Hindsight is 2020

 Last year at this time, many of us were setting goals for our aspirations and dreams for the new year of 2020 that seemed to promise perfection, just like vision, but even before the first month was over, with the tragedy of the death of Kobe Bryant and the eight others in the helicopter, some of us can reflect on the fact that 2020 was not perfect. It is within a year like this that we cannot just forget and throw it away. If we don’t take time to look back and learn from 2020, it will be a waste. It will just be a year of chaos instead of a reflection of incredible lessons to be learned. 

Here are some of the lessons I had to learn. 

Adaptability. First lesson for me was to learn to adapt working at home. I prided myself on rarely doing work at home. I graded in coffee shops, just so I could keep home for the place to relax. That had to change. I also had to write more at home. I had to make my desk accessible. I had to adapt to working hours and non-working hours. I had to adapt to teaching with different strategies to keep my students engaged. Then, I had to search for a job. 

Faith. I had to look for a new job while teaching because I was furloughed. In June, I found one. My mom had to have surgery in order to swallow again. Her surgery was in July and she can and does eat everything in sight. I had to trust God when life looked bleak and I thought I was alone. I had to trust God when there was no light at the end of the tunnel. 

Light. There is light in the darkness. My new job is incredible. It has brought back my passion for teaching and bringing equity into education. I have found inspiration in writing and may have found some solutions to getting published. Jesus has given me strength in times when I felt helpless. 

Strength. When the protests broke out, I understood that change needed to happen. I see the inequity in education and racism is settled in the roots. As I try to write the truth, I am also trying to create bridges for my current students to cross in order to have the same opportunities as all other students. They work hard. They just need the same tools so that their hard work is producible. 

Knowledge. I have had to keep learning. I have read books, watched documentaries and movies in order to understand lives that are different from mine. I have studied scientific processes in order to understand all the polarization and generalization that is occurring in our world and is prevalent on social media. 

Wisdom. For some people, social media became a platform in which they could communicate with others. For other people, it became a platform for them to tell everyone how right they are with their politics, knowledge of science, and pretty much answers for everything. In the past few weeks, I have had to use wisdom in how to respond to people. I’m still working on that one. 

Live. I have had to live each and every day with purpose and with fullness. There has been so much loss of life this year. Many of us have experienced grief on some level. Some people lost their means to living. We have to keep living. We have to create. We have to move forward when we see in hindsight that 2020 is a year full of lessons. May we all learn from the lessons that it has taught us. 

Visitors at Christmas

One of the recommendations for our world in 2020 is not to gather in large groups. Although people have disobeyed the orders, many people have adjusted and adapted their lives to not gather in large groups. As we enter this Christmas week, I was reminded of those who visited Jesus. Some of them broke rules. Maybe all of them did. When people come to Jesus, they may have a journey that is not a sweet Sunday School lesson, but one that changes their lives forever. 

The first visitors to witness baby Jesus were the shepherds. They were at work. They were taking care of their sheep at night in the middle of a field. Then, an angel came and spoke to them. At first, they were afraid, but the angel told them not to be afraid for he had good news for them. He told them about Jesus being born and that he was the Messiah, a Savior for all people. The angels told them that they would find the baby in Bethlehem and in a manger, so we know that this was right after Jesus was born. 

The angels did not tell the shepherds to go to Jesus. They just told them where they would find Him. The shepherds decided to go at that very moment. So, being the student, I have questions. What about their sheep? What about their job? Did they take the sheep with them? Did they quit their jobs? Did they just leave for a few hours and come back? Were they fired? We don’t know. We do know that they took a risk to go see Jesus, but the risk was worth it. After they saw Jesus they began glorifying and praising God and they told everyone what had happened with the angels and meeting Jesus. Mary treasured and pondered all of this in her heart. 

The shepherds were not the only visitors. Some Magi from the East came to see Jesus. There are many words to describe these men. For years, some scholars decided to call them kings, which was wrong. Others, called them wise men, which could be close to what they were. They were of the priestly caste of ancient Persia, or also known as sorcerers. Yes, sorcerers came to Jesus. They heard that the King of the Jews was born and that a star was placed in the sky for him. They were asking people about this new king. King Herod heard about their questions and became disturbed. So, he sent the Magi to find Jesus. 

Herod did not appreciate that a new king was born, so he actually sent the Magi to find Jesus so he could kill Him. God had other plans, and in His plans, he used the Magi also known as sorcerers. The Magi went to Bethlehem and the star they had seen went ahead of them and stopped at the house where Jesus was. This was not at the manger scene. Jesus was at a house, so Jesus was older and not a newborn. The Magi brought gifts to Jesus. They brought gold for a king. They brought frankincense, which was a healing oil and myrrh, which was also used for health benefits and a burying oil. The gifts were significant as Jesus would heal and conquer death, as the King Eternal. 

The best part of the Magi is that they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, as he wanted to kill Jesus, so they returned home another way. See, when people come to Jesus, he changes them and they return home in a different route because they are changed. Jesus changes lives. He can change any life. Even as a baby he was changing lives. My friend said that Satan had a plan to use the Magi, but we can see that Satan’s plans were foiled. The Magi didn’t just visit Jesus; they worshipped Him when they came to Him, and they returned home using a different route obeying an angel in a dream over King Herod. They were changed. 

May we this Christmas season come to Jesus and leave the Christmas season changed. May we not just visit Jesus, but allow Him to enter into our lives and change us that we cannot return to our old ways, and that we are so overjoyed that we cannot contain ourselves from telling others about Him. May we have a Merry Christmas as we gather with Jesus and understand that with Jesus, we are never alone. 

 

The Sound of the Christmas Season

 Confession: I start listening to Christmas music way before Thanksgiving, and sometimes I listen to it all through February. To be fair, I have lots of instrumental Christmas music that helps me concentrate while I write, at least that’s the excuse I give. I’m not a fan of hymns, but I love the old-fashioned Christmas carols, no matter if they are updated or the old version. I think it’s because I only hear them once a year. Whatever it is, music elicits emotions that help us think, which helps us grow mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 

Music has always been a part of my life. I loved my music classes as a child in elementary. My mom taught me how to play the organ when I was young and I learned to read music. I played the clarinet in marching band. I took piano and voice lessons in college and even sang in a traveling ensemble.  I even took a music theory class and learned how to write music. I love music. It inspires me to create. It inspires me to dance. It inspires me to think beyond anything I have been taught and think with a new viewpoint, even in Christianity. 

The Bible tells us to sing and worship. “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the people, his marvelous deeds among the nations. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.” Psalm 96:14- (NIV) Worship gives glory to God and reminds us of the salvation that he has given us. 

Music is an art that brings many instruments and voices together as one. As harmonies come together a song is built through different sounds to create a beautiful song. Music embodies the idea that through many we become one. It resembles the concept of Romans 12 that many body parts come together to work and function as one whole body.  If we take out an instrument from a song, it can ruin the song, no matter how big or small the instrument is. Music is an art that works within a community. It inspires us to join in with the community and sing or play along with it. 

Music is an art that brings the words of poet to life. I am attracted to many songs because of their lyrics and the life that they bring. Poets bring the lyrics to life. There are so many Christmas songs that are old and new that tell the story of Jesus coming to earth and why he came. It is through the lyrics that we can all discover the beauty that the child whose birth we celebrate brought into the world. 

