They Hanged Saddam Hussein Today

I know a lot of people are very happy to see Saddam Hussein go. 70% of the American people approve of the killing of Saddam. But, his death brings me no joy for several reasons.  I used to be in favor of capital punishment. But, since becoming a Universalist, I cannot support the taking of life anymore.  I just don't think we have that right, no matter what a person has done.  If taking Saddam's life could have brought back even one of the masses of people he murdered, I'd be all for it. But, killing him only brings us one step closer to his level.  I also think the death of Saddam is a kind of vengeance for the Bush family.  Saddam went after George W's Daddy and George W got Saddam.  I hope George W isn't gloating over his victory.  But, I wonder... To the subject of this blog, Universalism and ECT, Saddam's death also brought another thought to mind.

It's interesting that when we really want to get someone, we give them the death penalty.  That's supposed to be the ultimate penalty.  You do something really, really bad, we take your life.  In terms of ECT versus Annihilation versus Universal salvation, that would be most equivalent to Annihilation.  We do not sentence people to torture for the rest of their natural lives (ECT)- no matter how heinous their crimes.  We Annihilate them (from our perspective anyway). We take them out. Most of us, no matter how we feel about someone's crimes would not advocate an unlimited amount of torture (if any) to "pay" for those crimes.  In Saddam's case, there were still countless crimes he had committed that he had not even been tried for.  Yet, there was such a rush to kill him, the Iraqis preferred to kill him now and have him never face earthly justice for those crimes. 

We, who do so much evil, don't torture people for their crimes.  Yet, the doctrine of Eternal Hell says that not only does god torture people to pay for their crimes, he tortures them without end.   It just amazes me that people can worship this type of god and call him good when they think he does a thing we would find despicable if done by any court system in the world.

It's Only a Little Poison, Oh Well

Image via Wikipedia

My wife and I had a conversation the other day that really opened my eyes to something (actually more than just one thing).  We were discussing my growing dissatisfaction with our current church. It's a topic I've been dancing around and avoiding for quite a while because I knew the conversation probably would not be pleasant.  She is satisfied with where we are attending and I think more than a little freaked out at some of the alternatives I've been looking into.  Finally though a couple of days ago she asked me why I was "suddenly" so dissatisfied with the Vineyard.

What I have come to find is that it's not really "suddenly" that I'm dissatisfied.  There have been things that have bugged me for years (and years going back way before the Vineyard).  What I've realized is that humans are amazingly adaptable creatures and capable of rationalization that goes way beyond what is truly rational or useful to rationalize.  Adaptability and rationalization are excellent survival and social traits.They are absolutely essential to being human.  But, like any other traits, they can be harmful if left unchecked.  For example, when I didn't know I could possibly remain a Christian and not believe in Eternal Conscious Torment, I forced myself into what Martin Zender calls the "Oh well creed".  As Martin applies it, this is the creed that keeps Calvinists from going completely insane, which would be the natural progression of trying to believe God is good, fair and just and creates people that He predestines for Eternal Conscious Torment.  To the thinking, feeling person, this doctrine would send them screaming into the night.  But, Calvinists cope by simply saying "Oh well." which they repeat as often as neceesary to keep their sanity.  They accept this irrational, horrific doctrine by chalking it up to the fact that if God is doing it, it must be OK.  I had my own version of this.  I was horrified by what my church taught (so much that it caused decades of panic attacks). But, I thought I had no choice but to accept it. I couldn't leave Christianity (I'd lose my salvation) and this is what Christianity taught.

So, how did I cope?  I said "Oh well." a lot. Not until I found out about Christian Universalism did I even allow myself to really explore whether ECT could be wrong.  The same applied to evolution (which I used to think was unbiblical), Bible inerrancy, etc., etc.  I simply swept under the rug or chalked up to "mystery" anything that didn't make sense or was too uncomfortable to face.

