I am tired of the conflation of Christianity with the American way of life. It is quite possible to be a good Christian and not love the United States (as evidenced by the many Christians in other countries) and also possible to be a good American and not be a Christian (as evidenced by many of my fellow citizens). You also don’t have to agree with everything and have no criticisms to show love and/or allegiance.

I thought it was pretty bad in the 1980s, but these days, many seem to act as though true Americans must be Christians. And that Christians must be of a particular political persuasion in this country in order to be considered true believers. Neither is true.

The gospel, or good news, of Jesus Christ is about how God came to save us even though we little deserved it (in fact, deserved the opposite). But some seem to think that God picked them because they are specially deserving, almost as if they are God’s gift to God.

Listening to some out there, you would think that people are valued/valuable because they have power or success or wealth. But Jesus came to preach the good news to the weak, the forgotten, the poor.

The good news, as some would have it, is that nothing bad ever happens to Christians (the right kind of Christians, that is) except maybe, the persecution of hearing ‘happy holidays’ at Christmas time. If you read the Bible, however, you see that righteous people can suffer a lot, and not because they have done something wrong. Bad things happened to Job, the prophets, Paul, the early believers, and most especially, Jesus. Jesus perfectly obeyed God and because of that He died.

Another idea is that God wants us to be rich and we need to go get that money. But while God’s blessings sometimes come in material ways, God wants us to have treasure in heaven, not on earth. And the treasure that Jesus talked about was to be with Him and to love Him and love people.

We are not to hate those who hate us and seek their downfall, but to love them and do good to them.

We are not to hate the oppressed but to seek to remove the oppression and at least provide some relief.

We are not to seek our own advancement but to seek the glory of God – which is to display His love and light.

There is a lot of malice and anger coming from people who claim to follow Jesus – this should not be.

And people who claimed to trust in Jesus to protect them from the coronavirus claim to be fearful of other people made in God’s image because they are not from this country and/or not of the right complexion.

Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world, but so many who claim His name want all the world’s wealth and power for themselves. We have sold ourselves to the notion that the best thing for America is for Christians to get power and wealth.

We Christians need to re-read the Bible and spend more time with Jesus (like in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7) to be more like Jesus. We Americans need to re-read the Constitution (including ALL the amendments) and remember that our greatness comes from our true liberty of accepting all people. We ALL need to remember that Christianity does not equal American and American does not equal Christianity.

It’s hard to know where to begin with immigration issues. Sometimes I think people would be happy if we were actually shooting or mowing down the people trying to cross the border.

It is a thorny issue because it involves actual people with actual lives, but some want to oversimplify it by treating the people they don’t like or want as something other, something less than human. Many people would dress that thought by talking about the practicalities and impracticalities of the system (which are manifold) but instead of trying to solve the problems they want to act like there is something wrong or bad about those seeking to come.

We have people talking about immigrants as an infection and saying that these people will poison our blood. That is so very wrong and anyone who claims to be a Jesus follower, as I do, should not ever claim the superiority of any race (even whites) and follow that up with the thought that others are impure and ought not be around those of us who are allegedly pure.

It’s hard for me to even write this because it is so vile, but this talk is becoming more and more prevalent as though people are not ashamed (as they should be) to voice this opinion.

Nothing in the Bible supports this. While mixed marriages were subject to some prohibitions, it was more based on the fear of being drawn away spiritually to other practices. It was not about poisoning the blood. If the poison were a factor, then Jesus wouldn’t have a Canaanite or a Moabite ancestor (that would be Rahab and Ruth). But he did.

Every person on this dumb earth had been made in the image of God and EVERY person is completely human. Some do bad things or make bad choices, some are trying their best and failing, some are trying to be their worst, but each one (regardless of their sin) deserves to be treated with the human dignity each of us deserves. That dignity is not based on race or ethnicity or citizenship.

