The Difference Between Us

On Saturday, I spent a large amount of time at a memorial service for a relative. At this service, I observed some things.

Everyone was united in one area, which is that all of them were sad. This makes sense of course, since death is an unhappy thing. Everyone pretty much agreed that this relative was a great guy while he was alive. But after that, things start to break down.

See, this group of sad people were subdivided into two seperate groups. One group consisted of people who said "he was a great guy, I really liked being around him." The other group had people that said, "he was a great guy, I'm really looking forward to seeing him again."

I've been part of one church or another for my entire life, so God and Christianity are both pretty embedded in my way of thinking. I'll admit, I don't entirely understand other viewpoints. But I can see how they work, and it seems to me that the one major difference between the two involves death and how it affects us.

Viewpoint 1 says that death is just the end of the body, but the beginning of something very different and vastly better.

Viewpoint 2 says that death is the end of everything.

Personally, I like viewpoint 1 a lot better. This doesn't mean, of course, that this one is more accurate than the other. It's just more attractive to me.

I have a lot more to say about these viewpoints, but I'd rather keep this post short. Maybe I'll ramble some more about it at a future point in time. Probably not.

humility

I just went to Google Blogs and did a search for "Controlled Disorder." I found myself. It was cool.

I was very proud for a few seconds, until I realized that no one is ever going to do a search for such a random thing. After pondering this fact, I also realized that even if someone does find my blog, most likely he is going to immediately click the "back" button in his internet browser. So I am humble again.

Well, not really. To be humble is kind of hard (what an understatement). To be humble, I have to pretty much not think about myself at all. This means that if I think of myself even in derogatory terms (something I would never do), then I am still not humble. In fact, it's just as arrogant to think of myself as stupid as it is to think of myself as the smartest genius in the universe. This is simply because I am thinking about myself.

Arrogance is self-obsession. So to be obsessed with my supposed stupidity is to be arrogant.

So don't be arrogant. Think about someone else. Like me.

where is Heaven?

According to the Bible, Heaven and Hell are real places. They are where people go when they die. So what I'm wondering is, where are these places? Here are some ideas:

A: On another planet

B: In another universe

C: Heaven is a state of mind

What do you think? Is it one of these, or something else?

Traffic Laws

A lot of things in the church today can be illustrated by various traffic laws.

1. Legalism

Legalism is like this: imagine that you are driving along the road. You come to a stop sign. You come to a complete stop, look both ways, and then go. You don't, however, wait for the other cars to get out of the way. That's legalism: following a set of rules to the letter, but forgetting their actual purpose.

2. Hypocrisy

Now, you are driving on a stretch of road where the speed limit is sixty mph. You decide, instead to drive at sixty-five. This is illegal, of course. A few minutes later, a car passes you, driving at seventy mph. So you begin to complain loudly to anyone who will listen about how that person who passed you is a horrible law-breaker. Although you were speeding too, he was going even further above the speed limit.

I thought of others also, but these are the two clearest illustrations. So this is what I wrote.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

On Being Free

Why are small children (and sometimes not-so-small children) commonly afraid of the dark? What's scary about darkness? Have you ever noticed how strange this is? Really, there is nothing about the dark that should inspire fear. A tiger is scary, because it can kill you. A falling boulder is scary, because it can also kill you. Darkness, however, doesn't even have deadly potential.

I think that the reason is simply that we can't see in the dark. If we could see, the darkness wouldn't be scary. If we were like owls, however, and became blind in the light instead, I imagine that the daytime would be scary.

If we can't see, we have no control of anything around us. I think that humans are instinctively afraid of anything we can't control. The things that control us, therefore, are hated and feared universally. That's why freedom is so longed for by our species, and also why control of others is such a powerful desire.

However, we also have a problem. Along with the instinctive fear of being enslaved, we also seem to have an instinctive feeling of enslavement. Look at all the religions that have formed over the last few thousand years. All of them have a common thread: something powerful exists in a realm not quite visible, and it has the power to control us.

This is seen in all religions, major and minor. The aborigines of Australia belief in several types of spirits, which control every aspect of their lives. Hindus believe in hundreds of gods, all of which must be kept happy at all times. Even Buddhism, an atheistic religion, contains this thread. They believe that freedom comes from breaking out of the cycle of death and rebirth and death and rebirth and death and rebirth and so on.

There is only one religion which offers freedom. This is Christianity. However, Christianity offers freedom in a most unusual way: by becoming a slave.

Numerous times, Jesus refers to us as becoming slaves of God. Nearly every New Testament author makes the same reference. This, also, is how we become free. So maybe, freedom is not what we think it is. Maybe what we feel isn't a lack of freedom, but a lack of function. Instead of being free, what we need is to be part of something else.