When it comes to church, I have found that over the last couple of years, I've been using the "Oh well" creed, also.  "Oh well, they do a lot of good things." "Oh well, I have great relationships with people there."  "Oh well, they don't preach fire and brimstone from the pulpit every week (or even most weeks)."  "Yeah, it's not perfect.  But, oh well, nothing is."

Amazingly, when my wife began to give me her list of "Oh wells" I just about hit the roof. I mean, they were so irrational.  It's amazing how hypocritical I can be- at least it amazes me.  She told me she has her own relationship with God. So, she's not really concerned with what the church is preaching concerning eternal destination.  She doesn't really listen to that part anyway.  In fact, she denied that they even teach ECT  And said, if they did, there are more important things.  I said, incredulously, "What could possibly be more important than where you are going to spend eternity?!"  She replied something to the effect of "I don't know.  But, there are more important things.".  I couldn't let this go.  I said "No.  What could possibly be more important than if someone is going to be tormented for all eternity?"  Again, she dodged the question.  But, I still couldn't let it go.  I asked more questions.  I was going to back her into a corner if it was the last thing I did. She said she doesn't think our church teaches that people go to hell for eternity.  I was astounded!  I asked her if she remembered the time our pastor had said "Your inner child is going to hell, unless you get this Jesus thing right."  Sher reply, "Well, everyone gets the Jesus thing right.  So, no one goes to hell.".  "What?" I said.  She said "I heard that Jeffrery Dahmer converted in prison."  (how that relates to everyone, I don't know). I said "But, you know not everyone converts to Christianity before they die. You know most people never hear the gospel.  You know that most churches teach that those people are going to hell for eternity."  The conversation continued. (I never did get her into that corner, BTW)  The details are not important (except my head almost exploded trying to understand her rationalizations.  But, once I calmed down and thought about it I realized what she had done.   And I think a lot of people who we presume believe in ECT do the same thing.  She can't accept the teachings of the church.  She knows in her heart they are wrong. So, she has actually convinced herself that the church(es) she's attended her entire life don't teach what they actually teach. She (because she does have an extremely strong relationship with the True God), doesn't believe the lies they tell about Him.  But, because she can't believe they are telling the lies, she has convinced herself they are saying something they are not  aying and not saying things they are saying.

I told her that the rationalization that the good things outweigh the bad was no longer working for me.  The thing that I had convinced myself was inconsequential (that G-d is even capable of sending people to Eternal Torment) had become poison to me. And, a little poison is not an OK thing.  Surely there was only a little poison in the Kool-Aid at Jonestown.  But, the people who drank it are still dead. The fact that the Kool-Aid was mostly good didn't mean it wasn't toxic.  The belief that G-d could create children to torment eternally is so damaging to Her character and to my relationship to Her that I cannot tolerate that belief, no matter how slickly it is packaged, swept under the rug, whitewashed or soft-peddled.  It infests everything about my relationship with G-d.   When I tried to cuddle up to this God, I was repulsed and full of fear.  The Bible says "Perfect love casts out all fear." (1 John 4:18)  Reading this verse used to bug me to no end (like many verses in the Bible).  I tried to cast out my own fear through sheer will-power. But, my fear could not be cast out. How could I not fear a monster like the god I believed in? The simple fact is that one teaching completely dominated my relationship with my heavenly Mother.  It is not a little thing. It is not a tolerable thing.  The Bible refers often to leaven equating it to sin.  It says how a little leaven effects the whole loaf.  The doctrine of ECT is like leaven, having a much larger impact that people have allowed themselves to believe. We become like the god we serve.  If we think our god makes disposable people, we'll treat people as if they are disposable. If we think our god demands that we "pay" for our every mistake, how can we possibly forgive others? 

I know I'll never find the perfect church.  As long as people are involved, there are going to be problems.  As long as there's more one person in the church, there are going to be conflicts. But, I have to find a place where people believe in the true Gospel of Grace and that our G-d does not create people to eternally torment them. For now, that's my internet community.  One day, G-d willing, maybe I'll find a group of people I can meet face-to-face that believes that G-d is as gracious as I believe She is. 