There are impracticalities in our immigration system. Currently the world is organized into nations and nations generally cannot just absorb masses of new people without changing and sometimes we cannot take in thousands and thousands of people and still maintain a functioning infrastructure. The system starts cracking as people need jobs and housing and food and they haven’t integrated into the system because they didn’t come by official means (making them easier to fall through even more cracks).

The system has a massive backlog of administrative reviews by judges that need to take place for things like asylum claims. And a backlog for non-asylum immigration as sometimes the wait is years, maybe even decades to get a visa to come.

Maybe additional personnel in the bureaucracy would help to work down the backlog. If the waits were shorter maybe people wouldn’t be so desperate. Maybe we need more people deciding more quickly on immigration claims. And maybe we need some enhanced border patrols to help prevent people from dying in desperate attempts to get here.

But it seems that some just want to focus on security, on keeping people from making it in. But do we really want to shoot people? Or make it easier for them to die on crossing? Or round up the ‘undesirables’ and put them in what would essentially be like prisons?

I don’t have an answer that would fix anything. But I dearly desire that we would treat all of these people as human beings and not sources of infection. I don’t want to be a part of a citizenry that succumbs to fear and hatred.

I felt dead tired, and, to be honest, a bit dead inside as well.

This was the other day and I wondered about the possible cause. It’s hard to cope with such a deadness when your brain (or heart) seems to be part of the problem. On the other hand, there are many possible causes – recovering from Covid, the drab gray winter (this always gets me), the sin of sloth (more of indifference rather than indolence) or my longstanding depression. I was stuck wondering why I am like this and how can I ever find passion or energy or what have you, all while not feeling like I really wanted to do anything other than sleep.

I asked God for help, and I would so very much like to report that I was instantly better and energized, but that didn’t happen.

But later I was thinking about how astounding it is to be human, and how astonishing other humans can be. I mean, technically miracle isn’t the right word, but what an amazing collection of systems we have. We have eyes that can see color and depth, ears that can hear tones and music, ways to not only get food for nutrients but to enjoy them. We have brains that can feel and relate to one another – that can identify as a separate entity (a self) and that can see others as individuals as well.

Each person we see is a compendium of wonders that go so much deeper than we can see. We can’t always recognize this in the people we interact with. Sometimes we are dead to the wonder, and sometimes the people we meet have been pressed down to forget what a wonder they are.

We should spend more time reminding each other of the wonderment that is us. And we should remember this applies to everyone – to me, to my friends, to my enemies. The wonder and admiration shouldn’t be restricted to skin color or ethnicity or class.

I still am struggling with my own limitations, but I feel like God renewed a sense of curiosity in me that can help. I hope that I can remind others of their wonder and worth.

Today started like most days – the alarm went off, the sun rose, the creatures started their various critter activities. Nothing at all to distinguish this day from the string of nearly identical days preceding it nor the string of probably similar days following.

It’s easy to put a lot of weight on this day, being the first of a new year. We like to have an anchor of sorts for getting new starts, turning away from bad habits, making big (or small) changes for the better or at least the less bad.

But there is nothing magical about the date except that it is today.

I often look back (far too often) on the past days – the poor decisions, the unkept promises, the friendships gone by the wayside (some practically shoved away). The divergence between what my life could be now if I had done things exactly right and what it is sometimes weighs on me. People were hurt, some badly, by things I did (or didn’t do). And I am a different person with a different life than I could have been and had.

But I cannot change the past. And I cannot seriously mourn that I wasn’t perfect (much as I aspire at times to be I have to admit I am rarely even close). I hope that I have made the necessary amends (or will when the offense comes to mind). I must let go of the regrets for things that can never now become reality.

And I know not what the future holds. I trust the Lord who holds it, and I can extrapolate from my past and current situation that I will continue to make decisions that turn out to be wrong (some maybe even less than well-intentioned). I will try my best and still sometimes fail – that’s the way life goes.

But I do have today.

Today I can aim to make choices that lead to better outcomes. Today I can position myself to continue making good choices.

Today I can perform acts of kindness and love to show people that they matter.

Today I can try to be a light in the darkness.

