The Good Stuff VIII (SA)

Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, the one who succeeds in evil schemes.

 - From Psalm 37

The Good News does not glorify victimhood. People that end up victimized are not to be pitied: they are to be admired. As you go about doing good in this world. you wind up in trouble. You're persecuted, marginalized, ignored, mocked, tortured, and killed. And yet you don't do good so that you can be tortured. You do good because the world needs people to do good, and your view is eternal. You can take it because of the nearness of the next life.

We are supposed to be charitable. There is always someone worse off than us, that we can help. And even a wealthy person may need the kind of true, genuine support that has never been forthcoming.

When we're in trouble, or down on our luck, or hurting, or suffering some loss, we are not supposed to look at people that are better off, and blame them for our troubles. We are not to be jealous, or envious. There are yet people we could help, if we took the focus off of ourselves.

We should not strive to be victims, and we should not elevate victims. We're going for a quiet dignity that realizes some are better off than I, some worse off . . . but that most are very close to my own situation. The comparison game is vain. It doesn't matter.

Don't worry about it.

I would abhor being a victim. Even if I were, by the world's standards, I would never admit it. I am nobody's victim. I have eternal life, and you cannot hurt me.

Christians may not be perfect. They may complain. They may whine. They may judge.

But they are under an overwhelming dictate: to be content in any state, and to serve others. We do not need to be reminded of that by non-believers. We are aware of it. We remind each other of it all the time. And no, it does not mean we are better than others, or believe we're better. It just means we take the human mission of improving the world, and our race, very seriously. And at it's highest form, humanity is a humble calling. We have nothing to boast about. And we know it.

Do we not care about the rich and how wealthy they are? Should we be angry about the one percent?It would be nice. It feels natural. But it gets in the way of our focus on others that need our help, and our desire to be content in all things.

We're not pro-wealthy. We just see the wealthy as no better than, and no worse than, anybody else.

We're all equal. We all have value. And we are not going to fight about it.

And that's a good thing.