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (Part III)

Image via Wikipedia

Rhonda and I continue our wrestling over the church, its role and our role in it. This is good stuff.  So, I wanted to post some of it here.  This last go-round started when we were talking about churches and ministers constantly asking for money.  Actually, it started when Rhonda was a little put off by a ministry she follows doing a lot of tooting their own horn in a newsletter and asking for money (I hope that's a fair characterization).  It then branched into the role of the church in general with me giving more of the reasons for the "traditional" church and Rhonda speaking of the fact that is not a need for a large, structured church, for professional clergy and being turned off by churches asking for money.  It was "ironic" that this came up about a day after I had posted here about a worker being worthy of his wages.

On Dec 18, 2006, at 9:11 PM, rhonda yvonne wrote:

The problem I have, Brian, is that there's this idea out there that "the flock" are too dumb and must be "led" and "taught". It was one thing, back in the First Century, when nobody knew who Jesus was--that he was the promised Messiah. Since all know that now--what's the purpose? I know, I understand that there are humble pastors who simply serve--and places where all are equals. I think that's not the majority. And what's even as important--if not moreso--is that UR isn't being taught--hellfire or ED is. I could never try to get new people into a place that believes those things--no matter how many good works they do for the community. This is why I say it surprises me that so many U'ists as well as Preterists, remain in church and remain silent.--rhonda

Rhonda,

Here is a point I can agree with you on (even though I still think you have an irrational fear of churches. Is there such a think as churchophobia?). I am growing increasingly intolerant of teaching of ET, even if it's just an underlying theme. I'm also pretty much fed up with salvation by "free will" as Martin Zender calls it. Before I could sit and think of all of the wonderful things about a church (the worship, the ministries, the fellowship) and just ignore these things. But, I think that's largely because I really felt I had no choice. When I visited the Quaker church back in May, I started to feel maybe it was time for me to get out (even though that was not really the place for me). I visited another assembly this weekend. I got a great email from the Pastor (which I've asked for permission to post here).

The analogy that came to mind a few days ago was this. ET is poison. I wouldn't drink a drink that just had "a little" poison in it. The analogy given in the Bible over and over is leaven. A little leaven goes through the whole loaf. So, I agree with you about the ET thing. But, you need to have patience with people who may not be there yet. Also, the reverse can be true. If everyone who believes in Universalism and/or Preterism pulls out of the traditional churches, the inbreeding continues. Maybe we need to be there to be salt to them.

BTW, I'm going to post this on my blog, under the comments. Let me know if you mind. But, I think you've already given me blanket permission.

Peace,
B2

On Dec 19, 2006, at 10:59 AM, rhonda yvonne wrote:

Dear Brian, an irrational fear would be without reason, and I have reasons for my stance.  I am patient; I don't expect, when someone reads my posts, that person will just up and leave a church; and that's not my goal, anyway.  I keep putting my reasons out there, so that if anyone IS wanting to break away, they get a little affirmation and support from what I say.  It isn't easy to break away, even when a person really, really wants to--they need all the support they can get.

I think churches serve their purpose, just like parents do.  They rear a child.  When the child grows up, its time to move on and make his own home.  Many people want to move on; feel called to move on, but feel as if they would be abandoning their loved ones if they were to actually do it. Usually they've been told that its sinning to not attend any longer.  I've said many times, if one is happy in a church--that's fine with me, and my words won't mean much except maybe piss that person off for "dissing" something they're happy in.  But it isn't happy people I'm trying to reach, and I'll counterpoint their reasons for church, especially if those reasons are invalid,  for the sake of anyone reading who wants to leave church, but is having a difficult time doing it.  :)

