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Saturday, April 27, 2013

God isn't a Four Letter Word

Okay, so I'm sitting here sifting through thoughts on all kinds of things, trying to get something to coalesce into a cohesive blog post so that I can get it out.  My mind is like a covered pot of boiling soup, if I don't open it up and let a little steam off every now and again (actually, pretty much daily) it becomes this super pressurized bomb like device ready to explode at the next person who tries to see what's cookin'.  Sometimes that can be kind of entertaining, but usually it's just messy, and fairly uncomfortable for me.  Many a sleepless night is caused by my little kettle of a brain.

So, what's on my mind that is in dire need of escaping?

Eh, a little bit of everything.  Hence the difficulty forming a post.

Here:

"This is the thing: When you hit 28 or 30, everything begins to divide. You can see very clearly two kinds of people. On one side, people who have used their 20s to learn and grow, to find themselves and their dreams, people who know what works and what doesn’t, who have pushed through to become real live adults. Then there’s the other kind, who are hanging onto college, or high school even, with all their might. They’ve stayed in jobs they hate, because they’re too scared to get another one. They’ve stayed with men or women who are good but not great, because they don’t want to be lonely they mean to develop intimate friendships, they mean to stop drinking like life is one big frat party. But they don’t do those things, so they live in an extended adolescence, no closer to adulthood than when they graduated.

Don’t be like that. Don’t get stuck. Move, travel, take a class, take a risk. There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming. Don’t lose yourself at happy hour, but don’t lose yourself on the corporate ladder either. Stop every once in a while and go out to coffee or climb in bed with your journal. Ask yourself some good questions like: “Am I proud of the life I’m living? What have I tried this month? Do the people I’m spending time with give me life, or make me feel small? Is there any brokenness in my life that’s keeping me from moving forward?”

Now is your time. Walk closely with people you love, and with people who believe life is a grand adventure. Don’t get stuck in the past, and don’t try to fast-forward yourself into a future you haven’t yet earned. Give today all the love and intensity and courage you can, and keep traveling honestly along life’s path."

I love that.  I love the simple universal truth behind it's somewhat blanket ideal and somewhat short delivery.

Here's what I find interesting though.

The above quote isn't the original.  It's an edited excerpt from an article that was published via Relevant Magazine, a Christian publication.  Here's the original text:

"This is the thing: when you start to hit 28 or 30, everything starts to divide, and you can see very clearly two kinds of people: on one side, people who have used their 20s to learn and grow, to find God and themselves and their deep dreams, people who know what works and what doesn’t, who have pushed through to become real live adults. And then there’s the other kind, who are hanging onto college, or high school even, with all their might. They’ve stayed in jobs they hate, because they’re too scared to get another one. They’ve stayed with men or women who are good but not great, because they don’t want to be lonely. They mean to find a church, they mean to develop honest, intimate friendships, they mean to stop drinking like life is one big frat party. But they don’t do those things, so they live in kind of an extended adolescence, no closer to adulthood than they were when they graduated college.

Don’t be like that. Don’t get stuck. Move, travel, take a class, take a risk. Walk away, try something new. There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming. Don’t lose yourself at happy hour, but don’t lose yourself on the corporate ladder either. Stop every once in a while and go out to coffee or climb in bed with your journal. Ask yourself some good questions like: “Am I proud of the life I’m living? What have I tried this month? What have I learned about God this year? What parts of my childhood faith am I leaving behind, and what parts am I choosing to keep with me for this leg of the journey? Do the people I’m spending time with give me life, or make me feel small? Is there any brokenness in my life that’s keeping me from moving forward?” 

 Now is your time. Become, believe, try. Walk closely with people you love, and with other people who believe that God is very good and life is a grand adventure. Don’t spend time with people who make you feel like less than you are. Don’t get stuck in the past, and don’t try to fast-forward yourself into a future you haven’t yet earned. Give today all the love and intensity and courage you can, and keep traveling honestly along life’s path."

If you know me, or read my blog, you'll know that I'm not a Christian.  So why do I feel the need to point out the difference between the version in popular circulation vs the original?  Because I feel that as an open minded seeker of truth, I should not be bothered by the use of God in a message of this nature.  Why should I be?  The message here is honest and positive no matter where you put your faith.  If I expect a Christian to accept that I have my own truth, my own needs that lie outside of a church or religion, what should I not in turn be able to even read the word God in a text without being turned off to the message it carries?

Honestly folks.  Grow the fuck up.

If you can take the word God out of the text and it's still a great message, leaving it in shouldn't bother you in the slightest.  You should be able to be adult enough to apply the truth without the need to hack away at someone elses words.  If you're preaching universal truth, don't be a hypocrite by omitting the details like that, even if they are unimportant for you... especially if they are unimportant to you.  I'm not sure why this stood out to me today, but there it is.  Take it for what it's worth.  I did :)


↑ Truth bitches ↑
Hypocrisy sucks ass.

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