By the authority vested in me through having written books including the terms saint and playground in their titles, I hereby declare 2021 to be the year of the Playground Saint.

What is a playground saint?  A person who is actively striving to be the person God made them to be, while at the same time not taking themselves too seriously and having a little fun in life.

Playground Saints are like the scarecrow, tin man, and lion from the Wizard of Oz.  They use their brain, display heart, and demonstrate courage to the best of their God given abilities.

Most importantly, they have a soul that desperately desires to get back to heaven.  I guess Dorothy could represent the soul, “There’s no place like home!”

More specifically, Playground Saints use their minds to seek, find, and live by truth.  Like children, they are curious and constantly asking why.  They are not content to accept the word of others as gospel truth.  They want to gain full understanding of what is actually right and true.  They seek both knowledge and experience to gain the wisdom necessary to make well informed choices in life.  They use the proper blend of reason, logic, and emotion to make the best decisions in any given situation.

Playground Saints care about and for others, they have heart.  They are service oriented and do things that help improve the lives of others. They are role models for living by the greatest commandments (love God and neighbors) and golden rule (do to others whatever you would have them do to you).  They want to make it to heaven and bring as many others with them as they can.

Courage is the greatest attribute of a Playground Saint.  They dare to be themselves, their God given selves.  They are comfortable being who they naturally are, and doing what they are intended to do.  They do not worry about what others think of them.  They only care about what God thinks of them.  They strive to do good, to be good, and to get better every day.

And finally, and maybe most importantly, Playground Saints understand they have a soul to protect.  They realize there is an internal war going on every day for possession of their soul.  They fight the good fight with all their might.  They will not compromise their principles.  There is no going along to get along in the face of evil.  They know they will lose some battles, but they are determined to win the war.

The world is in desperate need of Playground Saints.  We seem to keep waiting for someone or something to arise from out of nowhere and save us from ourselves.  Unfortunately, no election or vaccine is going to do that.  Fortunately, Jesus already has.  He saved us long ago.  All we need to do is follow His teaching and example.  Simple, but not easy.

Ultimately it is up to each of us to save ourselves.  All it takes is a strong desire and a steadfast commitment.  But it is a difficult lifelong journey and we will need help and support along the way.  We were made for community.  We are each a piece in the puzzle of the perfect world.  We need to figure out where we fit and to help others do the same.

With all of this in mind, I’ve decided to kick it up a notch in 2021.  Since founding the Saint Builder Foundation in 2017 I’ve enjoyed researching, writing, speaking, and attempting to live the life of a striving saint.  I truly appreciate that many of you have supported and joined me in that journey.

But recently I have felt that I am not doing enough.  Actually I think I’m being told that I am not doing enough.  Every day I ask for direction from above.  Usually I feel like the answer is something like, just keep doing what you’re doing, but do it better.  Then at some point during each week I get an idea for an article which I research and write to the best of my ability.

I must admit that most of the time I don’t want to write about the topic that reveals itself.  The assignments are difficult and I know most of the time I will be annoying someone.  Sharing the truth around controversial topics is never what I would call fun, especially when so many are convinced they are already well versed in the truth.

Enough of my whining.  Here’s what I’d like to do going forward.  I’d like to facilitate the building of an online community of striving Playground Saints.  People who are serious about living a life worthy of heaven, helping others to do the same, and having a little fun along the way.

Over the last month or so I keep seeing one Bible verse over and over again.  It came up again today as one of the daily readings:

Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.  Matthew 25:13

I’m taking that as a sign that there is no time to waste.  It gives me a renewed sense of urgency.  While I’m not one of those end times prognosticators, this crazy year certainly gives me pause about the possibility.  And really, it’s always true that we don’t know when our time on this earth will come to an end.  So we should strive to live each day to its fullest.

Specifically, I’m thinking about starting a group where all those interested could virtually gather to support one another.  I would issue a weekly challenge though a video.  We would all then have the opportunity to share our thoughts about the challenge, including what we did and how it turned out.

I’m thinking we could also get together once a month to discuss some topic of interest.  In fact I’d like to recruit some of you to talk about things that I know you do as a best practice.  I am fortunate to have some very impressive friends that are far advanced past me in their saint striving journeys. 

Although I wish there were alternative technologies available, most likely I would use a private Facebook group and Zoom meetings as ways for us to easily communicate with each other.  I might also post videos and supporting materials on a website.

My thought is to start this on a small scale and build it over time.  In addition to individuals, I could envision married couples participating.  Someone once told me that our main job in marriage is to get our spouse to heaven.  Melanie took on a heavy burden there, my job is easy.  It would be cool if parents and kids participated eventually as well.  Maybe even grandparents and grandkids, who knows where this could lead.

Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking today.  I’m very interested in hearing your thoughts.  Are you interested?  Do you have others ideas for how to make something like this work?  Do you think I’ve lost my mind?  Please let me know when you have a chance.

In the meantime, let’s all work hard to do good, be good, get better every day, and remember to have a little fun along the way.  More to come next week…

Be a Playground Saint!  Scott

We need help!  The world is a mess!  This country is a mess!  What are we going to do?  Who will rise up to save us?  Jesus already did.  His many followers have kept hope alive ever since.  Now it’s up to us.  Will we become the saints we are all meant to be?

What is the root cause of our problems today?  The same as always, us, we the people.  Since the beginning of time we have been our own worst enemies. I think we too often forget that we were handed a perfect world.  The world we have now is the result of our collective choices and actions.  What we have done, and what we have failed to do.

Interestingly, most would agree that we have a mess on our hands.  Unfortunately there is no common agreement on what the real problems are, or how to solve them.  This is our biggest obstacle to cleaning up our mess, division. We are hopelessly divided in as many ways as can be thought of.  Religion, politics, race, gender, cat people, dog people … whatever.

As Abraham Lincoln said long ago, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  The question is, in what way will it fall?  Thankfully back in his day we fell on the side of freedom from slavery, so there is hope.

Division is not a new problem.  Lincoln obviously took his inspiration from the bible: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”  Mark 3:24-25

Actually, division can be a good thing.  Division can be a wake-up call and call to action for needed change.  It may help us recognize we need to save ourselves from destruction.  Or back a couple thousand years ago, for someone to come save us from ourselves through His sacrifice.

Jesus Christ came to us as the great divider.  He told us Himself:

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”  Luke 51-53

Wow, now that is some uncomfortable division.  What are the sides?  The fight that has been waged since the beginning of time; Good versus evil. Saints versus sinners.  We are all both.  The battle is continually fought within each of us.  We will lose many battles but we must strive to win the war.  How do we do that?  By uniting around the most important cause there is.  By striving to be the saints we are all meant to be!

I write this on All Saints Day.  A day designated to honor all those who lived a life worthy of gaining eternal life in heaven.  Everyone who makes it to heaven is considered a saint.  How do we know who they are?  We don’t.  We can’t.  Only God knows for sure.  We can guess.  Many have been designated as such.  God willing, someday we will be deemed worthy to join them.  In the meantime, all we can do is hope and pray for our dearly departed to have made it.

But what about us?  What can we do to become the saints we were all born to become?  Believe in Jesus.  He is the way, the truth, and the light.  Take up your cross and follow Him.  Love God and neighbors.  Be your true self, your God given self.  Discover, develop, and use your talents to serve others in meaningful ways.  Seek, find, and live by truth.  Inspire, motivate, and help others to do the same.  The goal?  Get to heaven and brings as many others with you as you can.

Above all I think it might be courage which is the most important trait of a saint.  Imagine for a moment what it took for the early Christians to promote and live their faith.  Their leader had just been crucified.  There was a good chance they would meet a similar fate.  Back then, today was likely called All Martyrs Day.  We can learn a lot about courage from those early saints.  We should thank them every day for their faith.  It allowed us to keep the faith.

I start every day asking God how I’m doing and what I should do next in my saint striving mission.  I sit in silence, try to get out of my own head, and attempt to simply listen.  Answers eventually come.  I always wonder if they are from Him or me.  My assumption is that if what I receive is something I don’t want to hear or do, it is from Him.  Most of these articles come to me in that way.  I try to do as I’m told and ask for His help along the way.

Today the below came to me very quickly.  That is unusual.  I take that as a sign that it must be important in some way.  As I asked how I was doing, the answer became a sort of 2020 performance appraisal for us as a people of the United States of America.

Now here’s the deal.  I don’t know if what I heard was Him, me, or some combination.  It could be what He was saying, what I wish He would say, or again some of both. All I know is that I typed it out quickly without much thought, and that I am going to publish it without edit.  And to be clear, this is a general performance review, so apply it to yourself as you see fit.  Here goes:

Let me start out by stating that I love you and am rooting for you all.  I’d really like to have you all join me in heaven to live for an eternity in peace and harmony.

