A hot topic, for sure. I won't pretend to have any answers, but I just wanted to share my observation and maybe ask some questions of my own.
It is not terribly often that I have witnessed, first hand, racism. It's even more rare that I have been the person discriminated against. Yesterday the whole family spent the whole morning in Minneapolis at the only eye clinic that could fit Lori in right away. Robbie had accidentally scratched her eye and she was in so much pain that she was completely unable to function or even open her eyes for more than a couple seconds. In this particular clinic, there were two waiting rooms. The first was for people who had checked in or were filling out paperwork. The second was for people who had been into an examination room and been seen initially by someone who took down basic information about the problem and in Lori's case, gave her some pain-relieving eye drops to help her wait until the doctor was ready.
So we are in the second waiting room, which is pretty full when we arrive. A man got up and moved to another seat just so that we would all be able to sit together. My main focus was on keeping Robbie distracted so Lori can try to stay still and rest. But, as is often the case, our little ham had the attention of almost everybody in the room. So I was having him practice greeting people, be polite with please and thank you, and to be respectful of other people's space. As a natural consequence of this, I was paying very close attention to the other people in the room. Watching their words and body language to make sure that Robbie wasn't bothering them. There were a couple construction workers, a white woman and her teenage daughter, a white couple in their late 30s- early 40s with what appeared to be a set of their parents, a young black girl, an older white couple and several groups of Muslim women.
So I'm watching the people. The white woman with her daughter kept trying to wave to Robbie, but he would be shy and hide behind my leg. The two Muslim women closest to us were also smiling at him, but not terribly interested. The middle aged couple with their parents were very engaged and were good about helping Robbie practice his manners when I sent him across the room to throw away a granola bar wrapper. When he did that, I noticed that an older Muslim woman on the far side of the room saw him coming and put her head scarf up over her mouth. While he was over there, the older white couple came in and sat down 3 or 4 seats away from her. I watched as she glanced over and kept her hand at her mouth. I'm the kind of person who really tends to give people the benefit of the doubt. I thought that maybe she was just concerned about germs. Little kids are often cesspools of disease, and you never know what kind of bug someone else is carrying around. So I let it go. But when the older white couple that was sitting near her got up and left, the look of contempt on her face as she took her hand away from her mouth was unmistakable. Shortly after, another Muslim woman came and sat near her, an act which she did not respond to. But when I got up to take Robbie outside to look at the fountain outside, again her hand clamped over her mouth.
I'm not mad at her for treating me, my kid and that other couple like smelly barnyard animals. I'm just sad. Sad that my kid is growing up in a world where things like this still happen. Sad that I'm going to need to explain to him when he's older that some people hate other people for looking or believing differently. Sad that instead of allowing my son to brighten her day, she chose contempt at being in the same room.
I've seen it from all kinds of people in my life. I've seen white people using racial slurs against blacks, Asians and Middle-Easterners. I've witnessed mistrust directed at my Iranian classmate and my Egyptian friend. I've witnessed a group of young black men shouting profanities at white people who dared to have business in their neighborhood. I've seen people roll their eyes as I walked past them with Hispanic friends. I've witnessed many different people of different nationalities saying horrible things about Jews. I've even been accused of disliking someone because of the color of their skin (when in truth, I really didn't want to be around ANYONE that day). Like I said, I don't have any answers. Just a deep sadness in my heart that this is a problem we still deal with on an ongoing basis. I don't know how to cure our world of this plague. I'm sad that I have to teach my son that racism is an ongoing part of our culture instead of a sad chapter of our history. But for my part, I will also teach him to look at each person as a person, not a color or religion. That there are beautiful people and there are truly ugly people. To appreciate kindness, empathy and justice and to pray for the sadness, anger and brokenness of our world. To stick up for the downtrodden, to believe in liberty and justice, to help those in need and to stand up to those who would take from someone else to serve their own desires. I'll teach him that he alone is responsible for every word, action and feeling he has. That it's ok to be angry at injustice, but not because someone hurt his feelings. To be passionate about standing up for truth. To be wise when deciding who to allow himself to be influenced by. To hold everything to the moral standard of God, who ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, but also drove out the money changers and rebuked the Pharisees. Those are the things I want to teach my kid, not that he's unclean for breathing the same air as someone else.
