Why help those in need?

Dear reader, you may be one of many people of whom are residents of the first world society. From birth you have been granted the "gift of life,"and what you do with it is more or less up to you, my friend. Society has weakened you to accept that you're nobody special, you may not be particularly attractive and the constant cycle of the day can, and sometimes is, a trudge no thanks to the gears of our society (which - by the way - forces a numerical value on our strengths and weaknesses). We're conditioned to believe that everything has to be measured like that of our intellect  through exams/qualifications, the car we drive, and even how we run our daily lives by the human constraint of "time." During the course of this blog post, I'm hopefully going to enlighten you on my recent thought processes regarding people living in this world today.

 First and foremost what makes your success so important when compared to that of a fellow "person's?" I can't really fathom this: why strive for a career when it's going to be stressful? Well that may be a tad dismissive, but "working" 9 to 5 for five days a week for my entire life is something I don't think I could comfortably do. It really can become increasingly more daunting when I'm supposed to create a family and be sociable. How am I supposed to do all of this and why should I? Who makes these rules? Man does, and man wants to entrap us into these padded bubbles, isolated from "unsafe" thoughts.

Furthermore there is nothing more than an illusion of the "perfect life," as portrayed by the media. However I'm wondering about what is this "perfect" life? Wow, I think it's subjective and changes from person to person! The fact that there should be some sort of absolute maxim forced into us from the cradle to the grave by first world  indoctrination causes me to see what society is and how we are nothing but numbers and statistics, and some of us are, sadly, reflected by better statistics than others. Oftentimes we're measured by attributes that we cannot directly control: viz. our attractiveness and out intelligence. 

Furthermore this can cause us to sometimes view life as an incredibly unfair process! Where is the solace? Where is the peace? A lot of us are turning to Christianity as a safety net these days, you could reckon, but not in the first world. There exists an element of hope in Christianity, a light that will never go out. Most of all there exists in the heart of Christianity equality. What does this do for our so-called "imperfections?" Well, I see it as a comfort, a rest-bite like the service station on the motorway ;) ! Science can be very methodical, calculating actually! There would exist the assumption that everything must be measured and by default, society compares these measurements against another: A person against another person; almost as if there exists some kind of control for this experiment: namely a well-conditioned, well-behaved, good-looking, moderately - but not lethally - intelligent human being! If the temporal continuum were to reach it's end point then causality would stop, since Einstein's theory of general relativity proves that matter, space and time are co-dependent entities. This would mean no law (how do you govern an immaterial land?) and all that would remain is either you and your memories (if the mind and matter are of distinct realities) or nothing. If you're nowhere then what? How can you be if there's no temporal continuum to support the material you once were, along with all of it's associated entities? How can you possibly meet the eye of any destiny, pre-destined or not?
However this is the harrowing kernel of a first world life. We've always lived in a place where numbers (money) have precedence over happiness itself. I have seen that money, dosh, wonga, cash etc...  is the sole driving force of society. Does this mean that we've been conditioned to believe that the ultimate goal in life is to be "quintessential?" For what? Buying a house, car etc..? Is being happy and content not a more soothing goal to go for? I've got to step outside my bubble for a moment.

 Christians who are "allowed" to share the gospel with others are, perhaps, experiencing one of the most breathtaking events that this life has to offer, namely that of entering an undeveloped nation, stripping back the inevitable crutch of modernity and exposing the potential that the divine has to offer! The saddening truth, however, about life is that first world society "henpecks" us into conveyor belts by the methods of coercion and guilt. To only fill the gap of this sad, materialistic, predominantly atheist society that is probably as easy to program, by a select few idols such as "the stereotypical episode of an American sitcom," as a mere "biological computer." Life can be frequent, you might be tempted just to autoamputate your hand just to break the cycle and feel something - anything distinct - for a mere moment before the government's antibiotics kick in, but it doesn't have to be that way! Society may make you feel like another mindless drone when you're working at the insignificant supermarket in the humdrum town, but if you can bring someone to Christ then you can be sure that you would really be making a difference! So what if your wage packet doesn't brim? Does it matter? ;)

Thanks for reading! :)

Ways we can develop and share our faith

I understand that it is not always easy for people to adopt and subscribe to a new belief  especially when it is that of Christianity. However I ask you to fear not for I am willing to place before you some pieces of advice:
>>Look out for fellow Christians, they may be lurking somewhere! If you're still attending school then it couldn't hurt to ask of the "scripture union," as most schools (in Northern Europe anyway) run a SU of some description anyway. Here, for one hour usually set aside at one lunchtime per week, fellow students can meet a pastor or youth worker and discuss motivational Psalms etc... Oftentimes these groups can create newsletters, blogs, booklets, sketches, paintings, music, food and craft (all in the name of Christ)! Usually there is something somewhat akin to the aforementioned that will run at colleges and universities, the institution's "student union" would perhaps be the best place to inquire about that at.
>>Workplaces, however, can be less forgiving when it comes to your faith. The typical city-center office can adopt some kind of "George Orwell's 1984"-type policy that will cause it to be costly for you to even mention the fact that you're a Christian; your fate there really depends upon whether or not you choose to be a partisan about it, they're hardly going to care about what you get up to on a Sunday morning - I hope...

There are awesome ways in which Christians, once they can get together, can share their faith:
>>Give a compliment to everyone in your group! Basically to do this all you need is coloured felt-tipped pens, a sheet of paper for each member of the group and some Christians! Ideally each member should write their name on the back of the first sheet of paper that they receive and then pass it on, with each person checking the name on each piece of paper that is passed to them. Upon reading the name, a group member should write a sincere compliment! Now the compliments can range from the simple and subjective - such as "you're so smart" to "you're so pretty" - to that of some words of wisdom if you know the person has been recently getting to grips with some emotional turmoil...
>>How about sharing some motivational Bible verses?
>>Have a prayer buddy for the evening, this can work wonders within larger group settings! Remember that a stranger is just a friend you've not made yet!
>>Make something together to build spirits! Music, art, a video, a blog, a book etc... just something that will last! Something that will make you smile when you look back at it in ten, maybe twenty, years from now...
>>Build spirits by going on day-outs together! Visit a church in your local town, arrange to go together to some city or just build up spirits by arranging some bizarre road-trip! When you're young the world really can be your oyster...
>>Create a Facebook/Twitter page and use it to share motivational Bible verses with each other! Mix it up by sharing motivational YouTube videos too!
>>Share the love. Easier said than done in this day and age, I know. Offer home-baking, hot food etc.. to people - for free/donation - with the chance to share some words of wisdom! Kindnesses can go a long way...
>>Be there for each other through the thick and thin!
>>Listen to Christian music together! By that I mean worship-type songs, I don't mean that you should go all Morrissey and declare that "Heaven knows I'm miserable now" or Thom Yorke just so that you can declare that "God loves his children" whilst ignoring the remainder of the song Paranoid Android!! Whilst those songs are amazing to listen to if you're by yourself, they really don't do much to build up your faith in Christ with your fellow Christians...

So this is the end of today's posting!
:)
>>...and I know that this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Proverbs 16:9 makes a point beautifully, like so: "we plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to do it!!"


Cheers!