Let’s start with the good stuff:

• I’m so happy to see families spending more time together.
• It’s great that you parents are more involved in your children’s schooling.
• I’m glad many of you have learned how to work from home.  Maybe that will enable you to spend less time physically away from your family.
• It is encouraging to see that many of you have learned that some of the things you spent your time on in the past are not that important.  Now you know you can do without them.

Now for the troubling items.  I’m not going to sugar coat these things.  Sugar, now that was a great invention.  You consume too much but still.  Back to the point, I am very upset about what is going on down there.

In summary, you are showing very little faith in me.  You have allowed fear and deception to rule your lives for almost an entire year.  Even when the truth can be easily known, you choose to live by lies.

Too many of you falsely believe that this virus is deadlier than others you have experienced in the past.  This leads you to continue to take precautions that are not necessary and in fact will not work anyway.  The virus is going to do what viruses do.  They play themselves out and life goes on.  Yes a few will die and some will suffer.  Most of you will not.  But remember, if you do, you might get to come live with me.  So what are you so afraid of?

But as you continue to live a false reality, you hurt so many others you believe you are protecting.  While you may be well meaning, you are terribly misguided.  Most of you have the ability to find the truth for yourselves.  If you choose not to then that is on you.  And if you know the truth and don’t attempt to spread the word, that is unacceptable as well.

I am so disappointed that purveyors of truth are being demonized while those promoting intentionally misleading narratives and outright lies are seen as virtuous.  I thank those having the courage to continue to speak truth to power.  So many have lost so much; their livelihoods, reputations, and friendships.  Remember, blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you will be satisfied.  And patience is a virtue.

I am most troubled by my church leaders who willingly shut down our places of worship.  A very few refused to comply, I thank them for their faith and courage.  To you who have not, or who continue to impose unnecessary precautions I say, please stop this nonsense.  You should know better, oh yea of little faith.  Show some leadership or step aside.  People are meant for communion; to be around each other, not afraid of each other.  Stop prolonging the undue fear.  I’ll say it one more time, Be Not Afraid!

And about this election taking place tomorrow.  Talk about the easiest choice ever presented for Christians.  One side protects my unborn babies, the other universally supports killing them up to, and even after their birth.  One side supports religious liberty, the other side fights against it. They even took me out of the Pledge of Allegiance at their national convention.  I’m not proud, but come on.

I know many of you like to argue about other issues to justify a vote for a Democrat.  Please be aware that until everyone is guaranteed life and liberty, nothing else matters.  And do you really think a political party that fights against life and liberty actually cares about solving any other important issue?  Is that too harsh?

Finally, I know many of you choose not to vote at all.  That is a mistake.  You are either for me or against me.  It really couldn’t be clearer nowadays.  Remember, all it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.  And just think, if every Christian voted for Republicans in one election cycle we could end this horror of abortion.  That’s all it would take.  So get out and vote!

I’ll leave you with this.  The path to life is narrow while the road to destruction is broad.  But I’m rooting for you and ready to help.  All you need to do is ask, trust, and do.  If more of you did, I’d be happy to widen the gate to paradise.

In conclusion, I ask that you seriously consider which path you are on.  If you find yourself following along with the crowd you may want to reconsider.  If you are suppressing your true self, stop it.  If you are going along to get along, stop it.  If you are afraid to speak your mind when you know you are in the right and it will help others, get over your fear.  Courage is facing your fears and pushing past them.  You can do it! 

Well that was rough, yet oddly inspiring.  I for one am looking forward to a new year, a new beginning.  I have a renewed enthusiasm for striving to do good and be good, and for helping others to do the same.

I am contemplating somehow establishing a community of striving saints.  A group of people dedicated to striving to become what God intends for them to be.

I’m thinking of making weekly videos, hosting online forums where we can converse and support each other, and conducting interviews to gain the wisdom of others.  Something like that.

More on these plans to come soon.  In the meantime, if you find this of interest please send me a note, maybe just reply “interested” and I’ll be sure to keep you informed.

Be a Saint!  Scott

Do you ever wake up in the morning singing a song from your past for no apparent reason?  Mine today was This Masquerade, written by Leon Russell and recorded by George Benson on his 1976 album Breezin’.

I looked up the lyrics to see if there are meant to guide me in some direction.  The first verse is:

Are we really happy here with this lonely game we play?
Looking for words to say
Searching but not finding understanding anywhere
We’re lost in a masquerade.

Interesting.  The strange events of this year certainly have us all playing a lonely game.  I don’t think any of us are really happy about it.   I do have some words to say about it.  I hope they will help with our shared understanding of what is going on.

I do believe we are lost in a masquerade.  Not the social gathering of people wearing masks definition, though many are.  The masquerade I’m talking about is how we have been led to radically change our way of life under false pretenses.

Specifically, we have been continuously and constantly misled into believing that we need to take extraordinary and unprecedented measures to defeat an extremely deadly virus.  Even now that the facts can be known, those perpetrating and perpetuating the deadly pandemic narrative persist.  They have successfully created fear and panic.  Why would they stop when they have our undivided attention and willful compliance?

Who is they and why would they intentionally deceive us?  I have many theories, but it really doesn’t matter.  What does matter is that we understand the facts, recognize the manipulation, and take steps to make it stop.  If we don’t we are complicit in allowing this prolonged, unwarranted, unnecessary, and harmful charade to continue.

Of course the biggest obstacle we face in ending this nonsense is convincing a sufficient number of people that they have been duped.  For as the Nazi’s and Russian KGB discovered long ago, if you bombard subjects with fear messages nonstop for a few months, they are completely brainwashed to believe the false message.  After this, no amount of facts to the contrary will ever change their minds.  It worked well for the Pharisees and Sadducees too as I recall.

By the way I may sound angry as you read this.  I am!  I am tired of the ongoing deception. I’ve grown weary of thinking and writing about it too.  I thought that facts, logic, and reason would have prevailed by now.  But no such luck.  I don’t feel very saintly in my anger. But then again, Saint Thomas Aquinas once said:

“He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral.  Why?  Because anger looks to the good of justice.  And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust.”

I believe we have been suffering great injustices through the unjust and unnecessary measures taken to supposedly keep us safe from a supposedly deadly virus.  Maybe they were warranted in the beginning when we knew little.  But it quickly became evident to anyone who was carefully paying attention to reality that we had severely overreacted.

Why am I so convinced we have been deceived?  I go where the facts lead, all the way to the undisputed truth if possible.  I’ll lay the facts out for you here so you can do the same.  If you have been following the mainstream media closely you will have a difficult time accepting what I will share with you.  All I can do is refer you to what has become one of my favorite quotes due to its ongoing relevance:

“The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.”  President James A. Garfield

Let’s start with a summary of the facts to put things in context.  I’ve attempted to make them simple.  Unfortunately the true story has become very complex and difficult to find.  I do know you won’t hear this on TV.  Here goes…

This is Not the Deadly Killer Disease We Have Been Led to Believe

• The original projection for deaths from covid-19 in the U.S. was 2.2 million.  Overstated by at least a factor of ten.
• The current death toll reported by the CDC is over 200,000.  That figure is inflated and misleading for the following reasons:
  • The rules for reporting on death certificates was changed in March 2020.  Physicians were instructed to list covid-19 as a cause of death even if it was only assumed to have contributed.  No test is necessary, no follow-up confirmation will take place, and Medicare reimbursement was increased by 20% for covid cases. So why not assume?
  • The CDC recently stated that only 6% of the fatalities have been from the virus.  The other 94% died with (or assumed with) the virus. Their main cause of death was actually from other serious pre-existing health conditions, co-morbidities as they are called.
  • If the 40 to 60 thousand seasonal flu deaths in the past had been incentivized and counted in this way, they would have been in the hundreds of thousands annually as well.
• The infection fatality rate (IFR), the estimated number of infected people who will die from the virus is 0.26%.  Inversely that means there is a 99.74% survival rate if you have been infected.
• The IFR varies by age group ranging from 0.003% for those ages 0-19, 0.02% for those 20-49, 0.5% for 50-69 year olds, and 5.4% for those aged 70 and over.
• To put this in context, if you catch the virus and are under age 70 with no serious pre-existing health issues, your chances of dying are somewhere between being struck by lightning or killed in an automobile accident.
• Only those over age 70 and/or those with serious underlying medical conditions are at risk of dying if they become infected.  Yet even they have a 95% survival rate.
• What about all the cases piling up?  So what?  Cases only indicate infection, not illness.  Severity of illness, not infection is what matters.  Oh, and the tests are not covid-19 specific in case you didn’t know.  The tests being used only determine if your body has recently been fighting a virus of some kind.  Plus they have been shown to be highly unreliable.
• In terms of disease severity, over 90% of those infected show no, or only mild signs of illness.
• And one last time, there is a 99.74% survival rate if you are infected; nearly 100% if you are healthy.