Today we can all seek to spread love and light regardless of what we may have done yesterday or what may come tomorrow.

Happy today everyone.

Sometimes, so much is going on and you want to do or say something but it’s hard to imagine what you could do or say that would have any impact on what is going on (positive or negative). I’ve been feeling that a lot lately.

It kind of makes me envy the days before information became so globally available. Back in the days when, by the time you heard bad news there was already little that could be done. So, you could go about your mundane daily life without knowing what was going on in the world at large. Whereas now, it seems hard to carry on with a relatively unencumbered life knowing the immediacy of the suffering going on.

It also makes me nostalgic for the early days of episodic television. There was little, if any, nuance and, best of all, everything was tied up neatly within an hour. There was a strange kind of comfort in seeing things end ‘as they should’ on a regular basis.

But this doesn’t translate into real life. There are nuances within nuances and complicated histories and differing perspectives on what did and did not happen. Nothing is easily wrapped up and we hear about things maybe too instantly.

So how do we live when things appear to be falling apart, but not near us? Is it wrong to carry on with my life when others can’t?

Despair and paralysis cannot be the answer; this helps no one. Life goes on, even for those not currently suffering.

But we can stand against evil and we can provide assistance where we can (if we know good organizations working to aid the suffering). And we can pray. I cannot explain why God allows evil and suffering but I do know He answers prayer and can provide comfort and consolation.

I generally avoid horror movies because my imagination tends to run away with itself and sometimes posit even worse things than the film presented. One movie I haven’t seen, The Mist, I know about from various listicles on the internet. In this one, at the end a parent decides that the monsters lying in the titular mist outside the grocery store pose a fate worse than death, so he kills his kids (at least, that’s how I understand it). After this has been done, through the mist come rescuers – so it turns out he didn’t have to make this horrible choice.

Mental illness, particularly depression, can be a lot like the mist, shrouding what is true and what help is available. If only the person knew the truth or knew that there were people who could help, they would not do anything under the guise of feeling hopeless, but the mist may prevent them from seeing this.

The mist in this case is not usually visible to anyone else – it is in the mind of the sufferer. So not everyone knows or understands that they can help.

The mist in the brain filters out positive thoughts and magnifies negative ones. Sure, people tell that person they are loved and they matter, but the mist tells them they do not matter, that no one cares, that the world would be better off without them, that life is useless. Every compliment is diluted or waved off; every insult is etched in stone.

Sometimes, it’s possible to act as though the mist isn’t affecting every aspect of life. That you can be positive or even self-confident. That you can know you matter and it doesn’t actually matter what other people think (although more people than you know care very deeply about you). But sometimes the mist just gets in the way and makes life hard.

Because this mist is completely internal, you cannot tell whether someone is under its influence. You may not realize that you are the ray of sunshine they needed to realize that there is something going on to defeat the mist. Keep being kind to people.

Recently I drove to the Northwoods of Wisconsin and back, and I am more annoyed than ever that transporters have not been invented yet. There are many inconveniences and irritations to flying, particularly to the more rural areas of the country, and it often seems less cost effective, so I decided on a road trip.

To fly to where I was going, I would have had to take a connecting flight and spend several hours in the Minneapolis airport, then arrive at my destination late in the night after the rental car places closed. This seemed impractical, as there would be still a drive to get to the lake house after landing. There were other options but I had reached my stubborn state and so ‘had’ to drive.

When driving cross-country, there are several types of roads you must take – small, local roads, bigger state or interstate highways, and toll roads. Smaller roads can be problematic if you need rest stops, because you have to find a gas station/convenience store that will allow such pit stops and sometimes they are few and far between.

Highways are better because they tend to come with rest stops dotted along the landscape. They are good because you don’t have to buy anything to use the facilities. But the signs are not always the most helpful (like, there is a roadside park, but you need to guess which side of the road it’s on and you have passed it before you know it). But if you need gas or real food (that doesn’t come in a vending machine), you have to leave the highway.

