Sometimes my very existence seems fragile. As though I'm somehow holding on by only a single thread, and the slightest gust of wind holds more than enough power to blow me over. At other times, I feel as though not even a hurricane could unseat me from where I stand on top of the world.
Occasionally when I'm on top of the world though, something will hit me right where it hurts. Sometimes something will stab right through my heart, and I will fall bleeding to the gutter. It is rarer for something to build me up from the ground just as quickly.
In my darker moments, I try to ask myself who I'm fooling. "It is trite but true that we are all lying in the gutter... But some of us are looking at stars," I say. "One never truly stands on top of the world. We're always rolling in the gutter, but sometimes our gaze slips skyward."
I pose an alternative suggestion for anyone who feels as I do often. Instead of focusing on the gutter, consider this: "We are all living in palaces. But sometimes, our gaze slips gutter-ward.''
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sin: I've Got Another Confession To Make
I think one of the nicest things about Christianity, one of the most merciful things, is the leeway offered to sinners. 'Coz, let's face it, who out there has never sinned? If you've never committed a single sin, seriously, post a comment here because I'd love to hear from you.
To most people, I look pretty OK on the outside. That's neat, but it isn't who I really am. Well, that's not true. It is who I am, but there is more. I'll admit that I'm better than I was, but God still keeps showing me new little things that are still between Him and me. And that's without mentioning the big things that I've always known about.
There are certain things about me that need to be ironed out. For instance, often while hanging out with friends I'll slip into a mode of speech and/or conversation that fails to do justice to the pure and utter holiness of my God. And I'm not as honest as I should be. I also struggle with anger. Often when I'm angry, it's to such a degree that I actually scare myself with either what I'm thinking, or with how close I've just come to hurting someone I love. I have only a meager level of self-control that never fails to get me into strife. I'm prone to a hypocritical kind of judgment, irrespective of my various rants on the self-same topic. I can be too harsh on different aspects of my own religion, not unjustly, because I do see a lot of hypocrisy, but often I'll say things intending to stir up dissent, or purely for the 'shock factor'. I too often flaunt my own freedom when it comes to different kind of media. Some Christians cannot cope with heavy metal music, or Harry Potter, or fantasy books in general. And I am one who can see that these things, with suitable discernment, are not harmful at all - yet I choose to parade my freedom around less (for lack of a better word) open minded Christians, often to their own detriment. At times my wit can be a curse as much as a blessing, and has gotten me into trouble on many occasions. Often I can be hurtfully harsh. Often it is merely subtle. I will make snide comments about people that only some 'get', and the one who they are directed against is left feeling uncomfortable, but with no idea why.
These are all areas I need to work on, because clearly I am not in anyway as 'good' a human being as I could (or perhaps 'should') be. But the great thing is that Christianity is not a religion of works. Salvation is not attained by God's score of how 'good' you've been. Because in His books, we all deserve to go to hell. Even one little sin, even one little 'white lie', is enough to damn us for eternity.
Enter Jesus Christ.
The whole point of Christianity is that this bloke, God's son, was sent to Earth to die in our place. He took the price of our sin, so that we don't need to face that eternal hell. All we have to do is accept God's gift of perfect grace, clearly portrayed for all men through the gospels. Once we have attained that, all this sin doesn't matter. God counts it as absolutely nothing, and it is not held against us.
That raises a question though. What happens if we sin after we've been saved? Obviously, we're going to. How does God deal with this? He accepts our confession of sin. When we recognize our failing, and confess to Him, He pardons us so that we come out from the effect of that sin. He forgives us. This obviously means that we shouldn't just sin 'coz God will forgive us anyway. The bible even addresses that very question. It says, (Romans 6:2), that since we have 'died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?' You've left behind old ways by accepting Christ's death. You can't just keep on living like that.
But I just love that about Christianity. We aren't supposed to live in sin any more, and if we do fail, because we are sure as hell going to, God's ready to accept our apology and move on. That's pretty awesome for a guy like me, who would be really screwed if salvation worked on a basis of 'yeah bro, you've been good enough. Come right on in the Pearly Gates.'
To most people, I look pretty OK on the outside. That's neat, but it isn't who I really am. Well, that's not true. It is who I am, but there is more. I'll admit that I'm better than I was, but God still keeps showing me new little things that are still between Him and me. And that's without mentioning the big things that I've always known about.
There are certain things about me that need to be ironed out. For instance, often while hanging out with friends I'll slip into a mode of speech and/or conversation that fails to do justice to the pure and utter holiness of my God. And I'm not as honest as I should be. I also struggle with anger. Often when I'm angry, it's to such a degree that I actually scare myself with either what I'm thinking, or with how close I've just come to hurting someone I love. I have only a meager level of self-control that never fails to get me into strife. I'm prone to a hypocritical kind of judgment, irrespective of my various rants on the self-same topic. I can be too harsh on different aspects of my own religion, not unjustly, because I do see a lot of hypocrisy, but often I'll say things intending to stir up dissent, or purely for the 'shock factor'. I too often flaunt my own freedom when it comes to different kind of media. Some Christians cannot cope with heavy metal music, or Harry Potter, or fantasy books in general. And I am one who can see that these things, with suitable discernment, are not harmful at all - yet I choose to parade my freedom around less (for lack of a better word) open minded Christians, often to their own detriment. At times my wit can be a curse as much as a blessing, and has gotten me into trouble on many occasions. Often I can be hurtfully harsh. Often it is merely subtle. I will make snide comments about people that only some 'get', and the one who they are directed against is left feeling uncomfortable, but with no idea why.