Music is an art that can be shared to all people. It is a medium that can transcend languages and styles. It can bring people together and join in with the festivity without understanding the written language but can feel the joy in the sounds of music. 

This Christmas season, may we all take time to listen to the music as an art that proclaims the coming of a Savior without the pomp and circumstance, but with the humility of a baby born in a barn in a land not his own. May the music of this season teach us more about who this baby is and why he had to come. May we all have joy and peace with our silent nights.  

Why? Why Are We Afraid of Questions?

 

I ask questions. I ask a lot of questions, and it infuriates people and gets me in trouble. As a teacher, I have to answer a lot of questions because in education we say there are no stupid questions except the ones not asked. So, not only do I answer questions, but I continue to ask them. Asking questions keeps me educated and informed. So, this may make people angry, but I have questions that I want answers to, but I’ll settle for trying to understand why these questions make people angry. 

First, many people desperately want to believe in something or someone higher than themselves, so they search everywhere. When they find it in science, politics, or religion, they take in all the information without asking any questions. Then, when people begin to ask them questions, they get angry because not only do they not have the answers, but they are frustrated that someone does not share their same belief, or that they have had those questions and others have become angry with them. 

When we encounter people, who are frustrated when we ask questions, we must remember that they are the ones struggling with the issue, not us. It’s time to ask the right questions and ask how they are doing. It’s time we begin to ask the right questions to the right people, and begin to find answers to our questions and not just ask questions to make people angry. 

Second, many people ask questions to prove their point. We need to ask questions to learn and understand other people and their beliefs, not just to prove ourselves right. If we need to prove what we belief is right, then we may need to reexamine what we believe and search for our own answers. The religious leaders asked Jesus questions to trap, him so they could prove that they were right and to justify their killing of Jesus. Jesus is smarter than our puny human brains and He knew what they were doing, so he would many times answer them with a question or he would make a statement, with or without words, that addressed the real issue of their questioning. Jesus could win any question situation because He has the answers. We just need to listen to Him and cast away the garbage that others have surrounded with His answers. 

There are many areas of my Christian faith that I have questioned, so I have turned to the Bible, commentaries, the original Greek and Hebrew Bibles, and other study helps to answer my questions. I have also looked into those who believe differently than me and discovered what they believe and why they believe it. When we search for the answers, we will find some of them. For some of my questions, it will take a lifetime of searching, and it is worth it because each search for my answers leads to a discovery of something new that strengthens my faith in Jesus. There are some questions that may never get answered, but that doesn’t mean everything is wrong. It just means I may need to be asking other questions. When I stop asking questions, I begin to doubt because I am not growing and searching for answers. 

The third reason why people get angry when we ask questions is because they don’t want to reveal that they are wrong or what they believe has holes or is incorrect. Nobody wants to look foolish in front of other people. When we ask questions on social media to prove people wrong and make them look foolish, it is exactly what we are doing. It’s not Christ-like and it’s not kind. I do know teachers that did not welcome questions from students. They do not want the students to know that there are things they don’t know, which is ridiculous because no one can know everything. It makes the students be more confident to ask more pressing questions when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and answer with honesty when we don’t know the answers, and when we don’t get angry when questions are asked. 

May we all find the answers for which we are searching. May we never stop asking questions to the issues to which we really want answers. May we always ask people how they are doing and mean it because it is within asking questions that we discover the answer to how people are doing. It is within asking questions that we discover that we don’t have to know everything and we can have questions in our faith and still have a strong belief in Jesus and God’s Word. It is through asking questions that we can discover how to love those who believe and think differently than us because with the questions we will find the answers. 

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Happy Thanksgiving ABC Style

 Every year in my teaching career I give my students the same challenge that I used in youth ministry. They are to list the things that they are thankful for using every letter of the alphabet. They can only list five names. It’s a challenge, but their creativity makes them realize that even in the darkest times, there is something for which we can be grateful.  

This year has been a challenge. For some of us, the challenge has been greater with physical complications, family members with physical complications, job losses, loss of life, forced to move, political unrest, racial unrest, pandemic, lockdowns, shutdowns, curfews, and other personal challenges that people have. Through all of the challenges there are things for which to be grateful. In fact, we can all think of at least twenty-six things. The following are my twenty-six items for Thanksgiving 2020. 

A-Adversity—Although no one likes adversity, we learn from it. The adversity this year has taught me many lessons that I will carry into the future. 

B—Books—If you know me, you knew this would be on the list somewhere. Books teach lessons and tell stories that take us places that create new worlds for us. 

C—Church—Never before have I understood the importance of meeting together on Sundays and throughout the week with my family in the church. We are far from perfect and we have a lot of work to do to represent the love Christ has for all people, but we can do it with meeting together and working together. (Mosaic has my heart.) 

D—Dreams—Dreams become goals and goals become reality when we take life step by step to reach them. I have been thankful for my dreams that 2020 has created. 

E—Education—I am grateful that I had an integrated education with excellent teachers of all races and religions and students of the same. Education opened doors for me that led into opportunities. 

F—Friends—This year has reminded me to take no friendship for granted and to make the time to spend in person with my friends. It has also given me encouragement to make more friends. It’s healthy for all of us.  

G—Grace—We are saved by grace and not works. This has been such a blessing to me this year when so many memes on social media telling me that I had to do something in order to be a Christian. Nothing we do will ever be enough for what Christ did for us on the cross. 

H—Health—This pandemic has reminded me how important it is to remain healthy. I am grateful that I have been healthy this year. Many of us can be grateful for the health that we have. 

I—Internet—It may sound silly, but the Internet has kept me connected with humans outside of my family. There may be negative effects of this invention, but it keeps us connected in a pandemic which is valuable to our health. 

J—Jesus—He loves us so much that He died on the cross for all of us, even for those that reject Him. There is nothing I can do to earn his love. All I can do is accept his love and grace and love him back with my love for others every day. 

K—Kinfolk-- This year I remembered the importance of a family working together for a common cause to heal one family member. Family may not ever be perfect, but family shapes us into who we are. We get to choose to bring righteousness or evil to it. 

L—Love—Many people misuse this word, myself included, but it’s not an emotion but an action. Throughout 2020, we have all been challenged to love people who think and believe differently than us. Love. It’s what makes the world go around.

M—Music—As I write, I listen to music. Music creates a space of peace and reflection. I have a love for all different styles and genres of music and during this pandemic, I have been able to have more time to listen and enjoy the sounds that express our feelings and thoughts. Music heals an aching soul. 

N—Netflix—I am late to the game. I refused to get Netflix because I knew it would take time from me as the shows all sounded so addictive and I’m already a television junkie, but then, Cobra Kai entered Netflix. I caved and got a Netflix account. Beyond that amazing show Cobra Kai, I have explored documentaries and other series that have been created and take me to another world during this pandemic and political unrest. While everyone was arguing over who won the election, I want to know who killed who on the series I am watching. 

O—Opportunities—There are so many opportunities that are out there. I have discovered I just have to start taking advantage of the opportunities that are handed to me or within in my reach. During this time to stay at home, I have become more aware of the opportunities that are offered to me. 