Toll roads have rest stops that have food and gas as well. They often have signs telling you not only when the next one is but how many miles to the next one after that. They have been scientifically spaced out so that when you see the sign you think you can make it to the one after without being desperate but you most definitely will be desperate (for gas or facilities or both) by the time you get to that one.

The best toll road rest stops have at least a 7-Eleven. Not exactly haute cuisine, but predictable and with some variety (such as it is). Some have a state-branded market that is like a higher priced 7-Eleven with less variety. Many of them have food options, and by options I mean Starbucks and one or more fast food places. If you are lucky, you will hit the stops when these options are open and NOT under construction. I was not so lucky.

The Pennsylvania turnpike actually gets a failing score on rest stops, as they are very sparse in the part west of Breezewood. I had skipped the last one in Ohio because I figured there would be one in PA that was not 50 miles into the state. I was wrong.

Hotels on road trips can also be a gamble. On the way out I stopped at a Comfort Inn and found that it cost almost $200 for one night. That seemed excessive but I was tired. I do not recommend this particular hotel – it’s the first time I’ve seen a hallway through the bathroom (shower/toilet on one side and sink on the other). I mean, there was a door to the toilet, but still seemed odd. Plus, the shampoo/conditioner seemed to be sized for people with short hair – very skimpy considering the price.

I mean, I could have tried the Value Inn across the street, but that looked a bit, um, sketchy. It reminded me of a hotel I stayed at once where the washcloth had a strange dark brown stain on it (I got a replacement) and the continental breakfast included ho-hos (which were delicious). I have to say that breakfast would have been better than the one at Comfort Inn, which included something that was supposed to be eggs (they were yellow) and the most rubbery sausage links I have ever had.

Well, the trip was long, about 16-17 hours both ways, and my body is no longer fond of sitting for such long periods. But there were some nice things. Got to see family I love and the lake was beautiful (it’s called Meta Lake, pronounced MEAT-A, and has no affiliation with any other Meta). And the rest stops in Michigan had some great views of Lake Michigan.

It is a mercy of life that good can come out of evil, that beauty can arise in the most desolate of places. This can give us hope in the midst of turbulent and troubled times.

Sometimes people in horrible relationships wind up with children that they cherish. Or one could develop a strength that propels one to greater things through the suffering.

But, and this is an enormous but, no matter how much good may come out of a particular evil, it does not, in any way, mitigate the evil. Evil is evil no matter how much good may come by happenstance. Just because you may have a beloved child does not mean that the abuser in the relationship was okay or not so bad. It was still a horrible relationship.

In most cases, the ends does not justify the means. You cannot justify doing evil in order to get a good outcome. I will allow that in some cases, such as lying to hide and protect a potential victim, may be okay, but in most cases, it is better to avoid all the evil.

I have been thinking about this because of the latest Florida history curriculum supposedly teaching that slavery had benefits for the enslaved people. This is an absolutely ridiculous stance designed, I suppose, to make some people feel okay about the history of slavery.

However, slavery was evil and, even if some good came from it, slavery was and is completely evil. It’s not okay because some people may have learned some trades as a result.

Considering that those people were kidnapped from their homeland, transported like cargo in inhumane conditions, treated like animals and subhuman for the benefits of the owners, I hardly think they appreciated learning a trade. Maybe they wouldn’t have needed to know that trade had they been left to their own community.

I believe some have claimed that people of color are better off having been dragged to this country (even for slavery) because, well, look at Africa. But this fails to consider that the European countries spent a concerted effort despoiling the continent for their own benefit. They stripped the land of its resources and kept the original inhabitants from developing, so now is not the right context to judge the continent.

Maybe some good came out of the evil, but consider how much better the good would be if the evil had never happened. Maybe we’d be treating each other as fellow human beings and not trying to claim some kind of superiority.

Also, this line of argument makes me think that next some will claim that lynchings and stuff were okay because they prevented people from dying of cancer. If you think this sounds ridiculous (and it is) the argument that enslaved people benefitted from learning trades while enslaved is equally ridiculous.

