Have you ever thought about average? The average American eats 2700 calories and throws away another 1000 a day, one person is born in the US an average of 8 seconds, the average American driver has 1.2 cars. How about more serious ones... the average American income is nearly 200 times that of Sierra Leone, the average US marriage lasts less than 8 years, the average American takes 7.5 medications spending a total of $200 billion, a child under 5 in Afghanistan is 32 times more likely to die than one in the US, I used 15 times more water today than a person in a developing country; however, only 40% of the developing country's water is potable which really translates into me using ~38 times more potable water; to boot, some of my water had to be purified via the most stringent filtration method THEN had minerals added back in to suit my taste and all that for less than a quarter a bottle.
Here's the truth, you are average. You are not above average, nor are you below. You may make more money than average, you may stay married longer than most, you may take less meds, and always have food in your belly, but there are other columns that bring you back to average. Take me for example, I may make more money than most people, but I pollute more than most people. I may have a sense of complacency, but I can find myself disconnected from friends by not investing time into those relationships.
So why do we feel special? Why are we somehow entitled to more and better? Why do I feel like I'm not talking to me? Why do you feel like I'm not talking to you? =)
Satiety, not in that funny phoenetic way, but in that realization that where you are at is good. Know why? Because average is good. How happy are you? Did you know that paraplegics rank more happy than normal Americans? Let me rephrase, paraplegics are happier than average. I have no idea why, but it says something about envy.
Let me ask a question, what makes you happy? Is it your good job, your 2.5 kids, that big TV receiving the Bengals in High Def? So if having that is your happiness, can someone who is homeless, child barren, or without electricity be happy? My opinion is that Christ came for everyone, not just overly blessed me, not just me a fortunate birth in well-to-do capitalist society. I'm not different than someone in Sierra Leone. Knowing THAT is to understand being Average. Also, tell me if you lost what you had, say because China calls in the US debt or you lose your job because your industry is slowing or a loved one passes on or a car accident disables you or terrorists make 20 million people on the West coast homeless because of dirty bomb, would you still be happy? Where do you hold your happiness? I'd like to think my happiness is in spite of my circumstances not because of them; though I admit to falling short on that every time I get disillusioned. What about you?
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
the green, green grass... over there
This topic is absolutely melancholy for me. I've been blessed to know complacency; what it feels like, tastes like, it's fullness and bubbling joy. But, every now and then, evil works its way into daydreams... You've probably had the same ones. The ones that you wouldn't share with anyone because they cut to the sinew like razors. You're pissed at your spouse and you drift off thinking about divorce... you're stressed with (insert your source here) and think about being killed in a car accident... you've cried either on the surface or deep inside from that pain whose wound gets scratched by a smell, ethereal de ja vous or untimely anniversary and wondered what would your life be like without it.
Have you ever even shared these things with the textured ceiling as it stares back at you or the tail lights of your traffic jam partaker? Probably not, but why? Is it the ridiculousness of doing it; "I must be crazy to consider speaking this horrific thing to the thin air"? The wall doesn't mock you like a monitor to a writer with block.
For me, Christ is that slow moving, flashing red light in the night sky. Sometimes, I tell it to Him... He simply listens, gives me refresh in that fathom of my mind, separating me from that thing. The trick for me is to realize that the only thing between me and reprieve of this burden is pride. "I can deal with it. I'm a big boy with broad shoulders." Truth is; no, I'm not. I'm a fleshy spare tire, an easily crushed spirit, 70% water. I'm average.
"The grass is not greener over there, just watered more" - fjwii. As a great friend similarly put it, "You are of no use where you are not". What does this mean? Take joy in those hardships because they are essential to character. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (1Tim.4:7). However, if you want eternal reward for these hardships, Believe! This probably requires you to know you are average, broken and not a consequence of your surroundings, but an error landfill. It definitely requires love for Him.
Where do you fall on this? Is it different depending upon your season? Are you driven to clear your head with drugs, alcohol, abuse, inanity or be quidnunc? Walk with me.
Have you ever even shared these things with the textured ceiling as it stares back at you or the tail lights of your traffic jam partaker? Probably not, but why? Is it the ridiculousness of doing it; "I must be crazy to consider speaking this horrific thing to the thin air"? The wall doesn't mock you like a monitor to a writer with block.
For me, Christ is that slow moving, flashing red light in the night sky. Sometimes, I tell it to Him... He simply listens, gives me refresh in that fathom of my mind, separating me from that thing. The trick for me is to realize that the only thing between me and reprieve of this burden is pride. "I can deal with it. I'm a big boy with broad shoulders." Truth is; no, I'm not. I'm a fleshy spare tire, an easily crushed spirit, 70% water. I'm average.
"The grass is not greener over there, just watered more" - fjwii. As a great friend similarly put it, "You are of no use where you are not". What does this mean? Take joy in those hardships because they are essential to character. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (1Tim.4:7). However, if you want eternal reward for these hardships, Believe! This probably requires you to know you are average, broken and not a consequence of your surroundings, but an error landfill. It definitely requires love for Him.
Where do you fall on this? Is it different depending upon your season? Are you driven to clear your head with drugs, alcohol, abuse, inanity or be quidnunc? Walk with me.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Welcome
I have to admit... my wife has turned me on to blogging. I enjoy the therapeutic nature of blogging. It's nice to lay it all out in words; capture those random, ephemeral thoughts and place them pseudo-prudently for your circle of family and friends to share and advise on.
Let me introduce you to my blog, Wonder Bread. To explain, Wonder bread is a baseball saying we would shout out to anyone trying to focus in the field. When I would pitch, I could hear this phrase coming from right field, 3rd base and occasionally from the pine (that's the bench for you non-hardballers). I loved how it works. To test it, say the phrase out loud, "Wonder bread.... Wonder bread..."; it's relaxing, calming, mind-clearing=) I've always since associated it with serenity, complacency (because it counters anxiety), etc. Since my reinvention into a life with Christ, it's added a fathom of depth. I won't explain further, but leave the rest to your understanding wherever you are in your journey.
The URL contains the most important things to us; love and time. God is love (1 John 4:16) and He has bound us by Time. Herein these broad spectra will lie the topics of my discussions. Many will be light and airy, however, many more will be deep. Anyone who knows me can see the latter being more prevalent than the former, time will tell. Often, I'll request help, i.e. love.
So, let's walk together. "Wonder Bread!"
Let me introduce you to my blog, Wonder Bread. To explain, Wonder bread is a baseball saying we would shout out to anyone trying to focus in the field. When I would pitch, I could hear this phrase coming from right field, 3rd base and occasionally from the pine (that's the bench for you non-hardballers). I loved how it works. To test it, say the phrase out loud, "Wonder bread.... Wonder bread..."; it's relaxing, calming, mind-clearing=) I've always since associated it with serenity, complacency (because it counters anxiety), etc. Since my reinvention into a life with Christ, it's added a fathom of depth. I won't explain further, but leave the rest to your understanding wherever you are in your journey.
The URL contains the most important things to us; love and time. God is love (1 John 4:16) and He has bound us by Time. Herein these broad spectra will lie the topics of my discussions. Many will be light and airy, however, many more will be deep. Anyone who knows me can see the latter being more prevalent than the former, time will tell. Often, I'll request help, i.e. love.
So, let's walk together. "Wonder Bread!"
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