I understand your reasons for attending church, and I'm happy that you aren't being held in something that you're miserable in for reasons such as:  Do not be forsaking the gathering of yourselves together--(one scripture churches use to keep members).  I will say that its difficult to be the "salt" in a place where one's "salt" must be kept quiet.  At the same time, I don't blame churches for not wanting what they believe to be heresies spread.  They want to protect the flock from these teachings--if they were to allow every kind of teaching, they would no longer be who they are:  standing for certain beliefs that make them them. One joins a church because of what the church is; now if one is unhappy with it, that's because the person has changed--what once appealed has lost that appeal.  What they taught was fine when the person joined; now its not so fine.  He can stay there, keeping silent about what he now believes is truth, stay and try to talk to others about it (which most likely won't work for very long,) or move on.  Personally, I'd feel like a hypocrite with the first option (staying silent) and staying silent is something I'm not good at. I can't be anywhere unless its whole-souled.   I would expect to get kicked out with the second option (speaking out about what I believe is truth,) and the 3rd option keeps me true to my beliefs while leaving the church in peace.

As long as a person is happy in his church, that's not a problem for me.

Of course, you can always use whatever I write, bro.  :) --rhonda

Thanks, Rhonda.  Well said.

I don't know that I agree with the parent analogy.  That's ONE aspect of church life.  I guess that I see it that after one grows up, one grows into a different relationship with the church.  Instead of just being fed, one helps do the feeding. But, if irreconcilable differences sprout up during that growing up process, one does need to move on.  And, you're right, fear keeps too many people in places where they don't belong.  One should NEVER stay out of fear.  Another point we agree on.

Of course you have reason for your stance.  My question was more about your fear being out of proportion to the true danger.  My perception is that you view churches as almost completely bad and without purpose.  You have clarified that recently.  (especially with this post).

As always, I appreciate the dialog and that we can have this discussion and perhaps help other make what is a difficult decision for them.  I wish we could do this on my blog.  This is some good stuff.

Another Church Visit

Image via WikipediaImage via Wikipedia

A couple of months ago I wrote an article called "Should I Stay or Should I Go?".  It was about my growing dissatisfaction with my current megachurch (The Vineyard in Cincinnati, OH).  Oh, the people there are very nice and the church does some wonderful things.  But, my personal theology seems to diverge with the teachings of the Vineyard more and more and I have felt less at ease there over the past several months.  For various reasons, I haven't attended there much over the past couple of months. Today, I decided to visit a church start-up that a friend of mine is helping with.  I had a very unusual experience while I was there.

The church is meeting in a dance studio. I'm guessing there were about 25-40 people in attendance.  The service was interesting.  My friend plays the keyboards and I enjoyed the music.  We sang a couple of Christmas carols- but not just your standard arrangements. We did "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" with a reggae flair and a Cajun version of another Christmas carol.  We even sang part of "Celebrate Me Home" (my all time favorite Kenny Loggins song).  There was a dance routine done to an acapella African American gospel song (We Are by Sweet Honey In the Rock).  The minister gave a "children's sermon" where the kids in the church came up with pillows and sat on the floor with him and had an interactive mini-sermon.  I thought that was particularly cool.  I love the fact that the children were included in the service.

The sermon was about an eXtreme Welcome. The gist of it was that all are welcome in the Kingdom and all are welcome at the church.  The church I visited is part of the United Church of Christ, which, as I understand it, is a very inclusive church.  The minister made the point (very clearly) that not only do they not exclude people (for attendance or for leadership) based on gender, sexual orientation, race, etc. etc. they seem to actively seek to be a diverse community.  I was the only African-American there.  But, in fairness, it's hard to be racially diverse in the area the church is meeting in.  Now, I've been to many churches who say "Come one, come all...".  But, once you get further into their message, you realize what they really mean is "Come and be like us.  If you aren't at first, that's OK, we'll assimilate you later." I was sitting there thinking.  "They seem to be welcoming.  But, are they really?"

