Part of a heated discussion I had with an older coworker today:
Upon finding out that I’m studying to become a Physician Assistant, my never-shy colleague interrupted: “I never see PAs. I’m paying good money for that visit and the last thing I want is some nurse or PA to diagnose me. If I get stuck with a PA I ALWAYS ask for the doctor.”
I was quick to answer: “Well, you might not have to worry about me ever seeing as there is a good chance that I’ll end up working overseas in some sort of [free?] missionary clinic.”
The next 15-20 minutes were dedicated to my coworker telling me that I’m wrong for wanting to work in a overseas missions clinic when there are plenty of needy people right here in the United States.
She wasn’t quite sure what to say when I challenged her with this: “Well, how about this: while you’re busy helping the needy in THIS country (intentionally calling her out for NOT), I’ll help another country. That way we’ll be doubly effective!”
“I’ve been to Mexico! I’ve seen the slums of Costa Rica! I’ve seen the world’s needs,” she pleaded. I couldn’t help but chuckle as her comments reminded me of the clearly racist person who says, “I’m not a racist! I gave a speech on MLK in the 6th grade!”
“The United States doesn’t care about [some poor country] because there is no financial gain us,” she continued to argue.
“Well,” I responded, “fortunately we aren’t limited to caring about only the things/places that the United States cares about. We are free to give our time and money to any cause we find worthy.
“We should help our own country first,” she commented.
“I disagree. What makes us more valuable than people in other countries? What makes my life more important than that of the person in Kenya?”
We finally agreed to disagree. I ended the conversation thanking her for her comments. Just as the embrace of our hug was released, she got the last word:
“You’re young. You just don’t understand politics or our world.”
I remained silent and smiled. :-)
(also posted at FriendlyChristian.com)
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts | 9 Comments »Let me get my opinion of hell right out in the open from the outset. It is disgusting and ill conceived. It is probably the single most abhorrent idea to come from human minds in the last 2000 years. The idea that your mistakes and errors of judgment are so vitally important to a creator that he’d punish you forever for them just revolts me. Now you know where I stand I’ll try to put it a bit more rationally for you.
Why have hell in the first place?
Why invent an idea like hell? I don’t think it takes a twisted mind to come up with the idea, just some injustice and an effort to comfort someone. Every day crimes go unsolved, criminals go unpunished and victims are left with a lingering sense of injustice. People want answers and we want solutions. How can this be allowed? How can the murderer, the thief, the oppressor be allowed to prosper?
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Walking back to my car from an extended visit to the mall tonight, my eyes were drawn to the vehicle parked adjacent to my sweet black Kia. This car was tattooed with [Old Testament] bible verses talking about God’s wrath, judgment, and hell.
I couldn’t help but laugh in disgust.
Thirty minutes prior, I sat in Books A Million reading the first chapter of A.J. Jacob’s popular book The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, a story about one man’s attempt to, well, follow the bible as literally as possible for…yep, a year. Cleverly titled, eh?
When asked if he is now more religious after doing his best to follow all of the “rules” of the bible for an entire year, the author responded, “Well, I don’t want to give away the ending, but let’s say I started the year as an agnostic, and now I am a reverent agnostic. Whether or not there is a God, I believe in sacredness. Rituals can be sacred, the Sabbath can be sacred however you choose to observe it.”
I
haven’t read the book in it’s entirety (although I’d like to!), but are you as equally unsurprised as I am that his answer wasn’t an astounding, “heck yes! I love Jesus and live to make his holy name famous!”
What I’m about to say doesn’t make me popular with some groups of Christians (thankfully, I don’t live one second of my life for anybody but God):
A big thank you to our good friend Helen for inviting me to contribute to this great site for a short amount of time. I am humbled by her offer and excited to meet you guys! Please forgive the lengthy introduction. Next week’s post will be shorter and hopefully a bit more enjoyable :-)
You can read more about me at FriendlyChristian.com and JustBill.org.
PS - OH, and before I forget, please forgive me as my comments/responses will be few and far between. An attempt to get into PA school is currently consuming the time that I would usually dedicate to blogging.
Posted in First Timers | 12 Comments »