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
A few days ago on May 20, a young man died. This isn't unusual. Thousands of young men die every day. A large number die from cancer and other terminal diseases. But this particular young man has gained a lot of national attention due in part to his condition - osteosarcoma, but mainly due to his attitude towards life and death. Zach Sobiech was diagnosed with his cancer as a teenager. After failed treatment after failed treatment, he decided he wanted to live the rest of his life, however long that may be, with all the verve possible. He took to writing songs to his friends and family as his own way of saying goodbye. He was never likely to be a big star, but his songs are catchy and fairly well written.
A documentary was produced about him and released on YouTube just a couple weeks before his death, and has been making the rounds on social media for the past couple days. The vast majority of comments are supportive - offering condolences and prayers to his family, saying they love his music, asking who's been cutting onions, etc. But as with anything online that goes viral and has a comments section, there are detractors as well. Most of these comments can be shrugged off as coming from insensitive jerks who don't seem to realize that what they view on the internet is often a huge part of someone else's real life. There's a detachment from reality that some people have when they sit at a keyboard or watch something on the screen of their phone. A feeling of everything existing for their entertainment. That's sad, but a topic for another rant.
The one comment (now deleted) that really got to me was in response to another, more positive comment. Someone had said something about how brave Zach was. So this other person decided that was a perfect opportunity to go into a long, multi-post rant about his perception of bravery. The part that really caught my attention said "you don't have to be brave to die from a disease, you just have to die."
My initial thought was anger at the disrespect shown for a family who just lost their son, and disgust at the kind of human slime that would insult a dead kid who isn't even buried yet, but as I thought about the comment, I had to agree. It takes no bravery at all to die from something you can't control.
But Zach was brave. I've known quite a few people who have died from terminal illnesses. Some become bitter and angry at their situation. Some go on pretending nothing has changed. Some resolutely accept their fate and eventually just fade away. But some, a very small some, take those words from the doctors, the words that tell them they only have weeks or months to live, and turn them around to make the most of the time they have left. These people are brave. Not for staring down the corridor of death at their own mortality, but for determining that when they go, the world will be a better place because they lived. They love, they advocate, they raise awareness. They create. Through those actions, they inspire. They cause people to stop for a moment, and consider the value of their own life. They force the question: if I died tomorrow, would the world be better because I had lived?
There are two kinds of self improvement. The first is the kind you find shelves upon shelves of books about. How to lose weight, how to be more organized, how to be a better manager, how to be better at being you. This kind of self improvement, while there's nothing inherently wrong with it, is selfish. You want to improve because it benefits you in some way. The second kind of self improvement is the kind people like Zach inspire. The kind that says I don't want to be a better person because it will make my life better. I want to be a better person because it will make the lives of other people better. I want to use my energy to make this world a better place for everyone else. So no, Zach was not brave because he got cancer and died from it. Zach was brave because he dared to live his life in a way that made the whole world sit up and take notice. He lived what little was left of his life making sure that those around him were learning, loving, and growing. That is bravery.
A documentary was produced about him and released on YouTube just a couple weeks before his death, and has been making the rounds on social media for the past couple days. The vast majority of comments are supportive - offering condolences and prayers to his family, saying they love his music, asking who's been cutting onions, etc. But as with anything online that goes viral and has a comments section, there are detractors as well. Most of these comments can be shrugged off as coming from insensitive jerks who don't seem to realize that what they view on the internet is often a huge part of someone else's real life. There's a detachment from reality that some people have when they sit at a keyboard or watch something on the screen of their phone. A feeling of everything existing for their entertainment. That's sad, but a topic for another rant.
