Politics and Religion

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"So, what are you interested in?"

That's the question that has haunted me for most of my life. When I was younger, I had no idea what interested me. There were so many options, so many things to do that I ended up paralyzed without focus and squandered so much time floundering around from one thing to another. Sometimes, I would just lose interest in everything all together.

As I got older however, my life began to take on a little more focus. I haven't completely found my true life's passion yet by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm beginning to get a sense of an overall direction or theme in my life.

Let me ask you a question: What are the two topics that you should NEVER bring up at, say, a party? That's right: Politics and Religion.

But those are the very things that interest me the most! Now when someone asks me, "So, what are you interested in?", I'm immediately in a different kind of quandary. I no longer have to desperately search for something to say. I know what my answer is now. It's politics and religion. No, my quandary is now to assess the situation, try to read the responsiveness of the person I'm talking to, and decide if it's worth the risk to come out with "politics and religion."

You know what? I don't want to be afraid anymore to say those two words. Why is there such a restriction on that anyway? What, we can't talk about those things because we might have a difference of opinion? Someone's feelings might get hurt? It might start an argument?

We live in such an easily offended, political correct, conformity-driven, don't make waves, fit-in-with-everyone else society that there are two whole big swaths of every person's life that we can't even talk about at all! That's just not right!

NO!

I say these are the very things that we ought to be talking about the most. What other things are so close to peoples' hearts as their religion? Here we are in an election year. What else is in the news so much as politics these days? If these are the things that stir up so much emotion, why do we avoid them? If we avoid talking about these things, our lives are tremendously diminished. Do you want to go through life avoiding everything that has passion? What kind of life is that?

Live life to the full. Talk about what's on your heart. If it makes others feel uncomfortable, be gentle about it, but for God's sake don't just avoid it. These things need to be talked about.

What am I interested in? What keeps me up at night and gets me out of bed in the morning? It's politics and religion.

My First Post

As I mention in my profile, I have gradually moved from being disinterested in anything that doesn't concern me, to mildly interested, to where I am now: intensely interested and gravely concerned. As way of an introduction, let me give you a quick overview of my journey along these lines.

At first, it was just the big events happening in our country that held my attention. Once the blast of attention from that faded, I would sink back into my own little world and pay attention to things that only mattered to me. Then another major event would happen that would get my attention and then another. Over time, it took less momentous things to get my attention and so my attention was grabbed more often. As I watched these things, I began to thirst for more. I began to look for other ways to access information about the world around me, which then fed into my interest and the cycle continued.

But then something critical began to happen inside my head:

I began to see little CONNECTIONS between what was happening "out there" in the big world and my personal life.

What a game-changer that was! After that, my interest became personal and I began to actually emotionally respond to what I was watching around the country. I no longer consider myself just some innocent bystander in the big world of events out there. That stuff really does impact me, my family, my way of life, and everything I believe in and stand for. I am discovering that there is nothing that is left untouched by current events. It all matters.

And that brings me to this blog. In so many ways, I do not like what I see and am concerned for the future of this country. I can no longer stand by idly watching, worrying, hoping that things will get better. I must act!

I am not sure what that will look like yet, but this blog is a start. I must work out for myself what my role is in the great big world and I would love to have others join me on this journey.

Here's what you can expect from me:

• Honesty. I am, in part, taking a personal journey. To me, this must be honest for it to be worth it.
• Challenge. I have a lot to say and I'm sure that not everything I say will be comfortable (for you or for me!). That's okay.
• Imperfection. Right off the bat, I want to say that I am not claiming perfection in anything. If I am wrong, I want you to call me on it!
• Opinion. I have lots of opinions on lots of things. That's what makes life fun, yeah?

So this is me and my blog. Let's see where the road goes!