They say that all that's needed for evil to triumph in the world is for good men to do nothing; it seems that all that's needed for good men to do nothing is for the good to worry what their peers will think about them if they do something. Since peers can have a way of dedicating their wondrously active imaginations to making conjectures about what a good man is really doing, or why he is doing it, or whether or not they particularly like it (and/or him), such worry often rears its head, and as often is crippling.
So it is that evil triumphs because good men don't want to be misunderstood by those around them. Perhaps worse, evil just sort of abides because good men don't want to risk filling that void with something good and real. Look at your own lives: how often have you felt the tug at your soul to be kind to someone who, in all honesty, is pretty obnoxious, clueless, and has that disturbing power of making you feel like you've just been incarcerated with them in a very small room and it apperently slipped the judge's mind to give you a definite term of confinement? How often have you been so full of joy that you just need run like a madman, or sing at the top of your lungs, of laugh like an idiot, or actually say one of those prayers of gratitude that it seems like no one ever really says in real life? Yeah, complete with kissing the ground and everything. How many times have you thought, "Man, it'd be really cool to . . ." in some public place, be it a shopping mall, a parking lot, the grocery store, heck, even a Wal-Mart?
Now, out of all those times when you've felt that tug at your soul to be real, to do something you truly want to do, how many times have you followed that, as opposed to the number of times you've just felt slightly foolish/ashamed of yourself, and continued to do something safe and acceptable, if somewhat a complete waste of your time. How many times have sat around while your peers watched the television, you not really interested in what they're watching, but hey, they seem to like it, right? The same deal with video games, or gossip, or just sitting around complaining that there's nothing to do. How many friendships have you let pass by because you were afraid of what peers would think of you hanging out with people they deem not suitable, be they too young, too unpopular, too odd, too religious, or any other reason that, deep down inside, you know is complete rubbish.
Life is way too short, people. God put us here for a very short time. He put us in a world which is VERY GOOD, at least according to Him. It makes no sense to fail to live life in the world He made for us. Why should good men do nothing when there are sunsets to watch, parking lots to dance in, people to talk to, chapels to pray in, grass to sit on, and trees to climb? C. S. Lewis' character, the demon Screwtape, writes in The Screwtape Letters that the real victory for the powers of hell is the current situation: men sliding into hell, having done in their lives neither as they should nor as they wish. Christ wants us to be hot or cold; tepidity is literally revolting to Him. So get out there and actually live for Christ. Don't worry about what your peers will think or say. If you're friends are real friends, they know who you are, and love you for that. The kind of peers who'll think and say crap about you for being real, well, they're not really the kind of people you want to be associating with anyways. Those who know you love you no matter what. Those who backbite will do so no matter what. Is it worth spending your whole life trying to stay in the good graces of the latter? You do the math.
A final quote from A Man for All Seasons: "[Since we] have to choose to be human at all . . . why then perhaps we must stand fast a little--even at the risk of being heroes." Do what you should be doing AND what you want to be doing. As long as you stay close to Christ, you'll find that the two really aren't all that different. People may misunderstand you and talk about you, but hey, they did it to Him first.
So it is that evil triumphs because good men don't want to be misunderstood by those around them. Perhaps worse, evil just sort of abides because good men don't want to risk filling that void with something good and real. Look at your own lives: how often have you felt the tug at your soul to be kind to someone who, in all honesty, is pretty obnoxious, clueless, and has that disturbing power of making you feel like you've just been incarcerated with them in a very small room and it apperently slipped the judge's mind to give you a definite term of confinement? How often have you been so full of joy that you just need run like a madman, or sing at the top of your lungs, of laugh like an idiot, or actually say one of those prayers of gratitude that it seems like no one ever really says in real life? Yeah, complete with kissing the ground and everything. How many times have you thought, "Man, it'd be really cool to . . ." in some public place, be it a shopping mall, a parking lot, the grocery store, heck, even a Wal-Mart?