The one comment (now deleted) that really got to me was in response to another, more positive comment. Someone had said something about how brave Zach was. So this other person decided that was a perfect opportunity to go into a long, multi-post rant about his perception of bravery. The part that really caught my attention said "you don't have to be brave to die from a disease, you just have to die."
My initial thought was anger at the disrespect shown for a family who just lost their son, and disgust at the kind of human slime that would insult a dead kid who isn't even buried yet, but as I thought about the comment, I had to agree. It takes no bravery at all to die from something you can't control.
But Zach was brave. I've known quite a few people who have died from terminal illnesses. Some become bitter and angry at their situation. Some go on pretending nothing has changed. Some resolutely accept their fate and eventually just fade away. But some, a very small some, take those words from the doctors, the words that tell them they only have weeks or months to live, and turn them around to make the most of the time they have left. These people are brave. Not for staring down the corridor of death at their own mortality, but for determining that when they go, the world will be a better place because they lived. They love, they advocate, they raise awareness. They create. Through those actions, they inspire. They cause people to stop for a moment, and consider the value of their own life. They force the question: if I died tomorrow, would the world be better because I had lived?
There are two kinds of self improvement. The first is the kind you find shelves upon shelves of books about. How to lose weight, how to be more organized, how to be a better manager, how to be better at being you. This kind of self improvement, while there's nothing inherently wrong with it, is selfish. You want to improve because it benefits you in some way. The second kind of self improvement is the kind people like Zach inspire. The kind that says I don't want to be a better person because it will make my life better. I want to be a better person because it will make the lives of other people better. I want to use my energy to make this world a better place for everyone else. So no, Zach was not brave because he got cancer and died from it. Zach was brave because he dared to live his life in a way that made the whole world sit up and take notice. He lived what little was left of his life making sure that those around him were learning, loving, and growing. That is bravery.
Monday, January 16, 2012
In response to the YouTube video "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus"
First, watch the video here.
n] 
So I believe what the original video says is true. But here's the problem - people who are railing against this video are defining religion as #2 above. A specific set of beliefs. Nothing wrong with that, it's a valid definition, and by that definition, the original video does indeed make absolutely no sense. But if you view the video through the lens of definition #5 as its creator intended, the video really does make a lot of sense. It's actually something the topsouljas guy commented on - that the rituals and practice of religion won't save you. It's not that I or this Jeff from the original video believe that what we practice is not religion, but that what we do and why is not relevant to the definition that many people think of when they hear the word religion, which is #5 up there. Many people in our world, and these are the people that my church is dedicated to reaching out to, have been burned by religion. They were forced to go to church as a kid by parents who didn't do what they heard. They saw a lot of do-this, do-that, stand up, sit down, kneel, sing this, chant that, but not very much practical, day to day, living out a love of Jesus. They saw the Holy Communion as anything BUT communion with a loving god who wants more than anything to bring us into his family. They saw the practicing of religion, but not the need for it.
At about 7:37 into his video, TheAmazingAtheist starts on a little rant after a clip from the original video. "He took what we all deserve? We all deserve to be beaten and nailed to some sticks? We all deserve to burn in hell for all eternity? We all deserve that? Who the f*** deserves that?" At this point in his video, I was sitting in my office, actually just saying "YES" to every question he asked. Yes. We all deserve to be beaten and nailed up until we suffocate on our own blood. Yes. We all deserve to burn in hell for all eternity. From Romans: 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
He talks about how according to the video, helping an old lady cross the street or serving at a soup kitchen don't mean anything. How all your good acts are worthless if you don't have Jesus. He said it in a sarcastic way, but the answer really is "yes". The reason there are so many religious laws, specifically in the Old Testament, is to show not how much more righteous one person is than another, but as an illustration that no matter what we do, no matter how many rules we obey, no matter who we help cross the street, we can never live up to God's perfect standard. This is the basic premise of Christianity. This is the very meaning of grace. If we could somehow earn our way into heaven, or more to the point, out of hell, then the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross would be meaningless. If I could do it on my own, Jesus didn't need to die. But that's the whole point. Your good deeds, no matter how good, cannot measure up to perfection, and God's standard, the minimum he will accept, is perfection. Jason Gray wrote about it in his song "Everything I Own" which is in turn based on a passage in the Bible that says essentially the same thing.