In summary, covid-19 is a virus that makes some people sick, proves fatal to a few, and does nothing to the rest.  Just like most of the other viruses the world has ever experienced.  So why all the panic this time?  Was the cure worse than the disease?  Yes, absolutely, yet is still goes on.

Does Jesus Live in Sweden?

Throughout this “crisis” I have often wondered what Jesus would be saying if He were here with us in body again. Matthew 8:26 comes to mind:

He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.

Well the country of Sweden must have been listening.  While nearly all other nations were terrified and instituted lockdowns and other extreme and unprecedented measures, Sweden did what they have always done, what we all used to do.  They trusted that our God given immune system would battle and adapt to this new virus as it has done since the beginning of time.  They imposed no lockdowns, no business closures, no forced social distancing, and no mandatory masks policies. 

And guess what happened?  Their results are similar to the rest of the world.  The Johns Hopkins University covid-19 website reports that Sweden has suffered 575 covid deaths per million residents.  The USA, on the other hand, has experienced 600 deaths per million.  Doing nothing worked better than doing something.  It appears the virus is going to do what the virus is going to do, regardless of what we do to try to stop it.

I don’t know much about Sweden.  I don’t know if a faith in God had anything to do with their decision.  But I am impressed that they stuck with their approach after the rest of the world scolded them about it from the beginning.  Even now many try to explain away their results, probably from the sheer embarrassment.  We should be thanking and praising them.  Now we know what we should have done, and what we should do now.

I am embarrassed for us.  Especially since we are a predominantly Christian nation.  Where was our faith?  Where is it now?  When will we get it back?  Or are we just afraid to stand up and be counted?  Why have we allowed lies and fear to prevail?  Where is our desire to seek, find, and live the truth with courage?

I have an idea for t-shirt in mind.  It reads, “Got Faith?  Prove It!” on the front.  The back would say:

I gave you an immune system, trust it.

I gave you a brain, use it.

I gave you a face, show it.

I gave you freedom, protect it.

I gave you a soul, save it.

How do we save our souls?  Belief, right?  Can we really say we believe if we allow our fear of death to overcome our trust in God?  If we truly believe, why do we even fear death in the first place?  Shouldn’t we instead be looking forward to spending an eternity in heaven?

How Do We End This Masquerade?

As Smokey Bear says, “Only you can prevent wildfires.” Well we sure have a wildfire burning.  Not the virus, but the consequences of our reaction to it.  I hope by now you understand that the virus really isn’t as deadly as we were led to believe.  No more so than others we have experienced in the past.  Now let’s understand all the self-imposed harm we have done by believing that it is.

Since I’ve already given you more statistics than you probably want, I’ll just list all the unintended consequences here for brevity.  Here are the conditions that have gotten much worse over the course of this year:  unemployment, poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, anxiety, depression, addiction, abuse, suicide, stroke, diabetes, dementia, domestic violence, child abuse, and on and on it goes.

Even the World Health Organization which has been stoking the fear now admits that “Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never, ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer.  It seems that we may well have a doubling of world poverty by next year. We may well have at least a doubling of child malnutrition.”

What truly infuriates me about all of this is that the most vulnerable in our society have been impacted the most, while those in power have suffered little, if at all.  I wonder what would be done differently if those making decisions were in peril of losing their livelihoods?

So how do we extinguish this wildfire of unnecessary fear and useless safety measures?  Only you can.  Only we can.  Only each of us armed with the truth can.  We must act on what we now know.  We must end our willing compliance to doing things that don’t matter.  Sweden has proven that none of it matters.  The results will be the same no matter what we do.  Let’s get back to normal.  The media likes to tell us to get comfortable with a “new normal.”  Reject that!  Do you really want to live with undue fear the rest of your life?  Do you want that for your children and grandchildren?

I have heard so many well-intentioned people stating that they want to “be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”  They thought they were doing the virtuous thing.  Armed with the facts, they are not any more.  Going along to get along is the problem.  But they are now so wedded to their earlier position it will be difficult for them to change.  But some of us must.  If we don’t we can expect to live this way for the rest of our lives for no good reason.  Is that what you want?  I sure don’t!

It is up to us to share and live the truth.  We are complicit in the lies if we do not.  And I can think of no faster way to turn things around than to stop wearing masks.  As I wrote about way back in May, they do nothing to protect me from you, or you from me.  If you still don’t believe me, please read the actual scientific studies linked below.  In addition, there are now studies being revealed that show wearing masks is actually harmful.  Please read them too and help end this mask-erade!

Here is the single biggest and most harmful lie I have heard recently.  The CDC Director told a Senate committee that “face masks are the single most important public health safety tool we have to combat the virus.”  He further stated that “there is clear scientific evidence of this fact.”

I searched far and wide, for an entire day, and found absolutely no credible scientific evidence to support his claim, not even on the CDC website. But there is a study on their site (linked below) that summarily disproves his statement.  Additionally, they also just issued a report that shows that of those recently infected, 85% had been wearing a mask always or often.  Enough said.

So why would he double-down on this ongoing deception?  Well first, he knows he will never be called on the lie from the mainstream media.  In fact, they have been increasingly censoring and smearing those bold enough to tell the truth.  But mainly I think it is because fooling people into continuing to wear masks is the easiest way to keep the panic narrative going.  It is genius really. Masks are a constant visual reinforcement of the fear narrative, and they make people feel good about themselves at the same time.

Here’s why I am increasingly angry.  We are negatively impacting the lives of virtually everyone in the country on false pretenses.  All we really need to be doing is protecting those at high risk, the elderly and the unhealthy.  Those in charge know this too.  Either they don’t want to admit their mistakes, or they have some other agenda for continuing to make us miserable.  Hey leaders, how about you actually start caring about people instead of spending so much time trying to look like you care!

What we need to do is get back to living as God intended.  Adopt a healthy lifestyle.  Healthy living is the best way forward as it always has been.  Protect and care for those in need.  Trust God and each other.  Believe that everything will work out for the best.  God has a plan.  Maybe we needed to go through this as a wake-up call to get back to Him.  I hope we will!

In closing please remember these simple truths:

• God gave us a unique face; we should show it.
• He gave us a mind to think and reason; we should use it.
• He gave us our freedom: we should protect it.
• He gave us an amazingly engineered immune system; we should trust it.
• He gave us other people to live in community with; we should do so freely.
• He gave us the promise of eternal life if we believe; we should show Him that we do.

Be Courageous, Scott

Masks Don’t Work: A Review of Science Relevant to COVID-19 Social Policy

Do Facemasks Protect Against COVID‐19?

Face Masks Pose Serious Risks To The Healthy

Mask Whistleblowers Tell All

CDC – Nonpharmaceutical Measures for Pandemic Influenza in Nonhealthcare Settings—Personal Protective and Environmental Measures

CDC Study Finds Overwhelming Majority Of People Getting Coronavirus Wore Masks

Question of the day – Do you sleep on the scaredy side of the bed?  What is the scaredy side you ask?  It’s the side that is closest to the bedroom door of course.  The side that would be attacked first by an intruder.

Melanie and I learned about the scaredy side from our longest running couple friends.  Donna told us that she informed Tom on their wedding night that he would always be sleeping on the scaredy side of the bed.  Smart man that he is, Tom complied and has kept Donna safe for over 43 years now.

The concept struck me as incredibly funny until Melanie exclaimed, “Hey, why have I always slept on the scaredy side?!”  Ruh-roh … trouble! I tried to defend myself, but after mentally walking through all 12 of the homes we have lived in, she was absolutely right … ugh!  Thank you for protecting me all these 40 years, Sweetheart:-)

So that night we switched sides.  Neither of us slept well.  The lack of sleep resulted in me being in a bad mood the next day.  Smiling, Melanie asked if I had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.  Ha, very funny, honey.  We changed back but I promised to sleep on the scaredy side on all vacations from now on.

My bad mood was actually induced by seeing all the heads down, no eye contact, no talking, physically distanced, and faceless people during my errand running that day.  It’s depressing because it reminds me of two things I wish weren’t true about human behavior: 1) how easily we are manipulated through the fear of death, and 2) how resistant we are to making positive changes for any other reason.

The president at one of the companies I worked for had a favorite saying; “Show them death and they will accept all other options.” I hated the deception, but it worked every single time.  It is certainly working to get us to willingly and rapidly accept any and all measures we are told will help us to avoid dying from a virus.

