greentheo

At the request of quepash, I decided to go ahead and publish this...

In response to "I'm 63 and tired" which I received in one of those calloused propaganda-ish e-mail forwards.

I'm 28. I don't have a lot of experience, life wisdom, work history or real world experience. I haven't fought in a war, or paid lots of taxes... I've paid my share of course as painful as it is. In fact, I can't complain about much... the National Science Foundation paid for my graduate studies, I've had good jobs since I was 13 (roofing houses in the middle of Texas summer was hard but I learned a lot from it) and I have good, meaningful and productive employment now. Thanks to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac I was even able to buy a nice small 2 bedroom house with no money down (not that I had any to put down after grad school) at a monthly rate I could afford for my new wife and myself. But despite God's immense grace to me and my general contentment with life, as a follower of Jesus I'm broken hearted for this country.

I'm brokenhearted for those who have so much, and who hold on to it with fists clenched tight around the little they perceive they have. I'm broken hearted that "spreading the wealth around" is a curse rather than a blessing.

I'm brokenhearted that nearly a quarter of men under the age of 30 don't have a job right now. And hardly any men (or women) have any truly meaningful and productive employment.

I'm brokenhearted for the hypocrisy that causes us to say "socialism for me and capitalism for thee".

I'm brokenhearted for those who in their greed bought McMansions to their own ruin, and those who sadly would leave them to rot in foreclosure rather then extend the least bit of loan forgiveness.

I'm brokenhearted that rather than attacking the ideas of left-wing entertainers and millionaires like Michael Moore and George Soros we so easily tend towards attacking the person and leading each other down the slippery slope towards a bleak and apocalyptic future.

And I'm brokenhearted that we so easily believe that places like Mexico and Zimbabwe are inhabited by nearly subhuman people showing nothing more than our own racism and bigotry towards these human beings who have the misfortune to live in such circumstances.

I'm brokenhearted that more than 50% of families in this country end in divorce.

I'm brokenhearted for those in the entertainment industry who are enticed by the vast sums of wealth offered to make a profession for themselves out of children's games (athletes) or to humiliate themselves in much the same way that prostitutes do (movie stars). And then we, who pay them so well, have the audacity to throw the first stones when they goof in their youthful, arrogant and stupid mistakes.

I'm brokenhearted that we Christians in this country believe Islam and it's faithful to be the enemy rather than the lost sheep of God. Instead of offering compassion to a people who have been fooled into believing devilish lies about God's nature and their own we offer them a sword.

I'm brokenhearted that we are foolish and arrogant enough to disbelieve that "there but for the Grace of God go I".

I'm brokenhearted that in the post-racial world of Obama the Evangelical Church is nearly 100% divided by skin colour. "They are yellow black and white, they are precious in His sight", but apparently not on Sunday mornings. I'm broken hearted that so many of my brethren consider neighbourhoods populated by blacks and Hispanics as "ghettos". There are no outcasts in God's eyes.

I'm brokenhearted for our system of Capitalism which cares for nothing more than to cash in with increasing rapidity on our two most important sources of wealth: our environment and our education.

I'm utterly bewildered that proposals for even the slightest bit of conservation of the use of these Capital goods is met with the loudest protest from those who call themselves Conservatives. There is no wealth apart from God's creation and an understanding of His universe...if we use it all up in our pursuit of pleasure what will we have left?

I'm brokenhearted for our TV and entertainment news generation. CNN, FOX News, and the like don't report facts. They present entertainment based on current events ... and we are too uneducated and illiterate to know the difference.

I'm brokenhearted that only in America's Capitalist economy could pornography become a billion dollar industry capturing millions of us in sexual slavery and addiction.

I'm brokenhearted that we deem stewardship of God's green earth unworthy of self-sacrifice. Are cheap goods, cheap, unsustainable and bland processed food, distance from our neighbours, driving 30 minutes to work and back, full time AC/Heat really worth destroying God's magnificent creation for?

I'm brokenhearted that addiction is either treated as a disease or a moral quandary, but not both and sometimes neither. Addiction, is slavery and a first class Hell. What could be more loving then to help our addicted neighbours fight the demons, the genetics, and the chemistry of addiction?

I'm brokenhearted that we lock our addicts, and our mentally retarded in prisons.

I'm brokenhearted that we can so easily separate sexuality, family, relationship, commitment and responsibility from pleasure.

I'm brokenhearted that it's much easier for us to throw our problems in a landfill, a grave, or an incinerator than to properly deal with them. Just as we throw unwanted packaging, broken toys and items which fail to serve us into the landfill so do we with unwanted and unborn babies, the elderly, criminals, the mentally retarded and those otherwise incapable of providing for themselves.

I'm brokenhearted that we so often choose "necessary evils" and the "lesser of two evils". When will we start choosing "the better of two goods" and "unnecessary goods"?

I'm brokenhearted for those who feel such a great sense of entitlement. Neither the poor nor the wealthy, the stupid nor the intelligent, the lazy nor the hard working deserve the good life. It is only the Lord who in His mercy sent us his only Son to die as propitiation for our sins who gives to us freely from His abundance.

I'm brokenhearted that there are hundreds of thousands of children that go hungry all summer long in every major US city because there is no school in session to provide the one meal a day they usually have... free lunch.

I'm brokenhearted that while the poor in this country do have things like TV and air conditioning, the citizens in other less fortunate countries can only expect to live to about 40 years for a lack of nutrition and basic medical care.

I'm brokenhearted because a company can unleash millions of gallons of toxic waste into the environment and pillage it to the brink of destruction while the CEO plays golf with his buddies.

I'm brokenhearted that in this day and age we'd rather be friends on Facebook then friends who have face to face conversations at a favourite coffee shop. I guess that might make me a latte liberal though...

I'm brokenhearted and confused about the reality of our country and our world. But I'm also proud of my country and its many significant accomplishments. Starting with my prayers (and maybe yours too) our pleas will not go unheard by the God of the Universe. He's already done so much for us... how much more will He do?