Tags
President Obama once said,“cynicism is a sad kind of wisdom.” He and I were never that into one another, but we broke up for good that day. While it is important not to get sucked down into cynicism, I just cannot respect those who do not honor the wisdom to be found in dark places, in the bottom of the pit. Cynicism is something to be aware of, to not get mired down in, but there is still some great truth and wisdom to be found there.
Nothing like a few dark nights of the soul to lead you to the Light.
One of my favorite bits of dark humor quips about how, “on election day, half the country’s hopes and dreams will die. For the rest of the country it takes about 3 weeks longer…….” Yep, words of wisdom from those who have watched these things play out before.
Where I live, which is dark blue, there’s a popular bumper sticker which says, “Democrats think the glass is half empty, Republicans think the glass is theirs.”
I follow the Lamb because He is the only One who teaches us that the glass is refillable. God is the God of all abundance, of plenty, of well watered springs that never run dry. It doesn’t matter where you are or what your circumstances are, when you make Him King, you live in His kingdom. His kingdom is not even of this world, so one could be singing His praises in prison, or from behind the iron curtain. His kingdom is within us and it goes where we go.
There is no place He won’t go.
Some people accuse me of being in the middle and inform me there is nothing in the middle of the road but flat squirrels and roadkill. I rather like that analogy, I am like a flat squirrel in a cartoon, one that has been re-inflated with a bicycle pump, redeemed, refreshed, resurrected even, more times than I can count. I’d like to brag and tell everyone I am just an awesome squirrel, but it isn’t really true. I just serve an awesome King who has scrapped me off the pavement many times.
Just for the record, I am seldom “in the middle,” on any issue. I once took one of those political quizes and wound up so far afield, I went back and tried to rig the thing so I would land somewhere within the Venn diagram of “normalcy.”
Someone said this election doesn’t really matter, and I agree with that in terms of candidates and “winning” and “losing,” but I think this election matters a great deal becasue it has revealed some things about us as people, about us as Christian people, that must be addressed, that must be acknowledged. There’s some real ugliness within the Western Body of Christ, something I have been challenged to forgive over and over again. I’ve watched some pretty blatent racism rear it’s head, I’ve seen total disrespect and outright hatred towards women, I’ve seen hypocrisy, gossip, and vindictiveness. Idolotry too, endless idolotry, placing everything and anything above Christ, before our relationship with Him. There’s been some real shaking going on, wheat kernals spilling forth and chaff blowing away.
That matters, that means something. That’s not a coincidence.
I too have been on the receiving end of some outright hostility towards Christians, hatred I don’t think is fair, stereotypes that just do not apply and yet I can see where they have come from, I can understand why one might look at me and just see….yuck. That matters too, because we are representatives of Jesus Christ. Often poor representatives, but representatives just the same.
I too have been on the receiving end of some outright hostility from Christians.
I follow the Lamb because He is the only One who teaches us that the glass is refillable. What we really need to do is to refill it with milk, lots and lots of spiritual milk. Kindness still matters, the simple things still matter.
As people we tend to over think these things, we get entangled in politics, in supreme court appointments, in elaborate conspiracy theories, in laws and policies, but the truth is actually very simple. As John said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Mike said:
Oh… IB…. it hurts.
Cynicism is what everyone should approach the World with. If we did, we would all be far better off than we are now. Reagan put the definition of cynicism best; “Trust but Verify”. Truth is found in action, but we can never find truth if we stop at the words and neglect our responsibility of paying attention to actions.
I think I understand your point… but… It is Pessimism which we should all avoid.
These two words are often confused, I believe intentionally, by those who never want to be judged by their actions… only their words and supposed intentions.
The difference is stark.
LikeLiked by 4 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Words of wisdom, Mike. I am all about the cynicism, it is just that we can get stuck there and become such nihilists. So, no matter what happens, we’re in for a bumpy ride, buckle up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
claire said:
Excellent! Well stated! (I loved the inflatable squirrel bit!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Julie (aka Cookie) said:
I think I need a refill please 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Salvageable said:
“Nothing like a few dark nights of the soul to lead you to the Light.” Absolutely! We know that is true in our lives as individuals, but do you see any chance that this dark night of the soul may lead our nation to the Light? Asking and hoping. J.
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Good questions, salvageable. I keep praying for a revival within our nation, but keenly aware that God needs to lead it. When a whole nation has a dark night of the soul that’s usually really unpleasant. I’m hopeful we’ll get it together.
LikeLiked by 1 person
MJThompson said:
I’m beginning to fear that others reading my posts here will suppose I’m merely your hired shill. I agree with you so much that I discern you really know and love the LAMB to a degree most of us don’t even fathom. Like ‘John the Beloved’ who claimed of himself that he loved the Lord MORE than the others – your shared experiences with the Holy Spirit (a divine ‘rose’ by any other name – of which you’ve introduced us to many) are warmly inspiring beyond my highest expectations of literary prose. I so enjoy your blog, it has become one of my few daily habits.
