Walk with Thee

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As I mentioned in 'Web's(h)out', I have this tendency to shoot my mouth off, which is never a good idea: I wind up saying things I don’t really mean. I get impassioned on subjects that I think are important and it gets me into trouble. In this situation, as part of an informal media and even though I’m reluctant to self-censor, the act of publishing should include sensitivity towards opposing views and a dedication to be rational and non-judgemental. A succinct expression of views should be able to stand on its own merits and not include personal attacks. In my last entry, my unchecked zeal led me to comment in exactly the way I was denouncing and for this, I apologise. I need to include a moment of reflection before I ‘click’ the publish button to ensure I’m not just venting my spleen (in times of yore regarded as the seat of anger and melancholy), and making statements and judgements that are patently untrue. With these thoughts in mind, I have returned to Soap Boxing: ‘Spanking - Part One’ and removed comments that were offensive and untrue.

I think there is more to say on the issue of spanking children but at this point, I’ll give it some more thought before I launch into another unfair tirade.

People that know me, even close friends will be surprised but most days I wear this around my neck:

It’s not a declaration but a private reminder to try to walk as Christ did: with love, compassion, and tolerance. Some times, I get it right but most often I’m afraid, I fail dismally: big shoes to fill. For nearly two years of my life I lived as ‘a born again Christian’, I immersed myself in the culture, I tried with all my heart to walk that walk but it didn’t work out. Repeatedly confronted with hypocrisy and intolerance by people too quick to judge others, I soon became disillusioned. With a kind of smug superiority, many of the people I associated with at that time, appeared to be looking for a way of appearing better than others, an almost desperate scramble for the moral high ground: the simple psychology of putting others down to make ones self feel better, all the while spouting self-righteous platitudes like “we don’t hate the sinner we hate the sin.”

Furthermore, I had great difficulty with the faith required to believe in a literal translation of the Bible and that everything it contains is a direct message from God which, has remained unaltered by the political agendas of men. For me the processes of the natural world and our existence as explained by our current understanding better indicates a wondrous God than a requirement to believe literal interpretations of ancient historical documents written in a time of less understanding, where a supernatural magician snapped his fingers and ‘presto’ there’s mankind. What about those beautiful dinosaur tracks, I asked, ‘the work of the devil’ was the curt and dismissive reply.

Many Christians quietly go about their days with no big fuss or bother, you meet them, and you think ‘what a nice, or generous, or good or compassionate person’ they give you a candy cane at Christmas and wish you a happy and joyful time. They don’t beat their kids. They don’t knock on your door and harangue or use every opportunity to espouse bigoted views, they walk quietly in the love of Christ and bear true testament, and the way they choose to live their lives is a beautiful ministry in and of itself.

I wish I had their strength...