P—Peace—It sounds like an oxymoron, but peace is there within our reach when we realize it’s not about being calm, but about remaining faithful and focusing on our goals when there is chaos all around us. It’s the peace Jesus gives us. 

Q—Quiet times. I take walks to have times of absolute quiet. It’s difficult to find in the city, but I have found two places that are gems. In those quiet moments, I have prayed, reflected, and discovered answers to my questions. 

R—Risks—The only way to accomplish any goal is to take risks. I have to constantly remember that I have only become better when I have taken risks. i am grateful for every risk that I have taken, whether I have succeeded or failed. I have learned from every single one.  

S—Self-Awareness—In the past few years, I have been able to reflect on who I am with my flaws and strengths and it has guided me in my teaching and writing. Knowing who God created us to be is powerful. 

T—Teaching—I have discovered the importance and love for teaching again as I am in a place with love and support for all the shareholders. We can all be teachers and learners. 

U—Understanding—I am grateful for all of those who are understanding of me, especially Jesus. 

V—Victory—Along with victory in life, Los Angeles has experienced some victory in the form of sports with the Lakers and Dodgers. They brought bright moments in a world of darkness. 

W—Writing—Through writing my voice can speak. My prayer is that more people will be able to hear my voice. 

X—X-Factor—We all have been in this pandemic that will have a significant outcome. I’m thankful for those of us who have realized that it is us as individuals that will have the significant outcome with our impact on the world. 

Y—Young People—I am grateful for every student that I have ever had the privilege to teach or lead. They have taught me more than I have taught them. 

Z—Zany Ideas—God has given us all ideas. It’s what we do with them that will make a difference. I am grateful for all the zany ideas I have had this year, especially while searching for jobs. 

May I challenge all of us to find at least twenty-six things for which to be grateful. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Being Right or Being Kind

 The meme drops on social media. The person who drops it on their social media post drops it as if they dropped the mic at the end of their speech, but the whole speech is not there, and in its remnants, lie there creating divisiveness. It’s not the memes that are wrong, but the intent that lies behind them. 

In a special issue of Scientific American about truth vs. lies, it addresses the issue of memes and the meanness that they contribute to the lies on social media. During the pandemic, I have been able to be on social media more often than before. It’s been both helpful and hurtful. I have contributed to both the help and the hurt. It’s a struggle that we have had since the beginning of time. Do we desire to be right or to be kind? 

When we communicate online, we are able to say anything and not get slapped in the face. (Although, my high school students have slapped people in the face for what they posted online.) It’s the hiding behind our computers that has damaged relationships. It feels safe to be able to drop a meme or make a statement that reveals that our thoughts and beliefs are right, but they are rarely kind. Do we ever stop to think that maybe people are struggling in life beyond the pandemic, election, or whatever else is occurring in the world?   

Although the meme or statement is right or correct, the way in which it is stated is not done with kindness. It’s as if we see a friend in public, walk up to them, make the statement, turn around and leave them wondering what that was all about. We don’t even stop to ask how they are doing. We just have to be right. We have to justify our beliefs, which makes me wonder that if we have to justify them maybe they are not as right as we thought, including our Christian beliefs that are stated that cause people to hurt and walk away from their faith in God. Jesus addressed the whole complex issue. He always spoke the truth with love and kindness. We need to emulate Him. 

We need to begin to think of others. I often respond on social media with unkind words. I regret them later, but in the moment, I fail.  I need to remember that people are dealing with many issues right now. As we approach the holiday season, we need to realize that people struggle in this season with loved ones that are lost, financial difficulties, and jobs that are lost or demanding and on the verge of being lost. 

There is something to be said about being right about an issue, topic, or belief. If we believe so strongly about something, we need to begin to do something about it. For years, I stood outside the walls of education screaming that there was inequity within those walls. I screamed that something needed to be done to fix the education system. People within the education system told me I needed to return to education. I think there were two reasons. One, I was annoying them, and they were kind. The second reason is better. They recognized my passion. They recognized that I could be a problem solver. I just had to put my money where my mouth was. Back then, it was my mouth. Today, it’s all online. 

It’s difficult to put aside our rightness to show kindness, but it is much needed. Before we enter the full season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, may we begin to think more of being kind and less of being right. People struggle with the holiday season, and this year, many will struggle for many reasons and many will be alone. Our words online will be more impactful. 

I have to continue to work on that which is wrong in order to make a right, but I cannot do it by being rude or mean, or make rude or mean comments on social media. Antagonizing people never works. Inspiring people always works. We all follow those that inspire us to be better. May we all begin to gather more followers by being inspiring. Jesus changed lives. He didn’t do it by being mean or rude. May His followers start the chain of being kind. 

Grey Matters

 I have been binge watching a show on Netflix that has deep character development. The heroes have good hearts, but they also have dark deceptive acts that they commit. The villains have committed some of the grossest crimes and yet, the writers have created stories that build goodness and kind acts that the villains also commit. It can be mind-boggling, but it can also be comforting to recognize that all of us stand with grey matters. 

As a writer, I have discovered that all of my characters need to have flaws and good characteristics. The apostle Paul struggled with this and revealed it in Romans 7:15. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” We all struggle with the same struggle Paul had. We all want to do and be good, but then we stumble and sin, and we commit the exact sin that we observe in others and despise that they have. 

It’s impossible to be perfect. Jesus is the only one who has walked this earth and was a perfect sinless human being. We can look to him for our help and our rock. It’s frustrating to connect with people who see the flaws and good in human built institutions. It just may be that we forget that humans have created and built these institutions and entities; therefore, they are flawed, and yet they contain good. 

I actually like the book Frankenstein. The reader is conflicted throughout the entire story of who the real monster is. The writer was conflicted in her own life with her flaws and goodness. She struggled her entire life to know true love and to be loved for who she was and not what others wanted her to be. Most readers can relate to her characters in this book as we all have the same struggles of wanting to be loved for who we are and not what others project on us. No one can live up to their social media persona. We all become disappointed in people. We all have disappointed people. The more we can empathize the better we will all become. 

Let us all give grace to everyone. To people that we know and love, may our grace and mercy extend the most and may we listen to their hurts and questions and begin to understand their viewpoints that are different than the ones we have. To people that we lead, may we give grace and room for them to be able to question us with our viewpoints, so that we can become better people and leaders. To those we only connect with on social media or mere acquaintances in life, may we extend grace and love to their viewpoints and instead of arguing and debating, we listen and move forward. 

As we all move forward, may we begin to see people for who they are. They have flaws. They have good acts. If we polarize people into good and evil, then we refuse to see our own good and evil. I have to continue to believe that Jesus is more powerful than any human being and He can step in and change lives. I’ve seen him do it many times. Jesus will always be better than any human being. May we lean on him and listen to his words more and more every day. 

Hope

 

2020 

2019

Hope in the Midst of Despair

A year ago, pitcher Clayton Kershaw sat alone on the bench in the dugout as he watched the Nationals celebrate their win in the playoff series over the Dodgers and Kershaw’s performance. A fan even threw his Kershaw jersey out on the field. Kershaw believed that he had a curse with the playoffs, but then the cheating scandal was revealed. The 2020 season had no spring training and they played fewer games because of Covid-19. Somehow, the Dodgers prevailed and Kershaw won both of his games in the World Series and the Dodgers are the 2020 World Series Champions. A stark difference from sitting alone on the bench. 