Isaiah 64:6 - All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Here are a couple verses of Jason's song:
All I’ve accomplished, the titles I hold
My passions, position, possessions and gold
To God they must look like a thimble of foam
And it’s everything that I own
Dirty rags are all that I own
So I stand before God with my stubble and hay
He just laughs, but says there’s still a way
Because “Father, Forgive” are the words Jesus moaned
When He gave everything that He owned.
If you want to learn more about the concept of Jesus vs. Religion, I invite you to check out www.religionisalie.com. The videos there are all people I know personally, who I can say with confidence live their lives in a way that desperately seeks God. They are not people who dilute the truth in order to appeal to anyone. It's not marketing. It's a belief that a relationship with Jesus is the only way to heaven.
-Adam
Then, if you're feeling adventurous, watch some of the reply videos. My post is more in reply to them than the original video. Specifically, the responses by TheAmazingAtheist (language warning there) and topsouljas1, who are an atheist and a Christian, respectively. I think the problem comes with how people are defining religion. So let's define religion. Here's Webster's take on it:
re·li·gion
[ri-lij-uhn] noun
1.
2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generallyagreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefsand practices: a world council of religions.
4.
the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.
So I believe what the original video says is true. But here's the problem - people who are railing against this video are defining religion as #2 above. A specific set of beliefs. Nothing wrong with that, it's a valid definition, and by that definition, the original video does indeed make absolutely no sense. But if you view the video through the lens of definition #5 as its creator intended, the video really does make a lot of sense. It's actually something the topsouljas guy commented on - that the rituals and practice of religion won't save you. It's not that I or this Jeff from the original video believe that what we practice is not religion, but that what we do and why is not relevant to the definition that many people think of when they hear the word religion, which is #5 up there. Many people in our world, and these are the people that my church is dedicated to reaching out to, have been burned by religion. They were forced to go to church as a kid by parents who didn't do what they heard. They saw a lot of do-this, do-that, stand up, sit down, kneel, sing this, chant that, but not very much practical, day to day, living out a love of Jesus. They saw the Holy Communion as anything BUT communion with a loving god who wants more than anything to bring us into his family. They saw the practicing of religion, but not the need for it.
At about 7:37 into his video, TheAmazingAtheist starts on a little rant after a clip from the original video. "He took what we all deserve? We all deserve to be beaten and nailed to some sticks? We all deserve to burn in hell for all eternity? We all deserve that? Who the f*** deserves that?" At this point in his video, I was sitting in my office, actually just saying "YES" to every question he asked. Yes. We all deserve to be beaten and nailed up until we suffocate on our own blood. Yes. We all deserve to burn in hell for all eternity. From Romans: 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
He talks about how according to the video, helping an old lady cross the street or serving at a soup kitchen don't mean anything. How all your good acts are worthless if you don't have Jesus. He said it in a sarcastic way, but the answer really is "yes". The reason there are so many religious laws, specifically in the Old Testament, is to show not how much more righteous one person is than another, but as an illustration that no matter what we do, no matter how many rules we obey, no matter who we help cross the street, we can never live up to God's perfect standard. This is the basic premise of Christianity. This is the very meaning of grace. If we could somehow earn our way into heaven, or more to the point, out of hell, then the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross would be meaningless. If I could do it on my own, Jesus didn't need to die. But that's the whole point. Your good deeds, no matter how good, cannot measure up to perfection, and God's standard, the minimum he will accept, is perfection. Jason Gray wrote about it in his song "Everything I Own" which is in turn based on a passage in the Bible that says essentially the same thing.
Isaiah 64:6 - All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Here are a couple verses of Jason's song:
All I’ve accomplished, the titles I hold
My passions, position, possessions and gold
To God they must look like a thimble of foam
And it’s everything that I own
Dirty rags are all that I own
So I stand before God with my stubble and hay
He just laughs, but says there’s still a way
Because “Father, Forgive” are the words Jesus moaned
When He gave everything that He owned.