But yet, we refuse to abide by the simple rules God gave us that would enable us to eradicate all the other problems in the world: poverty, hunger, crime, depression, abuse, addiction, disease, abortion, and the list goes on and on. They are all caused by us, by our collective sin.  We have the power to solve them all by following God’s laws.  We’ve known what to do for some 6,000 years but continue to sin at a seemingly escalating pace.  But, in just a few months’ time we turn our lives upside down for a virus?

I kind of wish God would use the tactics that are being used to scare us into obeying the new man-made virus rules.  They obviously work.  God could easily manipulate us into doing His will.  But He doesn’t want to.  He loves us and wants us to choose to love Him.  We should demonstrate our love by willingly doing what He wants, by exercising our freewill, not by being tricked into compliance.

But just for fun, let’s look step-by-step at what we mere mortals have done to drive behavior change so rapidly to combat a virus.  Then let’s consider what we could do differently to drive the more important changes within all of us to make this world a much better place.

Step 1 – Make an Incredibly Scary Prediction

It was initially reported that 2.2 million people in the U.S. would die from the virus.  They could have also said that therefore 328 million of us will survive, but that wouldn’t be as scary.

So from a God perspective, how about we talk about how many of us will be going to hell?  The last poll I saw stated that 75% of Americans think they are going to heaven.  Only 5% thought they would not make it.  Interestingly only 58% believe there is a hell.  There is a lot of optimism and very little fear out there.  We definitely need to create more fear to succeed in our behavior modification efforts away from sin and toward virtue.

Matthew 7:13-14 tells us that we should Enter through the narrow gate;for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.  How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.

I wonder how many a few is, how many will make it to heaven?  The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim the number is 144,000, very poor odds considering an estimated 90 billion people have lived to date. Although we want a scary number, we need to make it believable.  How about using the odds of winning the lottery, 1 in 300 million?  Nope, that would mean that only one of us living in America today is going to heaven … I call dibs … oops, that’s selfish and would likely seal my fate … never-mind.

Let’s say that 1% will go to heaven, the remaining 99% are going to hell.  That gives us a little hope and is at the same time very scary.  1% of the U.S. population is about 3.3 million people headed to heaven.  Congratulations to you narrow road folks! That leaves 326.7 million people going to hell for an eternity … definitely scary.  By the way, it’s good to use a decimal point to give the illusion of accuracy.

Step 2 – Stoke the Fear Continuously

Talk about how bad it is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Report only the negatives, no good news allowed.  Put the death count on all the screens you can, and update it frequently.  If the numbers aren’t going up fast enough, change the rules.  Give guidance and financial incentives to make sure the death numbers rise as fast as possible.

Do not mention that the overall death rate is only .26%, a little higher than the traditional seasonal flu.  Do not point out that means the survival rate is 99.74%.  Do not mention that only 6% of the deaths being reported are solely related to the virus, 94% are related to previously held serious health conditions.  Do not mention that most people who get the virus have no, or only mild symptoms.  Do not reveal that the virus is only deadly if you are over 70 years old and/or are already very unhealthy.  Make sure everyone is afraid, not just those truly at risk.  Definitely scare parents so they can pass their fear on to their kids who are at virtually zero risk.

So how about we report on the assumed number of people going to hell every day.  On average about 8,000 people die in this country every day. 99% equals 7,920 headed to hell on a daily basis, 5.5 per minute.  Show the cumulative numbers on the news ticker scrolling across every television station and internet site, they will pile up fast.

But people will probably get used to seeing the hell numbers and become complacent. Therefore, we should also remind them of all the terrible things happening because of our sinful ways.  We should also report on the numbers of people dying from hunger, disease, murder, suicide, and abortion.  And let’s not forget those suffering from poverty, crime, abuse, and addictions as well.  Yes, those numbers will be huge.

Step 3 – Tell Them What to Do

Once you have a sufficient number of people scared and panicked, tell them what to do to make it better.  Give them a little hope.  Provide the rules.  Go a little overboard to see what they will put up with, then scale it back if you have to.  And change the rules often to keep them off balance.  Also, provide timelines to give some hope that it will be over soon.  If they think it is temporary they will comply faster.  Then keep extending the timeframe a little at a time so they won’t notice how long it has been going on.  When did the 14 days to flatten the curve start?

This step should be easy from a God perspective.  All we have to do to avoid hell and get to heaven is to believe and follow the well-established and already known rules.  The ten commandments, the golden rule, the heavenly virtues.  We already know what to do, we just need to do it.  The timeline is as soon as possible, definitely before you die.  Remind them of Matthew 25:13 Therefore, stay awake,for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Step 4 – Make it Visual and Widespread

It’s one thing to hear about what is going on to spread fear, it is much more powerful if there are constant visual reminders everywhere you turn. Close everything down so there is no traffic, no cars in parking lots, empty stadiums with no live sports or entertainment, no kids on the playgrounds.  Close the churches where people might be reminded that God tells them to put their trust in Him and to not fear.  Put up signs everywhere as constant reminders and warnings of how scared everyone should be.

As a secret weapon, bring out the masks.  First say don’t wear them.  Then say to wear if you can’t physically distance yourself from another.  Then always if indoors, except when you are sitting down eating.  Make it so confusing that they choose to wear one all the time just in case.  Mandate them to instill the fear and embarrassment of being called out, fined, or fired.  Bury all actual scientific studies that conclude that masks make no difference to the wearer or those around them.  Oops, here’s one on the CDC website.

So what can we do to visually scare people off the broad road to destruction?  In Revelation 13:16-18 people are forced to have a stamped image of the beast’s name, or the number that stood for its name (666) on their right hands or their foreheads.  This is obviously impractical for us since only God knows who gets the tattoos.

How about instead we remind people what hell will be like with visual representations playing on all media sources, flooding the zone as it’s called.  Hell is described in the bible with words and phrases like; tormented with fire and brimstone, having no rest day and night, eternal punishment, eternal fire, the furnace of fire, lake of fire, unquenchable fire, weeping, and gnashing of teeth.  Sounds rough, for an eternity, with no way out, ever!

It would also be nice if our church leaders talked about hell a little more often.  I can’t remember the last time I heard a good fire and brimstone sermon.  They seem hesitant to use scare tactics for some reason nowadays.  To me they seem more concerned with keeping us happy and feeling good about ourselves than they do with saving us.  In fact, currently they seem more interested in pleasing those outside of the church than they do with saving those on the inside.

Step 5 – Change the Focus

Once it becomes obvious that the virus isn’t as deadly as it was originally projected, change the focus away from the number of deaths to the number of cases.  Do widespread testing to drive the numbers up.  Count as many cases as you can.  Change the definitions of cases if the numbers aren’t sufficiently high.

Don’t mention all the problems with the tests; false positives, positive one day and negative the next, both positive and negative on the same day, people who weren’t even tested getting notified they are positive in the mail.  Admitting these things would ruin the credibility of the testing.  And under no circumstances should you talk about the actual severity of cases.  There is a big difference between infection and illness, but they don’t need to know that.  Don’t mention that 50% won’t even know they had it, and another 30-40% will have only mild symptoms.  And again, never mention the survival rate is 99.74%.

If only there were a sin test.  Can you imagine how fast our behaviors would change if we were constantly being monitored?  Even better, what if our thoughts could be heard.  It would be chaos in the beginning, but things would change for the better very rapidly.  Just imagine what would happen if the truth reigned supreme?

Step 6 – Get People to Turn on Each Other

Now that you have worked people up into a panic frenzy, get them to demonize all those who don’t follow the rules.  Shame them in any way possible.  Social media is best since you can reach so many people so fast.  Or embarrass them in public.  If you can get into a war of words or a scuffle, even better.  Just like in sports, the person retaliating is usually the only one who gets caught, so the perpetrator can walk away feeling good about themselves.

Are we allowed to sin shame people?  The phrases, who am I to judge, and let he who is without sin cast the first stone come to mind.  Yet, shouldn’t we be allowed to point out each other’s failures in nice ways.  Actually, wouldn’t that be the kind thing to do?  I recall that two of the spiritual works of mercy are to instruct the ignorant and correct sinners, so it must be okay.  We can’t improve if we don’t recognize and acknowledge our own faults, right.  Of course we should focus on fixing ourselves first.

Step 7 – Keep the Pressure On

Keep the fear going until your objective is met.  At the same time, provide a little hope to let them see the light at the end of the tunnel.  What is the virus end game?  A vaccine? The FDA has a stated goal for a vaccine that it be at least 50% effective.  What … a flip of a coin?  This is what we have been waiting for?  Our God given immune system is 99.74% effective, how about we just call it good and get back to business as usual?

