One Of Us Had To Give

There are a group (flock) of geese of different kinds that live by the river where I usually take the train to work. This morning, they decided to use the bridge to get over the river. I guess the water was too cold? I waited a good five minutes until they all got by... I'm such a tree-hugger.

To Judge Or Not To Judge?

So there was a big drug bust in town a few days ago where a couple (both age 28) were arrested along with a drug distributor from Brooklyn, New York. As I was reading the comments section, there seemed to be quite the discourse over "judging" people. Some were quick to write that these people, who apparently have children, should be punished severely for their drug trafficking. Others, who apparently know the couple, write that people shouldn't "judge" the couple. They give all sorts of reasons to justify the traffic and distribution of drugs by these two.

One of the things that we do as humans is try to justify our actions. When we lie, cheat, or steal, we put it in our minds that we had a damn good reason to do so. Maybe we were low on cash and that's why we wrote something less-than-truthful on our tax returns. Maybe we really needed that car to drive to school and so we got a fake driver's license and insurance card while we got enough money to go legit. Maybe. But all of these actions have consequences. Calling for the punishment of two people who knowingly sold a poison to old and young alike, in front of their children, and who were caught red-handed by the police... calling for them to take responsibility is not judging.

Many people who are not in the least familiar with the Bible tend to hinge on the "thou shall not judge" to get people off their back. Or, in this case, they used it to get people off their friends' backs. And it's a fair thing to say, "Hey, you haven't been there... you don't understand why they did this, so lay off until we know the facts." Yes, very fair. What is incredible is that they condemn the expedient passing of judgment when they themselves have passed (albeit a favorable) judgment. When Jesus told us not to judge, he was saying that we shouldn't judge hypocritically. It wasn't an absolute prohibition on passing judgment. He just said that someone with a log in their eye should not be quick to point out a speck in someone else's eye until the log had been taken care of. Having not committed any major offenses, like selling drugs to kids in front of my own kids, I can say with a clear conscience that these two, should the charges be upheld in court, should be taken away for a very long time.

Only In A Jeep

The time came to get a new Jeep. Introducing "Jeepster 3.0".

Your Sunday Not-A-Sermon

On tonight's Smallville, Clark revealed his true identity for the world, and, for the most part, everyone lauded him as a hero. In one scene, as he was walking down the street, people were cheering for him when, all of a sudden, a little girl jumped off a fire escape with the knowledge that he would catch her. He ran over and did catch her, telling her that she didn't have to do that. Later in the show, a woman cried before the cameras, angry that Clark didn't save her husband from a crane accident. "Who does he think he is to choose who lives and who dies?" she asked.

I think that we have the same relationship with God. We beg and plead and pray that we get something, whether we need it or not, and then we tend to get angry or discouraged when what we ask for doesn't materialize. It's almost as if WE were the omniscient ones and He was just around like a genie, there to grant our every wish. No, my friends, He's not like a genie. He's not even a wishing well that we can toss a coin at and get a wish. Not understanding why prayers don't come true is not understanding the nature of God.

Then again, I don't claim to know the nature of God. I do know that He doesn't take sides in wars started by men. He doesn't take sides in sporting events. And He certainly is not the one that determines if you win the lottery or not. However, at the same time, not even a leaf on the branch of a tree moves if it is not His will. This seems like a bit of a paradox because it reads as if you don't win the lottery if He doesn't want you to, and you win if He does. But winning the lottery, or any other game of chance, or a sporting event, is all about chance and free will.

We are the ones that decide to forgo the benefits of a good job and opt instead to try to get lucky in gambling. We are the ones that decide whether to train hard enough or not for a game. And we are the ones that choose to not leave town when warning of an impending hurricane is posted all over the media. Also, we are the ones that act like we are masters of the (known) universe in thinking that things should go our way. We are not bigger than His plan. More important, maybe, but certainly not in charge of it.

Some atheists accuse God (even though they don't believe in Him) of being a vengeful megalomaniac because of the acts of justice he has performed across history or because of the acts of injustice others have performed in His name. They say that no God would ever allow children to be killed, or mothers to be murdered. But they are missing the point. People kill people. (Especially with guns.) People make the wrong choices in life that lead to great tragedies. If God were to violate some rule of physics to prevent an act of evil from one person to another (or to many), the whole concept of free will goes out the window. We become nothing but automatons, pawns in a big game. THAT right there would be an act of a megalomaniac God.

Nevertheless, miracles have happened and will happen again. Statistical impossibilities take place every day. Heck, life itself is one big miracle. Look at a cell under a microscope and understand its intricate design and function, and you'll know that chance acting upon evolution is a bit of a stretch. Somehow, 15 billion years for a universe and 5 billion years for an Earth are just not enough to explain it all. If you can wrap your head around that, good luck keeping your sanity.

So what do we do? Do we hold out for a hero in God?

He said that we should trust Him. And we should, just not the point where you jump off a cliff to see if He'll catch you. (He also said not to test Him.) We should trust God's judgment in that whatever happens, whatever road you choose through the wisdom of your days, whatever lessons you gained to reach that level of understanding, and whatever action you take, if it is for the greater good, for the plan... we should trust God that everything is going to be okay, regardless of the consequences.

Doing Good and Being Good

My mother believes in showing us, her kids, the best that mankind has to offer as well as the worse. She never minced words when it came to the crimes she studied in school or the people she defended. People in prison were not animals, but they were there for a reason. No sugar-coating of the facts about crime and why people do bad things ever came out of her mouth. Some people do the right thing and others do the wrong thing, and we're all human. That is what she taught me, and that is what I believe.

You see, none of us are monsters, not even the worse, most depraved criminals. The ability to be evil and do evil things is in all of us, and none of us is free from criminality. While he may be responsible for the deaths of millions, Hitler was still human. So was Stalin. All they had going for them was their intellect and their views. All of us have that as well. It's just that history and circumstance does not place us in the right (or wrong) place a the right (or wrong) time. Many things go into choosing evil over good... many things.

I remember when I was in school and a bully would shove me against the lockers, or take my lunch money, sore do something evil to me. And I remember being angry at him, as was natural. But I also felt sad that he had to resort to bullying to get money for luch or to feel better about himself. Later, I would find out that the kid's father had died right around the same time that the kid started being a bully. And that's the thing... Most of us do what we do not because of some internal code, but because of the external stimuli and their effect on our internal code.

Finally, there are those who do evil because they think that they are doing good. Or they think that the ends justify the means. Sometimes I think the same way. I then realize that I am not an omniscient being, so I couldn't possibly kill in revenge because I would never be 100% certain that the guilty party is guilty or that my revenge would be fruitful. It's the same argument I give people who ask me if I would kill Hitler or any other tyrant if I could travel in time. You just never know.

That's the main reason why I try (sometimes very hard) to be a good person in how I live my life. I don't know the future, so I can really chance it that evil today will yield good tomorrow. If anything, evil usually doesn't yield good. Likewise, good hardly ever yields evil. Of course, I write all this from the limited perspective of a human being. God only knows if my life will amount to anything because I try to do good things. I certainly hope so.