Freedom, this means, is not what we think. Real freedom is control by something ultimately stronger than we are. This is an interesting paradox. I hope you thought so too.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Language Reform

The idea of grammar is interesting to me. Who came up with it? And spelling. When did spelling become standardized? Did someone decide one day that our language needed to work like this, and not like that? If so, he didn't do it very well. I'll admit that grammar usually works well, but spelling does not.

Look at words like "eight" and "bomb." They don't sound like they look at all (and why do we have to have words for numbers? Why not just write it 8?) Standardized spelling is good, but why not make it a little more sensical. English, supposedly, is written phonetically. Wouldn't it be great if that were true? "Facade" should be written "fussad," and the letter K should be eliminated, since it's redundant to C. As for letters:

G should no longer share a sound with J.

C should cease to share with S.

X, Q and K should be removed from the alphabet.

The sounds Sh, Th and Ch should be replaced by, respectively, Q, K and X.

And those are my thoughts for the day.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Unreality

As anyone who's heard me knows, I am an exceedingly good guitarist. I am, if I do say so myself, one of the best to ever live. Although there are many who would disagree, they're probably just jealous.

There is a game that is popular among many people called Guitar Hero. It's basically a simulation of playing guitar. The controller is a small plastic guitar with five buttons on the neck. On the body, where a real guitarist would strum, there is a small plastic piece on a hinge. This simulates the strum.

I can't play Guitar Hero. I am the worst Guitar Heroist ever. However, I am an awesome guitarist. Guitar Hero has a fraction of the complexity of guitar, so the ability to play guitar should make Guitar Hero exponentially easier.

There's actually more to it than that, but for now let's stick with what I've just laid out (I'd rather not bring up how bad I am at sight-reading). Reality is easier than the simulation, which, based on casual observance, is backwards.

Looking back, this isn't a very good way of getting my point across. So before I fall deeper into my mistake, I'll just state my purpose.

It's a lot easier to maintain the truth than to keep up a lie. There are two reasons for this, neither of which really have anything to do with guitars. The first is memory, the second is backup.

Lies are easier to forget than the truth. A lie is made up entirely of words, and words can be easily forgotten. The truth is made up of actual events.

Other people can also easily and inadvertently cause your lie yto be disproved. Sometimes a casual comment that doesn't match up with a false story can destroy the false story.

Don't worry, this worthlessness I just spent all this time writing will not recur with too much frequency. My inspiration is only slowly returning, but it's coming. Maybe I'll say something worth saying tomorrow.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Help Wanted

I can think of nothing good to talk about. I wish that I did. So here's what I want you, the valiant reader, to do for me. You've been sitting there reading my hard work for all this time. It's time for you to do your part. Here are your instructions.

1. Click below where it says "comments."

2. Write something in the box contained therein. This something can be whatever you think could be relevant and helpful. This could be a Bible verse, a theological statement, a non-theological statement, or the beginnings of the trace of an idea of something.

3. Post the comment.

This really isn't just a ploy to show how many people are reading my blog. If that's what it was, I know that I would be horribly disappointed. I just have run low on inspiration.

I hope to hear from you shortly,
Mitchell

The Tortoise and the Hare

Long ago, in a land far away (from my current location, anyway), there was a man named Aesop. He told a lot of stories that had nothing to do with reality, and included a less than subtle message about how people should be good. These stories were called fables.

One of the most famous of these is called the Tortoise and the Hare. I'm going to retell it (not, of course, that I wish to show myself a better storyteller than Aesop. This is not my intention, nor is it my intention to prove myself wiser. This might be the results anyway, but if so it is not my fault.)

Long ago, in a land far away, there was a tortoise. This tortoise was named Tortoise. He was the slowest and weakest of all the animals in the world. A hare, who happened to be named Hare, was constantly making fun of Tortoise's slowness. You see, Hare was the fastest.

One day, Tortoise got sick of this. "I'm sick of this," he said to Hare. "I challenge you to a race."

After the laughs died down, everyone realized that Tortoise was serious. An awkward silence settled over those present. Hare stared at Tortoise with a confused grin. "Well, okay," he said.

So everyone immediately placed all their money on the victory of Hare, except for one wise old man. This wise old man slowly sized up the odds, then quietly muttered something to himself. "Slow and steady wins the race." He was nearly drowning in wisdom.

Tortoise and Hare lined up at a large, imposing baobob tree. Tortoise suggested that their destination be another tree about a hundred yards away. "No, how about that one?" Hare said, pointing to one on the distant horizon.

