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…everyone is fighting some kind of battle.
This quote has been attributed in various forms to everyone from Plato to John Watson. Maybe it’s because it’s a universal reminder that needs repeating. I know I need to hear it more often, because I was harshly reminded of it this summer.
Last spring, I worked with a difficult professor in an advanced Creative Writing class. It was handled workshop-style, where each of us has class periods to reveal our heart-felt and delicately-forged story as we would the beloved child of our loins. Then ten to fifteen people talk about what works in the story (you hope at least SOMETHING worked) and what needs to be revised, and how you might improve it. Sometimes we show our baby and the class agrees it is ugly. This can be an uncomfortable process, and it was made much worse by my elderly professor who would snap, “This is crap.” “You’re not writing a believable character, do you even know the basics of character delineation?” “You’re writing bullshit. Write a REAL story.”
Honest professional feedback is absolutely vital to a writer, but this became so painful that some students stopped distributing their work in the workshops and avoided talking during class. Though I received some relatively positive responses, I was upset at this crabby, rude old professor who really hurt some young writers.
While talking with another English professor this summer, I mentioned my experience. And though he agreed with my perspective, he also gave me an additional one. It turns out this professor is one of many forced into an early retirement because the state of Illinois is considering cutting pensions. Unfortunately, this professor has neither a partner nor children, so his teaching was his life. And right before my semester started, he was diagnosed with cancer.
My heart crumpled up.
With our own lives devastated the past few years with every conceivable misfortune, I can understand how trouble causes someone to be irritable and withdrawn and how easy it is to forget that others are hurting, too. There were times when a kind word or action would have been a healing balm on my soul. It’s quite possible that the poor man felt his problems were so insurmountable that he was unable to see how he affected others.
I don’t mean to say that we should be kinder to others so that they are kinder to us. I am saying that we all need more kindness; kindness breeds more kindness, and there is never enough of THAT in the world. Though I may be absorbed in my own problems, when I encounter meanness, anger, irritation, or cruelty, I should look beyond the behavior into the beautiful, hurting soul that could use a little love.
Feel free to keep reminding me of this thought.
Around the train station there are always a bunch of beggars who are getting shoved along by cops or chased out of the food court by restaurant managers. I always have mixed feelings about giving money to panhandlers, though the bible says, “Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” (Luke 6:30). It also says that we should be as shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves, and I haven’t been able to reconcile those two ideas to my own satisfaction.
A few weeks ago a guy approached me while I was eating lunch and said he was hungry and out of work, like half the world. I gave him half of my lunch. On my way out the door, I saw the man being chased by the manager of McDonalds. Then I saw him standing next to my bus stop, borrowing a lighter from a woman so he could light a blunt.
The lunch I gave him was tossed on the sidewalk.
I don’t know how to identify the “good” panhandlers from the “bad”. I don’t know if someone is going to use the dollar I give them for something I would approve of. I don’t even know if it is my job to judge, or ignore, or to give. I have noticed in my own life in these past few years of poverty and need that the poorer someone was, the more willing they were to help me. I can’t say that this is a general rule of life, though.
I guess if there is a lesson here, it’s probably that I didn’t need the other half of that veggie quesadilla. But I really, really wanted it.
What do you do about beggars and people who ask you for help?
My parents are active volunteers in a humanitarian group called No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes. They go into the Sonora desert in Arizona and to give humanitarian aid to undocumented aliens (or illegal immigrants, if you prefer that term) coming into America along a loosely-guarded Mexican/U.S. border area. I asked my parents to describe their volunteer efforts, and here’s what they wrote:
What a Volunteer Does With No More Deaths
We place one gallon plastic water containers at specific GPS locations on migrant’s trails (this is called a water drop). These migrant’s trails are mapped out on detailed maps. Along with water, we might drop off cans of beans (tab opening) or migrant packs left in plastic containers to protect them from the rain/wildlife. A migrant pack contain: individual snacks and a pair of socks in a plastic Ziploc bag. Water drops can be anywhere from 1,000 yards to a mile from the trail intersection with a dirt road where the truck is left as volunteers carry water to the drop. There can be anywhere from 5 to 8 water drops per patrol. A patrol consists of a Spanish speaker, a certified medical person and 4 to 6 volunteers with somebody selected as truck driver, cell phone monitor and another person as GPS/map reader.
Usually, if time permits, after the water drops are completed, the humanitarian patrol will walk the trail from the last water drop looking for immigrants who are in need of help. Migrants will not show themselves to us (trust issues/fear) even though the patrol Spanish speaker is calling out that we have water, food and medical help and we are not the U.S. Border Patrol. We will only see migrants if they are in medical trouble (blisters, dehydration, sprain/pulled body parts) and have been left behind by their group because they could not keep up with the pace. Of course, being left behind means the immigrants are lost with no food or water and their only recourse is to show themselves to anybody.
Info: immigrant groups travel at night and sleep/rest during the day off of the trails in small canyons and washes where there is shade.
Normal Daily Schedule
Wake up at 5:00 am (before day light), breakfast with the sunrise, load truck with supplies and final patrol meeting. Try to be out of camp by 6:00 am. Do water drops and hike trails. Be back to camp by 12:00 – 12:30 for lunch. Rest/nap after lunch.