The one thing I would have loved to see them do differently though, was to have made the service more interactive. One of the major problems I have with the traditional church service is the main part of the sermon (from my perspective anyway) is a download of data from the guy in charge to the listeners- a one way pipe.  It reminds me too much of all the training by firehose I had during my years in corporate America.  One advantage of having such a small group, I would like to have an opportunity for feedback or interaction during the sermon.  I saw this at the Quaker church I visited and I hear it in the Buddhist PodCasts I listen to.  I think it could be a major advantage to a small church.

After the service is where things really got interesting. I talked for quite a while to a couple who both had a very similar experience to me.  She was raised Pentecostal.  He's studied other religions (more than I have).  They both attended the Vineyard for years.  It was weird to talk about things like The Gospel of Thomas, Buddhism, Carlton Pearson, etc. and actually have people know what I was talking about.  We talked about how we had considered dropping out of Christianity/church because we didn't seem to be able to find a place to fit.  I get the feeling there are many people at this church who feel the same way.  And, when I told them I was a Universalist (with still a little trepidation), they didn't bat an eyelash.  It felt good to be able to actually be myself in church. 

The timing on this visit is a little weird.  As I've said earlier, I really don't think I can completely drop out of church life completely, if for no other reason, because of my wife and children.  But, I have been thinking about getting Martin Zender's "How to Quit Church Without Quitting God" for quite a while now and was just about to pick up a copy. It's pretty much next in my queue.  But, I'm not going to give up on church entirely just yet.

For those of you who are in the same position I am (on the fence).  If you're still attracted to Christianity and want to be part of a larger community but can't stand some of the things about the churches you've been to, you might want to check out the United Church of Christ.  I honestly don't know a whole about it right now.  But, what I know so far seems pretty good.

Peace,
Brian

The Worker Has a Right to His Reward

I feel pretty uncomfortable writing this post.  It's going to be hypocritical.  But, so be it.  For those of you who know me, you know I'm pretty cheap.  No.  I'm very cheap.  But, I'm going to encourage you to be generous.  Hopefully, you're better people than I am. ;-)

I was talking with Martin Zender the other day via email.  I wrote to him to ask him why the talks on his site had suddenly ended and I asked him why they weren't available in a more convenient format for me (PodCast or at least MP3- I mean come on Martin, it's 2006!).  He very politely and humbly replied to me that the financial needs of his ministry weren't being met.  Many people were using his resources but not helping foot the bill.  So, he was having to reevaluate how he was going to proceed.  Wow.  This was an eye-opener for me and forced me to really think about what my part in that was.

I think many (probably most) of us out here in cyberspace searching for spiritual food have been burned by the church in more ways than one.  One of those ways is they always seem to be begging for (demanding) money.  I know I'm tired of churches demanding my hard earned money to use for God knows what.  Here in cyberspace, we can eat spiritual food to our fill for free.  We have become accustomed to downloading papers, listening to talks, blogging on someone else's space, all at no cost to us.  When I visit someone's site and listen to their talks or download their papers, I assume they're doing OK financially.  Frankly, even if I do see one of those donation buttons on their site, I don't contribute nearly as often as I should.  Yes, I've dropped a few bucks in the bucket here and there.  I've been to Martin's site a few times over the last year (not regularly until recently) and I guess I had noticed the donation button there.  But, I hadn't contributed. I will pay for a guy's books (and I've bought four of Martin's).  But, I just assumed he was OK financially and didn't really need my donation to keep on going.  Perhaps that was a bad assumption on my part.

I'd like to encourage you that if you are taking advantage of a cyber-ministry to contribute financially.  If the guy has a donation button on his site, maybe he needs the donation to keep his ministry going. Even if he doesn't "need" it, doesn't it make sense to pay for what we take?  As He sent the apostles on a mission Jesus said

"And in that house remain, eating and drinking the things they have, for worthy [is] the
workman of his hire; go not from house to house"  (Luke 10:7). 