I so completely relate to your expressive comparisons to life’s strange ironies. Your squirrel analogy – “I’d like to brag and tell everyone I am just an awesome squirrel, but it isn’t really true. I just serve an awesome King who has scrapped me off the pavement many times”, reminded me of a time when I was a new believer attempting to share my faith with an atheist philosopher.
He kept trying to convince me that there NEVER was a real person named Jesus of Nazareth, no Jesus Christ, no God. I was so filled with the Spirit, I told him, “then I must be the most remarkable of human beings, because I just overcame years of addiction, depression, and perversion by myself”! He was quite confounded and unable to offer a rebuttal. You and I both know Who ‘scraped me off the pavement’.
That was over 40 years ago; my ‘imaginary Jesus’ continues to inflate me when I’m running low. He’s never left me, nor rejected me, even though I’m just ‘road-kill’.
As for this current political season, I voted by mail because I live in California, where we traditionally receive early projections naming the winners before our polls close. I always seek first the Kingdom of God by asking Him to guide my pen as I vote. Especially NOW, when TRUST is such a major factor – I chose to trust ONLY God for the outcome. To my surprise, I often filled-in spaces my mind had not rationalized. This year I went against my perceived ‘wisdom’ and cast a vote against legislation that would have benefited me personally, yet had ‘riders’ attached that were not fair to the greater population.
While many perceive the ultimate altruism is to let your conscience be your guide, may I remind those of us who trust the Lord, to let His Spirit be your Only guide. Pray as you vote, then trust Him for righteous results. Remember, His Kingdom is ETERNAL – no matter what, and it is NOT of THIS world. Our true victory is assured regardless of any political conclusion.
Thank you again and again for providing some quality reading to jump=start my days!
LikeLiked by 3 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Lol! I could really use a good hired shill. 🙂
I really appreciate your comments, you have some great wisdom and you always get me thinking.
LikeLike
newenglandsun said:
I hate reading the latest e-mails (if you know what I refer to) and hearing how Thomism is supposedly some sort of “sophisticated” Christianity.
Any one who has studied Plato knows that sophistry is the argumentative form of philosophy that seeks to present itself using fallacious and deceptive argumentation. It has nothing to do with the love of wisdom but rather a repudiation of wisdom.
St Thomas Aquinas presented his arguments presenting the other side first and then showing his side so that people could see between two things and then he called all of his work “straw” in comparison to the full mystery that he had been presented.
Being Thomist does not make me sophisticated and it does not mean I can solve all the problems in the world. It means being rooted in prayer and diving deeper into the Truth of Christ each day.
I’m no more “sophisticated” than a Calvinist who is also searching and diving into the same truth I am diving into.
LikeLiked by 1 person
MJThompson said:
I agree, but wasn’t it Aristotle, NOT Plato, that Thomas Aquinas disputed?
LikeLiked by 1 person
newenglandsun said:
Aquinas refers to Aristotle as “The Philosopher” but for the most part, his philosophy is largely Neo-Platonist borrowing from Pseudo-Dionysius, Boethius, St John Damascene, al-Ghazali, Ibn Sina, St Augustine and a variety of other Neo-Platonists. He was much more Platonist than he was Aristotelian. But then again, Aristotle was taught by Plato 🙂
LikeLike
Andy Oldham said:
Amazingly profound!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dan Ledwith said:
Well….this is one Christian you don’t have to worry about getting abuse from. You’ll get nothing but grace from me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Hallelujah! Let’s hear it for grace. May we receive it in abundance and pour it all over others.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dan Ledwith said:
Whoo-hoooo!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pastor Randy said:
Love the glass analogy–seems too many in the U.S. church have forgotten Who fills (and keeps filling) the glass. Great way to frame this truth!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lorra B. said:
“Someone said this election doesn’t really matter, and I agree with that in terms of candidates and “winning” and “losing,” but I think this election matters a great deal becasue it has revealed some things about us as people, about us as Christian people, that must be addressed, that must be acknowledged.”
Amen to that! The truth is that we are fast turning into a real Sodom and Gomorrah. Each election we seem to drift further and further into the abyss as a people and electing the right candidate means so much. Granted, we are choosing between Tweedledee and Tweedledum so the process may be a bit more difficult for some.
All I can say is vote the issues that matter to Christ and, therefor, to you, voters! May we be a light in the darkness….
LikeLiked by 2 people
MJThompson said:
Pray, asking (and really expecting) the Spirit of God to guide you in your vote. Imagine what results could be if every believer trusted the outcome to God – regardless of whether Tweedledee or Tweedledum – our victory in this world rests in our proper surrender to God. Not my will, Lord – but Yours!
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Yes! I think what goes along with that is putting our faith in the words, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
So, no matter what the outcome of an election, or our prayers for that matter, trust that God will work it for good.
LikeLike
MJThompson said:
Amen. I wonder how many of us fail to put stock in the fact that we ‘new creations in Christ’ have our citizenship in heaven. Thanks for bringing a little heaven to earth through your daily posts!
LikeLiked by 1 person
bill theunfetteredpreacher cote said:
Wisdom speaks
LikeLike
Pingback: Things I have read on the internet – 55 | clydeherrin
Tricia said:
Very well said IB.
LikeLiked by 1 person