Afternoon volunteer patrols leave camp by 2:30 – 3:00 pm and must be back to camp before night fall or at least off of the trails. Dinner is somewhere between 6:30-7:30 pm with the nightly circle, of course under the stars, shortly afterward (depending on the time of year the circle could be around a camp fire). The nightly circle is an important community building activity consisting of sharing your insights of the day events, problems, conflicts, etc. When this is completed, the circle plans what needs to be done the next day as to water drops, trail conditions and who is going where and doing what. By the time the circle is completed, it is 9:00-9:30 pm and time for sleep and the night music of coyotes.
I think that regardless of the fact that the immigrants entering the country illegally, we should not let them die of thirst or wounds along the way. However, I don’t mind a healthy debate about the issue. What are your thoughts? What would you do?
This is an interesting challenge to all Christians, isn’t it? I’d venture to guess most of us Christians have settled the issue of whether God exists to our own satisfaction – but God says that isn’t enough. He says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15). With that in mind, here’s why I believe what I believe.
I’ll begin by summarizing for those of you who just need the talking points:
- The universe is so complex that its existence can only be explained by a creator.
- God has instilled a moral law into all humans.
- God has revealed himself in numerous ways.
- God’s ways work.
- God’s inspired words are accurate and validated by outside evidence.
- God interacts with humans in ways that they can perceive, if they are willing to perceive.
- I have had personal experiences with God.
1. The universe is astoundingly complex. An infinite series of causal conditions (as in evolution) cannot provide an adequate explanation. This is one proof for God the creator. For further reading, research the work of philosophers defending the “Anthropic Argument”, based on earlier work by William Paley.
2. The ordered complexity of our universe can only be explained satisfactorily by creation that is a means to an end. We can see evidence of creation in systems that are irreducibly complex – they contain interacting components working together to produce a result greater than the individual components. An irreducibly complex system will not function if it lacks one of its parts. Thus, these systems are unable to develop gradually by slight modifications such as is described in natural selection theories. This is another proof for God the creator. For further reading, research the work of Michael Behe.
3. Throughout the world, our moral discussions and moral behavior presuppose an objective moral law. Though it is currently popular to claim moral relativism (i.e., “I decide what is good and evil based on what’s right for me; what’s right for you may be different.”), morality has been substantially the same since the beginning of civilization. In fact, even believers in moral relativism criticize the moral choices of others and have claimed things like, “That’s not fair!” as if there was a standard for everyone. The moral law is grounded in the mind, however, it must transcend human minds because these moral laws continue to hold in spite of individual lives. This is proof for God as a wholly good creator who instills a moral standard in humanity, and who also directs our consciences. For further reading, research the work of C.S. Lewis and earlier work by Immanuel Kant.
4. Throughout history, cultures have archetypical themes and stories that occur in the bible, including the flood (in Japanese, Scandinavian, African, and Native American mythology), and the story of a human who gives him/herself for sacrifice to save civilization. A supreme being placed themes and archetypes into our cultures because they are markers that point to his truth. For further reading, research the work of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
5. The bible, inspired by God, is an astonishingly cohesive book of literary integrity, as I explained in a previous post, Why I Believe the Bible is the Inspired Word of God. In addition, it provides eyewitness accounts of events that have archeological proof (such as the flood and the fall of the walls of Jericho, to name a few) as well as corroboration from records in other civilizations. The eyewitness accounts of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection are also cohesive and credible. The information in the bible is proof of divine action and reaction. In addition, the prophecies within the bible came true as predicted, proving divine foreknowledge of events. For further reading, research the work of G. K. Chesterton, William Lane Craig, and Charlie Campbell.
6. God has revealed himself in the world he created. He has shown himself to be infinitely good, intelligent, kind, creative, righteous, and personal. He has also revealed himself in the scriptures and (more fully) in Jesus. For further reading, research the work of William Lane Craig and Charlie Campbell.
7. People who faithfully follow the actions of Christ and God’s commandments experience lives of greater peace and joy, even during difficult times. They experience less conflict with others and fewer difficulties as a result of better moral choices. For further reading, research C.S. Lewis’s biography and the post-2004 work of Antony Flew (writings of their lives after conversion from atheism to Christianity). Additionally, research the work of Dr. Armand M. Nicholi Jr.
8. My own personal experiences have proved to me the truth of God, scripture, and Jesus’s teachings. I have personally experienced direct interaction with God. My religious experiences have come after telling God I would choose to try his promises, and led to me abandoning atheism and becoming a Christian.
Note: Many of these proofs are philosophical arguments that are better represented by professional theologians than by me. In addition, many atheists request physical proof or “proof that they can believe”. It’s not logical for spiritual matters to be proved solely through physical, scientific means, just as it would be illogical to describe biology solely by spiritual means. Such discussions will eventually become unproductive.
So often I’ve heard people say, “I’m a good person–I’m better than Hitler. So I’m pretty sure I’ll go to heaven.” This is a response called moral relativism, a defense mechanism that lets the speaker grade sins according to his/her beliefs, and then make themselves feel good that there is someone else whose sins are greater. This is a disturbing trend, because this mindset allows us to slip away from the uncompromising message of the bible about sin and salvation.
When I hear people talk about how they’re a good person, I’m tempted to start the following conversation: “Who owns Heaven?”
“God.”
“Who made the rules about heaven and hell?”
“God.”
“Then don’t you want to find out what standard HE uses to determine membership in heaven and hell?”
A wise and eloquent blogger, Wintery Knight, has started a series of posts on hell. He’s exploring the mainstream Christian response to hell, and why so many Christians are afraid of the concept or the selection process. Heis ideas are thought-provoking, though they may also provoke you to start thinking about your own beliefs about heaven and hell. You can start the series here: Why do people go to hell?
