What Would You Give for Climate Change? For the Second Amendment?
Daily Meditation #394–3/26/2024
Today at church, we read a passage from John 11 that really stuck out to me.
Jesus had just been effectively chased out of a town for espousing things that were, well, “not cool” to the current belief systems or zeitgeist.
His good friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in this town. While Jesus and his disciples were away, it was discovered that Lazarus had fallen quite ill.
Immediately, Jesus felt compelled to return.
His disciples kind of looked at one another before saying “Um…didn’t the Jews there literally just chase you out, threatening to stone you?”
But Jesus insisted.
And here is the passage:
“Then Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’”
— — —
As you know, the Daily Meditations aren’t inherently “religious” in nature.
Spirituality is one of our Four Tenets, certainly, and spirituality may look different to many of us.
For me, personally, as the author, my faith is a big cornerstone to my life, so in many cases, it informs my perceptions, hence today’s Meditation!
I find this passage outstanding because how many of us would raise our hands if asked “Who here strongly believes in something? The Second Amendment? Climate Change? Democracy? A God or other power? Ghosts?”
All of us would raise our hands — to believe in things is in our nature.
On one hand I can think of a few people I personally know who would literally die for their belief in the Second Amendment.
I firmly believe a lot of my fellow Believers would die for their Christian beliefs, if forced to die for them.
And I can imagine a few of us who may die for other beliefs — the Climate, Democracy, etc. (perhaps not ghosts!).
But, for most of us, we vociferously spit and bear our teeth for many different issues (beliefs). Some of us even protest and serve on committees, dressing up and becoming stewards to movements!
And beliefs form our meaning in life. They’re essential.
However, I invite us to consider:
Of these beliefs over which so many of us foam at the mouth, really, truly — how many of them would we die for?
I would imagine nearly none of us would be willing to die fighting for Climate Change, democracy, wages, or a belief in some higher power.
I am not insisting a belief is less or more important, per se, but how firmly can we really say we believe something if we would be unwilling to give our life over it?
So — before we jump down the throat of others who are opposed, or before we raise voices to ecclesiastical shouting in passion, or before we begin clamoring for billions in spending for X, Y, or Z…
Ask ourselves — “If I am unwilling to consider dying for this, is such a level of passion legitimate? If I am unwilling to change my life or spend my time and resources on it, am I the best voice to represent this?”
Simply put: be conscientious of what you believe in and how passionately so.
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These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”
