A House of Cards

Sometimes I think that this whole world that has been built up around me is made of plastic. And what I mean by "sometimes" is just about every day. I look around at all I see, how people live, what they have, what they lack, how they act, what they say, what they value, what they love. It all seems so fake. so superficial. a house made of cards. empty. When I really get to thinking about it, I will usually laugh at the absurdity of it all, not because I think I am better than anybody else, but because I just don't understand it. It can't be real.

This world is so big, and this life so short, that thinking about the mockery we have made of it all makes me want to grow hair just so I can pull it all out (maybe I'll do that.) What is this life!?

Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" or "in abundance." He told the woman at the well, "Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." And one of my favorite quotes: "The glory of God is man fully alive" by Saint Irenaeus. Put all these together and you have the life I want to live. It is far from a house built of cards.

There is no room for compromise between the true world that God created and the world that we pretend to live in. The latter actually is no world at all, but it would be a lie to say grown ups don't play make-believe too. There is no room for compromise between the true lives God has created us for and the lives others tell us to live, or that we might prefer to live. We live in a world of compromise, but God hates compromise. "Every word of God is pure, and any addition to them will make you a liar." Let what is true be true, and what is false be false. Let what is good be good and what is evil be evil! There is no room for compromise when it comes to following God. "He who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." It is all or nothing. An abundant life or a house of cards.

And then the fear kicks in... another invention of the ultimate make-believer, Satan, who tries to keep us enslaved. What if... fill in the blank. "God has never forsaken those who seek Him."

Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. -Helen Keller

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future." - Chris McCandless (Into the Wild) 

"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." To know the true God is to love Him; and to know Him better is to love Him all the more. "If you love me, keep my commands... Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (Jesus)

"Follow Me" - Jesus