Did you know that the flu vaccine is only between 40-60% effective each year?  Scientists have been working on the flu shot since the 1940’s, 80 years.  Yet we still have between 40-60 thousand flu deaths every year in the U.S.  So we think an effective vaccine for this new virus will be developed in less than a year.  Are we really that naïve?

I wish I knew what the objective of keeping the unwarranted virus fear going is.  Thankfully God has made His end game perfectly clear.  At some point He will be separating the sheep (the saved) from the goats (the damned).  He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. Matthew 25:33 and 46.

So here is my hope.  I want to be a sheep and I want you to be one too.  Sheep get up on the right side of the bed.  Goats are on the scaredy side!  Be a sheep.  Be a shepherd as well, help your fellow man.  Fear the Lord, follow in His ways, and live for an eternity in paradise!

Go with God, Scott

Pop quiz – What is the most popular month for a wedding? I guessed June, but it is number 3.  September is number 2.  Surprisingly, October is number 1.  I’ve been noticing many wedding announcements and photos recently so I felt called to write about this topic some way.

The first marriage related thought that comes to me is a bible passage.  I still remember looking over at Melanie while it was read at our wedding.  1 Corinthians 13:4-13 states:

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I had given Melanie a t-shirt after we had dated for a while that read: “Never fall in love with a tennis player, because to them love means nothing.”  In case you don’t know, a score of zero in tennis is stated as love, as in we’re playing for the love of the game so it will be fun even if we don’t score a point.  Yeah, right.  Somehow I had scored big points with Melanie and have now been blessed with over 40 years of marriage to her.

Since we have discussed many virtues over the last couple months, I believe it is the last line of the passage I am to write about.  Quick review – We have covered the heavenly virtues of humility, charity, kindness, patience, chastity, temperance, and diligence.  And the cardinal virtues of prudence (wisdom), justice, fortitude (courage), and temperance.

That leaves one last list to tackle; the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love.  I have faith I will be given the right words, hope that you find some value in them, and will love being done writing about virtues for a while … ha:-)

One of the definitions of the word theological says, in part, that theology describes the nature and will of God as revealed to man.  I take this to mean that the virtues of faith, hope, and love are the essence of the nature of the relationship God desires with us.  All the other virtues are more applicable to our behavior and relationships with other people.  And upon further reflection, without these three, it seems to me that the other virtues are more difficult to care about and adhere to.

Let’s look at them each in the order of the verse:  So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.  (1 Corinthians 13:13)

It all starts with Faith. 

But without faith it is impossible to please him, for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.  (Hebrews 11:6)

Without faith what incentive do we have to practice any of the virtues?  Faith or a lack thereof is the root cause of our obedience or disobedience to the commandments.  If we have no faith in God, what do we care about following His rules?  Why not instead succumb to our selfish desires and sinful nature to enjoy all the pleasures in this life, our only life?  Virtue, smirtue.  Nice guys finish last, right?

But wait, with faith we have the promise of eternal life, in heaven.  That sounds even better!  But what does it take to have faith?  Belief and trust.  Both are simple yes or no choices that we all have the opportunity to make.  Once you believe in God and trust that He is guiding you and looking out for your best interests, the rest becomes much easier.  You then want to please Him.  You want to do good and you want to help others to do the same.

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.  (St. Thomas Aquinas)

Say Yes!

Next comes Hope.  Without faith there is no hope. Hope is faith looking forward into the future.  And the hope we are talking about is a promise, a given, not a wish or a dream.  God’s hope is a sure thing.  Have faith in Him, be faithful to Him, and the hope of eternal life in heaven will be yours.

Hope gives us something to look forward to.  Hope keeps us moving ahead. Hope fuels us to face the inevitable challenges in life.  Hope overcomes fear.  Hope encourages us to keep running the race.  Hope reminds us that we have a savior who is coming to set us free.

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.  (Nelson Mandela)

Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.  (Saint Augustine)

And the greatest of these Is Love.  Unconditional love.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Love your enemies.  Can you imagine?  God’s love for us is unimaginable.  He gives us His only Son as a sacrifice and gift to save us from our sins and grant us eternal life.  All we have to do is believe in him. Have Faith and we gain Hope through His Love.  Seriously?  Now that is Love!

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”  (Luke 23:34)

I’m glad God isn’t a tennis player.  Love obviously means everything to Him.

So what are we to do?  Start with faith to gain hope and to put yourself in a position to truly love?  Or maybe start with love?  What do you love?  Why do you love it?  Is it worthy of your love?  Like I used to love playing tennis.  I had a natural God given talent for it so it seemed appropriate to spend a lot of time honing those skills.  Being good at it opened a lot of doors that enabled me to help others in a number of significant ways.  But now it gives me little joy.  Maybe it has become one of those childish things I am supposed to put aside.  Nah:-)

But there are much more important things in life.  Like people.  Who do you love?  Is it a God like love?  I doubt if it ever can be, but we can strive for it.  We are to love God and love neighbors, that is, everyone.  Start with God.  Say yes to His offer of forgiveness and eternal life.  Then go out and show your love for others by proclaiming the good news and living it through demonstration of all the other virtues.

Here’s a simple truth, love is the foundation for every good thing in our lives. Without love, nothing else really matters.  Or as the Beatles sang: All you need is love, love is all you need.

Your challenge for the week is to wake up every morning saying yes to God.  Yes, I have faith.  Yes, I have hope.  Yes, I love you and I will do my best to show that love to you and others through my actions.

Happy Labor Day! Scott

“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” (Abraham Lincoln)

Justice and mercy go together.  Yes, we all want justice.  We want to reward good behavior and punish the bad.  But we all want mercy when we are on the wrong end of the equation.  And I trust we all want to give mercy when we are the wronged party, especially when it comes to our loved ones.

“This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you!”  I doubt that you were ever in need of punishment as a kid, so you may not have heard this.  I think I may have a time or two. It’s one of those sayings you don’t truly appreciate until you are the parent.  It is so true.

In thinking about the topic of mercy, the first thing that came to mind was an old Marvin Gaye song.  It starts, “Woah, ah mercy, mercy me.  Ah, things ain’t what they used to be.”  Wow, that’s for sure.  Interestingly, this song appeared on the 1971 album titled, What’s Going On?  They should re-release it this year, don’t you think?

A quick aside.  The lyrics of the title track contain this verse:

Father, father
We don’t need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today.

Apparently Marvin’s father was not swayed by these words.  He shot and killed his own son.  But mercy was granted and he was only given a suspended sentence and probation for his crime.  I would imagine the worse punishment for him was living out his remaining 14-years of life with full knowledge of his sin, especially since he was an ordained minister.

This story reminded me of the ultimate mercy we have all been granted:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.  (John 3:16)

Our Father, rather than condemning us for our sins as He rightfully could, instead granted us mercy through the death of His only son, Jesus Christ.  Talk about hurting Him more than it hurt us … Wow!

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.  (John 3:17)

God’s mercy is greater than our sins … Amazing!  And what does God ask of us in return?  Belief.  And how do we show our belief?  My good friend and college roommate sent me this quote last week that sums it up nicely.  He referred to it in delivering a eulogy recently.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.  (Micah 6:8)

We’ve discussed justice and humility previously.  What about mercy, what are we to do to hold up our part of the eternal life bargain?

Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.  (Luke 6:37)

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36)

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  (Matthew 5:7)

Now for the hard part, how do we demonstrate the mercy we are asked to provide?  Thankfully we were given very specific instructions in Matthew 25:31-46.  At the end times The Son of Man separates the sheep (good guys) from the goats (you don’t want to be one).

He thanks the sheep by saying: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”

The righteous sheep asked: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?”

Jesus said to them in reply: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”  But he told the goats: “Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.  And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

I came to know the types of mercy described above as the Corporal Works of Mercy.  Corporal meaning, of the body.  These are kind and charitable acts by which we help our neighbors with their material and physical needs.  They respond to the basic needs of humanity.  Here is a list for your reference:

Corporal Works of Mercy

• Feed the Hungry
• Give Drink to the Thirsty
• Clothe the Naked
• Shelter the Homeless
• Visit the Sick
• Visit the Imprisoned
• Bury the Dead

I think these are fairly self-explanatory and you instinctively know what to do.  The most efficient and effective way to provide these mercy’s is to donate your time, talent, and treasure to organizations and causes that already serve in these areas.  There are many and they are only a quick internet search away.

