Sometimes, it seems like the wrong people in the world are dying. I can think of people close to me, as well as nationally known people, who died way before their time. Good people who were doing good and noble things with their lives. It’s probably mean, but I can think of many people living today whose lives I’d like to see traded with them. It’s a good thing that I’m not God because I’d do it in a heartbeat.

I don’t really expect anyone to be able to give me a satisfactory explanation for all of this. It’s one of life’s mysteries that will never be answered. I’m also not expecting God to pop up and give me a solo appearance and explain it either. It just doesn’t seem fair.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough “Hellos” to get you through the final “Goodbyes.”

I think too often we expect our lives to be perfect – taking for granted all of the good things that come our way. God never promised us a perfect life. But he does promise to always be with us through our trials and tribulations. We all need to remember that the bad things are as important as the blessings in life because they help to develop character and hopefully bring us closer to Christ. How would we appreciate joys in life without sorrow? We should be more content with what God chooses to place in our paths.

I wish you enough…

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

I assume the individual displaying the bumper sticker was making his opinion known that the world would be a much better place to live if there was no religion. I believe most atheists think that if only there was no religion, the world would suddenly become this global utopia, where we are one big, happy family environment. Certainly if one looks at the Crusades, the attempts at genocidal cleansing over the centuries and the current Islamic fanatics, you can make a case for this line of reasoning. However, in most instances, the people heading these endeavors were disturbed and/or evil in character and used religion as a convenient excuse to further their cause. Also, how do you explain the likes of Stalin, Lenin and Hitler? To my knowledge, there were no religious underpinnings to their slaughter of millions of people. They were basically atheists.

The same reasoning can be used to debunk the first line in the verse above – “Imagine there’s no countries.” Those that champion the idea that if we don’t have a country to show allegiance to we will suddenly solve the world’s problems because then people will have no reason to fight or kill each other. Sure, this sounds great on the surface. However, the human race, since the beginning of time has always tried to form some kind of common bonding. Whether it’s a small group of cave dwellers, a tribe, an ethnic group, etc., man will always attempt to form some kind of relationship. It’s in our DNA. Eliminating the country dynamic isn’t going to eliminate the problem. It will still manifest itself in another form.

Certainly there are numerous examples of people using religion for nefarious purposes. They definitely get more than their fair share of airtime on the networks and on the Internet. However, the vast majority of religious endeavors are made for the overall good of mankind. The bushel of religion has too many good pieces in it to throw it away because of a few bad apples.