Fairness VII

Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy.

 - From Psalm 126

I'll go a little personally reflective on this one. This is an apologetic, a baring of the soul. I am going vulnerable now, and invite some push-back and maybe some scorn. 

God is concerned about fairness. It's why we all suffer the same death. The finality of death is exactly equal. It's equivalent and equitable. It is true that our riches and fame do us no good in the grave. And when we are eternal . . . who cares about possessions? The Vulcan saying is true in the world of non-fiction: the universe is comprised of infinite possibilities, in infinite combinations. 

That's what it will be like for all of us. 

If, in eternity, we have the chance to go back and live in the earthly finite plane, once again (or even innumerable times) I am certain we would choose to do so. And we would not choose the easy life. The human soul is immersed in dignity, and we would choose the hard life, over and over again, I'm sure of it. 

We need that perspective.

European Christians have indeed had a good run now, for centuries. They established a culture that can only be described as blessed by God. Most of them realize it is undeserved. We called ourselves "privileged" decades before anyone knew the meaning of the word "Millennial." We challenged ourselves, and one another, to be charitable, sacrificing, kind, equitable, thrifty, hard-working. These are not new concepts. 

But the fact is . . . the long view of history has relegated Christians, and their forbears, as the ultimate marginalized group. Society does not like people with such values as purity, moderation, sacrificial love. Society insists that we take sides, that we join in demonizing others. And Christians, as allies, are the most enviable - - - as if collaboration with Christians gives your cause some legitimacy. 

The reason Christians act as they do, is because there is a long memory in our DNA, of horrible persecutions, brutal and gruesome treatment by the virtually eternal forces of anti-Christendom. And there's a sense, derived from that experience and the witness of Scripture itself, that the good times will not last forever. 

If Christianity is a marginalized group, then I was brought up in a group that was marginalized within Christianity. We had about 60,000 members nationwide, and only a couple hundred total churches. These churches were so spread out, that my family always had to travel far to get to one. We would be the remote members of the church, whose main body of members were mostly local.

We never had school friends in our churches, and the kids our ages (if there were any) in our churches all socialized together, but not with us. 

A margin, of a margin, of a margin. It affected our dating, our career choices. It limited our ability to connect with people on the most fundamental topics and interests. We were always keeping a lot of our views to ourselves . . . because some of it was just not conventional to most people. Some of our beliefs, while benign, seemed odd to others. 

And yet . . . our ethic was to be proud to be small and few in number. We were taught that, the closer you get to truth, the fewer people there are around you. And no matter what your specific beliefs, that is, I'm certain, a universal truth. There is strength in numbers, but there are not numbers in truth.

To me, the idea of "fair" just does not register, not much. If I cared about fair, I would have a whole lot to talk about. If I cared about "fair to me," there would be volumes to write. 

The discussion of fairness is, in many ways, moot.

No matter how bad things get . . . there is a good ending. 

And that runs circles around what you, and I, believe is "not fair."