You are the difference

I am watching a drama-comedy on TV. There is this scene where one of the main characters stands up and screams, “It is my life, and I can do what I want.”

 

It is a lie.

 

    We have a myopic view of life, thinking we are individuals distinct and separate from each other. Albert Einstein referred to this as an “optical delusion.” There is nothing individualistic about ourselves. We are products of others—obviously physically, but in other ways as well. Our thinking has been shaped by our experiences. Those experiences—traumas, victories, nurturing, and others—all involve others.
    To be an individual is impossible. Everything we do relies on someone else. We wake up in beds built by others, wrapped in sheets made by someone else, in a house that was built by yet another person. I think you are starting to get the idea.
    Illnesses never affect just the person. I often think of addiction. It is considered an illness that impacts not only the addict but also the lives of others. Again, we can think of the obvious: spouses, children, parents, siblings, and the list can go on. But there were times when I was pinwheeling out of my mind that I affected others. There is also another truth in this scenario. An addict never becomes an addict alone. We know now that trauma is the gateway to addiction. It was in my case, and my brother’s, and countless others who I have known. Addiction is a disease, but it is not centred on the person spreading out to affect the lives of others. It is a disease of those in the person’s life, and the addict is but a symptom.
    I think if one looks carefully, we see this dynamic everywhere. We live in a culture that places importance on material goods over the lives of others and our own. Our consumerism is an addiction that is killing us. Our political systems foster hostility and anger toward each other so that those who think they have power can feel in control. Yet, our world is slowly teaching us that this control is an illusion.
    I am intentional in painting a bleak image. This sense of individuality has infected our faith. I bristle at the arrogance of “Jesus is my personal Lord and Saviour.” It is the personal saviour part that irritates me. The one consistent message through the Goad Herders Guide is that we are in this together. Jesus taught and still does that our faith is expressed in what we do with the person next to us. In the old testament God was always concerned with how we treated others. “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” (Isa 1.17)
    Our faith, my faith, your faith, is not an individual endeavour. For this post I am side-stepping the entire “each person is judged according to their acts.” It is a belief within Judaism that when two people read scripture, the entire community benefits. The same connectedness that leads to such devastation also leads to miraculous healing. We are told in the first letter of John that God’s love is made complete in us. (1 Jn 4.12) Repeatedly, we are told that love and faith are a matter of how we treat each other. At the very least, if I walk out the door determined not to be an idiot, the world is a better place.
    The other aspect that irritates me with the “personal Lord and Saviour” is that we are called to be bigger than that. Most of us will never do significant acts such as building orphanages. We also don’t need to bankrupt ourselves, either financially, emotionally, or spiritually, in caring for those around us. I think that if I am a loving and caring human being, that shows in how I treat people. This forms the basis of any message I give with regard to my faith. The importance in this is to “love in action and in truth.” That my love and concern is sincere and is not just to “win another soul.”
    What we do impacts those around us. Just like throwing a pebble into a pond, the ripples move outward. Perhaps now is a good time to consider how we impact our community, our neighbour, and the world.

 

Anyway, that is my opinion.