Just Something to Ponder

Why should the man who inherits the capacity to learn to steer rockets through space earn a higher income than the man who is born with the capacity to drive buses? Are justice and equity any better served when rewards are distributed according to inherited genes rather than inherited dollars?

Are Todays Better than Yesterdays?

In an era when we are obsessed with technology and instant gratification, are we setting ourselves up for greater disappointment? Our advancement and innovative progress has been the topic of discussion before. It can be debated both ways...that this progress is both a gift and a detriment to our society.

I hear my parents and grandparents complain all the time about how crazy kids are these days and how nobody has morals anymore. I tell people that I would have loved to grow up and live in the 1950's or 60's because times were better, easier, simpler. All of this I believe to be true; it was simpler. However, the more I think about it, the more I realize they weren't any different at all. Just like today, they made mistakes; they disappointed people they loved and hurt those they didn't.

It only seems that today is worse than yesterday because all our misgivings are out there in the open for everyone to see. It is highly likely that Presidents have been cheating on their wives since the days of Washington and Martha. It just happens that our increased dependency on media, and therefore scandal, exposed Bill Clinton. The ability to be satisfied through one partner for an entire lifetime was just as difficult one hundred years ago as it is today. Unfortunately, the web of connections through Facebook, Twitter, and text messages makes it almost impossible for your wife to hide her passionate connection with someone else. Your boss knows you had an interview last week with your firm's biggest competition. Your mother knows you lied to her about sneaking out after your curfew. It is easier to find the betrayal and unfaithfulness, discovering your fear is more than misplaced intuition.

Over the centuries, we haven't devolved. We're still as human as we ever were. The only difference is that people now know the truth. Do think this is better or worse? I believe ignorance IS bliss. A century ago, we may have been living falsehoods and facades, but people were happy.

Romans 15:7

Before church on Sunday I engaged in a brief discussion with a woman whom I hadn't met previously. Our conversation was very ordinary. I asked all the usual questions, "Where are you from? What brought you here? Early service or late?" And She asked me all the usual questions, "How long have you been here? What are you studying? Where do you work?" When I responded, "I work in Governor O'Malley's Press Office," she grimaced and said, "Oh we want Ehrlich to win don't we?" (For those of you who do not live in Maryland, Ehrlich is O'Malley's Republican challenger.)

I said no and she peered at me and said so judgmentally, "Well your a conservative aren't you?" as if I wasn't, I somehow didn't belong in the church, or any house of God for that matter. She looked at me as if I was helping the enemy. In this case--in this particular house of God--the enemy simply wasn't a man with opposing ideals or different solutions...he was the devil and depending on how I answered her question, I was his little minion of American destruction.

Usually I pride myself in my beliefs and strong stances on issues, but this lady looked at me with such disdain that it took a good amount of courage to tell her that no, I was in fact not a Conservative and yes, I was still sitting in what seemed apparently to be HER house of God.

She walked away without saying anything more to me. She never got the opportunity to know that I'm conservative on several issues. She will never know that I also have worked for a Republican Governor in Utah. She will never know that I am working in politics not to accumulate power, but to distribute it to those that have none. I'm working in politics not to implement my rules and customs, but to find the solutions to our largest problems whether they come from a Republican or Democratic ideal.

We may be a predominately Christian society but that does not mean that we must force our customs onto those who don't believe in their sanctity. If our country was predominantly Jewish would it be alright to construct a law outlawing the consumption of Pork? If we were a predominantly Muslim country would we be forced to fast during Ramadan?

I am a Democratic Lutheran and as part of the Christian population of America, I wish I could say with confidence that we are an accepting majority. Until we can learn to accept our differences--Liberal or conservative, Baptist or Catholic, Man or Woman, Latino or Native American--we will never be able to harness the strength of our diversity, the strength that the forefathers foresaw in creating a free and accepting nation.

Romans 15:7 Accept One Another, then, just as Christ has accepted you...

Where's the Sun?

The other day I realized that I am a person who participates in the same game over and over again, no matter how many times I fail. Unfortunately, I doubt if I am the only person who does this. We are all caught in a pattern of some kind: dating the same men, transferring to one job to another only to find out you have the same responsibilities, giving that friend another chance only to end in the same betrayal, following a daily routine we could do with our eyes shut...basically, continually making the same mistakes.

Why is it so hard to break these patterns even when we recognize them? Are we trying to hold onto a piece of our past because we're afraid of the unknown? Do we refuse to change directions because we can't accept defeat?

We are taught to never give up. If we accept the fact that something is wrong--that we don't like our job, that we fall in love with the wrong men, that we choose the wrong friends, that we can't seem to do anything outside our comfort zone--I think deep down a part of us feels as if we are giving up on the element we have pursued for so long. Is there ever a time to give up? If so, when? How long do we struggle before we decide it's not worth the fight.

I feel like I am in a grove of trees and they keep growing thicker and thicker. I crawl through the branches and cut down the weeds in front of me. I feel like any second I'm going to reach the other side; any second, and I'll be out. But it's been so long since I've seen the sun. Is it time to turn around and find a different way through? I think to myself, "I've struggled this far; it can't all be a waste of time...this path has to go somewhere."

I think the hope of reaching the other side keeps us from turning around. Maybe sometimes, going forward requires accepting defeat and starting over.