The second category of mercy’s, that are not as conveniently found in the Bible relate to our spiritual and emotional needs.  The Spiritual Works of Mercy are acts of compassion by which we help our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs.  We are all in need of getting and giving these types mercy throughout our lifetimes.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

• Instruct the Ignorant – Learn about our Christian faith and be open to talking with others about our beliefs. It may be uncomfortable at first, but it is selfish to keep the secret of redemption to yourself. You do want your friends to live with you for an eternity, right?
• Counsel the Doubtful – Everyone has moments of doubt in their faith journey. Be there for others when they need some hope.  Be the always positive influence who others know they can turn to for guidance and support.
• Correct Sinners – Do not judge, but be supportive in helping others to acknowledge, confess, correct, and atone for their mistakes. Strive to be an example of virtuous living to show others the way.
• Bear Wrongs Patiently – Do not be bitter about wrongs done against you. Place your hope in God so that you can endure the troubles of this world and face them with a compassionate spirit.
• Forgive Offenses Willingly – Forgiving others is difficult because we do not have God’s limitless mercy and compassion. But Jesus teaches us that we should forgive as God forgives. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
• Comfort the Afflicted – Be open to listening and comforting those who are dealing with grief. Even if we aren’t sure of the right words to say, our presence can make a big difference.
• Pray for the Living and the Dead – Prayer is one of the most powerful ways we can support others. Joining together in prayer for the living and the dead entrusts us all into God’s care.

There, that should give us all something to work on for the next, well, rest of our lives.  I think the best way to remember all of these areas of mercy is by once again going back to the golden rule.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  We are all in need of mercy from time to time, or maybe continuously.  And remember, you are not alone.  There is someone else out there right now in need of the same mercy as you.

I’m thinking a good rule of thumb is to reach out to someone else that you suspect is in the same need as you.  Ask them for help.  You will be helping them at the same time.  In this way you will build a strong support system for yourself, while also providing merciful support to others.

Jim, my above referenced friend, ended his eulogy by stating that his departed friend lived a blessed life because he knew that to live a blessed life, you need to bless others.  Words to live by…

Have Mercy, Scott

Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.  Look. Up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane.  It’s Superman! Who fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.

Everything seemed so simple back in the 1950’s.  All the shows, movies, and books had a similar theme.  There were good guys and bad guys, and it was easy to tell which side was which.  There was a constant struggle between good and evil, but thankfully, good always won out in the end.

Truth and justice prevailed.  That was the American way … one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.  Sadly, I’m not sure that is still our way.  In fact, I know it is not.  All you have to do is read whatever you consider to be the news each day to find numerous examples of lies being passed off as truth, and injustice posing as righteousness.

Most troubling, the public is divided about who the good and bad guys are.  We are overwhelmed with messaging telling us who and what to believe.  Everybody thinks they are right and that they are on the side of truth and justice.  But the ideological divisions are so vastly different that many are obviously wrong, maybe most.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.  (Matthew 7:13)

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.  (Mark Twain)

What are we to believe?  Who are we to believe?  We are told the “fact checkers” make sure we are seeing the truth.  I’ve personally found they are much less accurate than those predicting the weather.  Unfortunately it’s up to each of us to dig deep for the truth.  But who has the time or energy required?

I often wish I could go back to my youthful days of ignorance and bliss; where truth, justice, and the good guys always won.  When it seemed easy to spot good and evil.  When our leaders could be trusted to do what was in the best interests of we the people.  But alas, growing up and experiencing life makes it all too clear that is not the case.  But there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)

The topic for the week is Justice.  I really thought this would be a fairly straightforward article to write.  I envisioned it including the following points:

• Justice is ensuring that all people are treated equally in accordance with the law, both God’s laws and those of the society.
• Observe the greatest commandments, love God and neighbors (Matthew 22:35–40), and justice will be served.
• Obey the ten commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) and live virtuously to show your love for God.
• Follow the golden rule, do to others whatever you would have them do to you (Matthew 7:12) in order to show your love for neighbors.
• Justice for all will be the result of adhering to the above.

Simple, right?  Trouble is, as I went about conducting my research into the topic of justice, it quickly became much more challenging and confusing.  Finding a consistent definition was impossible.  How could defining a term that has been around since the beginning of time be so problematic?

It appears to me from all that I’ve read that we want justice to be whatever we individually want it to be.  I don’t exactly know who “we” is, but there are a lot of them.  These times of moral relativism have led us away from truth being truth, and justice being justice in the same way for us all.  Pretty convenient, but contrary to ensuring we are all treated equally and justly.

Moral relativism is the view that ethical standards, morality, and positions of right or wrong are culturally based and therefore subject to individual choice. We all decide what is right for ourselves. You decide what’s right for you, and I’ll decide what’s right for me.  That makes life so much easier.  Do as you please, believe it’s right, never a need for guilt or regret.

Knowing the concept of relativism helped me to understand why there are so many widely varying definitions of justice.  Most interesting were all the adjectives commonly placed in front of the word justice.  Words like social, economic, environmental, and racial to mention a few.

Social justice is such a common phrase that I assumed it at least was consistently defined.  The Catholic church has an entire section devoted to it in their Catechism which is a good read (CCC 1928-48).  But again, in researching many sources the definition ranged from ensuring that all members of society be treated equally, to demanding that all members actually be equal.

When confused, I always turn to The Bible as the source of truth.  So I searched my online bible for the term “social justice” to understand what it really is.  To my surprise, the search returned no results; zero, none, nada, not one.

Upon further reflection that makes complete sense.  Justice is justice.  What is just is just.  Justice is blind, why does it need a qualifier?  Adding a clarifying descriptor preceding justice is not necessary.  In fact, based on the highly variable definitions of those many types of justice frequently referenced, there is a high likelihood of subverting or perverting justice, favoring one person over another.  Where is the equality in that?

You must not distort justice: you shall not show partiality.  (Deuteronomy 16:19)

You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your neighbor justly.  (Leviticus 19:15)

Breaking the law is breaking the law, right?  If one harms another in some way, is it excusable for some social, economic, environmental, or racial reason? Where is the justice if the perpetrator is not held accountable?  Doesn’t the perpetrator learn from justice?  Doesn’t the victim deserve justice?  Maybe other factors should be taken into account in determining the appropriate punishment, but not in dispensing justice.

I wonder if we are confusing justice with fairness.  They can be two very different things.  Justice is objective and deals with universal principles and natural laws that do not change and apply equally to all people, all societies, everywhere and at all times.

Fairness is concerned with popular sentiment and is subject to change between societies and times.  It is a subjective and biased assertion based on individual opinion.  It is concerned with what ought to be, as opposed to what is.  Fairness seems to be whatever you want it to be.

Of course, life is not fair.  It never will be.  We all learned that at a young age.  We didn’t want to believe it then, and we don’t want to believe it now.  Life can be just, but it can’t be fair.

For the Lord is a God of justice.  (Isiah 30:18)

What about fairness in The Bible?  A quick search returned 5 references to fairness, each verse also containing the word justice.  A search for the word justice provided 238 results.

What does God think is fair?  Maybe that He gave us all life.  He gave us all special talents.  He gave us parents to show us the way.  He gave us natural interests and unique abilities.  He gave us rules to live by and a conscience.  Then He gave us free will.  The rest is up to us.

Interestingly He did not give us all the same talents and abilities.  What a boring place this world would be if we were all the same.  No, He made us all different to make it interesting.  More importantly, He made us different so we would need each other.  So we would naturally work together to help each other out.  And by doing so we would make the world the place it was meant to be; Heaven.

Here’s my conclusion.  Justice is up to each of us.  Our individual actions produce justice or a lack thereof.  We are the Supermen and women in the fight for truth, justice, and the American way.  And that way is by working every day to be our best self for the benefit of others.  By actively striving to be the saints we are all meant to become.

Your challenge for the week. Since it’s back to school week in my neighborhood, how about we all take ourselves back to school on the topic of Justice?  You’ve read my thoughts.  Do your own research to develop your own understanding of what it means, what it doesn’t, and most importantly, what you are going to do about it.

Next week we’ll delve into The Works of Mercy to remind ourselves about what we can each do in order to promote justice in our own communities.

Justice!  Scott

Truth or Consequences was a game show that was on television when I was a kid. A contestant was asked a ridiculous question that they usually couldn’t answer. When they got it wrong, they would have to “pay the consequences” by performing some embarrassing stunt. The show was so popular that the town of Hot Springs, New Mexico renamed themselves Truth or Consequences in 1950. The title logo had a halo over “Truth,” and a pitchfork running through “Consequences.”

I liked the sense of justice implied by the name of the game—know the truth or there will be consequences, and they won’t be good. A familiar Bible verse says it perfectly: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32).

When we know the truth, it helps us to make wise choices about our lives, and it enables us to live the truth and avoid negative consequences. Alternatively, when we don’t know and live by truth, our choices and behavior will eventually lead to undesirable consequences.