One thing I find interesting is in today's environment, is it is the worker who remains in the same house.  We flit from place to place taking a little here and a little there.  As we do this, let's be mindful of paying the workman.  We should pay for what we take and to enable him to continue to spread the message to others.

P.S.- In addition to financial contributions, it's nice to take the time to write to the guy whose stuff you are reading.  Let him know you appreciate it (or hate it).  It's hard to keep talking into cyberspace with no feedback.  You can quickly feel like your efforts aren't worth it. Just a short note to someone can really recharge their batteries.

P.P.S.- No, this is not a sideways appeal for money for me.  I do not accept donations for this blog.  That way I can say with not a iota of guilt that it's worth every penny you pay for it ;-)

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Image via Wikipedia

Every once in a while there is an event that gives you a little clearer view of human nature. Sometimes you’ll see something you would like to see in others or yourself.  Sometimes that’s a pleasant surprise.  Often it’s something you wish weren’t there.  My family had an event on Friday that revealed some good, some bad and some ugly- all within a small event and a few short hours.  Unfortunately, I saw some of the bad and ugly in me.  More than I hoped was there.

It started when my 10 year old daughter took her wallet with a good chunk of her life’s savings shopping with her.  She’s a tight-wad (like her Dad) and never wants to spend any of her own money.  She was actually going to wait for the game she wanted to go “on sale”.  But, we convinced her to spend her birthday money.  She has accumulated from birthdays and allowance over a pretty long period of time.  So, it was a pretty good chunk of her life’s savings that she had in the house. I had told my wife for months that my daughter shouldn’t have so much money in the house.  But, I hadn’t taken the initiative to put the money into her bank account.  So, when my wife asked my daughter to get her money to go shopping, she stuffed her little red wallet into her pocket and headed out the door.

Once they got into the store, my wife asked my daughter where her money was.   My daughter realized the wallet wasn’t in her pocket and told my wife she had left it at home.  She said she had left it at home, even though, in the car, she had told my wife that she had it in her pocket.   My wife assumed she had left it at home.  So, they did their shopping and came home, looking for the wallet.

Quickly, we realized the wallet was not in the house.  After a couple of thorough inspections of the car, we realized the wallet was not in the car either.  My wife and I both began giving our young daughter the third degree.  Doing my best Detective Columbo, I deduced that the wallet must have been lost in the store parking lot. We barraged her with questions.  “Did you put the wallet in your pocket?” “Where were you when you put your coat on?”  “Did you zip your pocket?”  We were pretty sure it had left the house.  Our daughter said she remembered putting it in her pocket.   It wasn’t in the car.  And, she had lost it before they got into the store. My daughter, already distraught about losing the money was now getting a double-barreled lecture on responsibility. This is where things turned ugly.  My wife accused of her lying because while they were at the store, my daughter said she had left the wallet at home.  Then, my wife and I began arguing because I thought she was being too hard on my daughter.  Even while I was telling myself I should take the blame for so much money being lost, in the back of my mind, I was blaming my wife.  She’s the one who makes the bank deposits.  Why hadn’t she taken the money and put it in the bank?   She should have checked to make sure my daughter had the wallet secured stowed when she got out of the car.  She should have not allowed my daughter to take the entire amount to the store since she needed less than half of it to make the purchase. Of course, I knew better than to argue about that stuff.  So, I made up something trivial to argue about instead. The whole house was out of kilter for the entire afternoon all over the loss of an amount of money that was really insignificant in the grand scheme of things.  I was disappointed at how easily we turned on each other over the loss of a few dollars.  My wife was thinking my daughter lied about leaving the wallet at home.  I was disappointed she was not responsible enough to put the wallet in her pocket securely.  She even claimed she had zipped the pocket and the wallet must have fallen out anyway.  I was furious.  I told her to face the truth.  Don’t make things up. How could a wallet fall out of a zipped pocket?  (By the way, after things calmed down I realized the most likely scenario for how the wallet got lost is this...  My daughter had put the wallet into her pocket after she had put her gloves in the pocket.  I later learned that she had put her gloves on after she got to the store.  So, it’s likely that she did put the wallet into her pocket securely, as she had claimed and had even zipped her pocket closed. But, when she pulled her gloves out, they pulled the wallet out at the same time and it fell to the ground.)