Now, out of all those times when you've felt that tug at your soul to be real, to do something you truly want to do, how many times have you followed that, as opposed to the number of times you've just felt slightly foolish/ashamed of yourself, and continued to do something safe and acceptable, if somewhat a complete waste of your time. How many times have sat around while your peers watched the television, you not really interested in what they're watching, but hey, they seem to like it, right? The same deal with video games, or gossip, or just sitting around complaining that there's nothing to do. How many friendships have you let pass by because you were afraid of what peers would think of you hanging out with people they deem not suitable, be they too young, too unpopular, too odd, too religious, or any other reason that, deep down inside, you know is complete rubbish.
Life is way too short, people. God put us here for a very short time. He put us in a world which is VERY GOOD, at least according to Him. It makes no sense to fail to live life in the world He made for us. Why should good men do nothing when there are sunsets to watch, parking lots to dance in, people to talk to, chapels to pray in, grass to sit on, and trees to climb? C. S. Lewis' character, the demon Screwtape, writes in The Screwtape Letters that the real victory for the powers of hell is the current situation: men sliding into hell, having done in their lives neither as they should nor as they wish. Christ wants us to be hot or cold; tepidity is literally revolting to Him. So get out there and actually live for Christ. Don't worry about what your peers will think or say. If you're friends are real friends, they know who you are, and love you for that. The kind of peers who'll think and say crap about you for being real, well, they're not really the kind of people you want to be associating with anyways. Those who know you love you no matter what. Those who backbite will do so no matter what. Is it worth spending your whole life trying to stay in the good graces of the latter? You do the math.
A final quote from A Man for All Seasons: "[Since we] have to choose to be human at all . . . why then perhaps we must stand fast a little--even at the risk of being heroes." Do what you should be doing AND what you want to be doing. As long as you stay close to Christ, you'll find that the two really aren't all that different. People may misunderstand you and talk about you, but hey, they did it to Him first.
posted by Basil Howe at 7:53 AM
1 Comments:
You've got a point, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I've learned in the past six months that people are rarely idly gossiping just for kicks, or seeking to spoil your fun by voicing their opinions. Most of the time, they've got legitimate concerns that they simply don't know how to address. It's crucial to take the difference.
It's all very well and good to say "don't be concerned about what other people say or think about you, carpe diem, do what you feel is best, you only live once", but that only goes so far. Too often - and I've done it myself- that line is used as a deplorable excuse for whatever inane, stupid, ill-advised, self-destructive thing it is that one is currently hell-bent on doing, regardless of cautionary warnings along the way.
Ultimately - and I think the Cuddeback would back me up here - whoever you are, whatever you're doing, you live in a COMMUNITY, and short of pulling a St. Jerome, there's nothign you can do to change that. And in any community, *particularly* a close-knit one like Christendom College, your actions are going to have an enormous impact on others, are going to result in a massive ripple effect that touches vast numbers of people... whether you like it or not.
So it's not a weak or pansyish catering to public opinion to take a glance every once in a while at how your behavior might be appearing to the rest of the world - to think, "hm, maybe if everyone in my life is saying this, they might have a point.". Because, while yes, we all make our decisions individually, hurting other people is never cool.
I'm all for zaniness, and fun, and not living a jejune, prosaic life, and not forming friendships based on superficial public opinion. On the flip side, however, often one does well to occasionally listen to "what people are saying" - because in my 20 years of experience with life and my 4 years of Christendom experience, 99.9% of the time, "what people are saying", however unpleasant we may feel it is, is true.
Yeah, there's an immediacy, a joie de vivre, an impulsiveness, to writing a novel in the first person -- but sometimes it takes transferring the story of your life to the third person for awhile to see how your actions are really affecting others. Only then can you truly see who you've blessed by your past behavior, who you've crippled - who you've encouraged, who you've destroyed - and most importantly of all, Who you've glorified.
And in the words of Atticus, you never really know a man till you climb into his shoes and walk around in them for awhile.
And it's a sin to shoot a mockingbird. lol.
Take care, kiddo.
Agape and stuff.
(the one and only) Donna
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