When I was in high school lo those many, many years ago (and of course I walked twenty miles uphill — both ways — barefoot in the snow to get there; why do you ask?), in the English study room there was a poster bearing the following quote: “Will it matter that I was?” Given the obligatory teen angst of said room’s inhabitants, possibly not the best choice motivation-wise. But it was something to think about.
Given how I was a believer during most of my time there, the poster having a drawing of the sun above its slogan reminded me of Ecclesiastes. There was the connection to multiple references about ‘under the sun’ with one specific verse most coming to mind: “For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?” Which answers the poster’s question quite nicely albeit in a thoroughly dour fashion.
Regardless of your location, be it urban concrete and steel-induced insanity or suburban slow suffocation from terminal triviality or rural attempts to postpone the land inhaling you back to where you came, most of us prefer to believe we matter today and will have mattered when remembered tomorrow. Some point to family as validation of their existence. Others highlight accomplishments in their artistic or professional endeavors. Still others declare their mere presence as sufficient. And there are some who mention, usually without boasting, their work and giving of themselves on behalf of others. Whatever the justification, rare is the individual who doesn’t believe they matter. To embrace such a mindset is asking Death for the next dance, as it means a life minus hope and purpose. It is the exact opposite of Christ’s life and message, for He declared us one and all so worthy of love and of such great value He died and rose from the dead so we might live.
Moving this from spiritual philosophic to the everyday, it’s been increasingly noted how the current economic conditions (a/k/a bad) have affected the amount of advertising being placed with the high flying blogs (i.e., a lot less than there had been). Those lower on the totem pole are having an even worse time of it. In short, if your goal in life is being a full-time blogger deriving your livelihood from ad revenue you might want to consider a different business model for monetary acquisition purposes. Either that, or find out if Top Ramen three times a day constitutes a balanced diet.
This development bothers me not in the least.
What are we doing here, people? Why should we be blessed for our efforts when all we’re doing is preaching to the choir? Do our endless political rants matter when they are nothing but reiterations of each others talking points? No. They don’t.
It’s what we do ourselves that counts.
It’s what we do ourselves that matters.
Do we share the Gospel? Do we win over hearts and minds by winning over souls to Christ? Do we stand steadfast as a witness, refusing to bow before false gods of popularity and online social status? Or do we pander to the paycheck?
Do we believe what we say we believe? Are our political and social views shaped by our faith? Do we make pacts with whoever comes along espousing similar political doctrine regardless of their spiritual location? “What think ye of the Christ” is a far more important question than “so what’s your opinion on cap and trade?” Not to disregard or downgrade such matters, but they and our views plus action on same should mirror who we are as children of God.
Yes, I am deeply disturbed at what’s going on in this country. Our economic plan is a disaster waiting to explode. We place ourselves in ever-increasing debt to China while pricing ourselves out of the manufacturing business due to moronic unions incapable of grasping how greed for the maximum wage and benefits package has destroyed this country’s ability to compete on the international trade market. We have a government mollycoddling sworn enemies of this country while believing it can run businesses far more effectively than those who have spent their lives learning how to do this one thing. We are taxed without genuine representation by a government drunk on public money wine, spending as it sees fit on whatever whim passes by with no regard for the will or good of the people it allegedly serves. These must be forcibly addressed by us, the common man, or the present suffering of high unemployment will seem like the good old days compared to the looming misery and danger.
Yet there is a deeper dilemma facing us all.
If we do not first right our own house, we neuter and neutralize ourselves to where we have conceded the war before the first battle has seen its initial shot. We — all of us, individually and collectively — must clean out what needs to be discarded, starting at the only place where we can start: ourselves. We must purify ourselves, throwing away rubbish such as popularity while firmly placing Christ first, understanding how everything else descends from this ultimate crucial: our relationship with the living Jesus. We must surround ourselves with people of like mind and heart, for only in the strength found in the bond of believers will the strength be found to combat the evil threatening to swallow us whole.
It all starts with us.
It’s what we do ourselves that counts.
It’s what we do ourselves that matters.
Let’s matter. As opposed to being self-serving and seeking anti-matter.
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