Hello!

It may be a reductionist point of view to see today’s youth only consumers of fiction and comfort. In other words, sometimes we view teenagers as ‘lazy.’ From their point of view, they wish we would just stay out of their way and leave them be (sounds like a song they would listen to).

In the long scheme of things, most people develop into functional or quasi-functional people. Desiring our children to behave the way they should only intensifies our emotional pain. Perhaps victory comes from finding peace for ourselves first?

We are coming up on the day that Christ rose and defeated death. It’s a powerful (and historic) event in Earth’s drama. One thing that I find fascinating is that Christ never promised us a good life in the present. In fact, he promised difficulty and hardship.

If Christ, God on Earth, and his apostles suffered, should we expect anything different for ourselves in this life? The answer is no; however, we are encouraged to be brave like Jesus because he has conquered death. What else do we now have to fear?

I was recently watching Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom. I have watched this film dozens of times. At the very beginning when Jones is running away from the Chinese mobsters, you can see that the club is called “Club Obi Wan.” When I searched it up, it was an ode to Star Wars. A few moments later when they reach the airport, a man brings them to the plane which just so happened to be Dan Aykroyd. I had never noticed these things.

All these years and I simply missed these hidden gems. That got me to thinking about all the cool things we miss when we are not paying attention to our world. I wonder what I have missed out on because I was to focused on the grainier instead of the bigger picture?

We often think that we need the magic solution to fix the things in our stressful life. “I only need a better relationship,” one might say. Or, “If I only could get a better job or that promotion.” The reality is that life will always be stressful and there will always be something going wrong.

One method to navigate this reality is to follow the Positive Psychology acronym PERMA by Martin Seligman. It starts with having positive emotions which translates to having a positive perception: Glass half-full. Engagement is defined in being present in the moment. Relationships are the foundation of having something to fall back on. Meaning comes from spirituality which is broadly defined as believing in something bigger than yourself and that you have purpose. Lastly, achievement comes from having accomplishment and being recognized by others.

I was thinking of the rules that God gave Noah and his sons in Genesis 9. These are in extension all of humanity’s core commandments. These are the rules of being fruitful and multiplying, not eating the flesh of an animal that is still alive, not murdering, and the requirement of our fellow humans to keep humans accountable.

From the beginning, God set specific commandments for all humans to follow. These were the commandments of Work Ethic, Family, Life, Animal Welfare, and Duty. While these are central actions for us, the most important is the Love of God.