Mercy and Love Over Hate and Judgment

I decided to do something different today. I saw this picture and it sparked a train of interesting thoughts, and I wanted to share them.

This could be a brave kid. Going right up to a controversial group of people and stating the exact opposite of their doctrine. Or, he could just be spewing the "tolerance" spiel the media seems to be jamming down society's throat lately. It's a pretty hot subject. But here's my take.

I am not okay with being "tolerant". Things like the abortion of a child (whether at four weeks or forty) and gay marriage are plain wrong. I do not agree with homosexual marriage because it is against my personal convictions. (But I do not judge those who are gay, lesbian, bi, or whatever. I still have a lot of love for them and in the end, they are just people standing up for their own convictions.) I am strongly against abortion because I believe that human life begins as soon as there is conception. The mothers' rights are fought for, while society seems to forget about the child's rights. That child could have grown up, at which point their human rights would be undisputed. But they are "inhuman" until they are born? Tell that to their beating heart, the fingerprints that form after just a few weeks, that destiny God had upon their life until it was taken away.

My beliefs against these things do not make me "hateful" in any way. I may be intolerant, but narrow-minded? It could be that everyone else is narrow-minded to the things of God. But I do not hate gay people, women who have had abortions, or even the doctors who have performed abortions.  I love them unconditionally. I can't hate who they are, because God doesn't; I simply hate the things they do that go against Him. I am disappointed, even saddened by their behavior, as it mostly occurs out of ignorant blindness (not to say they are unintelligent, simply uninformed).

A lot of Christians shy away from the subject, because they don't want to be labeled "intolerant", but they don't want to agree, either. And it disgusts me to see so many spineless "Christians". We're not supposed to be quiet or "tolerant" of the turns our society makes when they are obviously wrong. Jesus wasn't tolerant; He loved. A woman caught in the act of adultery was brought before Him and He did not condemn her. He simply said, "Go, and sin no more." He didn't brush off the fact that she had been in sin, but He pointed her toward a better way.

Let me say again: just because someone is living wrong does not mean I hate them. And God certainly doesn't. But we don't have to tell them it's okay. We can give them all the love and care a human being should have. They need to see Jesus. Not a God who would strike them with lightning. He desires mercy rather than sacrifice. Love changes more hearts than judgment.

About That Time

Almost midnight. About that time for me to begin pondering things. My brain thinks it is entertaining to start thinking about things very deeply in order for me to fall asleep (about which I will have completely forgotten by the time I wake the following morning), but sometimes it has the opposite result. The past few nights, I've been kept awake thinking about our upcoming trip back to Washington and what it will be like to see places and faces we've been without for three months.

Hawaii has grown familiar to me, at least this base and the cities in the immediate vicinity (the nearest Walmart is fifteen minutes away, a definite difference from the two minute trip from my parents' house). Not quite the familiarity of a "home", but it will be a place to return to when it is time for our lives to settle back into routine. It holds a different familiar for me than that of Eastern Washington, yet even that familiar has changed. Friends have moved, started dating or hanging around different people, gotten married, had a kid, graduated, or are at a different job since we've been there. It won't be what I was used to and certainly not what my husband was used to. None of those can be automatically classified as "good" or "bad"; they are what they are. And for us, what they are is different.

Even I have changed. And who could blame me, once they understand what these months have held for me? I have had to learn how to cope with a completely new environment and situation, things that I could not have been prepared for. So I have changed to make a worthy opponent for such obstacles (and I'd like to think I've given them a run for their money!) There's a whole new social structure to acclimate to and new relationships to form, both of which I've taken in my own stride. Not to mention learning some ins and outs of married life! (I am not the professor yet; I am still very much the student and will be for a while. In this, I am content.)

I am not afraid of returning to a place and people I love--oh no, I welcome it! I am excited to be able to catch up with my friends and family, in regards to what I've been doing and also what they've been up to. But as a freshman is anxious to understand the atmosphere of high school, so I am anxious to become reacquainted with what I used to call home (and probably will for a while to come). It is even strange to me to say "my parents' house" instead of "home", because it is not my home anymore. Home is where my husband is, where my life is. For now, that means Hawaii. And I embrace any adventures that my life will lead me on in the future.