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Life is much easier if you try to remember that the average IQ is about 100. The bad news is that means about half the population falls far below that.

One fine gentleman decided to argue that truth with me, blathering on about how I just didn’t understand the differences between “methods, means, and averages” until I felt like I was trapped in middle school math class and forced to say, “I know I am, but what are you” before just throwing a cafeteria tray of mashed potatoes at his head.

Which brings me to arrogance and pride. The existence of either automatically knocks 20 points off your score. You were a somewhat moderately intelligent human, but now your ego seems to have gone and fouled that all up for you.…

I jest a wee bit. Anyone who has read enough of me will know that I do not take IQ very seriously and that I certainly do not consider it a marker for any kind of wisdom or morality. Psychopaths can be highly intelligent and yet they are just the giant sucking sound of stupid out in the world.

A more artful way of expressing what I want to say today was once said by CS Lewis in “Mere Christianity” partially quoted here, “The bad psychological material is not a sin but a disease. It does not need to be repented of, but to be cured. And by the way, that is very important. Human beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges them by their moral choices……..Most of the man’s psychological makeup is probably due to his body: when his body dies all that will fall off him, and the real central man, the thing that chose, that made the best or worst out of this material, will stand naked. All sorts of nice things which we thought our own, but which were really due to a good digestion, will fall off some of us: all sorts of nasty things which were due to complexes or bad health will fall off others. We shall then, for the first time, see every one as he really was. There will be surprises.”

Life is much better if you remember that people often suffer from indigestion, trauma, and other assorted ailments and are probably not cutting you off in traffic or making your life miserable simply because they are mean, stupid, and willfully blind. I am chuckling here, but I have to embrace that notion on blind faith alone. I could give Doubting Thomas a run for his money. Just the same, I insist on it being true.

Somebody else smart once said, “our faith needs to be helping us to develop more compassion, more forgiveness, and more empathy for one another or else it isn’t really serving it’s purpose.” I really like that concept. I think there is truth there.

I personally have had to make the moral choice to expect a whole lot less of people. I kid you not, I think we should be far more advanced than we are as a human species, kindness should rule the day, and that incompetence should be exceedingly rare. You should now be able to immediately spot the nature of the problem. With those kinds of unrealistic expectations, I am sure to despair for all of mankind and just spend my life walking around muttering to myself.

I do, early and often.

I am just saying, God is faithful and the Lord has been really good at helping me to cure that, “bad psychological material that is not a sin but a disease.” That anxiety I used to feel when the whole world around me is going mad has eased up a great deal.

Just in the nick of time too, I tell ya….

All in good fun here, but I just want to give a Yelp review for Jesus. Like four stars, highly recommend. So, so much peace for your soul. Sometimes that peace for your soul also brings some rest and good health to your body. He listens. He understands. He knows just what you need. He fixes everything, although the world around you may still be mad. Seriously, just read the Bible. Talk to Jesus. Let Him fill you with His peace.