Refocus

For my loyal follower:

I am still here, but I have had to get a dose of balance lately. I could have posted 10 times a day 6 weeks ago, now I am slowing down. I have mentioned this in the past, but it is so easy to get caught in the moment and fall into traps that history has shown us could have been avoided. I must remind myself that there is only a few simple steps I must follow.

“ ‘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 neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” -Mt 22:37-40

I have taken a big turn over the last few months from what I used to be. 2009 can be remembered as the year that I turned into the person that cares much less about looking good in the eyes of people around me. I don't want to give the impression that I know more, have reached any level of maturity or can claim that my faith is complete; that will never be the case. What I mean is that I am increasingly less concerned with impressing the people around me. This may stem from having 1.5 children, but I want my kids to see that faith matters and that sometimes life needs to hurt a little bit. I believe that right and wrong exist and I want everyone to believe this too. The big question is, who decides right from wrong?

I believe that this life is a blip in eternity. If this is REALLY true, what should I be doing differently?

In my opinion (and I would love someone to enlighten me), the liberal progressive movement in this country is taking us away from the values and principles that our country was founded on. Namely, the Constitution. Make no mistake, the Constitution IS rooted in the belief that there is a God and that God provides the foundational laws that we must follow. By extension, the liberal progressive movement is taking us away from God, asking us to believe that the will of the majority, Man's Law, is the ultimate authority.

It is plain to me that if God is not the foundation, then the tenants of socialism provide the only reasonable means to govern.

If no law exists that is above Man's Law, people cannot be trusted; they must only be controlled. This automatically means that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are subject to the will of those around us; not rights that we deserve for being human.

In my vague and brief glimpse into America's history over the last few months, I see the United States of America moving from the democratic republic that it WAS, to Socialism. We have decided, as a people, that God is not really that important. This does not mean that we force people to believe what we believe (this has never been the case, although some claim it has), it means that the only successful people, will be that group that roots their law in God, above the frailty of man.

Try explaining all this to a child or teenager. I am envisioning rolling eyes, sighs and a few "who cares?" thrown in. That is how my kids will probably react when I probe them about the things that really matter in the years to come. But, at least I can say that I gave them an option other than "the world."

I move forward with the understanding that I control nothing outside of myself. I can only hope to provide a positive example to those around me. It doesn't matter if we live in a socialist state, or under a tyrant that dictates my every move. I have my God, and this short blip in eternity will allow me a chance to love Him and those around me. Perhaps leading to an eternity of happiness and praise. If not, well, I will have attempted to live for those around me, rather than in the pursuit of the very things that would consume me.

What if our elected leaders actually followed the golden rule? Would they tax one person and give that money to someone else for their own political gain? Would they target individuals and bring down the wrath of the country on them? Would they provide benefits to themselves that the majority cannot enjoy?

Mankind will always have a remnant of God among them. We will ultimately come back to God's Law, and understand that each life is truly equal and that freedom means something.

Our president recently said "One of the great strengths of the United States, is, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

I beg to differ!

Where do those ideals come from? Our nation was founded exactly by Christian values and ideals that the Christian God provided to us. I would hope our president would understand this. It is obviously a point of discontent. Unless of course, he is just saying what he thinks the Muslims in Turkey want to hear. Which is worse?