A short post that will likely lead in to a massive post

I said that one of my goals in returning to my blog was to also encourage my brother to post more frequently. Well, he actually has responsibilities in his life, so I am getting on to my second post since my return, without waiting on the post he owes me in response. With the title in mind, I might as well get to my thoughts here.

I deeply hate when people leave shopping carts in the middle of a parking spot. I hate when someone whines and moans for what seems like hours on end about something, if they had taken a couple minutes to think it through, they wouldn't have had to worry about it at all. I hate when someone you're having a conversation with hears you say something that strongly resonates with them and then they hi-jack the conversation and make the rest of it all about them, with no regard to any previous thoughts shared. I hate when I am the person who does that in a conversation. I hate when people make a big deal about their "quirky" (read as "weird & irritating") personality; which I know to be fabricated after they've watched too many episodes of Portlandia. I hate making ordered lists, (as you can see by my making a paragraph out of a list.)  I hate beef liver, it is terrible.

I could go on; because really, who only hates a paragraph worth of things? And I'm sure that you too, could fill page upon countless page of the things that irritate, irk, and genuinely make you loathe everything in the existence of the World. I am now posed with an interesting internal question. "Why did I just say all these things I hate?" The way my mind works, I am now thinking, that I may have given my enemies some precious intel, so that they can frustrate me and keep me on edge to the point that the fabric of my mind becomes an incomplete analogy.

Being a Christian, at least to me, means trying to figure out how to become a more complete person through submission to Jesus Christ. And though I make so many mistakes and reveal so much of my own failures on a daily basis, I still take Jesus seriously. When I come to all these things I hate I try to recall what Jesus said about hate. The conclusion I'm always brought back to, is that hate is rarely about things, events, or situations, it is about attitudes and decisions we make.

So right now, I'm making a decision about my attitude. I want to live in a way that people know me more for what I love, more than they know me for what I hate. You may be thinking that is too shallow an ambition because surely someone would be able to figure the things I hate or think are wrong by finding the antithesis of the things I value. While that may make sense of some things, the black & white things, the one way or the other things, but it doesn't work across the board. For example, one way this doesn't work, is with cake. Now if I said I liked cake would that mean that I hate every other dessert in existence? No, it would not, because I didn't say that. Though is an oversimplified explanation, it's simplicity says a lot. We live in a day and age where we cant just gloss over implications in someone's speech but at the same time, we need to stop assuming that there is sinister intent in what is left unsaid.

There are other places this conversation could go, good things could be said to challenge and engage you but I want to come to a close soon. Jesus calls us to love God first, love other people second, and somewhere below that; ourselves. The impression that I get from the Bible is that our ability to focus is vitally important, in that it directs where to go; when working with the Holy Spirit, one step at a time. Hate was never intended to be a focal point in our lives, where as, love is. With that being said, it is time to choose. Will you be driven by hate or love? That is really how simple the question I'm dealing with is. At the end of day, love for God, others, and myself will be my driving force and I hope it becomes more evident everyday.

-ard

P.S. comment as you wish.