If that were the end of the story, it would have been enough of a lesson for one day.  But, I suggested we call the store to see if anyone had turned the wallet in.  I had very little hope anyone would turn it in.  After all, it was a wallet full of cash lying in a store parking lot.  There was no identification in it.  It would be so easy to take the cash and toss the little cheap red wallet.  Of course, I’d never do that.  I’m a good Christian who always does the right thing.  But, other people don’t have such a highly developed sense of morals.  Surely, whoever found the wallet would pocket the cash.  But, on the slight chance that the one other person in the world who is as good as I am found the wallet, my wife called the store and asked if anyone had turned the wallet in. The answer, of course, was no.  But, for some reason, my wife decided to call back later and ask again.  A miracle! Some Good Samaritan had actually been the one to find the wallet.  He had taken it to the front desk of the store.  But, the wallet was not there!  The Good Samaritan had as much mistrust in human nature as we did.  He had not left the wallet at the desk.  Instead, he had reported that he found it and left his name and telephone number.  He said if someone calls about the lost wallet, give them my name and telephone number.  He did not trust the employees of the store to do the right thing, as he had done.  The store employee my wife spoke with mistrusted the man as much as he had mistrusted the store personnel.  She said “Ma’m, I wouldn’t meet this many anywhere.”  My wife, being as mistrusting as the next person, thought the man’s request to meet her was strange (as did I).  Instead of meeting him, she asked him to just mail it to us.   So, surrounding this act of kindness (reporting the missing wallet) was an enormous amount of mistrust.

I found out about my wife’s conversation with the man after the fact.  It did indeed seem strange.  Why wouldn’t he just leave the wallet?  Was it some sort of trap wanting to meet the owner of the wallet?  It was obvious it was a child’s wallet. What weird things were going through his head?  I called him to ask if we could arrange to meet.  Really, I was wondering if this guy was really going to stick the wallet in the mail or just decide it wasn’t worth the hassle.  I preferred to meet him and get the money back right away.  When I called, he was extremely pleasant on the phone explaining that it was obvious to him it was a child’s wallet and that if one of his children had lost it, he’d certainly hope that someone would return it.   I told him how grateful we were that he had been so honest.  But, still mistrusting him ever so slightly, I asked if I could meet him to pick up the wallet.  But, he told me he had already put it in the mail.  So, as of Sunday when I’m writing this, I’m waiting for Monday to roll around to see if we actually get the money back.

This could have been a pretty good Christmas miracle story. OK, not the most dramatic one ever.  But, it is really cool that the man who found the wallet thought enough about a little girl that he didn’t know to make the effort to return it. The guy even paid the postage to send it back.  I’d like to focus solely on this. But, I can’t ignore the bad and the ugly and only see the good in this.  Sure, a stranger turned in a tempting amount of cash he could have easily taken.  But, I saw how petty I am.  I saw how I cast blame on everyone but myself about the loss of the money.  I saw how even a man who obviously has a good amount of integrity himself didn’t trust the employees at the store to do the same thing. I saw how the store employees didn’t trust a man who was willing to give spend his time standing in line to talk to them, who said he had found money and who left his name and phone number.  Neither my wife nor I trusted the man either, even though we had been given no good reason not to trust him and a pretty good reason to trust him.

