And the problem with the universe is??
It is me. And let’s face it, its you too. We are the problem. I am as bad as any one else at pointing the finger at the government (or governments since I get the joy of dealing with several) or corporate business or politics or religion and punting my responsibilities. But the real problem is me . . . and you. There is something broken in us that prevents us from taking responsibility for our actions. Something broken that makes doing right really tough. Something so broken that doing wrong seems natural and automatic, but that is also the problem within itself.
That it is about . . . me. All the time, every day, each hour, every conversation, every strategy at play, all the public masks, each stroke of emotion, is almost always about me. As one author commented, “I spend 95% of my time thinking about me.” “ . . . the problem in the universe lives within me.” Ouch that hurts . . . especially since its true . . . I am the problem. There is something corrupt and damaged inside . . . and I am not saying this to give myself permission to be bad or act in unrighteousness. It is much more a simple admission of reality, that my depths of depravity know no limits.
Many Westerners who come and visit this war-torn corner of the world shake their heads in disbelief that people can send young girls to rape camps, and can force 1000’s of boys and men into a hole in the ground and then execute them, and can burn people’s houses with them and their children inside and all the other atrocities committed in the Balkans over the last 950 years or so (although all the things I actually listed here happened in the last 10-11 years).
But after living here for the last 7 years, I don’t think there is any difference between me and them. None at all. I am capable of doing all that and worse. As Miller points out, it’s not that we are somehow better or above such actions, it is much much more that we civilized Westerners live in a world of checks and balances and we will get caught and we will be punished. “But that does not make us good people, it only makes us subdued.” In other words we don’t have freedom in the West as much as we have checks and balances . . . someone is watching us all the time and the judicial system in general will make you pay for your actions.
You want to know what is the problem with the universe? Go look in the mirror, the answer is there.
Yet there is hope. I need hope, don’t know about you, but I need hope. Real genuine scarred-hands of hope. Jesus died for me so that I do not have to stay broken and corrupt and vicious. I can be something more. In fact, it is that wanting to be something more than this animal of perversion, that drives us to God. We need something outside of ourselves to repair us, rebuild us and make us whole once again. We sense that this is possible, and we want it, each and everyone of us. Best of all it is priceless . . . yet free.
That it is about . . . me. All the time, every day, each hour, every conversation, every strategy at play, all the public masks, each stroke of emotion, is almost always about me. As one author commented, “I spend 95% of my time thinking about me.” “ . . . the problem in the universe lives within me.” Ouch that hurts . . . especially since its true . . . I am the problem. There is something corrupt and damaged inside . . . and I am not saying this to give myself permission to be bad or act in unrighteousness. It is much more a simple admission of reality, that my depths of depravity know no limits.
Many Westerners who come and visit this war-torn corner of the world shake their heads in disbelief that people can send young girls to rape camps, and can force 1000’s of boys and men into a hole in the ground and then execute them, and can burn people’s houses with them and their children inside and all the other atrocities committed in the Balkans over the last 950 years or so (although all the things I actually listed here happened in the last 10-11 years).
But after living here for the last 7 years, I don’t think there is any difference between me and them. None at all. I am capable of doing all that and worse. As Miller points out, it’s not that we are somehow better or above such actions, it is much much more that we civilized Westerners live in a world of checks and balances and we will get caught and we will be punished. “But that does not make us good people, it only makes us subdued.” In other words we don’t have freedom in the West as much as we have checks and balances . . . someone is watching us all the time and the judicial system in general will make you pay for your actions.
You want to know what is the problem with the universe? Go look in the mirror, the answer is there.
Yet there is hope. I need hope, don’t know about you, but I need hope. Real genuine scarred-hands of hope. Jesus died for me so that I do not have to stay broken and corrupt and vicious. I can be something more. In fact, it is that wanting to be something more than this animal of perversion, that drives us to God. We need something outside of ourselves to repair us, rebuild us and make us whole once again. We sense that this is possible, and we want it, each and everyone of us. Best of all it is priceless . . . yet free.