I don't care about Arnold Shwarzenegger's publicly displayed mess. Sorry but I don't. It's all over the news and people seem fascinated and shocked by what they've heard. I'm not. Shocked, that is. Or fascinated or even interested (okay...maybe a little). What I am is sad. And if I'm honest, I'm just at a loss as to why this kind of thing has been happening since the dawn of mankind and somehow this particular lesson and all of it's ugly rammifications doesn't seem to penetrate.
It's so cliche. Man comes from humble beginnings. Man has a dream of making a better life. Man pulls himself up by his bootstraps and makes something of himself. Someone admires said man's determination and gives him an opportunity of a lifetime. Man climbs the ladder of fortune and fame. Man becomes celebrated for his success. Man appears to have 'it' all. Then...things start to unravel. Man starts to believe he really is larger than life. Man thinks he is entitled to instant gratification. Man decides that the rules don't apply to him. Man gets all into glorifying himself. Man starts walking all over the 'little people' and starts stepping into it big time....Classic.
I'm not saying any of this as a judgement, per se...just as an observer of this phenomenon of self destructive behavior. (Not to mention the collateral damage caused as well.) As an aside, I'm aware of the fact that there are many self destructive behaviors out there, some of which I have engaged in personally so just for the record, I know I'm in no position to be judgmental of anyone. This is just something that's on my mind because my husband, David and I were discussing the issue this morning and it started me thinking.
My opinion on this (which is worth exactly what you paid for it) is that we go wrong the instant we start taking on glory for ourselves. When we think "I did it all by myself'. If you think about it, do any of us really do anything of significance all by ourselves? No, not really. Everything we do, we learned from someone else. Either directly from them or by observing. Whether by good example or bad...we know what we know because of what someone else taught us. The problem starts when we start to get full of our own importance and we forget where we came from. It gets even worse when we start to believe that we are way more intelligent than everyone else and that we have all the right answers and we stop listening to or respecting each other altogether. But I digress...
If everyone would just do as they were told by God, life would be easier, it would make more sense and people would get along better. The 10 commandments are so simple. Jesus' teaching makes perfect sense. If we could only listen to the marketing folks over at Nike and
'Just Do It' when it comes to obeying God's word what a different world we would be living in. It would be better. No question.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking...In making these statements, I am saying that I have all the right answers and am not taking into consideration the spiritual beliefs or philosophies of others. Not true. I respect other people's right to believe whatever they choose. I'm only saying that the teachings of the Bible which I believe in ABSOLUTELY make good sense and are what I believe to be the optimal framework for humans to get along with each other in a civilized way.
If you don't want me to go all spiritual and biblical on you, here's another way to look at it: ~Think with your brain and only with your brain. That is the only organ in your body you should be using to help make your decisions. Treat the people around you the way you want to be treated and don't be selfish.~ There you go.
Give God all the Glory. Human beings were not created to contain glory. All one needs to do to realize this is to look at the lives of celebrities. Or look through some history books at the lives of kings and queens and royalty through the ages. Or Tiger Woods. Having done that, I suppose we could say that Ahh-nold is in 'good' company. Maybe I'll even cut him some slack. Maybe. ;0)
Blessings,
Cat