"Okay," Tortoise said with a shrug. The possum named Possum shouted "Go!" The race was off.

Tortoise began to slowly plod along the path. Hare watched him go for a few seconds, then scratched his armpit and started running. Hare, as the fastest of all creatures, rapidly passed by Tortoise. He then preceded just as rapidly to reach the baobob tree on the distant horizon. Everyone cheered as he burst across the finish line.

Everyone was happy, except for the Tortoise and one wise old man.

Moral: Aesop was a little out of touch.

I think this story more adequately describes life as we know it. The losers lose and the winners win. God, however, tells a different story. He says that the first place champions will be nothing, and the losers will rule the world. He, however, is not out of touch with life. Aesop was eventually thrown off a cliff. God is still running the universe, and will continue in this infinitely.

So here's how the world works: everyone gets about seventy to eighty years to show his colors. Then, when that time is up, God decides whether that person has bright enough colors to make it into the ruling class. (Arrogance and apathy towards the lowly, by the way, are not the kind of thing He wants.)

I hope you enjoyed this new revision of The Tortoise and the Hare.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell the depressing (but not depressed) writer

Color

Color is light. Light is not color. In fact, even though color is light, the two things have opposite purposes. While light assists vision tremendously (without it there would even be vision), color can hinder it just as easily. The whole purpose of paint is to hinder vision. If a wall has a big stain on it, just paint over the stain and it vanishes. Though the stain is still there, it can't be seen. The color hinders sight.

Color is much like religion. Light is like Jesus. Religion is an aspect of Christianity, much like color is an aspect of light. Religion will logically follow from Christianity, like color comes with light. The problem is that sometimes people try to make religion the whole thing. Religion without Jesus is like color without light--which is the same as darkness.

Jesus can't jut be integrated into religion. He has to be more than the sculpted figure on the cross or the man on the poster holding a lamb/child/little dog. He is everything. So when we attempt to do anything in any church, no matter how good it may sound, but Jesus is not behind it, the result will be inevitable. It will end with a fight and a division.

So church leaders: keep Jesus central. For all of you who are not church leadership: keep Jesus central. For those who don't even know who Jesus is: find out.

Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell.

T-shirts and the Esteeming of Oneself

I have a T-shirt that I wear frequently. It's black, and has 14 red letters across the chest. These letters spell out the phrase "I SEE DUMB PEOPLE." I wear it a lot, because it's one of only three shirts in my possession. Other people comment on it frequently, and last night someone commented in a most unusual way.
He said, "you should put black tape over the word 'dumb' and write 'smart' instead." His point was that people would then walk away from me with a happy, warm feeling instead of mild to strong irritation.
This is a really good point, and I wish I'd thought of this idea first. Think about how cool that would be: T-shirts that don't say "you're stupid," but that encourage.
Okay, the truth is that it wouldn't be cool at all. It would be pathetic and completely un-funny. This country has come up with an idea for its public schools: let's teach everyone how special they are! Let's focus more on self-esteem than the two R's (who needs arithmetic?). Wouldn't this be a great idea? Then the younger generations will grow up feeling good about themselves.
This could be a good idea, but it isn't.
Here's what it's done: it's created a society of people who have no self-esteem, no confidence, and don't feel good about themselves at all.
You may be wondering about now how I made the leap from insulting but funny T-shirts to teaching self-esteem. Well, I think that the latter is the cause of the former. This is not because I think that everyone is too arrogant now. In fact, I think it's the opposite. This is demonstrated by the other kind of T-shirt in the world.
There's the kind of shirt saying "you're stupid/lazy/boring etc," and there's the kind saying "I'm stupid/lazy/boring etc." They both come from the same place. The first one is enjoyed by teenagers everywhere because it makes them feel good because someone else is stupid (the shirt says so!). The second one comes from their true feelings.
So this begs the question "how does self-esteem being taught in school give people lower self-esteems?"
Very easily. The problem is that self-esteem is taught apart from its source. Self-esteem, which I will call pride because it's quicker to say, comes from actions. I have pride in the fact that I taught myself to play guitar. While this is not the most amazing of all feats, it's something that I have done.
In school, kids are told that they are special. But what is it that makes them special? If one child does an exceptionally good job can't be told how well he did, because then those who didn't do so well will feel bad. So the one who does well sees that he is treated no better than the one who failed.
This could be easily fixed. We should recognize that, though everyone may be created equal, everyone is not the same. Some people have mental, physical or emotional handicaps, and these people can't be treated the same as everyone else.
How this can be implemented, I don't know. But it should be done somehow, because that is how to really build self-esteem.
And by the way: if anyone happens to find a place where T-shirts with messages containing complements can be bought, please let me know.
Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Bricks

There are lots of different kinds of bricks. Some are made of concrete, and are very large and are actually mostly made of the core. These are called cinderblocks. Others are smaller, red and have much smaller cores. These are the kind you see in the construction of most brick houses. Yet another kind is about 2 1/2 pounds, is gray, and can be found inside the human skull.
I have a low opinion of human intellect (my own included). You may wonder why. You also may not, however, because you may have observed some of the same things I have.