Every important decision in your life requires you to know truth in order to choose wisely. What is truth you ask? The dictionary definition of truth is, “a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like.”  In contrast, an opinion is, “a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty. A personal view, attitude, or appraisal.”

The distinction is important because it is tempting to live by opinions, especially by those of “experts” since it saves us a lot of time and effort.  Do so at your own peril.  Often the experts have agendas that are not necessarily in your best interests.  If something sounds good to us, and we trust the source, it becomes our truth. It may not be the truth, but we choose to use it in our decision making. It is foolish to live our lives through the opinions of others.

Unfortunately, too many in the world want to own and control you, not with physical cages or chains, but through clever influence. They make it seem as though they have your best interests in mind so that you willingly do what they want, and even thank them for it. But you end up becoming “chained” to whatever they are selling.

Advertisers chain you to products and companies.  Politicians chain you to their parties and causes. Employers chain you to jobs.  Banks and lenders chain you to debt. They tell you what you want to hear, to get you to do what they want you to do. You believe their advice will lead to a better life. You believe in what they claim, so you buy what they’re selling.  You vote for them and support their causes, you stay at the job you dislike, and you borrow their money. But somehow you still aren’t happy—how could that be? Apparently, you aren’t living the truth and you are paying the consequences.

They play on your emotions and help you justify your emotional decisions with one-sided facts. You will often sense that something is wrong. You will instinctively know the right course, and yet, you will still yearn to follow their advice. This is a constant battle that you will lose unless you are willing and able to seek, find, and live the truth.

What truth do you need to know? Everything that has an impact on your ability to live your life to the fullest for the benefit of others.  The only way to be truly happy in this life is to continually strive to be the person you were meant to be.  To use your talents to make the world a better place, thereby fulfilling your purpose.  And by behaving in a virtuous manner.

Now for the hard part. How do we get to the truth? How do we best learn the truth in a complex world of strong opinions posing as truth? On the one hand, it is a challenge given the amount of information available to us—it can seem overwhelming. On the other, we are fortunate to have such easy and open access to information about any topic of interest right at our fingertips.  But you need to be willing to dig for facts.  Many falsehoods are easy to find, truth is increasing difficult to discover.  The search is a great way to develop your virtue of diligence.

One other thing to note, you need to begin and carry out your search with an open mind.  Once you start digging for truth you will likely find that many of your long-held beliefs will not be “truths” after all.  Your pride will kick into high gear and make it difficult to humbly accept that your brilliant self could have actually been wrong.  I recall an episode of the old show Happy Days where Mr. Cool, The Fonz was unable to say the word, “wrong.”  It’s a difficult thing to admit, but we all are at times.

Personally I was challenged early in my career about many of the firmly held beliefs of my youth.  I had a boss who would ask me questions I had never before considered.  I appreciated that he never told me what to believe.  He just encouraged me to do my own research and think a little deeper, to go beyond a surface level understanding of issues.  In the end, I’m guessing I changed my positions on at least half of my youthful beliefs.  Getting a dose of reality beyond the theoretical world of education certainly helped as well.

President James A. Garfield once famously said, “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” Finding the truth may surprise, embarrass, or annoy you, so be prepared. Even more difficult, it may put you at odds with some of your friends.  You can try to enlighten them.  If they are truly your friends they will listen and be open to debate.

“The greatest kindness one can render to any man consists in leading him from error to truth.” – St. Thomas Aquinas

Here is the standard process I use to seek and find the truth about whatever interests me.  I call it DIG DEEP, using the first letter of each step.

1. Develop Questions to explore (why, who, what, when, where and how).
2. Interrogate Many Sources (articles, books, speeches, research papers, interviews, etc.).
3. Gain an Understanding of relevant facts and opinions.
4. Discern Possible Truths, options to consider.
5. Examine the Evidence for and against each potential truth.
6. Engage in Debate with yourself and others using both logic and emotion.
7. Pick a Winner, discover the truth, or at least your highly-informed opinion.

I could go into detail on each step, but I think it is more useful for you to do that on your own with practice.  Instead, here are a few more thoughts to help along the way:

• Be curious. Like a two-year-old, question everything.
• Be open to learning new things and other points of view. “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” – John Wooden
• Be skeptical. Don’t accept answers on faith, dig deep for the truth.
• Value facts more than opinions, and know the difference.
• Question motives. Why do people want you to believe this versus that? What is in it for them?
• Know when to end a debate. Stop when the name-calling begins, or when they want you to agree to disagree. There is no compromise on truth.
• Don’t take any side but that of truth.  Sides divide and keep us arguing to the benefit of those in power.
• Don’t argue. Arguing just makes people defensive. Ask questions instead.
• Consider history in your analysis, it does tend to repeat itself.
• Take the long view and think things through to the end. Is it truth just for now, or forever? Real truth is lasting.
• There is no “your truth,” and “my truth.” There is only the truth.

Finally, once you know the truth about something, please do the following:

1. Tell the truth, promote it, and help others to understand it.  Be bold with the truth.
2. Live it. Live your life through the truth. Be an example to others.
3. Be wise. Use your knowledge, experience, and good judgment to make wise decisions and to help others do the same.

Your challenge for the week, should you choose to accept it, is to pick a topic or issue that you know you are right about, but you have a friend that sees it another way.  Use the DIGDEEP method to find the truth.

Start by developing an argument for the opposite of what you believe.  Ask yourself many questions.  Look at many alternative sources of information.  Be able to argue all sides.  Do whatever it takes to get to the truth, or as close to it as possible.  Be diligent and patient.  It will take time.  And if you don’t find that you are having arguments with yourself, you aren’t trying hard enough.  You will find truth in the struggle.

I’m choosing the topic of justice, one of the cardinal virtues.  I’ll share my thoughts with you next week.

One last time, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!”  Scott

In writing about the 7 deadly sins and their opposite 7 heavenly virtues over the last couple months, I was reminded by a number of you that there are others to consider; for instance, the four cardinal virtues of prudence (wisdom), justice, fortitude (courage), and temperance, and the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love.

Since we have covered courage and temperance earlier in the year, and the theological virtues are better left to theologians to discuss, let’s take a look at prudence and justice to round out our discussion of virtue this week and next.

First, why the word cardinal to describe these virtues? Isn’t a cardinal a pretty red bird, or a priest with a fancy red hat?  Well, the English word cardinal comes from the Latin word cardo, which means hinge.  The thought is that all other virtues hinge on these four principal moral virtues, which can and should be practiced by anyone and everyone.

Plato first discussed the cardinal virtues in The Republic, and they entered into Christian teaching through his student, Aristotle.  St. Thomas Aquinas ranked prudence as the first cardinal virtue because it is concerned with the intellect.

Aristotle defined prudence as “right reason applied to practice.” It is the virtue that allows us to judge correctly what is right and what is wrong in any given situation, and to act accordingly.  Dictionary definitions of prudence include “the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason,” and “the ability to discern the appropriate course of action to be taken in a given situation at the appropriate time.”

For some reason I’ve never really liked the word prudence.  Do you have words like that?  I hear people talk about “trigger” words nowadays, maybe this is one of mine.  It reminds me of a song, Dear Prudence written and performed by The Beatles.  They wrote it about a girl they met in India while learning how to meditate.  It starts out, “Dear Prudence, won’t you come out and play?”  It’s one of those songs I immediately skip over.

Anyway, the word wisdom is often substituted for prudence when discussing this virtue.  I’m going with wisdom from here on.  Wisdom is defined as “the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action.”

I recall seeing a simple wisdom formula that has stuck with me ever since:

Knowledge (learning) + Experience (living) = Wisdom

Wisdom is a constant process. First you learn.  Then you apply that knowledge by making decisions and taking action, by living.  Though your actions you experience results.  Based on those results you gain a deeper understanding and enhanced knowledge with which to make future decisions and actions.

Let’s use learning to drive as an example.  First you learn the basics through instruction.  You then take a test to demonstrate your knowledge in order to obtain your drivers permit.  Next you get behind the wheel to gain some real-life experience.  As a result you gain a better understanding of your current skills and are able to identify opportunities for improvement.  You also learn about the behaviors of other drivers.  And through your experience you now have an enhanced knowledge of how to safely drive.  And the learning and living goes on, eventually producing wisdom.

Upon further review, maybe the formula is better stated as a cycle:

From Knowledge, to Application, to Results, to Understanding, and back around again.