If you want to learn more about the concept of Jesus vs. Religion, I invite you to check out www.religionisalie.com. The videos there are all people I know personally, who I can say with confidence live their lives in a way that desperately seeks God. They are not people who dilute the truth in order to appeal to anyone. It's not marketing. It's a belief that a relationship with Jesus is the only way to heaven.
-Adam
Monday, December 12, 2011
What impacted you?
5 am. The Child™ wakes up hungry. As I'm standing there changing his diaper while he's sucking down his first bottle of the day, I began thinking about who I am as a father, and who I want him to become. Then I thought about my own father, and how I was raised. And really, as far as truly impactful moments of my childhood go, there are two that stand out in my mind in regards to my father. Two where I can go back to a specific point in time and remember what happened, what was said, and how it changed my perspective at the time.
One of those times was at my paternal grandpa's funeral. I was very young. He died in March of 1990, so I would have only been 6 years old. But despite my young age, and the fact that we didn't really see any of my grandparents more than a couple times a year since we all lived in different states, my grandpa had become my absolute, hands down, favorite person in the world. I loved him in a way that was so different than anyone else, and it was reciprocated. My grandmother often told me of his love for me. How out of all his grandkids, he and I had a special bond. Even a week before her own death 18 years later, she told me again about the twinkle in his eye when he was with me or talking about me. It's hard to handle the death of someone you love so much at only 6 years old. I remember standing there at the funeral, beside my dad and my uncle, and my dad reciting a poem. I don't remember what poem it was, but I remember standing there and knowing that we shared the same hurt. As much as my little world was crushed, and seemingly everything I knew was going to be different, I knew that my dad understood.
That was important.
So today, as I was sitting in the recliner in Robbie's room, feeding him a bottle. I told him about his great grandpa, the man he was named after. I told him about what a kind and patient man he was, and how much he loved me. And I told him that I'm really looking forward to a day when I can introduce him and say "Grandpa, this is my son, named after you. He is kind, and gentle, and a man of God."
-Adam
One of those times was at my paternal grandpa's funeral. I was very young. He died in March of 1990, so I would have only been 6 years old. But despite my young age, and the fact that we didn't really see any of my grandparents more than a couple times a year since we all lived in different states, my grandpa had become my absolute, hands down, favorite person in the world. I loved him in a way that was so different than anyone else, and it was reciprocated. My grandmother often told me of his love for me. How out of all his grandkids, he and I had a special bond. Even a week before her own death 18 years later, she told me again about the twinkle in his eye when he was with me or talking about me. It's hard to handle the death of someone you love so much at only 6 years old. I remember standing there at the funeral, beside my dad and my uncle, and my dad reciting a poem. I don't remember what poem it was, but I remember standing there and knowing that we shared the same hurt. As much as my little world was crushed, and seemingly everything I knew was going to be different, I knew that my dad understood.
That was important.
So today, as I was sitting in the recliner in Robbie's room, feeding him a bottle. I told him about his great grandpa, the man he was named after. I told him about what a kind and patient man he was, and how much he loved me. And I told him that I'm really looking forward to a day when I can introduce him and say "Grandpa, this is my son, named after you. He is kind, and gentle, and a man of God."
-Adam
Sunday, December 5, 2010
On Faith
Last week Lori and I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for our house church and a few of Lori's coworkers. We had a great time, and I think everyone else had fun too. I was also tasked with giving the message for Communion. Historically, the issue of faith has been a struggle for me. Being of analytical mind, the idea of faith was difficult for me to grasp for much of my life. This is (roughly) what I said.