These are all areas I need to work on, because clearly I am not in anyway as 'good' a human being as I could (or perhaps 'should') be. But the great thing is that Christianity is not a religion of works. Salvation is not attained by God's score of how 'good' you've been. Because in His books, we all deserve to go to hell. Even one little sin, even one little 'white lie', is enough to damn us for eternity.
Enter Jesus Christ.
The whole point of Christianity is that this bloke, God's son, was sent to Earth to die in our place. He took the price of our sin, so that we don't need to face that eternal hell. All we have to do is accept God's gift of perfect grace, clearly portrayed for all men through the gospels. Once we have attained that, all this sin doesn't matter. God counts it as absolutely nothing, and it is not held against us.
That raises a question though. What happens if we sin after we've been saved? Obviously, we're going to. How does God deal with this? He accepts our confession of sin. When we recognize our failing, and confess to Him, He pardons us so that we come out from the effect of that sin. He forgives us. This obviously means that we shouldn't just sin 'coz God will forgive us anyway. The bible even addresses that very question. It says, (Romans 6:2), that since we have 'died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?' You've left behind old ways by accepting Christ's death. You can't just keep on living like that.
But I just love that about Christianity. We aren't supposed to live in sin any more, and if we do fail, because we are sure as hell going to, God's ready to accept our apology and move on. That's pretty awesome for a guy like me, who would be really screwed if salvation worked on a basis of 'yeah bro, you've been good enough. Come right on in the Pearly Gates.'
Friday, May 02, 2008
Corey Delany: Wanker
Every so often there arrives in the news someone who both proves that celebrities are made, not born, and destroys my faith in humanity. All in the same fell swoop. It should be obvious that I'm talking about 'Corey, the party dude' here, since that's what the title says.
I first read about the party, and my reaction was 'ok, what a retard...' Then articles and articles flooded in, and my reaction changed. 'I want this turd off my news!' I was mildly relieved when a group of Romanians beat the crap out of him. In fact, I was nearly ecstatic when I found out that these Romanians were friends of friends of mine. I'm still waiting on an autograph.
The fact is, this Corey wanker has been getting everything he wants, and nothing he deserves. Until he got beat up, but that changed nothing. I recently heard he is now on Big Brother. Why won't someone tell him where he can shove those godawful sun glasses!?! Instead, we treat him like a hero. I was absolutely disgusted when a friend of mine told me that a friend of hers idolizes Corey. Even dresses like him.
That is not cool. Purely because Corey is not cool. Corey is so not cool, ok, he's an arrogant, stuck up sun-of-a... Witch. What the hell was his mother smoking while she was pregnant!?! It must have been pretty bloody strong for her daughter... Oh, son, sorry, to turn out like that. If I was her... Corey's, that is, dad, I'd have been the crap out of her.. Uh, him... By now.
Sorry to destroy your previous perception of the situation, but the lesson to be learned from Cory is not 'act like a total piece of flea-ridden, dog-trodden crap and you will become rich and famous.' The lesson is 'just... do the right thing, and you won't look like such an arrogant, up-yourself, pathetic-looking, brain dead excuse for a human being.'
If you want to be cool, be COOL! Don't throw a massive, irresponsible, party behind your parents back, and get caught on the news betraying a sickeningly pitiful fashion sense. Coz... That's not cool, ok, it just isn't.
My problem with Corey is that people will look to him and think it's cool to be a retarded, stupid looking, pansy. That's just not true.
kthnxbye
I first read about the party, and my reaction was 'ok, what a retard...' Then articles and articles flooded in, and my reaction changed. 'I want this turd off my news!' I was mildly relieved when a group of Romanians beat the crap out of him. In fact, I was nearly ecstatic when I found out that these Romanians were friends of friends of mine. I'm still waiting on an autograph.
The fact is, this Corey wanker has been getting everything he wants, and nothing he deserves. Until he got beat up, but that changed nothing. I recently heard he is now on Big Brother. Why won't someone tell him where he can shove those godawful sun glasses!?! Instead, we treat him like a hero. I was absolutely disgusted when a friend of mine told me that a friend of hers idolizes Corey. Even dresses like him.
That is not cool. Purely because Corey is not cool. Corey is so not cool, ok, he's an arrogant, stuck up sun-of-a... Witch. What the hell was his mother smoking while she was pregnant!?! It must have been pretty bloody strong for her daughter... Oh, son, sorry, to turn out like that. If I was her... Corey's, that is, dad, I'd have been the crap out of her.. Uh, him... By now.
Sorry to destroy your previous perception of the situation, but the lesson to be learned from Cory is not 'act like a total piece of flea-ridden, dog-trodden crap and you will become rich and famous.' The lesson is 'just... do the right thing, and you won't look like such an arrogant, up-yourself, pathetic-looking, brain dead excuse for a human being.'
If you want to be cool, be COOL! Don't throw a massive, irresponsible, party behind your parents back, and get caught on the news betraying a sickeningly pitiful fashion sense. Coz... That's not cool, ok, it just isn't.
My problem with Corey is that people will look to him and think it's cool to be a retarded, stupid looking, pansy. That's just not true.
kthnxbye
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