When the world saw the lonely player on the bench, that player saw the future to be brighter. He and his team never lost hope. In these times of despair, we cannot lose hope. Hope is all we have when it feels like the world is spinning out of control, and we must hold onto it and not lose it. 

When we are overwhelmed with the world shut down and our businesses our closing or on the brink of closing, we cannot lose hope that one day it will be brighter. When the Presidential election brings out the absolute worst in people, both the voters and all of the candidates, we cannot lose hope that we will always have the freedom to vote for whom we want to be our leaders. We cannot lose hope because then we lose in life and we do not grow or learn. Without hope, we remain in our past failures and tragedies. 

It’s easy to throw in the towel and give up on our dreams, our relationships, our values, our country, our jobs, and there is no reward for it but despair and a life time of wondering what if this or that would have occurred. It takes strength and courage to start the very next day with a winning attitude and believing that we can start over and make it better than it was in the time of despair.  

The media will lead you to despair because they want you to rely on them. Social media people will lead you to despair because they want you to be as miserable as they are. Your true friends and family will guide you into the hope that you need to have. Jesus will bring you to that hope to continue in life. 

When we allow humans to control our thoughts and actions, we fall into despair and lose hope. We are easier to control when we are in despair. When we have hope, and continue to move forward, not only are we allowing for healing and resilience to reside within us, we are making room for the Holy Spirit to guide us to wisdom and growth in Christ and human beings cannot control us. We become so fierce that human beings fear us. 

Hope. It is what propels us to move forward even when the world around us looks bleak. Hope. It’s what motivates us to get back up when we fail, even when we fail over and over again. Hope can defeat the humans who scream at us that if we don’t follow their words, we will never succeed. 

The picture of Clayton Kershaw sitting in despair reminds us all that we have failed and have wounded ourselves and others. The picture of Clayton Kershaw celebrating the World Series Championship reminds us to not listen to the evil and give into the despair around us, but to continue to have hope and to do what we can to make the world around us a little brighter. Hope. It may be the only thing we have, but it’s worth more than any trophy, gold, silver, Presidential election, relationship failures, job loss or death. We may not be able to see the future, but we have hope that our faith will give us strength. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 Faith begins with hope. Hope. We must hold on to it and never let go of it.

Time to Think

Have we stopped to think? Is thinking an archaic idea? (Yes, I see the irony in that rhetorical question.) Do we have any new ideas? Are we wasting this precious time in quarantine, especially those of us still in it in states like California waste away because we are not thinking through what we say or write? Have we thought of the dire consequences our constant bickering, and degrading on social media might have on our current and future generation? When and why did we stop thinking? 

It’s these types of questions that can lead a person to discover something great or lead a person to insanity. It’s a difficult discourse because when we share with others that we are concerned and that we need to think, they placate us. As a teacher of teenagers and a youth pastor for sixteen years before that, I have discovered the true irony of asking a teenager what were they thinking when they did something that was truly idiotic. The real question is always, “Why did you not stop to think?” I don’t think I can ask that question to a teenager anymore if the adults in our current culture refuse to think. 

We post comments, memes, and articles on social media that reveals we didn’t stop to think that it could insult someone that is hurting. We post and we don’t think that what we post can be refuted quickly. If someone does refute it, we badger them and belittle them so we can show our superiority, in which, everyone loses, and the original poster does not even realize that they just lost a friend. This all occurs because we didn’t stop to think in the first place. 

Thinking critically means we think of the repercussions of what we say or write or post on social media. Thinking critically means we realize that no human being or group of human beings are perfect or have the answers to all of our problems. People who are able to think and process the problem in front of them and search for a solution. When we search for solutions, we realize that we have to work with those who think, believe, and even vote differently than us. That is the true foundation of critical thinking. 

We stopped thinking and we have become polarized as a society. We stopped thinking and racism runs rampant in our country both with people and institutions being outwardly racist and people and institutions being subtly racist. We stopped thinking and people are killing people or attempting to kill people. We stopped thinking and people are having affairs in their relationships and people getting hurt. We stopped thinking and the church has received a bad reputation, which is the only result we in the church should have seen coming.

We all need to take the time to think. It’s difficult because once we begin thinking, we realize where we are wrong. We just have to admit it.  We can change and become better human beings. We can be kind to one another, but it will only happen when we decide to control our thoughts and think for ourselves. We have this precious commodity of time. We need to use it wisely and think through our words, written and verbal, and create the country that we all long to have. If our leaders refuse to think, we as citizens need to start thinking and stop following thoughtless people. 

I know I have to grow in this area myself, and it is what I am striving to do every single day. Trust me. If you need encouragement of why we need to stop and think, teach one day online to students who don’t want to go to school online. Thinking is required. Thinking should be required of us all. 

We are afraid to stop and think because we recognize the truth. The Truth will set us free. The truth will guide us to think and we can become free of the lies that society tries to tell us through their posts on social media and their words to us in real life. We have to overcome our fears and step out on faith and begin to think. No one can control our thoughts. How or what we think is what we all alone can possess. May we reveal that our thoughts are ones that will build others up and not tear them down. 

We Have Been Duped

 

Two weeks ago, I watched the documentary, The Social Dilemma on Netflix. In that documentary, it is confirmed that we have been duped by those who crated social media sites and it has divided us as a country. I said this over five years ago before the last election. I wish I had created that documentary. People share articles, whether they are true or not, and then they create commentary. This is where they control us. They send us ads and make sure we see more posts about those issues. 

We don’t need to worry about Russia when we are harming each other. We yell and scream at those who think and believe and heaven forbid, vote differently than us. We have decided that our enemies are people that are hiding behind screens. The battle is bloody when we speak evil of one another for believing and thinking differently from us. The strange thing is the beauty of friendships and relationships is the differences in beliefs and thoughts. 

For my entire life, I have always prided myself to have my own beliefs and ideas and not let others easily persuade me. In kindergarten, all the kids told the teacher their favorite color was blue or red. Guess whose favorite color was purple. Yep, even with choosing my favorite color, I was an independent thinker. In this year of 2020, I’m beginning to wonder if compliance would be much easier. With easy comes heartache because doing what is easy is not always doing what is right. We have to do what is right, so compliance is wrong. 

The best thing we can begin to do in this time of our lives is to respect one another. We do not have to agree with one another, but we need to stop demonizing those who think differently than us. We need to understand that because of people’s experiences, they will have different beliefs and thoughts. We must realize that God has created us all with unique qualities and traits. If we all think and believe the same, we become robotic and we are easily led to do whatever any leader tells us to do, which is where social media comes into play. 

With people living online and the social media giants controlling what we do and what shows up in our feeds, we have become easily led to believe that those who think differently from us are pure evil. It is all a sham. They have duped us and it has divided us. We don’t even recognize it. We see it as normal. We see those who believe and think and vote differently from us as the enemies. They are not. Those who are trying to control us, who are in charge of the social media sites and they are succeeding at controlling us, are the enemies. 

