I'm really busy this week...


...the time for blogging will come.

There are 35,000,000 Americans who struggle to feed themselves. In by far the richest country in the world, this should not happen.

Who We Are


All people are the same deep down. Celebrity doesn't exclude anyone from feelings or temptations. The only importance or status anyone has is what other people assign them, not because they are somehow more than human. Why do we assume that a ruler is any greater than those being ruled? Are they not just in the position to rule that we give them?

If we believe that everyone is equal, including people of high status, we must also believe the same about those we view as socially inadequate to us. True, some people are more easy or glamorous to love, but I don't believe God discriminates.

In my short experience I have noticed that it is common for Christians to shy away from or excuse people that don't live similar lives or share the same values. Maybe they drink or smoke or, heaven forbid, do something "worse." We allow these to become barriers in our minds, believing that they are so worldly that they wouldn't care about what we offer.

We religiously allow ourselves to believe that we would never do such things and that we are therefore superior (because we are "above" the things that "they" do). How excluding and elitist that view is! Truth is, we are all susceptible to the same temptations and Christians don't seem to be sinning any less than unbelievers. As much as I hate to say, it doesn't seem as though we accept that we're all broken people.

When we preach a message of elite religion rather than humble love we absolutely set ourselves up for an "I knew you didn't believe what you preached" mentality. I've always been fascinated that unbelievers smell fake religion better than we do, coming to the same conclusion that we should: we aren't made for religion, and we can't keep it up.

The relieving part of this is that we don't have to be religious and put off a certain holy vibe; it just naturally happens (in an inviting rather than intrusive way) when we truly seek the love and life that Jesus offers us. And I argue that this is the only thing that separates us from people who are not Christians, not an egocentric man-made pedestal.

40 Watt
I have noticed something lately: no matter what the situation, I always have some formulated picture or idea of how it ought to be. I don't think I am alone on this.

On the most simple levels, we eat because we are hungry; we turn on a light when we can't see in the dark. But even beyond basic necessities, I find myself wanting to feed my hungry self a certain way and light the room so it's inviting.

I like having 40 Watt bulbs in each corner of the room. Call it ambiance or whatever. I light candles and listen to Bach whenever I do homework or read. I enjoy aligning situations with how I feel like they should be. It's almost like bringing them back up to the level they belong rather than just trying to make them better.

Should our lifestyles as believers reflect the same mentality? As people who know God's love as being right and perfect (the ultimate standard of "good"), shouldn't we live in pursuit of making the world around us as good as it can possibly be by the power of love?

We can create a life ambiance that is saturated by a comforting and peace-giving God. We make things as they ought to be by putting a 40 Watt bulb in every corner of our world.