Love Thy Neighbor

I went to two very different church services today, and I've been pondering the words of both ministers/pastors/brothers (whichever you prefer).

One this morning made his viewpoint very clear about how he sees people from other religions, how they need the word brought to them but he doesn't even want to associate with them. That the way for this church to grow is to do everything possible to get butts in the seats.

I just felt rubbed the wrong way about those statements. This was one of several tiny churches in a tiny town. Maybe the reason the seats aren't filled in this church is because they're filled in another. Maybe they are getting the word, just not in here. Or maybe, just maybe, people of the community have been rubbed the wrong way and don't want to come to this church anymore.

I'm not saying I dislike this church. There are a lot of good, wonderful brothers and sisters of Christ in there. But if the pews are empty, then there is probably something that isn't going well within the group. I'd much rather focus on taking the word out to the community and inviting them into the church home, but I don't think the ministering needs to be in the church. What about going out to the disabled, and the homeless? What about hosting community events to bring people of all walks of life together? We don't need a church building. Nobody does. If you think you do, try being an evangelist in a third world country. You'll probably have a big wake up.

I think what bothered me most was what was said about other religions. The religion in question was Islam, and Muslim people being an enemy of God. The kingdom of God belongs to God alone, and there is no way that I can ever understand the greatness of his power. The only people I know who could be enemies of God are the ones who denounce His existence, and even then they aren't even enemies, simply part of his lost flock. The point is, I don't believe that athiests, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindis, etc, are my enemies. They are my neighbors. Many are my friends. As much as I dislike certain Christian organizations, the Jed-heads and Westboro Baptist church family are my neighbors as well.

In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus reiterates some of the laws of the Lord that were given to Moses.


“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”


In my second church service today, we talked about the parable of the Good Samaritan found in the Gospel of Luke. I knew from the childhood Sunday school stories that Samaritans were thought of by the Jews as bad people, and accepted it simply because that's how it was explained to me.

I learned in my house church, however, the background story of how Samaritans came to be. If you read in the Bible, there is quite a recurring theme of kings who trust in the Lord followed by kings who do wickedness in the eyes of the Lord, and then the people of Israel get captured and turned into slaves (happens in Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria [Syria], and Rome just to name a few), but in one such case with the Babylonians/Assyrians, many of the leaders of the Israelites were taken from their homes in Israel and Judah, and after years and years of slavery they were finally released and allowed to come back. What the new leaders found was that the Babylonians and Assyrians who had resided in the land of the Israelites intermarried with them, and so there were lots of 'half-breeds' running around. There became a new law banishing these half breeds from the town, treating them as though they were sub-level creatures of the Earth. The Samaritans, as they were labeled, continued to believe that God blessed them, and worshiped mostly at a nearby mountain. (Giving quite a general overview here, I apologize). 


So back to the parable of the Good Samaritan. The context is that Jesus is approached by a man of the law who wanted to test Jesus, and asked him how to acquire God's favor and eternal life. I'll copy and paste the passage from Luke 10:25-37 :Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."

Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Now, with my new understanding of Samaritans, this story takes on a new realm. This Samaritan, in the 1st century Jew's eyes, would never be the 'good guy'. Samaritans were evil. Half breeds. Not even close to God's love. There is so much disdain for them that the expert in the law will not even answer Jesus that the Samaritan was the neighbor; he answers 'the one who had mercy on him.' The Jews believed that the Priest, the head of the Temple would. Well, he must've had his reasons why not. The man was probably unclean! Well the Levite would! They have always been a favored family of the Israelites. Well, I'm sure he didn't want to become unclean either. Both of these men, who were clearly in God's favor, did nothing to help their fellow Jew. Instead, it was the unlikely half breed. The Samaritan felt compassion for him.


Imagine telling a modern example of this parable to a former slave owner post civil war; that if he lie dying on the ground that neither his white slave driver or his white retired Confederate neighbor would stop to help, but a newly freed black man. Say, what? 