1. Everyone in the world does hundreds of stupid things every day.
2. Everyone in the world says hundreds of stupid things every day.
3. Everyone in the world thinks hundreds of stupid things every day.
4. Ice cream is delicious.

These things demonstrate clearly how messed up our minds are. Maybe part of it is the fact that we can actually use only about ten percent of our brains, meaning that we are short about ninety percent of our needed intellect.
Whatever. It doesn't matter that much why we do dumb things. The main thing is that we do.
Think of the last really smart thing you said. This tends to be pretty hard for must of us. Now think of the last really dumb thing that you said. Again, this is pretty hard for me, because I can never remember which dumb thing was said most recently.
So dumb things are said, done and thought daily. I know what you're thinking. "We're only human, what do you expect?" This is not a dumb thought. The other day I was talking endlessly about holiness. We, being only human, cannot attain holiness. We also have a hard time with wisdom.
Even King Solomon, the wisest man ever to live, did some dumb things. Is there hope left for the rest of us?
So, what do we do? All problems have a solution. This problem is not special, because it's drowning in a solution.
Read the Bible. This is hard for a lot of people (like me) because we've never really entered the habit of reading the Bible frequently. But the Bible, being the word of God, has the answer to just about every problem you'll come across.
Actually, let me rephrase this. Read the Bible prayerfully. The Bible was written thousands of years ago, and is no longer relevant to this world. . .unless the Holy Spirit is guiding the reader. So if you are one of us who needs things like wisdom, go to the Bible. And more importantly: pray without ceasing.
Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Infinity

When was the last time you thought sat down for a minute and thought about eternity? I say "sat down" because it's hard to do standing up. Eternity is a big amount of time. It's really big. It's so big, in fact, that there is no end.
Think about it like this: there is a robot that is programmed to repeat the words "hello, how are you?" He repeats it at five-second intervals. He is also absolutely indestructible, because who would want such a friendly thing destroyed? This robot was built a long time ago, so he's been saying those words for a long time.
Now, to complete the story, imagine that he keeps on saying this forever. Try to imagine this.
We have a hard time with this, because if he started at some point, he has to stop eventually. What goes up must come down. What begins must end. That's what we think, anyway. But he doesn't stop. Just goes on and on and on and etc.
Now imagine a little more. This robot has always been repeating this phrase. Always. Since before you or anyone you know was born. Before, in fact, the universe ever existed. How many hours has he been speaking? How many days? Years? Centuries?
We can't measure it. We can't even begin to measure it because something like this is so far beyond anything we can conceive of in our brains. Maybe if we were able to use 100% of our brains, rather than the 10% actually available, this would be a comprehensible thing. But maybe not. Like I said, this is a big amount of time.
God rules over it all. God absolutely and totally controls every part of this massive amount of time, and has existed through all of it. I know this has been said a million or more times (probably a lot more), but I'm still amazed every time I think about it.
So think for a while about eternity, and then think about God.
"Wow" is such an understatement, don't you think?
Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

Holiness

Have you ever thought about the word "holy"? It's used in a lot of different ways. For example "Holy Cow!" Or, "my old jeans have holy (holey) knees." But I don't really care about those particular usages, because they're too silly and pointless even for this blog. I want to focus on a very different usage, which is the way it's used in church.
We say things like "God is holy" all the time. The word is used in tens of thousands of worship songs. But what does it mean to be holy?
There are several simple qualifications. First of all, you have to be sinless to be holy. Anyone who is holy never sins, and never has. Not once. One sin, no matter how small, destroys the holiness in the same way that a brick destroys glass. All you've got left are a bunch of little bits of holiness.
The next qualification is perfection. This one is a lot more harsh, and seems to be mentioned less than holiness. Well, "perfection" is mentioned quite often in relation to God, but no one really seems to expound upon the theme.
Perfection is one of the things that keeps the Bible from being politically correct. In the Old Testament, along with the rest of the Law, God gives instructions on what can and cannot be sacrificed. He basically saws that He will only accept a perfect lamb--meaning that it cannot be blind, deaf, lame, etc.
Any handicap makes a person imperfect, and therefore that person is not holy. If you are reading this and you're blind, deaf or lame, don't quit reading yet. There's yet another qualification.
To be holy, a person must be clean. This excludes a pretty big portion of all the people in the world. I'll just mention a few things about cleanliness. If you want the rest you can read the book of Leviticus.
Anyone with any kind of skin disease is unclean. Sorry, this doesn't just include leprosy. It also applies to simple little things like warts and sores.
Anyone who is sick is unclean.
Anyone who has eaten an unclean animal is unclean.
Anyone who has touched an unclean thing or person.
And so on.
Basically, the point is that holiness is not an easy thing to attain. In fact, it's impossible. But God is holy. God is sinless, perfect and clean. He is absolutely holy.
So, think about holiness for a while, and tomorrow I'll talk about infinity.
Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell the unholy

