Christianity and Faith

I read a letter to the editor in the Longmont paper today from a Mr. Greg Grandchamp.  Religion has been a hot topic in the Times Call lately, and Mr. Grandchamp wrote in to explain his beliefs from a Christian point of view.  He made some good points, not all of which were necessarily provable, but what really struck a chord with me was the last part of his letter:

"But what if I’m wrong?   What if everything I believe is false?  One big scam. The Bible is “mythology.” If so, then I have lived what is left of my life with a certainty of something bigger and greater than me. I have the answers to why I’m here and the belief that I will spend eternity in paradise. I have joy in my heart that cannot be taken from me, regardless of any possible circumstances. I have lived knowing that I am loved by God, and I have lived my life serving him and others for him. And when I die, I will never know the difference."

I consider myself a Christian.  Probably not a very good Christian (I don't remember the last time I went to church), but I definitely believe in God.  But put me up in a debate with an atheist who is a skilled debater, and I imagine I'd look foolish every time, because I simply can't prove beyond an atheist's shadow of a doubt that God exists or that His son Jesus died for our sins.  So many of my beliefs are based on faith, but of course it has crossed my mind "what if I am wrong?"  Thank you, Mr. Grandchamp, for summing it up nicely for me.

My Pops

Today is Father's Day, and I thought I would jot down a few thoughts about my dad today. 

Sadly, my dad is no longer with us.  He died in January of 2005.  Apparently he had gone to work that day and was in a meeting room, when he got up to walk across the room and just crashed to the floor.  Some coworkers attempted to revive him, but he never fully regained consciousness.  I got that dreaded call from my mom that things were not looking good and that I needed to come back home.  After I got there, I saw my dad in the hospital on life support, and was able to say my goodbyes before the decision was made to take him off support and let him go.  I'm not sure if he heard what I said to him, but I'll always assume that he heard and understood.

One thing that I'm very thankful for is that my family had just been to Georgia for Christmas to visit my folks.  As part of that trip, my dad and I drove to Nashville TN to watch the Broncos (he was a big fan) and the Titans play on Christmas day.  We spent the night up there and drove back the next day, just a one on one road trip and football game with my dad.  We had a great time.  And about a month later, he was gone.  I'm thankful that I had just gotten to see him and that we had nothing that needed to be cleared or settled.  I had the epitome of closure, but I had no idea that I was getting it when I did.

My dad was a great guy, and I really wish my current day friends could have gotten to meet him.  He was one of the best diplomats I ever knew.  I don't remember him ever really losing his temper (angry, sure, but never out of control angry).  I always remember him as never being one to tell you you were wrong outright or insult you.  He'd be more like "you may want to consider if you do that, this might be the consequence", and that always made you think and more often than not, change to his "side" of the argument.  As a family friend once told me "he could call you stupid and you'd never even know he was saying it".  He was very involved in his church in Augusta, and he was in the choir and did singing gigs all the time. 

When my dad died, there was literally a non stop procession of people for over an hour who came to his viewing.  He was held in very high regard by a whole lot of people.  I was asked today if Father's Day is hard on me since his death.  The answer to that (for me anyway), is that no, it really isn't.  I often wish I could talk to my dad again and that he could see what I'm doing with my life and meet my friends.  Today is no different.  But I have no regrets about my life with dad when he was around, and that makes things a lot easier. 

I could write a whole lot more primarily random and great memories I have of my dad, but I'll leave that to future posts.  So for now....here's to you, dad.  Thank you for all you did for me and taught me, and I hope one day we'll be together again. 

Do Unto Others....

I read this article in my local paper this week and it infuriated me.  This is the story of one Mr. Bob McIntosh.  Mr. McIntosh was pulled over for going 41 mph in a 20 mph school zone.  Mr. McIntosh was not happy that he was pulled over for such a petty offense as speeding in an area full of children, so he proceeded to swear at the officer.  The officer warned him that if he didn't stop, he would place Mr. McIntosh under arrest.  Mr. McIntosh either didn't believe him or didn't care, so the officer arrested him.  After 3 hours in custody, and after soliciting the services of lawyer David Lane, Mr. McIntosh has been awarded $20,00 for "violation of his first amendment rights".  What a joke.

As Mr. Lane so eloquently puts it, "I can't arrest you for telling me to go screw myself".  Legally, that may be true.  Morally, though?  Yes, I know how the slippery slope argument goes....if we prosecute someone for saying something that someone doesn't like, where will it end?  Again, legally, sadly, Mr. McIntosh has the "right" to be an asshole, and he exercised that right to perfection.  But $20,000 for literally 3 hours of trouble?  (He plead guilty to the speeding charge).  I was always taught to respect people of authority (and an officer of the law certainly qualifies) regardless of whether I can "legally" call him any name I want to.  Mr. McIntosh was morally in the wrong, and when you have to hire David Lane to defend your actions, you are all but admitting that you behaved in a way that any decent member of society would frown upon. 

Mr. McIntosh, I hope you do the right thing and donate 100% of your windfall to a good charity, because God knows you don't deserve a penny of it for your behavior that day.

Some Inspiration

I'm disappointed in myself for not posting more often, but I am also trying not to post just for the sake of posting either.  This may be a little more of the latter, but I wanted to share a couple of videos I found today that were pretty inspiring.

The first is a video by Neil Pasricha called "The Three A's of Awesome".   It is almost 20 minutes long, but has a good message about how to get the most out of life.  The gist of it is, there are going to be roadblocks and obstacles in your life, and how you choose to handle those will determine how far you are able to move forward.  Anyway, the video caught my attention, and maybe it will yours too.

The other video which caught my eye today was this one.  This video shows a kindergarten teacher's classroom in Mexico, where two rival drug cartels are having a gunfight just outside of the school (apparently several people were killed in it).  The teacher has the kids on the floor, but is very calm and begins to sing with them so they don't freak out in a very scary situation.  I know at least 3 current or former kindergarten teachers who kickbox with me, and I can imagine all three of them acting in a similar manner even though I am quite sure all of them would also be completely freaking out on the inside.  It takes a special kind of person to succeed as a kindergarten teacher, and this woman in Mexico appears to have that gift (as do my kickboxer friends). 

Anyway, two videos with nothing more in common other than they inspired me, and hopefully they'll stir something in your like they did in me today.