Everyone is your neighbor.Westboro. Brother Jed. The Hindu family from India that just moved into your apartment complex. The homeless man that collects aluminum cans from your garbage. The perverted guy who hits on you at the bar. The drunk sorority girl who skips class. The campus minister that preaches things you really don't agree with. Members of Al Quaida. All of these people are my neighbors. Do I treat them as I should?


No. I will admit it. I have lied to beggars, saying that I have nothing. I have ignored the homeless in my backyard. I have talked badly about fraternity guys and sorority girls and their immoral habits. How am I being a neighbor to them? I'm not.


I need to love all of these people as myself. That doesn't mean that I should give all my money to a homeless woman strung out on drugs that swears she's just hungry. What I could do is buy her a meal, though. To offer her a sweater I don't need to keep her warm. 

I want to become a better person. I need to love these people. I need to pray for these people. I think the first step is opening my eyes. I don't know what my plan of action is, but I think I'm making baby steps in the right direction.                                    
Give me your eyes for just one second.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNS7GclZ7vg&feature=view_all&list=PLC78F3C1164E6281B&index=3

Are my pets being baby substitutes???

I'll preface stating that I have two cats, both just under three years old. I won't bore you with details about their adorableness; it will annoy you and it goes without saying anyway.

The thing is, I don't think a lot of people are as attached openly to their pets. I need to make myself admit that when I am gone for a few hours from my apartment, I find myself missing their snuggly, furry company.

I love being needed. I love taking care of them. I love when they take over my lap and take a nap. I even enjoy cleaning up after them. It makes me wonder if my hormones are a little out of whack.

I do want kids someday. I'm in this weird stage in my life where half of my friends and cousins around my age are getting married and having babies. As soon as one wedding happens, another friend is engaged and is planning their wedding. While that is happening, another friend, whose wedding I went to not too long ago, is pregnant, and so there are baby showers being held.

Me? I ended a dysfunctional relationship that took up almost 3 years of my college career, and have now been dating a wonderful guy for a year. I'm not quite ready to make a commitment that means forever yet, but I'm craving the thrills of bachelorette parties, wedding planning, and baby showers. It honestly doesn't help that both my sister AND my mother got married this past summer (just over a month apart, mind you).

I think that I get a little jealous and crave the attention that everyone is getting because someday I do want to get married and have children. I think that the way I keep myself from going nuts is by acting the mommy to my kitty babies. They are definitely independent beings, but they also love me like crazy and are needy for attention when I come in the door.

Another aspect that keeps me in check is that I know that often divorce in America these days contributes to not really getting to know and understand the person you're committing to until after the vows were taken. To me, marriage isn't supposed to be a business contract, where if he screws up on his end of the deal you'll be over and he'll owe you money. It's about being a family. Becoming a single unit. I want to make sure that I know exactly what I'm getting myself into before going down the aisle.

I also know that I don't want to have kids until I am married. There are definitely some great couples out there having children and staying happy without being married. The sad thing is that the happy ending is not what usually happens. I know a girl who lost her virginity to a guy she had just started dating, and even though they used protection, she got pregnant after the first time. She told him, and he wanted her to get rid of it, but she morally could not do so. Now he claims that it was from someone else and that he knew nothing about it. She's definitely a strong girl, and she's going to make it through (she's about 7 months along now), but I know that this isn't what she wanted. I know that she would have much rather wanted a guy who would stick around and want to be a part of her and their child's life. This has really happened to at least 4 friends and personal acquaintances of mine. The guy I'm dating is not this type, but it's easier for me to just avoid all the dramatic possibilities completely.

It's a tough world out there. It is implied in stories that when you love someone that everything will work out, but it doesn't. Better to make the best of everyday, and work through problems with love and understanding as best I can. In the mean time, I will probably continue to spoil my kitty babies with love (not food, one is definitely getting overweight). It calms the desires just enough to hold off until it's really my turn.

