Be what you are

Not so long ago, to be a hardworking, law abiding, God fearing individual was enough. People did not need to be extremely well educated in order to deserve respect from those around them, and the majority of people did not need to be theologians or philosophers in order to be considered active, growing Christians. Even as recently as 30 years ago, to be an exceptionally well educated, well spoken, argumentative, philosophical, theologically minded individual was the exception, and not the rule. But with the advent of Facebook, it has become more difficult to escape the pressures to become what we are not.

There is nothing wrong with being an intelligent, well educated individual. The problem arises when we interact with a myriad of other people who are so obviously better educated, or have interests in things that are better, more, deeper. It is impossible to keep up with these people when we are not ourselves so minded. But let me make it quite clear: THAT'S NOT A BAD THING. I know, such a surprise right? If we are not well read, well spoken, well written, or constantly aspiring to a higher education, then we are obviously not meant to be one of those that will change society as we know it, and therefore less than. In the words of a friend of mine "if it's not well written, it's not worth reading."

I would like to challenge that assumption. So what if someone can't craft the most elegant sentence? Is their message, whatever that may be, automatically negated as a result? Sure, it's more enjoyable to read the work of someone who knows how to reach people's hearts. No one wants to read something that's boring, and really no one wants to listen to someone who's not well spoken, but since when does that negate the fact that the speaker is still a person, and still has something to say? When did respect become based on your ability to give your message, rather than the message itself? When did the focus shift from the message to the delivery?  When did it become necessary to do all of this in order to be respected as individuals?

I would like to call your attention to our society in the late 1800's. Most people were still farmers, and most people had an 8th grade education (while it can be argued that the children who received this education were farther along than some people today with a Bachelor's degree, that's not the point). These poor, honest farmers spent their lives doing what they could to live their lives in service to God, and in service to their families. Today, you can't look at a Facebook feed without largely being presented with post after post by people who apparently spend all of their time doing useful (meaning philosophical, theological, or civilly minded) internet research, and then posting it for everyone else's benefit. This, too, is not a bad thing, but when it results in the perpetuation of the idea that people who don't do this are not respected, then it has gone too far.

Not everyone is an intellectual. When a person feels that being an intellectual is the only way to be a successful human being, then there is a problem with the intellectual community. Perhaps the reason so many people argue again intellectual Christians, and call us hypocrites, is because we are. Perhaps the biggest problem in the Christian community right now is not that there are too many people claiming the title, and not living their lives in what is generally believed to be a Christian lifestyle. Perhaps the problem is too many people claiming the title, who then show anything but love and kindness towards others, regardless of what their lifestyle looks like. Perhaps the problem is that there are too many people being pressured to be what they are not. Perhaps we have put too much importance on being an intellectual, and changing society by taking on people such as Richard Dawkins, and not enough on reaching those who are more common.

Perhaps, if there was less of a push towards intellectualism, and people felt free to be who they were made to be; mothers, painters, interpreters, animal trainers, policemen, firemen; just perhaps, there would not be such a push to get away from Christianity. My intellectual friends will probably disagree with me; after all, it is "logic" and "reason" that generally lead thinkers away from the church, since there is no quantifiable evidence that God does indeed exist (and yes, I know this isn't exactly true, again, not the point). However, what if the church decided to cater more to the person in need, and helping people to be the best God created them to be, instead of trying to make them the best society says they should be? Perhaps then, people would find more satisfaction in God, instead of in their logic and reason.

Who needs logic anyway? ;)

Christmas Magic

Songs, and parties, and traditions. Christmas is without a doubt my favorite time of year. I love the decorating. I love how festive everything is. I love that it is the one time of year that I can pretend I grew up in a more traditional time, a time when families really did get together and roast chestnuts on open fire. A time when kids went sledding on the snow, built igloos, and threw snowballs at each other. A time when family always feels like real, traditional family.

For the past two years I've been away from my family at Christmas. And while I've tried to maintain the few traditions my family has (things like drinking eggnog, listening to Mannheim Steamroller and Snoopy and the Red Baron, even making cheese fondue for my coworkers on Christmas Eve last year), it's not the same. Last year was better than this year. Last year i had roommates that enjoyed Christmas as much as I do, and who invited me into their home on Christmas day, who helped to make the holiday feel as familiar as they could. And of course, having a white Christmas wasn't so bad either.

This year is harder. Much harder. I'm stressed out with wedding planning, my fiancé is 1200 miles away, and my family is still in California. On top of that, I'm living alone. Don't get me wrong, I like it, for the most part. It gives me the opportunity to be alone when I need to be away from people, and I love my dog Loki. He's a ham, and a bit of a handful, but he's such a sweetheart, I can't help but thank God that I found him :). But that doesn't change the fact that most of the Christmas traditions I try to implement just aren't the same when I do them alone. It makes it hard for it feel like Christmas.

Knowing all of this, I can't stop trying. I love the magic of Christmas, and to give up would be to deny that I think this time of year is special. And there's that trip to California I have all planned out. I know once I get home the sounds of my mom playing music around the house, the smell of breakfast cooking when I get up, and the warmth of the fire burning in the fire place will do away with all of the frustrations, and the magic will come rushing back. But that doesn't mean that I don't wish I had all of that now. Just knowing that I can't have it makes it hard, but I also know that I won't be without it much longer, and that makes trying to maintain the magic that much more worth it. Because without magic, Christmas just isn't Christmas.