Human nature… It’s fascinating.  We are so good at seeing the good in ourselves, while we struggle so much to see it in others.  We fool ourselves into thinking we are the only good people in the world while those around us will take advantage of us at any opportunity. I’m grateful for days like Friday that help me see the things I need to improve in myself and, at the same time, make me realize I need to work harder at seeing the good in others.

p.s.- the wallet came back in the mail on Monday, completely in tact.

The Bucks Are National Champs

Image via WikipediaImage via WikipediaImage via WikipediaI don't normally write about sports and I know many of you couldn't care less. But, I've got to say  something about my Ohio State Buckeyes now that USC has fall to UCLA.  For so many years, I've been right there with those who want a national championship game.  Now, the BCS has supposedly given us that.  The best two teams in the country are supposed to square off in the BCS Championship Game on January 8th.  That's all well and good when you have two teams of relatively equal stature left at the end of the regular season.  But, this year, we have a clear national champion, the Ohio State Buckeyes.  The Buckeyes are the only major team in the country with an unblemished record.  OK, you want us to play Boise State for the National Championship? Bring it on!

Ohio State has already beaten two number twos- Texas early in the season and Michigan (the second best team in the country) late in the season.  While Florida and Michigan both make their claims to play Ohio State, neither team can legitimately claim the national championship- even if the beat Ohio State.  If Ohio State loses to either, neither will have proved they are superior to Ohio State.  We've already beaten Michigan and won the Big 10 Conference.  We've already beaten other high caliber teams and we went undefeated.  If Florida were to happen to beat Ohio State, we'd both have one loss records.  What do we do then?  Play Florida in a tie-breaker?  While I think Michigan is probably the better team, at least Florida can make the claim they haven't had their shot at Ohio State yet.

So, bring on number two. We'll play 'em.  But, the Buckeyes will always be the 2006-2007 National Champions in this fan's heart.

I'm Still Alive

Image by BrianWestChest via Flickr

I guess it's been over a month since I really wrote anything for the blog.  I've been in a strange mood over the last month.  It's probably from a combination of several things- not having much to say, being very busy with my start up company, the lack of sunlight (I struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder- when the days get short, my energy level decreases).  This used to lead to a short-term depression.  Now it's not so much depression as just lack of energy to do much in the evening after the sun goes down or in the morning before the sun comes up, leaving me a very short window this time of year to get things done.  I've been pouring the little energy I have into keeping the business and the home running.

Franky, another factor is that there aren't many comments left here.  It's a lot easier to get motivated to write if I know people are reading and care about what I'm writing.  Getting comments, even if they are negative or disagree with my POVs helps me feel like the blog is doing some good.  I should know better from the days when I used to evangelize and hope to score ticky points as I got someone to convert.  I finally realized that my job was not to cause the fruit to grow but to plant the seed.  I know that much of what we do in this life has a tremendous impact that we mostly will never see.  A kind word here.  An invitation there.  A path on the back that we think is no big deal.  These things can literally be life changing for others. We shouldn't allow the lack of feedback prevent us from always putting our best out there for the benefit of others.  So, lack of comments is not an acceptable excuse for not writing- bad Brian!

I guess the last thing that has kept me from writing so much here is I have become more and more convinced of Universalism and I've already put many of my reasons here.  I don't want to just keep saying the same things over and over again.  Also, if I'm being honest with myself, I think when I started this, part of the reason was to convince myself about universalism and to connect with like-minded people who could reinforce that belief.  I no longer need the reinforcement (at least not as much).  One of the best arguments I've ever heard for Universalism was also one of the simplest.  Someone asked a guy who came to a list I belong to how he became convinced of Universalism.  His answer was simply that he could not imaginge that he was better (more loving) than God.

Here we are two weeks from the Winter Solstice- the shortest day of the year.  I literally see this time of year as sinking sinking into a black hole.  But, the Winter Solstice brings hope because we're on the way back out as the days slowly get longer instead of shorter. I'm going to try to get more motivated to write.  At least this post is a first step. Pat on the back for me.  ;-)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Talk soon...

Peace,
Brian