cause and effect

– – –

Pain.  Hunger.  Starvation.

Theft.  Satisfaction.

Pursuit. Arrest. Punishment.

Freedom.

Pain. Hunger. Starvation. . .

– – –

We get caught in these endless cycles.  We gripe about the poor, we gripe about the crime, we point fingers at politicians trying to decide who’s to blame for the war, the debt, the economy.  We’re bombed, we relentlessly retaliate in the name of national pride and God. Then we ask, “why are people doing this to us?” Or, “why isn’t the government doing more?”

How often do we ask ourselves these same questions? What am I doing to help the poor? Am I being wise with my money? How do I respond to my enemies?

I’ll be the first to admit it – if you look at my bank account, you’d find that most of my money is spent on me. Me, me, me. Just this week I impulsively wasted my money on ice cream. If time were money, you’d find I spent very little on other people. If you were my enemy, you’d find that I respond harshly to those who’ve hurt me.

Have you ever considered how many problems would be solved if we would (or had) just done what was right, what we were supposed to do? Especially Christians?

Christians are supposed to take care of the widows, the orphans, the poor, the hungry, the clothes-less… Christians are supposed to aid those in need, be a friend to the friendless, and love the unlovable.

If we started putting our money where our mouth is, investing our time into things that matter (e.g. people), then what would our world begin to look like?

If the Israelites had loved the Ishmaelites, what would the world look like today?  If the Aryans hadn’t gone to India and pioneered the caste system, what would India look like?  What if we stopped judging homosexuals? What if we hugged prostitutes? What if the poor and the orphans were educated and fed, what would the “Projects” look like?  What would crime rates look like?  Would we have war?  Could it be that war is one of the consequences of us neglecting to do our duties?

If, instead of just doing one kind thing a month/paycheck, what if we lived a life that demanded an explanation?  What if we began a cycle of doing good?

I’m not naive enough to believe all the problems in the world would just disappear. Still, I can’t help but wonder what it would look like. Drastically different, I’m sure.

And I, for one, am not content to just sit in a world constructed of “what-ifs.”