I've heard a lot of questions about faith recently. How do we know there is a god? How can we trust that the Bible is true? How can we know there is a heaven, what it is like and that we will go there? In the end, the short answer is there is no proof. We cannot scientifically prove the existence of God. We can't see him, feel him with our hands or measure him with instruments. We cannot prove by normal means that he inspired the words of the prophets, disciples and apostles any more than I can prove that he is guiding my thoughts as I write this. We can't find heaven with a telescope, microscope or any other tool. So how do we know?
The answer invariably comes back to "you must have faith." But we don't need to have a simple blind faith. Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." So how can we be sure? Faith in God requires no more faith than it takes to believe that my child will be born in the spring or that Lori and I will be in Illinois with my parents for Christmas. Have I seen it? Do I know the future? No. Do I know for sure that everything will go perfectly with this pregnancy? Of course not. But I have a faith in it that is based on my experience and knowledge. Much of which is now scientifically impossible to prove that it ever happened. I have never fathered a child. I cannot predict the weather and circumstances for the next month to say for certain that we will arrive in Peoria late on the 23rd. But I do know other fathers. I have heard tale of their experiences. I know from my own experience that the roads and weather at the end of December are generally ok for traveling.
And that brings us to what faith really is. I am as certain that God created us, this world and universe, that he loves us, came to be with us an die for us, and that he went on to prepare a place for us as I am certain that I will wake up tomorrow in my bed. It's not because someone has told me. Not because I've read it. I have opened myself to the amazing power of God and experienced it firsthand. I have been protected from injury, sickness and death in ways I can't explain. I have been comforted in my grief by forces I can only feel and measure spiritually. I have been given mental clarity in my darkest times — times that saw others around me fall and not be able to get back up. I have been supernaturally protected from death or at the very least severe injury in at least one situation where the physics just don't make sense, no matter how many times I analyze the variables.
So yes. I can say that I know there is a god. I can say that I know God personally. We have a great meal in front of us. We can taste the food and know that it is good. It is the same with God. Psalm 34:8 says "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." I have tasted my God. I am blessed by him, and for that, I am very thankful.
-Adam
I've heard a lot of questions about faith recently. How do we know there is a god? How can we trust that the Bible is true? How can we know there is a heaven, what it is like and that we will go there? In the end, the short answer is there is no proof. We cannot scientifically prove the existence of God. We can't see him, feel him with our hands or measure him with instruments. We cannot prove by normal means that he inspired the words of the prophets, disciples and apostles any more than I can prove that he is guiding my thoughts as I write this. We can't find heaven with a telescope, microscope or any other tool. So how do we know?
The answer invariably comes back to "you must have faith." But we don't need to have a simple blind faith. Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." So how can we be sure? Faith in God requires no more faith than it takes to believe that my child will be born in the spring or that Lori and I will be in Illinois with my parents for Christmas. Have I seen it? Do I know the future? No. Do I know for sure that everything will go perfectly with this pregnancy? Of course not. But I have a faith in it that is based on my experience and knowledge. Much of which is now scientifically impossible to prove that it ever happened. I have never fathered a child. I cannot predict the weather and circumstances for the next month to say for certain that we will arrive in Peoria late on the 23rd. But I do know other fathers. I have heard tale of their experiences. I know from my own experience that the roads and weather at the end of December are generally ok for traveling.
And that brings us to what faith really is. I am as certain that God created us, this world and universe, that he loves us, came to be with us an die for us, and that he went on to prepare a place for us as I am certain that I will wake up tomorrow in my bed. It's not because someone has told me. Not because I've read it. I have opened myself to the amazing power of God and experienced it firsthand. I have been protected from injury, sickness and death in ways I can't explain. I have been comforted in my grief by forces I can only feel and measure spiritually. I have been given mental clarity in my darkest times — times that saw others around me fall and not be able to get back up. I have been supernaturally protected from death or at the very least severe injury in at least one situation where the physics just don't make sense, no matter how many times I analyze the variables.
So yes. I can say that I know there is a god. I can say that I know God personally. We have a great meal in front of us. We can taste the food and know that it is good. It is the same with God. Psalm 34:8 says "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." I have tasted my God. I am blessed by him, and for that, I am very thankful.
-Adam
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