The world is full of assholes. Now, we could sit and debate what constitutes an asshole. I’m in the mindset that you constitute an asshole. But don’t get yourself all worked up. I to, define an asshole. We are selfish by nature. Selfishness and selfish acts lay the groundwork for being a complete jerk. No matter how hard we try and how we teach ourselves to do the right thing, we will rarely, if ever, do it without some kind of selfish sub-reason. We do really well talking ourselves up to ourselves. “Self, you are so awesome for (fill in the blank with something you thought was awesome)___________.”. That thought, in and of itself, is a jackass thing to think.
O.K. Maybe I am not being realistic here. Maybe I am projecting my own weaknesses on you. It could be that there is a near perfect human being out there who can do what is good and right and not feel those pangs of self edification. But, as I said at the beginning, I am in the mindset that this is not true. I’ve met some great men and women. Some very very kind people. Yet, the older I get the easier it is to see behind their curtain and see the little bitter old man/woman running the show.
The logical end to my stream of thought is that we will owe the world a lot of good for all the bad we do. Now, you may not see it this way. You may think that what you put out there doesn’t come back to you. You, my friendly reader, are wrong. No matter if you think its karma or some other type of spiritual justice; you will end up feeding on the wild oats that you sew.
Alright, so let’s not be all gloom and doom. The simple fact that I (and I hope you) can admit to this frailty built into our modus operandi, then that means we can fight against it. Do I believe we have the wisdom and strength to win this fight? No. You may, which is great. More power to you and I appreciate that you’d want to change for the better every moment of everyday. It’s how I try to live my own life. But I know myself quite well and I believe that I am a pretty good judge of character in others, whether they admit it or not, and I find that our future is quite dark left in our hands. So if we know we are this way, yet there is no way we will ever change it, what can we do?
This is an old question. It reaches to the very core of what a human is. I know what I’ve found for myself. And yes, I believe that if (and I leave this completely up to you.. I am not a person who will shove this in your face) you want to change what you cannot possibly control, then you give it to the one person who has the power to change it.
OK, side bar here… I’m laughing to myself a bit. Cause I can see some of you sitting in your collective computer chairs and reading this and saying to yourself, “Oh shit. I read all of this just to hear Jamie talk about Jesus? What a waste of time.” and some might even add, “Fuck you for that.” Well, I understand the reaction. And without adding that to my what makes you an asshole speech, Ill continue. I hope you respect me as a friend/writer/blogger to continue reading. Because if I didn’t think it important enough, I wouldn’t have spent the time relaying the information.
Jesus Christ. Not the guy you see airbrushed at every southern Baptist church, not Jim Caviezel or Willem Dafoe, Not the guy in those creepy crucifixes, not the douche bag that the hippies sang about in the 60’s. It’s the not so good looking, friend to every man yet enemy of selfishness, fan of logic, humor and the truth, son of God almighty. Even if you followed me in my rant up to this point and agreed slightly, I know we may part ways here. I can, if I step away from my beliefs for a second, see how crazy and “magical” these all look to the outside world. A good friend of mine always describes Christianity as a bunch of vampires (taking communion) following a zombie (rising from the dead). Which, when thought about does make me chuckle, and I would say makes the Jesus I know, smirk a bit too.
But, if I am to believe the words of Christ himself, then all I have to do is to get his message out there to those who need it. Through 10% what I say and 90% how I act (which I know isn’t perfect, but it’s the best I can do). That message? Well, in my words, not His: We are all complete assholes and left to our own devices we will never change. If we could just have faith that Jesus was who He said He was and that He died so that we didn’t have to pay for being an asshole. Then we can get on with trying to be a better person and not focusing on how we should change ourselves. It’s in the releasing of our cares to Him that we find the peace in living as the best person we possibly can.
I’m stepping off my soap box. I hope I haven’t lost readers. I am who I am. I love you all. But the only way I’ve found the strength to do so, is to understand why I am here and what God has for me in your lives. It’s not to hammer it into your skulls. It’s, as I said before, to be your friend, love you and be there when you need me. If you ever want to speak to me about these things, please feel free. Because I won’t bring all this up, unless it’s in the natural flow of a conversation. You can even try to change my mind. I, unlike 95% of the other Christians you will come into contact with, have an open mind to hear you out and have a logical debate with you.
Love,
Uncle Jamie ((listening to Depesche Mode - People are People))
P.S. Sorry for calling you an asshole. But…
