondering what common thread I've found. I'll tell you. They all deal with societies that, for the sake of keeping everyone equal and "happy", have completely thrown aside humanity's finest qualities. The Hunger Games stands aside a bit in the fact that not everyone was included in the fabricated "happiness", but there were those who were deemed "worthy" of being happy enough to sacrifice the good of others in order to achieve and maintain it.

As I'm thinking about this commonality, as I said, I've been putting some thought into our society. It's true that every generation has probably looked to the past generations and thought that, in some way, it was a happier and simpler time in previous years. I believe that in a lot of ways that is true. Personally, I look at the generation of my grandparents, the WWII generation, and think that they really had something special. They had a work ethic, a solid set of morals, and a classiness about them that is almost non existent today. I look back to my own parents' childhood and teenage years thinking how different it was from what our kids are in today. It seems that our education system is failing, our morals have completely gone out of whack, our government is, well, I'm not even sure how to finish that statement.

Why? What is changing? Oh, yes, the need for everyone to be equally "happy" has begun to set in. How? I'm not sure where it started. Maybe it's been a slippery slope all along the modern times, and maybe it's more recent, but, somewhere along the line, we have given up our right to be who we are, and all for the sake of not stepping on the toes of those who are not like us. Who are we, and who are those not like us? Take your pick. White, black, Christian, atheist, Pagan, Jew, Muslim, southern, northern, homosexual, heterosexual, American, etc, etc, etc.

To quote one of my favorite movies of all time (The Incredibles) "When everyone is special, no one will be."
Yeah, I said it. It's okay to be special. It's okay for your kid to win a trophy if mine doesn't. It's okay for my child to be considered talented at piano and your child is only mediocre. It's okay for businesses to say Merry Christmas during the Christmas season, because there would be no freaking December 25th gift giving, Santa Claus coming, stocking hanging, holiday if it weren't for Christmas. If you don't like Jesus, don't celebrate Christmas. I don't see a whole bunch of atheists celebrating Hanukkah, and rightfully so!

What I'm trying to get at with all of this rambling is this. We have slipped so far into a state of moral relativism, modernism, political correctness, whatever you want to call it, that eventually everything will be grey, like The Giver's society. We will all be "medicated" to keep us happy as in The Brave New World. Our government will set up a facade of wealth and happiness while all the while riding on the backs of its own people as slaves as in The Hunger Games. And all of this will be achieved by eliminating our ability to think for ourselves or to access true knowledge as in Fahrenheit 451. We are so close to allowing government regulation to rule over our lives to the point of not being capable of the simplest freedom. The freedom to be human. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: not fabricated happiness, but true happiness. The happiness that comes from being the person God made us to be with the moral and ethical ability to stand up for what is truth, beauty, and goodness.

What Does Bursting the Bubble Mean?

Three years ago, I started blog called The Bubble.  It was inspired by my own faith journey and those around me. It was named The Bubble at the suggestion of a friend of mine. Our joke was that we, as a little close knit faith group, were sort of safe and comfortable in our own "bubble" and everyone outside be damned. I was okay with that, until I realized that it was actually the exact opposite of what my faith was actually leading me to see and to believe.

Let me start my explanation of Bursting the Bubble with a couple of questions. Have you ever believed in something so strongly that you were willing to die for that belief? I'm talking hard core no questions asked conviction. Did you keep it to yourself, or were you willing to talk to anyone who would listen? That's what I'm intending to do with this blog. You see, if you really believe in something, you don't only talk to the people who share your beliefs, you talk to anyone who will listen. Why? Because you really believe that you have the truth, and if you really believe you have the truth, it isn't okay that other people don't know that truth.

So, I'm bursting the bubble. I'm jumping outside of the circle of comfort that is comprised of people who only believe what I believe, and I'm inviting you to do the same.