It’s difficult to win a war when we are fighting the wrong battles and the wrong enemies. If we continue to fight against each other with how social media is controlling us, we will destroy ourselves and one another. We need to come together and not allow others to control our thoughts and beliefs. It starts with taking time to realize how much we are influenced and who or what influences us. 

Throughout my adult life, I have allowed others to control me because I thought the conflicts would end. In reality, the conflicts grew and most of the conflicts that grew were within my own soul. A few years ago, I realized that I had to become who God created me to be and be the unique person He created me to be, and not throw away what I believe. I can get along with others who think and believe differently than me because to be honest, not many people will claim purple as their favorite color. 

We can disagree. We can have discussions, but once we begin to degrade one another, we have lost. We lose our dignity, our friends, our honor, and our integrity. We need to believe in one another again. We need to take control again. May we understand that what occurs in cyberspace can become real in physical space. People are struggling during this time of confinement. Let’s encourage and build one another up. Let’s think before we post because we don’t really know the struggle someone has on the other side of the computer. May we begin to think of others more than ourselves. May we not allow the social media gurus to destroy us. It’s time we take the control back.  

We Have a Choice to Make

It’s that time of year again. Some of us will choose to indulge in the life of pumpkin spice. Others will choose to indulge in the life of apple spice. Then there are others who will choose to stay with what they always consume. The point is, we always have a choice. It is my hope and prayer that we will begin to choose love over hate. 

If we choose for someone to control us and take over our lives, then that is our choice, and our lives are miserable. If we choose to hate instead of love, then we have chosen a miserable lifestyle. If we choose to trust fate instead of having faith, then we will become miserable with what our future has become. We are not robots, even if the powers in Silicon Valley think we are. We have choices, and we all need to choose to be better and to choose to do the good. 

We all have made the excuse that we just had to strike someone with our words, actions, or fists because they were so out of place with their words, actions, or fists. The truth is we have a choice on how to respond to those that harm us. We have a choice on how to respond to posts on social media that trigger us. We all have a choice on how we live our lives. We all need to begin to make better choices. 

We all have heard our parents or other adult leaders say, “Make good choices!” Many times when that phrase is used, most young people take it as that they need to choose to not get into trouble, but let’s take that phrase a bit further. Maybe we can start using that phrase to stop trouble from spreading or from even entering into our lives. 

It took me years to realize that I had to stop blaming others for my life journey. I made the choices I made. If I was unwise and believed their words, then it was on me. I had a choice to make. I have a choice of how to respond when someone harms me. I can sit and wallow my entire life, or I can get counseling and begin a new life with new insight and have understanding for others who may have my same hurts. I have always had a choice. Once I started making those actual good choices, I became a person with peace, joy, and even happiness. 

We all need to think before we respond, either in person or on social media. We always have a choice, even when something triggers us. We need to remember that everyone has his or her own problems. They see life the way they do because of the circumstances that they have been given. We can get to know them better. We can ask them questions. Once we attack, we made our choice to disrespect and show hate instead of love. 

We need to love those who think and believe differently than us. It’s easy to sit back and judged someone’s thoughts and beliefs and have the idea that ours is the pefect way to life. People who think and believe differently than us have done amazing things for the community, or the country, or the world. We have to stop seeing everyone who believes and thinks differently as the enemy. When we only see them as the enemy, we have chosen hate instead of love.  We have a choice. We need to choose love. 

Jesus had a choice. He could have called on legions of angels to strike down those who were nailing him to the cross. He chose to sacrifice his life so we could live. He chose love instead of hate. We need to follow the one who is perfect. We have a choice. We can choose to follow Jesus or we can choose to follow Christians and religious leaders. We have always had a choice. The choice of life and love is to choose to follow Jesus. The choice of death and hate is to follow Christians and religious leaders because in their human state, they will not choose to die for our sins. 

We have a choice. We have always had a choice. This year, 2020, has been a difficult year for many people for many reasons. We have a choice. We can heal with love or we can hurt with hate. May we all choose love and begin to heal others and ourselves. We always have a choice, so let’s go make good choices! 

 

Cobra Kai--Heroes and Villains

 As I have indulged into the television series, Cobra Kai once again, I have noticed that the simplicity and complexity of the characters truly imitates real life, thus, reigniting  the lesson that art does imitate life.

 

A short summary of Cobra Kai is that the show is the extension of the movie, Karate Kid. It takes the main character and his antagonist into life today. The show makes the antagonist, the bully, Johnny Lawrence the misunderstood hero and the victim of the original Karate Kid, Daniel La Russo, who is now the villain. They both start karate dojos in the valley, and they start the rivalry between the two once again. Actually, Daniel started his dojo to respond to the start of Johnny’s dojo, Cobra Kai, and to restore life in the valley, which many people who cannot see their own flaws do. They do something to respond to their version of their villain.

 

Daniel La Russo is now a rich successful family man, and Johnny Lawrence is a drunken bum trying to get by financially and has an estranged son. They both think they are the victim of each other.  They both believe that they are doing life the right way. Daniel even brags about balance, which will bring peace, and his life is the most chaotic mess, but you have to look closely to see that. Johnny believes that you need to be tough and fight for what you want, while he just gets drunk whenever an obstacle comes his way. Neither one of them can see their own flaws, but they can see the flaws in the other person that victimizes them.  

 

Isn’t that how we all are? We are blind to the plank in our own eyes, and yet, we can see the speck of sawdust in the eyes of those who believe and think differently than us. In fact, we call those specks our enemies and we live our lives trying to take them down instead of working diligently to take the planks out of our own eyes in order to create what we are to do in the world to make a difference.

 

No one is perfect. No one has the perfect life, no matter how it appears on the outside. We cannot see others as the villains and ourselves as the hero who does not have any flaws. In fact, most times, just like the show, Cobra Kai, many of exhibit the same flaws as those we claim to be our villains.

 

We cannot blame the villains for the choices we have made in our lives. It is our choice how we respond to discouragements and trials in life, even if a villain caused them. Then, when we do this, the plank comes out of our eyes and we can see clearly. Once we see clearly, we see the person we have seen as a villainas a human being, and that changes everything.

 

Both the hero and the villain have flaws in their character and good qualities in their character. When we take our planks out, we can have compassion for our villains, as we see that they are struggling with their flaws, even when they cannot see their own flaws. As we see the human beings, we realize that compassion is more of an answer than degrading or revenge.

 

In real life, heroes and villains exist in all of us. We all just have to see our own planks in our own eyes, and remove them in order to be our own hero and not our own villain. The villain does not change. The hero always changes. In order to be a true hero, we have to move forward and do what we are created to do. If we allow the speck of the villain to begin to hold us back from doing that, then it is our own fault. The only way to remove those planks in our own eyes is to just remember and act on the simple phrase, “Strike first, strike hard, no mercy.”

The Value of Trust

 Recently, the movie, Meet the Parents has been on many of the movie channels. As much as we laugh at the antics of Ben Stiller’s character, we also giggle at Robert De Niro’s character and his “Circle of Trust.” As I was watching that movie, I realized that so many of us lack trust because people have broken trust with us. We have believed false information and false narratives. I used to believe that I didn’t trust anyone, but I was wrong. I trusted everyone that surrounded me, and that’s what got me in trouble, and it gets many of us in trouble. It’s what created a lack of trust.