Blame the people

I don't know why, but lately it's been bugging me when I hear someone blame objects, things, for the bad things or results.

Like in court these days, we can prove that music, movies, and video games cause people to kill each other. Um, no. You couldn't PAY me to believe that. Guns do not kill people. People kill people. People create the weapons, which then are used to kill other people. Violence in movies, music, and video games do not make people do any thing. We always have a choice.

We have a choice to believe that orange is really blue, and blue is really green. We can call a pencil a frindle or a crayon. We are given freedom of choice from birth here in America. In some countries, your beliefs can easily get your whole family murdered. Here? Instead of worrying about how to feed a family on less than a dollar a day we blame our weight problems on McDonald's. Who chose to buy the 2 Big Mac's with large fries and a large soda? Oh, that would be you, not McDonald's.

Blame the real problem. We dig our own graves. We gain weight because we don't eat right. We have prejudice because we refuse to understand others. We get in fights because we don't try to listen and choose to hear what we want. We kill people because it's the easy way out of fixing problems.

Hate your life? Stop blaming others. Do something about it. Be who you want to be. Sounds silly, but I used to watch Westerns with my dad, and in the movie Silverado, there is a very small woman named Stella who said, "The world is what you make of it friend. If it doesn't fit, make alterations."

Imagine what the world would be if we all had the same positive outlook on our mishaps. Imagine what we could do. Now, go and be. Be the change you want to see in the world.

The Lenten season

If you go into Wikipedia, Lent is generally described as the following:

"Lent in the Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Conventionally, it is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently. The forty days represent the time that, according to the Bible, Jesus spent in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.

This practice was virtually universal in Christendom until the Protestant Reformation. Some Protestant churches do not observe Lent, but many, such as Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists and Anglicans, do."

"There are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigour during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbour). Today, some people give up a vice of theirs, add something that will bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations."

How it was explained to me was that during Lent you give up something that you don't really need, and during the time you would normally be spending doing whatever it was you gave up, you used that time to dedicate yourself in prayer, studying the Word, and just becoming closer to God. I didn't really practice it much as a child because I didn't understand it.

What I don't understand as an adult is how Lent became a diet regiment. I do not want to label any group of people, and more than anything, I blame tradition and lack of understanding. Growing up, I saw where people were giving up soda, giving up junk food, giving up beef, or meat in general for forty days. Maybe giving these up brought them closer to God, and if so, I am not going to judge them. What I don't understand is the lack of God in Lent.

Yes, Lent is a tradition through the church. We do not need tradition to be closer to God. Got it. I'm just saying that if you're going to give something up, why is it for your benefit and not for His?

If you read this and practice Lent through your church, I challenge you to try making a real sacrifice this year:

**Like to gossip? Don't participate for 40 days. Tell your friends you aren't interested, and don't repeat to anyone hearsay that is hurtful to another human being.
**Like to buy coffee every morning? Make it at home, and give the money you would've used to your church or a charity of your choice.
**Like to read novels for leisure? Try reading a devotional or Bible guide during your reading hours. There are so many out there, Google or ask friends for recommendations.
**A lot of extra free time? Volunteer it away with your church or a charity.
**Honestly need to lose weight? Join a program or start a work out regiment with a friend, and make time to pray for each other's health every day.
**Struggling with time, finances, and friendship? Wake up ten minutes earlier every day and just spend it in prayer. Pray for your family, time, finances, and friendship. Pray as if He's real and as if He's listening.

A sacrifice, by definition, is an act of an offering; destruction or surrendering something for the sake of something else. It's not supposed to be comfortable. It's not supposed to feel good at first. It's about learning what we can live without, and giving the glory to God.

You don't have to be religious to practice meanings of Lent. If you don't believe, I would still challenge you to give up something for the better of the world and the people who live in it.