My Two Cents

Here goes. I'll keep this relatively brief. Let's begin with a quote I think everyone needs to consider right now: 

"If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:31-32).

If Jesus is right and the truth will make us free, then here are some things to consider. First of all it means that if we go the other direction and wander into deception we place ourselves in prison. Look around us. What do you see in the heavily orchestrated media coverage of this day and age? Rage. Anger. Fury. Fear. Panic. Pain. Violence. The list goes on. What is the source of all of this darkness? Everyone's up in arms and flocking to various banners in an effort to fix the problem. But here's the thing that not nearly enough people ever seem to understand.

The ultimate source of our woes is NOT even on this list: Trump, Hillary, sexism, racism, healthcare, war, immigration, contraception, abortion, the death penalty, education reform, poverty (etc. etc. etc.) Does that shock you? Well then... Would you like to know the secret? Would you like to know what the greatest and most central problem is?

The fundamental problem of human existence is SIN, and at its core, sin is always idolatry. Plain and simple, our problem is that every single one of us has made choice after choice in our individual lives to freely reject truth and embrace deception. We have cast eternal joy to the side in favor of fleeting, passing pleasures.

God is not some benevolent magical genie in the sky who grants wishes. "God" means the ultimate grounding of all being, or more precisely, the pure act of "To Be" itself. God is ultimate reality. That Reality is not something, but a Trinity of SomeONES - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is Love. He is not merely loving, but He is love itself. Love is self-gift, not just emotion or feeling, and love cannot exist apart from relationship. In other words, God's very essence is the perfect and total gift of self between the Three Persons of the Trinity. This is the ultimate truth that Jesus is getting at. This is the truth that shapes all of reality. When we reject that and seek ourselves, our own interests and desires over the needs of others and the demands of love, we lock ourselves in the prison we find ourselves in today.

If God exists, then the greatest requirement of Justice is to render Him His due - to place him on the throne of your heart. If anything else sits in that throne (yourself, sex, money, success, power, political activism, fame, self-assertion, being right, etc.) you cannot possibly be a fulfilled, complete, happy human person. You will never be able to comprehend your own purpose because you have lost the ability to understand what the purpose of human life is in the first place.

Are you upset with the world as it is right now? Good. I agree with you. That doesn't remotely mean we'll necessarily agree about every particular issue. But with all my heart I beg you, my brothers and sisters, stop taking the bait. Stop drinking the poison handed to you by the Devil. I am not your enemy. You are not my enemy. Our enemy is our own sinfulness. Peace, joy, unity, solidarity will never ultimately come from marches, demonstrations, hateful protest posters, self-righteous Facebook posts or vain Tweets. It will only come from virtue, wisdom, and genuine love. Start there. Start today. Call it my dare. I dare you to conquer yourself before you go out into the world trying to conquer everyone you don't agree with.