 

When I was young, my parents divorced and somehow, many people believed that they needed to guide me with advice. I don’t blame them for their bad advice. I blame me for taking their bad advice. I took it because I trusted them. Some people revealed why I should not have trusted them in a short time. Others revealed why I shouldn’t have trusted them once a relationship was built with depth, and it’s that when I realized that broken trust is difficult to repair. It’s that broken trust that many of us struggle to trust today in our time of quarantine.

 

There have been so many messages from so many different people and no one will admit when they are wrong. That is what breaks trust. I can trust someone who admits when they are wrong. I cannot trust someone who changes their words and or their rhetoric and never admits that they were wrong in the past or why they have changed from the past. If people do not admit that they are wrong, then they do not admit to their own flaws and wrongdoings, which breaks trust. Trust is built when we can admit to our flaws and wrongdoings and change from doing them. People who cannot admit to being wrong or why they have changed have a history that shows that they are unfaithful. Their lies reveal that they are untrustworthy.

 

When we change from our old ways, we don’t have to tell others our wrongs, but we can realize that the old way is gone and the new has come, which builds a new trust. It’s why I can trust God. Jesus did not throw out the old law; he completed it. I can trust God because I have seen what he has done in my life and in the lives of other people. Many people lose trust in God because of how people have behaved. God is not a person. Science is not a person. It’s not the message people do not trust; it’s the messenger. In order for people to see God, we must be trustworthy.

 

Being trustworthy as a person means we must act. Our actions speak louder than words. If we disagree with someone, we must be kind. If you want to be trustworthy and begin name calling and degrading someone, you are not going to gain any trust, and your information will be disregarded. You are just pushing your agenda. I know because I’ve had that occur many times in my life.  

 

Our world needs trustworthy people. We don’t have to trust all the information that is being fed to us by any media source, but we do need to begin to trust each other. We need to believe that people want the best for each and every person. In order to trust other people, we need to be trusted. Our trust may have been broken, but we can build it back when we apologize and admit that our actions were wrong.

 

Tomorrow I will meet my new students. I will have to gain their trust. I cannot call them names or degrade them. in fact, it is through encouragement that trust will be built. It is through love that trust will be built. When we love God, others and ourselves, then we will be able to build trust with and for others. My final words are from a passage that many Christians have memorized and many of us need to practice. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Adventures in a Quarantined Summer

 Every summer since 2015, I have been able to travel and visit friends from college, Bible Bowl, and high school. This year, life has been quarantined, and I have had different adventures. During the first four months of quarantine, I was looking for a new job. My school was downsizing, and since I taught elective English classes last year, (and I’m expensive because of credentials and years taught) I was laid-off. I’ve already been through one school closing, and I don’t want to be in another one, so I was actually relieved to go somewhere new. (There was and is no ill will.) It took time because I really didn’t want to teach at a charter school, but this is difficult times and charter schools are hiring. Each time I pray for what I want, God gives me what I need, and this time was no exception.

 

I applied to schools to teach online, which pay significantly less than in-person teaching, districts that are not hiring but interviewed me anyway and private schools. I applied to one and only one in-person charter school. I got the job. God doesn’t work in just mysterious ways; he works in humorous ways. God does what is best, which will always provide for our needs. Although we will be teaching online for at least the first semester, I wanted to see the campus and get a vibe for the community where the students live. So, yesterday, I went on an adventure.

 

This charter school is in an entire system of charter schools. They do have two schools near downtown Los Angeles, but not the one where I was hired, which I found out yesterday. I knew the name of the street and ditched Google maps and decided to go my way until the street numbers were wacky and I was going out of downtown Los Angeles. I found my school on the border of Pasadena, Eagle Rock, and Highland Park. For my friends outside of Los Angeles, it’s on the other side of downtown Los Angeles, and not close to the downtown at all. It’s close to the mountains. It’s pretty.

 

I love exploring new places. Of course, I went off the trail a bit afterward and found a cute little bookstore at the bottom of the mountain where our church camp is located. I may not have traveled very far, but the adventure is not in the place but in the people that I will encounter. People make life so much better, and that is where many of us are struggling in this pandemic. The adventure always requires me to trust God and what is best for me in my life and not always what I want.

 

God has given me the best jobs throughout my lifetime. I have met some of my closest friends and have inspired many young people to live their lives for Jesus and make a difference in the world. Change can be scary and not always easy, but it is necessary as it creates growth and brings new adventures that requires us to trust God just a bit more in life. New adventures also create reflection of where we have been and where we are going.

 

The direction for life in this quarantine for me is taking a turn as I have to teach and do most of my communication with others online. While most of us have to sit behind our computers to communicate, we may need to resolve to be kind. I know I have had my share of times of not being kind. People are struggling with loss of jobs, loss of life with family members and friends, and loss of relationships. We can argue about politics all day long and not one thing will change in our country or in our world. We can encourage people and we can make a huge difference in the world without even leaving our home. I have been surprised for someone to tell me the words that I have said, both good and bad that have changed them. Our words make a difference in the lives of others.

 

The impact we make on the world can make a difference. You don’t have to be a teacher to hundreds of students. You can be someone who encourages family members that are struggling. If we want a change in the world, we have to do it. We need to stop relying on someone else to do what we can do, especially anyone in government. It’s taken me many years to discover this. Let us all take an adventure and explore new ideas of how to encourage more and argue less. With our new adventures, let us discover ways to make a difference, whether it is through the arts or technology. If we are so busy working to make a difference in the world, we will have less time to argue or to post the same stuff on social media that angers people. It’s healthier way to live. It’s life giving. It’s the way that God wants us to live.  

 

The Masked Bandit

I refuse to get into the mask debate during this pandemic. The masks that I notice are invisible to the eye, but if we look closer, we can see them. We all wear one at some point. Most of us deny that we do, but trust me, I have worn the masks so many times that when I take one off I can barely recognize myself. We hide behind our masks. We wear masks that profess to the world of who we are, and yet, underneath our masks, we are not that person.

The mask of shame. Throughout my life, leaders have guilt-shamed me so much that I have to remember my true identity in Christ and take that mask off and discard it. These leaders are Christians in the church and non-Christians in places where I have worked or volunteered. Guilt-shaming had me serve in areas that I had no business serving and my attitude was one of anger and resentment. I never represent Christ when I wear my mask of shame. People try to guilt shame on social media. I can tell you you’re right, but on my side of the computer, I’m not going to wear a mask of shame. I’m going to be transparent or wear a mask of lies.

The mask of lies. We must be honest and realize that at some point in our lives we have all worn a mask of lies. If we say we haven’t, we’re lying. We even justify our lies. We say we lie not to hurt someone, but once they realize the truth, they are more hurt. Lies trap us. The truth frees us. We need to be honest with ourselves and others. If we can be honest with ourselves first, then we can be honest with others. When we lay down the mask of lies, we then realize who our allies and adversaries are.

The mask of hypocrisy. Like the mask of lies, most people have at one point in their lives worn a mask of hypocrisy. It clouds our vision of who are allies and adversaries are. We say we believe one thing, but we do the exact opposite. The most difficult part of this mask is that we actually believe our hypocrisy. Most of us do not even see our own hypocrisy as we throw down memes on social media that prove an argument. We need to be careful, as this mask can be layered. Once we take off the mask, we usually have one behind it hiding because we are fearful to reveal the truth of our authentic selves.

