We better stop!

“The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

     There is nothing like waking up shortly after 5 am because the Holy Spirit wants to talk about perspective.  You know those movies, where the tough guy rolls a chair right under somebody he wants to interrogate, forcing the guy to sit down, sit now and sit hard.  Yeah, that's the feeling this morning.  It's not like He wants my side of the story, but He wants me to have His.  Even though God knows all and I believe has no need of processing His thoughts, this is one of those times where it feels like He is processing and bouncing it all off me hoping something sinks in.
    This is where He started, Grant's perspective on an addicts overdose is much different than most people.  Grant is a pastor of a church I went to in the beginning of my search for the meaning of life, my life in particular.  Grant has performed many, many, too many funerals for very young people.  He is good at it.  So, from his point, he sees the waste, the spiritual scoreboard and the way it affects so many people, family, friends, and community.  He may even see things, like the community growing numb to young death.  I don't know what he is seeing.  I can only guess.  Ahhhh, part of the processing.  When a parent loses a child, they might feel very alone, like no one understands ... I don't really know because I have never lost a child.  Some people in this sick world don't seem to care about losing their child and some are even taking the life of their own child.  I love processing early in the morning.  NOT.
     Tolerance?  We should always know that somebody else's perspective is going to be different than ours.  Siblings for instance, should know what it is like to be you, raised in the same home, by the same parents, etc. but they don't, cause the relationships are different.  What is the point of this conversation?  Everybody's right, nobody is wrong ... oh great now I have a song in my head... I should not write this early...

"For What It's Worth"

There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking' their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly saying, "hooray for our side"

It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the men come and take you away

We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

 

 

     Now that I have that somewhat out of my system.  But wasn't that so fitting to where we are in this country right now?  Oh yeah.  Years ago, I had a very serious conversation with man who is gay.  This is somebody I care very deeply for and will not give up because our beliefs are different.  I will never forget him saying to me with tears in his eyes, "Do you think I would choose this life if I had a choice?"  Do you know who else said the same thing to me?  Same tone, same tears.  Addicts.  Soul living.  Feeding the flesh.  I'm starting to get it this morning God and yet I still have no coffee.  BREAK - gotta get coffee.

     A little more awake now and what I am seeing is how much we have failed in this country.  We live from our souls, mind will and emotion.  We have no idea what self discipline is, because we have very little discipline at all.  To make disciples, discipline has got to be learned, but parents aren't doing it, because they haven't learned to discipline themselves, and the church isn't doing it, because they haven't learned to discipline themselves and even if God is doing it, we blame it on the enemy, because a God of love wouldn't do that.  BULL.  Somebody has to start speaking the truth, the cold hard truth and stop loving this country right into the institutions.  I truly believe there is a group who is not afraid to be hated, they are not afraid of death and they are going to be speaking some discipline into this country.  We can stomp our feet and cry to our mommy's but it won't do any good, because Daddy is speaking.  It's time to grow up and teach the kids, who they are.  Giving in is not giving love.  They will know there was a prophet among them.

 

We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down? - Buffalo Springfield