It's difficult for any left-leaning Christian, much less a right-leaning or middle-ground walking Christian in today's world to feel happy for more than the 30 seconds it might take him or her to realize that she has no right to be happy in today's world. How can one be happy, when others most certainly are not? How can I laugh at Boston Legal knowing there are those without food, much less televisions? How can we be happy when we beat Rainbow Six on medium, with the knowledge that somewhere someone's REAL life is much more gruesome than the grenade launching death "REAPER" [my brother's Playstation 3 handle] just rained down on all the animated terrorists?
I don't know how we CANNOT be happy...because all those people we so pity with our fake guilt, they are happy. Well, maybe they aren't, but they have joy.
Why is it that old negro spirituals fill our songbooks, with each one on a dog-eared and well-worn page; but the songs of happy well-fed rich slave owners are on the pages still white as the day they hit the presses? Why is my church full of people who still insist on worshiping Sunday morning as if the Lord has given them nothing to sing and be happy about? Why moreover, is a church in Uganda or Zaire or those underground in China full of such happy people in the face of our Lord? We eat each day, many Christians do not. We have water, clean water, and many of our brothers and sisters in Christ do not. We have much and we are unhappy - perhaps even ungrateful. They may need our help but they do not need our guilt or pity.
And frankly, it does us no good either.
Look at the eyes of a child who lives in BelAire and has everything he could ever want or need...but has never had to fight to keep it...never had to risk to defend it...then look in the eyes of a child beaten for his faith...starving for food and water...hungry for death as a relief...who's eyes make you sadder? That's always the question we ask...because we would complain to live that way so it must be intolerable...but somehow...the promise is enough for them...
why not for me?
more on this later...but it seems that those burdened always manage to bless me more than I am able to save them
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Lizz, i strongly agree with you in all material respects! Surely, there is no reason what so ever to be happy when others cannot even afford a single meal in a day. I think the problem is that most people prefer being part of what is GOOD yet they never think of personally participating in making that GOOD thing to come into existence. Love you so much Lizz, Never give up on the struggle for justice, the sky is the limit - Patrick - Kampala
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