All of these masks cover us and protect us from the truth. These masks protect us from people criticizing us, until they recognize the truth and then we are discredited. We need to strip these masks away and keep them off. These masks cover-up Christ in our lives. We don’t always recognize it, but people can see our masks, even if we wear them on social media. We need to throw these masks off and breathe in the breath of God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, so we can bring the Holy Spirit to our world that so needs healing in many ways right now. Once we are transparent and true to ourselves, the world around us will see the grace of God and begin to wonder how to have His grace in their own lives.

What is Truth?

During this pandemic, I have been reading through the Gospels. I notice the details of events and words of Jesus and of others. I noticed the words that Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” For most Christians, we give the nice quick answer that Jesus is the truth and we Christians know and have the truth. For the most part that is true. I do know that I have questioned what truth is.  For the past twenty-nine years of my life, I have worked with teenagers. When incidents occur among them, I try to search for the truth. I find myself asking, “What is truth? Who is telling the truth? How do you know this person is telling the truth and this person is not?” During this pandemic, these are all valid questions we all need to be asking of the media, the “experts,” the politicians, and even our own selves.

Facts prove truth. This can be true, but if you have read enough crime and drama, you know that facts can prove truth for both sides of the argument. There are some facts that are true, such as the coronavirus is a virus that affects human beings. Argue all you want. That is a true fact. There could be more details to that fact, but it is a fact that is true. The details can sometimes bring in the areas that make some more facts, that could be debatable. Then, we have a problem, so I ask, “What is truth?”

The Internet is full of facts. Some of the facts are skewed to fit an agenda whether that agenda is political or religious, but they are facts. People will claim that since these facts exist that they are true. Do we not remember that scientists called it a fact that the earth was flat? Now, we call people lunatics that believe that the earth is physically flat. The truth had to be discovered. Maybe that is it. Maybe instead of sharing articles or memes, we need to be searching for and discovering the truth. That will take time.

Time is what we have. Time proves truth. In time, the guilty confess to their crimes. In time, science is proven as bacteria grows or dissolves. With time, we can read entire books that teach us the truth of history. With time, we can watch historical documentaries that have facts. Sometimes, in time, the truth gets distorted.  People forget facts. Some people no longer exist that knew the facts. Time can prove facts, but it can also distort facts. We need to be wise with time and look at the entire context.

Truth gets distorted when we hear the facts but we don’t want to hear them because we have believed different facts all of our lives. We have to question if what we learned was truth or someone else’s version of the truth. I wonder how many young people in twenty years will be wondering what truth is with the facts that we are dispensing to them today. For me, these questions came when I went to Washington D.C. for the first time with my private school in 2013. I taught at that school, and as an adult, I was hearing stories, reading stories, and seeing archives for myself and wondered why I was not taught any of these truths in school. I didn’t learn them because the truth was distorted when people wrote about history without going to historical places or without much research. Besides, most of our history books are like reading a pamphlet on a detailed place, which is never going to dispense many facts or truth.

The truth becomes distorted when human beings begin to give their viewpoints. The truth becomes distorted when people want to hide facts in order to have people believe their viewpoint or believe their agenda. The truth becomes distorted when we only see the facts that benefit our agenda. The truth becomes distorted when we refuse to listen to the other person in the argument. The truth becomes distorted when we refuse to research for ourselves. We have to stop distorting the truth.

The truth is always revealed. It may not be in our lifetime, but it will be revealed. Having worked with teenagers, I take my time to discover the truth. I want to err with being slow in investigating instead of quick to a wrong verdict and demean or question a person’s character that is not deserving of that. This is how I also have remained in the truth of Christ. I had to discover what were human created rules, rituals, and laws, and what the actual truth is in the Bible and in Christ.

Even though Christians have injured my spiritual life, I have always searched for the facts and the truth. It has taken research, time, and building community with other people, both Christians and non-Christians. I have discovered that with the truth of Jesus, even though people distort His words, it does not mean that His words are not true. It means that we as human beings, need to listen to the truth of Jesus and begin living the truth of Jesus, and then others will see the truth of Jesus. There is a caution though in discovering the truth of Jesus: it will no longer be safe or comfortable, but it will be the truth.

Wisdom from the Movie, "The Hobbit": Sickness and Tragedy

I know that I’m behind in my movie experience, but I just started watching The Hobbit series, since I have so much time, and when I hear the character Gandalf speak, I’m usually grabbing for a pen to write down his wisdom. It started in the beginning when he stated, “Where sickness thrives, bad things will follow.” How appropriate for our current state of being. We have a physical sickness thriving throughout our world and already we can see the bad things following. It’s how we respond that will make a difference in our relations with others.

The sickness of coronavirus revealed the evil of social media. Scroll through social media and you will recognize the anger seething in people. Anger is not a sin; it’s what you do when you are angry that is a sin. When you belittle people or guilt-shame people, it’s sin. In the social media world, we have to remember most of us do not put our whole lives on the Internet. How we respond when someone disagrees with us reveals more about us then it does with the person who disagrees with us. If we are kind and gracious and explain ourselves, we reveal our kindness. If we are name-calling, belittling, and guilt-shaming, then we reveal to be angry and bitter people who struggle in life and refuse to deal with our own lives. First, we need to heal our own hurts, and then we can begin to inspire others. Now is the time that people need life affirming words not insults, belittlement, and guilt-shaming.

When the coronavirus began in America, panic ensued and people hoarded food, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and water. When people fear, they don’t share resources but they hoard them. Now that time has passed, items are returning to store shelves, but we have to recognize that as a society, we tend to hoard. I hoard books. We hoard because we fear we will not have it in the future. With sickness, we hoard food and water because we want survival, not realizing that the most important action we could take with this sickness was to think of others and not hoard.

Murders occurred before the pandemic, but the videos went out during the pandemic and protests occurred. The protests revealed another sickness in our society and that is racism. Evil has ensued because of racism. People are tearing down people and not listening to them or being rude when they ask a question. It’s time that we listen and ask sincere questions. It’s time for many to become good teachers and answer those pesky questions with grace and love so that the person asking can learn, or else the sickness of racism will get worse, which will make life worse for all.

The sickness of COVID-19 caused businesses to close for a short while, but for some businesses the short while was too much and they had to close permanently or scale back on their employees. Many people lost their jobs. The sickness caused many to spiral into poverty. Instead of screaming at people on social media, it’s time we all look to those we can help, even if it is just purchasing something small on the Internet.

The sickness of coronavirus caused everyone to quarantine and stay in their homes. For the short term, many people were able to clean their homes, connect with their family, and finish projects that they started. After about two weeks, emotions raged. People spun into depression. Anxiety is high in homes where children are frustrated with homeschooling and not being able to play with friends. We all need to take the time to reach out to those who may be struggling with being home.

The coronavirus thrived and bad things have occurred. We cannot continue to allow the bad things to happen. We need to be aware of what we say and do in order to have good things happen. When we are healthy emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, we just might also become healthy physically. The Bible gives great advice. “Be quick to listen and slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” James 1:19 (NIV) We need to listen before we speak, and when we do speak, we need to speak the truth in love not anger. We don’t need to win arguments. We need to listen. We need to speak with wisdom and truth in love. Let’s conquer the bad and the sickness may just diminish. I’m not a doctor or an expert, but I do know from experience that when love surrounds people, health abounds.