Question Number 4

Today, I seek to answer the final question. Why does God not just destroy the universe and start over?
The answer can be found in the biggest best-seller book of all time: the Bible. Exodus 20 describes an interesting occurrence. God gives Moses the law, including the widely-famed Ten Commandments. In the interest of time and space, I'm not going to list all ten. I'm just going to bring up one.
To paraphrase: don't kill anyone. Why does He tell us this? Because life is sacred. All ten of these commandments basically work the same way. Don't misuse God's name. Why? His name is sacred. Don't commit adultery. Why? Marriage is sacred. Don't work on the Sabbath. Why? Because the Sabbath is holy. Etc.
That last one (the Sabbath) is important to my coming argument, and here is why. God was the first one to keep the Sabbath. Following the six days of creation mentioned in Genesis, God took a day to rest. That means that He also keeps the Sabbath holy.
I don't think that God does nothing on Saturday just to keep it holy, but I think that He is mentioned as resting for a reason. Maybe to show that He believes in the holiness of that day. He's not a king who is above His own laws.
So it follows that He believes life to be sacred also. I'm sorry if you don't follow this leap of logic, but I'm not sure how else to phrase it. But the point is simple.
Because God believes life to be sacred, He will not destroy it. I can hear you arguing already: "wait a second, Mitchell, are you trying to tell me people don't die? Or that God isn't in charge of our lives?"
No. People do die, and God is in charge. But remember Question 3, and more importantly, the answer. If it wasn't for Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge, they and all their children (everyone) would still be alive today. God didn't take life--we broke it.
There are exceptions, however. For example, in the Old Testament are mentioned several kings of various nations whom God kills for their sins. But think about it. What happened next? What is it preachers always say to try to get people saved?
"Do you want to live for eternity in Hell?" I most certainly do not, but the point is that word I so neatly italicized. Live. Even if He were to take our lives, God always leaves our souls. It may not be our choice when our lives end, but it's certainly our choice what happens next.
So He won't destroy the universe, because Heaven and Hell are part of it all. And to destroy the universe would mean that nothing would exist but Him. And He will not ever destroy one of His creations.
So, that should be either encouraging or terrifying. Because if you're with Him, that means eternity of happiness. If you're against Him, eternity of not-so-happiness. Choose wisely.
Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell

food, drink and sleep

Last night, I was sitting in a fifteen-passenger van with ten other people. I sat there for a long time--or at least, it seemed like a long time to me. Maybe seven hours, compared to eternity, isn't much of anything. But to the mind of a simple human being like me, seven hours is a very long time.
My eyes are still bloodshot from the abundant lack of sleep I got last night. I want to sleep, but those ten other people happen to be my family, and they refuse to be silent long enough for me to sleep.
All this has caused me to think of a question: what is sleep for? Who decided that we have to sleep every twelve hours just to survive? Isn't that a little inefficient?
If I were to create an entire universe and populate it with small people designed in my image, in the way that God did (Genesis 1:26), I wouldn't have given them such a huge disadvantage as sleep.
Just look around, and it's easy to see hundreds of little "flaws" in our design. To keep on going, we have to eat, drink, sleep and stay warm and dry. Our bodies can't go below a certain temperature or we slow down and ultimately die, and above a certain temperature we overheat. Again, this can lead to death. God doesn't have any of these problems--why did he give them to us?
Could it be that He wants us to rely on Him? We already know this to be true. Look at Matthew 6:25-34. We shouldn't be worried about food, clothing or shelter. We shouldn't even be worried about our own lives. God wants us to rely on Him, and Him alone.
That brings up another question. Why? Why would He want to care for a big bunch of primates with bad breath and overly fancy cars?
This is a good question (I think), and I'm out of time to write. So next time I post, if it be tomorrow or in seventy-three years, I'll attempt to satisfactorily answer that question.
Goodbye, valiant reader
Mitchell