As Albert Einstein once said, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” Or from others:

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” William Shakespeare

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”  Socrates

“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”  Proverbs 11:2

Gaining wisdom takes time.  It takes patience, a difficult thing in our age of rushing from one thing to the next.  We are bombarded with information throughout every waking minute of every day.  Who has the time to sort it all out?  We are pressed to make quick decisions and move on.  Do we take the time to ensure those are wise decisions?  Do we make the time to analyze results of those decisions to inform our future choices?

Gaining wisdom also requires humility.  First we have to admit we don’t already know it all.  Of course as teenagers we did know it all.  Then as we matured and ventured out into the real world we quickly realized we still had a lot to learn.  Is this still true? Are we open to challenging our youth formed opinions anymore?  Or do we just seek out those with whom we agree, and use the four D’s (distract, discredit, dismiss, and destroy) to mob those with whom we don’t.  Who has the time to search for truth anymore anyway?  Let’s just believe what we want and call it the truth.

Personally, I see very little wisdom on display in our society today.  Instead I see wise guys everywhere.  You know, people who think they are smart and have an answer for everything. The mobsters of the past were commonly referred to as wise guys, interesting parallel.

My favorite wise guys were The Three Stooges, Moe, Larry, and Curly (or Shemp).  One of them would do something annoying and another would exclaim, “Oh, wise guy, eh,” followed by a physical altercation of some sort.  Seems that kind of behavior has now moved in a virtual manner onto all the social media platforms.  Healthy debate seems a relic of the past.  Oh well…

I actually believe we are facing a wisdom crisis in our country.  And it’s mainly a problem of knowledge.  I do believe most people have the best intentions toward each other.  We all want to do what is right and just.  But too often we are making decision based on flawed information.

Why do I think this?  Because every day I scan all the major news sources and am amazed at all the misinformation and outright lies in print and video.  What surprises me is that so much is easily disproven.  But nobody seems to care.  And unless you have the time to look through many sources, it’s easy to just believe what you hear.  Why would they lie?  Too many reasons apparently.  It truly makes me sad and very unhappy.

The worst thing is, once people have formed an opinion on something in this environment it becomes their truth.  There is no talking them out if it.  There is no debate.  Contrary facts don’t matter.  The actual truth doesn’t even matter anymore.

Most troubling of all is the censorship of full facts and truth in favor of opinions and partial truths.  I’m finding it more and more difficult to get to the bottom of anything I research currently.  The once open and unfiltered access to information on the internet is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate in the search for truth.

But the good news is, with a little curiosity, patience, and persistence, it is still possible to find all the knowledge you need right at your fingertips in order to do good in the world, and to avoid inadvertently doing the bad.  For when we mistake bad for the good, we are not exercising wisdom.  And unfortunately it is so easy to fall into error though all the bad information we are fed on a daily basis.  Trust it at your peril.  Or if you must, trust but verify.

Wisdom requires that we learn from many sources, take into account differing opinions, and seek the counsel of others, particularly those we know to be sound judges of morality. Disregarding the advice or warnings of others whose judgment does not coincide with ours is a sure sign of imprudence.

So your challenge for the week is to seek out information about some topic you are interested in, from whatever the opposing point of view is.  Then wrestle with the topic until you can argue it from all sides and develop a more informed opinion, or even to get to a truth where possible.

Next week I’ll give you a process to do this in an efficient manner.  In the meantime it is useful to go through the struggle by yourself.  It will be worth the effort.  You will definitely learn something new in the process.  Enjoy!

Be Wise, Scott

 

 

 

Have you seen the movie “War Games” from way back in 1983?  It must still be popular since it’s not included for free on any of the popular streaming services, you actually have to buy or rent it.  The plot is that a military supercomputer asks a hacker to play a nuclear war simulation game that nearly ends in the real mutual destruction of the USA and Russia.  It concludes with the computer displaying a message that says “WINNER: NONE.”  It then says that nuclear war is a strange game in which the only winning move is not to play.

Seems to me that the opposite is true in the game of life.  In fact it’s more like the lottery; you can’t win if you don’t play.  Let’s call winning living a life that does some good on earth and that gets us to heaven.  Playing is demonstrating our belief and faith in God through working to develop our talents, serving others, and behaving virtuously.  This should be easy for us since we already have learned how to defeat the seven deadly sins with their opposing heavenly virtues over the last seven weeks.  How are you doing?  Are you winning?

The great thing about games is they have an objective scoring system so we know how well we are performing.  And based on our results over time we can determine what we need to work on in order to continually improve.  Let’s use the game of golf as an example.

In golf you count how many times you hit the ball to get it into the hole.  You compare that number against what has been determined to be a good score for the hole; i.e. par.  Par is basically determined by how many shots it should take you to get to the green, plus two putts.

Knowing this helps you to determine what you need to work on to get better.  Drives, approach shots and/or putts.  Work on those things and try again.  Simple, and the fun part is seeing the improvement in your score over time.  That’s why so many people like to golf.  Plus it is one of the few valid excuses to get out of work without faking an illness … ah, I mean being sick.

What does this have to do with playing the game of life and behaving virtuously?  Plenty.  I have a simple game for you.  I’ve been playing it for over 3-years now.  It has helped me to significantly improve my V behavior.  I thought it might help you as well, so I’m happy to share it with you here.  I’ll even give you a fancy worksheet to help you out.  I call it The Flying V Tracker.  It lists all the V’s with summary descriptions, and has blank spaces where you can record your performance on each V, every day.

Here’s how it works.  During the course of each day you track all the good and bad things you think, say, and do back to the Virtues and Vices (sins).  We instinctively know when we do good or bad.  That pesky thing called a conscience tells us.  You usually know by how you are feeling about yourself, both the good and the bad.  In order to play the game, all you need to do is to become acutely aware of these feelings and to stop and think about what is causing them.

Just ask yourself one question.  Why?  Why did I just think, say, or do that?  Or maybe fail to do something you know you should do.  If you ask yourself why enough times, you will end up realizing that the root cause of your good or bad behavior was one of the virtues or vices.  The seven deadly sins are the underlying root cause of all sin.  Thankfully their contrary heavenly virtues are the root cause of all good.

Once you have identified the appropriate V, give yourself 1 point.  A positive for displaying a virtue, and negative for a vice.  Use hash marks to tally each good or bad behavior in the respective V (vice or virtue) row.  When you are done for the day, total the marks for the vices and the virtues separately.  There is a row for each of those totals.  Then subtract the vices from the virtues to get a net score.  Positive is obviously better.

I can tell you that when I started doing this, the net daily total was usually negative.  Then I learned to catch myself before doing the bad, and instead chose to do the good.  Paying attention made all the difference.

Just for fun I developed a grading system, kind of a par for the course guide.  I actually used some fancy statistical modeling tools to develop it in case you are wondering.  It’s just a guide.  I obviously have no authority to award points or grades.  I simply use it as an awareness tool to identify improvement opportunities and motivate me to do better.

Here’s my grading table.  Look up your daily net score below to determine your grade.

• Greater than 10 = A
• 6 to 10 = B
• 0 to 5 = C
• -1 to -5 = D
• -6 to -10 = E for effort
• Less than -10 = F for fire … Come on … fire up your inner saint!

When I first started tracking, my goal was simply to avoid the vices.  A defensive strategy.  While I had some victories, it became obvious that only through actively pursuing the virtues would I ever consistently get a passing grade.

So I went on offense.  I now attempt to proactively, persistently, and consistently live the virtues.  It works when I do.  Focusing on virtue gives vice little time to rear its ugly head.  No doubt the enemy will continue to tempt us with the easy path of vice, but we can overcome him with a little self-discipline.  Our behavior is one of the few things we can control.  The beauty and curse of free will.

There is your winning strategy, use the virtues to defeat the vices every time.  The battle of good versus evil can be won, it’s up to you.

Here is your challenge.  Play the Flying V game during the upcoming week.  Track your behavior daily and compute your score and grade.  At the end of the week compute a net score and grade for the week.  Then look at the net scores for each virtue/vice paring and pick one virtue to work on.  Review the prior blog post specific to that virtue and determine what specifically you will do to improve.  Then do it!

One last piece of advice.  Pick the virtue that will give you the greatest improvement in score.  Focus on proactively demonstrating that virtue.  Avoiding the vice is harder.  Asking yourself not to do something is somehow more difficult than telling yourself to do something.  Apparently the “not” gets skipped over in your mind and the thing you don’t want to do becomes the thing you will in fact do.

“For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.”  Romans 7:19

You will be amazed at how quickly you improve simply because you are paying closer attention to your behavior.  You might even find that you are happier.  It feels good to be consistently virtuous.

That’s it, the end of our V’s series.  So what’s next?  I’ll let you know when I know.  I wait for inspiration and guidance from above each week.  It hasn’t arrived yet, but it always does somehow…

In the meantime, to your Virtue!  Scott