The Truth of Freedom

Freedom comes with a price. “Nothing is ever free; someone has to pay for it.” Erwin McManus. Those are wise words that have enlightened and haunted me. I love to receive free things when I visit places. I love for events that could cost are free. I never stop to think that someone had to sacrifice in order for me to enjoy the event or the possession that is free. Maybe it’s time we all begin to think of what freedom for a country really is.

“Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” This line is repeated in the last song in the musical, Hamilton. This weekend we celebrate the birth of a young country that is finally recognizing its sins of how so many people have not been treated equally with freedom. We cannot change the past, but we must learn from it in order to have freedom for all people. We cannot say we learned history in school. Our textbooks and teachers taught an incomplete history. Even though our country is young, you cannot teach complete history of 400 years in one school year.

In order to change the present and move forward for a better future, we have to discover the truth of our past. I have visited historical sites in Washington D.C. and discovered that slavery was harsh and the living conditions were inhumane. Slavery was not in any form glamorous. They were not treated equally or with gentleness. They were not treated like humans. We must now repent from our past and begin to treat all people as human beings. I know most people will say that they do, but I’ve read your social media posts, and I question if Americans really do treat people equally. If we don’t, we don’t have freedom.

That trip to Washington D.C. taught me many more of the truths of American history, and I wondered while I was there why none of these truths were taught to us in school. Now is the time to discover the truths of American history. This is not just for people that some people consider need to learn the truth. All Americans need to read, watch documentaries, go to historical places, and discover historical truths.

As a Christian, there are many people who do not know the truth of Christ. Christ brings freedom, but we only have that freedom when we know the truth of Christ. Many people will use scripture to defend their political arguments. Satan did that when he tempted Jesus. That’s misusing truth and distorting it. I have seen portions of scripture being used out of context. We need to use truth to bring people to the freedom of Christ, which is why we need to know the truth of Christ. In order to know the truth of Christ, it takes more than attending church. We must read, study, and connect with others to discover and understand the truth of Jesus.

Freedom comes with a price. That price is not just what our ancestors did. It comes with what we do today. Every day we have to make a choice of how we will treat people with whom we encounter. Our treatment of those people will determine if we live in freedom or if we are chained in bondage. No one is perfect, despite all the berating on social media, everyone has been chained in bondage with their ill treatment of others. It connects to sin.

As Christians, we were given freedom in Christ through his ultimate sacrifice. When someone pays the ultimate price for freedom, you would think that the lives of those affected would change drastically, but they don’t. We still treat people with rudeness, cruelty, and hatefulness. When we are unkind with our words, we are in bondage of sin and not accepting the freedom that Christ gave us with the sacrifice of his life. When we believe that people are inferior to us or treat them that way then we are living in the bondage of sin and refusing to live in the freedom of Christ. Most people I know would say that they are not doing these things or are trying to be better, but there is more.

When we refuse to empathize, and listen to the truth through stories of people who have different experiences than us and are hurting, we are giving into the idea of sin because when we do not listen or empathize, we are living with the belief that we are better than others, which gives freedom to no one. In our current times, our African-American brothers and sisters are hurting and begging for those of us who are white to listen to the truth and empathize. Listening without thinking of what to say next and empathizing is a start. Then, when we pray for forgiveness and solutions, we can discover one area in which we can make a difference. Then, we are not just saying that freedom is for everyone, but we are actually living it.

Christ gave his life for everyone. Anyone can accept Christ. We cannot give up on those who may reject Him or do not know Him. We have to desire freedom for everyone. When we know the truth, the truth will set us free, as we will discover that the freedom came from the ultimate price of the sacrifice of Jesus. May we all take this time to discover the truth.

Loving Others: Easier Said Than Done Especially on Social Media

As I scroll through social media, I wonder if any of us really know how to love other people. By no means am I an expert on love. I have not been in the best dating relationships, but I hope I have grown and learned from them. Loving others is difficult, but it is necessary. As Christians, we need to love others with the love of Jesus. I wonder if we really understand what that means.

An expert in the law wanted to test Jesus, so he asked him how he could have eternal life. Jesus asked him what was written in the law. He quoted Jesus’s two greatest commandments to love God and to love his neighbor as himself. Jesus said he was correct, but the expert wanted to test Jesus further and asked who is my neighbor? Then Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan. When a Jewish man was robbed, a priest and a Levi passed by him, but a Samaritan, who was hated by the Jews, stopped, helped, paid for his medical care, and made sure he was healthy. The expert had to admit that the Samaritan was the neighbor.

If we modernize this, we can see it this way. A person of your opposite political beliefs or different ethnicity or of a different religion is beaten up and lying on the ground. Are you the priest, the Levi, or the Samaritan? Once we view it from a modern-day stance, it takes on a different meaning for us. It can become real. Looking through social media, I wonder how many Good Samaritans are really in our society today. We all need to begin to love our neighbors as ourselves.

When we truly love others, we have empathy. A famous pastor at the Thrive Summit said that if we have to undermine someone when they cry out hurting by saying, “But what about…” Then we are not being empathetic. When a person cries out, “This is what matters to me right now,” and we respond with, “But what about,” we are not being empathetic or loving but trying to have our voice heard over their pain. In fact, they would perceive it as silencing their pain. Being empathetic means that you listen with genuine concern and speak with them and be there for them.

Next, we need to end, “us” vs. “them.” This can be with religious or political viewpoints. If we see the other group of people as the enemy or stupid, or evil, then how do we get them to change? Once you call me any of those names, I’m done listening. We must work together with different views. Compromise occurs all the time in relationships that are successful. When I was in unhealthy relationships, compromise was only one-sided. All of us need to compromise.

We need to listen.  We need to communicate clearly. In the world of social media; we have lost the art of communication. The moment someone creates a meme, they believe that is the definitive ending and there is no other debate. Having taught debate, that is incorrect. In fact, many times, I can see the other side, even when I agree with the meme. A meme brings forth many questions. If we are going to speak in memes, we better be ready to answer questions…with love and truth. Once we become angry, we are no longer loving.

We need to study and research. There are many pieces of literature that can help us bring reconciliation. We have to read beyond with what we agree. A long time ago, at a Youth Specialties Youth Workers Convention, we were challenged to go to seminars and buy books by people with whom we disagree. Then we were to discover why we disagree and how we can agree in some areas and work together. Whenever I look at books or magazines today, I try to diversify and read literature with whom I have disagreements. I don’t walk away changed, but I can see the common ground of everyone trying to do something to make the world a better place for all people. It also challenges my thoughts and why I believe what I do and strengthens my beliefs. It also keeps me from being arrogant or rude when people ask questions. I actually can find the answers for them.

Most importantly, we need to care for people. We need to treat people how we want to be treated. We need to show people that we are listening and that we are truly empathetic with their hurts or concerns. I’m trying to continue to work on this. If loving others was easy, everyone would have perfect relationships, but it is not. Anything worth doing must take work. Love takes work and it is well worth it. May we all look at how Jesus loves us and become the Good Samaritan to those who truly need it.