I'm just saying...

As I get older I have found that life is a mix of the ironic and unusual combined with the painfully obvious and routine. While there are so many new things I understand with each passing year (like using a DVR and properly folding a map), there are also even more things that confound me. I had always heard that as you got older you become wiser. But I am not sure that is the case in my life. I do know that as the years pass I find myself even more curious than I was as a child and less likely to judge others than I was a few years ago. I also find myself grinning at what I like to call “life’s little ironies.” I have decided to share a few of those with you today. Some are serious and some are not. You probably have noted most of them and maybe you have wondered about them as well. Let’s begin with the obvious.

I don’t understand why there are interstate highways in Hawaii. I can understand an interstate that actually runs from one state into another, like I-35 that runs from Texas into Oklahoma into Kansas, etc. But why call it an interstate in Hawaii when it is really an intrastate highway? Who decided that? It makes no sense.

And what about driveways? We park on them, yet we drive on parkways. No wonder the English language is so hard to understand!

I will never fully grasp the concept of cutting the tails off certain breeds of dogs. Why do we do that? Am I missing something here? Will a Rottweiler whose tail has not been bobbed not function properly? And, have you ever noticed that a majority of the dog breeds who bite humans are canines whose tails have been removed? Doesn’t that tell us something about how the dogs feel about losing their tails? I don’t blame them for being angry.

A bit more serious, but just as ironic is that those who are pro-life almost always pro-death penalty, while those who advocate freedom of choice are usually anti-capital punishment? How does that make sense? If you believe that life is so precious it must be protected from the time of conception, then shouldn’t it always be protected no matter what that person has done as an adult? Isn’t the man on death row precious in God’s sight? So when does God quit caring about a living human being and when do we have a right to step in a say, “off with his head?” And, for those on the other side, if life really has very little value before birth then why is it worth so much when attached to a human being whose life example has seemingly proven him more animal-like than human? It seems to me that those on both sides of this argument are at odds with their own logic even before they begin the debate. Where is Solomon when you need him?

This next one really throws me for a loop. I have long wondered why I can seem to find a limitless number of people who claim to speak for God but so few who actually speak to Him. It has been my experience that when I speak for my wife or kids I usually mess up and then have to go back and restate their opinions (after they have straightened me out). I should have spoken to them to get my talking points before I opened my mouth. Or maybe better yet I shouldn’t have said anything. With that in mind I think I’ll leave speaking for God to God and I really wish everyone else would too — especially those who are running for office.

Whenever I read about Christ I seem to be left with a message of forgiveness and inclusion. Yet so many Christian leaders I hear rant on TV and radio center on exclusion and judgment. From what I catch on the airwaves I get the idea that the woman at the well would have problems finding a place in a majority of the churches in this country. I am not even sure all the disciples would be welcome in a pew either (there were some unique folks who traveled with Jesus). As I see it Christ was a force who united very different types of people, while so many who claim to serve him in our modern world want to limit Christianity to a very select few and claim theirs is the only correct way to worship. After all, is there any place left in the country more segregated than a majority of our churches? Few can claim a melting pot on the membership rolls.

The list of things I don’t understand seems to get longer each day and maybe that is why I find life so deeply fascinating and rewarding. Let’s face it, the world isn’t predictable and I thank God for that. I like the curves, the hills and the valleys. And I really like the fact that we seem intent on doing things that make little sense. It makes things more interesting. Yet I do wish that in midst of all this chaos we would remember that when it comes to the really challenging stuff — the most important place to stand is on the middle ground that unites rather than divides. I can disregard our attempts to alter the appearances of dogs and mess up language usage when it comes to highways, but it really bugs me when we find ways to separate ourselves into “know it all cliques” rather than seeking ways to bring souls together. Did you hear that Democrats and Republicans?

I’m just saying…

Blog 2 2009