What will remain when I do not?

That is a question many people ask when considering leaving what they call a legacy. People want to know how people will remember them when they have passed on (if they will be remembered at all). What was my impact? (This last one I think sadly comes from the performance review culture of corporations.)

In other words, did I matter?

In these days of larger-than-life celebrities and the idea of dreaming big for your life, it is easy to think that the smaller things might be lost to the dustbin of history.

Many may think their children are their legacy. They raised them and the children will carry on the family values and culture.

Rich people endow universities or donate large sums of money and get buildings with their name on them.

Some people do something so phenomenal, good or bad, that their name persists beyond them. They walked on the moon or they failed spectacularly or they solved a tricky problem or caused a long-lasting obstruction.

But what if you have no children? And no money? What if you aren’t spectacularly good (or bad) at something? What then? What happens when you are no longer around?

As someone who has no children and not very much money, I can sometimes relate to this. Will I leave a legacy? Will my life have mattered to anyone?

Well, I think if we look at it from the big picture, then no, there isn’t much that I am leaving behind. But if we look at it from a better perspective, everyone leaves traces of themselves behind.

Maybe the world as a whole will not even know I existed. But I hope and pray that those I interact with will see that they matter see the love of Christ for them. That people will have had a better day (or even hour) because I was able to provide some lightness to their world.

It’s not about buildings or major accomplishments. It’s about people knowing that they matter even if they have nothing (according to this culture) to show for their lives.

What will remain when I do not? I do not know how I will be remembered, and I cannot control that. What I can control is how I treat people with love and respect – that they know that even if they aren’t a superstar in the world’s eyes, they matter and they are loved. If they can remember that it doesn’t matter so much that they don’t remember me.

It’s approximately six months before I go on my cruise adventure. That seems both very close and very distant at the same time. A lot can change between now and then, but I’m not particularly expecting that (probably a good sign that I should get some travel insurance just to be safe).

Anyway, I have been spending a lot of time watching YouTube and have learned a LOT about cruising that I had no idea about. I will probably forget most of this before I get on the ship (will remember, though, that I am not supposed to call it a boat).

I have already made mistakes. According to some videos, I should have used a travel agent to do my booking. That might have provided some potential cost savings and may have made it easier to get information or resolve issues. Oh well.

Recently, there have been a number of accidents related to people jumping or falling off of cruise ships. Most of these seem to have involved alcohol, and one of which involved a group of recent high school grads daring a friend to jump. I had a friend ask me to promise not to respond to any such dare, at which point I learned that some friends might think I’m an idiot (not that there wouldn’t be evidence to prove that, but still). I have two things going for me in my favor – one is that I don’t drink (all my bad decisions are completely sober!) and two is that I am not much taller than the ship railings. I should be safe from this particular danger.

I have learned that decorating cabin doors can be a big thing. They may be metal so you can use magnets. Some find it useful in finding their cabins in the long hallways of identical doors. I would have thought the cabin numbers would help with that but I have also never been on a ship so it may be more overwhelming than the doors on the smaller land-based hotels. It’s also vital to remember that unless you are into something very specific, you probably shouldn’t use pineapples as part of your decoration. I understand it may have something to do with the swinging that does not occur on a playground. I could be wrong, but I am not going to take that chance.

There is a trend of hiding ducks (not live ones!) on cruise ships. People buy a bunch of little rubber ducks, hanging a tag on them about the trend and hiding them in various places on the ship. I am not planning on hiding any ducks (that is way too much effort). Unless someone is particularly bad at hiding, I may not find any either. But maybe . . . .

Oh, and you cannot wear camouflage clothing on certain Caribbean islands. I am not going to be at any of those islands but now I have this knowledge in preparation.

It is kind of fun to watch the videos. Many are made by people who clearly enjoy cruising and want to help others have a good time as well. I hope to remember some of these things six months from now.

(In case you are worried, I promise to remember no jumping off the ship.)