We Are Starving

We are starving. I see it everywhere. In a nation of plenty, and a world of means, we have little of what we need and more of what we do not. We are starving and we don’t even see it for what it is. We fill our emptiness with a trillion other wants and ignore the most basic human needs. Part of it is that we, the proverbial, not the literal, are no longer equipped to seek and obtain what we must have to survive wholly. If there ever was, and I contest that there is still, a “dumbing down of America”, we are surely in the midst of it.******************************** We are starving for love, attention, affection, approval and acceptance. We are devoid of love in the most meaningful way. By that I mean, the kind of love that compels us to think of others before ourselves. The love that breeds patience and kindness and compassion. (1 Cor 13:4-8) We crave the kind of love and understanding that couples used to share before we lost our ability to cuddle up and express our heart’s desire without obsessive whining or defensive backlash. Have you ever watched people trying to get their point across? When did we start to compete for it? When did our need for love and attention become a competition; where either we get what we need or we become resentful and yet... those words never even enter the conversation. People are fighting about the dishes when it is really about the desperate need for love and respect.********************************* The worst part is that in our turmoil and drama, in our emptiness, in our desperate search for others to notice us and give us love; attention, affection, acceptance, approval and sympathy…. we publicize our drama, our desperate need for attention, on public forums but to most of the world it is obvious that we are crying out for love from the pit of our souls. It is like a never ending starvation for ANYTHING to fill that void. Much like Munchhausen’s disease, our desperate need for love and attention is never satisfied. Because of this we CREATE situations that require or compel others to respond with some sort of reaction, even if it is negative. Just like children, we continue to poke and prod until someone responds. ***************************************** We fill the void with everything but what we need. We slather makeup on our face, pump botox into our bodies, get boob jobs, hair implants, fake nails, better cars, cooler clothes, bigger jobs, better friends, more money, more notoriety, etc…. But we are still empty inside. ************************** We have lost our ability to communicate. We have been on a fast track to the dumbing down of America since the advent of broadcasting, television, telephones, cell phones, ipods, stereos and tablets. To date we text in abbreviated form, and adopt the abbreviations and literal words; some of which are in the dictionary and some of them likely will be. Most would rather text than talk on the phone or in person because there is less accountability and more deniability if they play it right. We DO NOT know how to have a civil conversation or how to discuss an issue instead of debate it. (If you don’t believe that look at what our elections have become.) We are incapable of communicating with others on a meaningful level because sometimes WE don’t even know what we are truly upset about. Trust me, it isn’t the dishes. Worse, we emulate what we know from our parents and loved ones. *********************************** Now, knowing this... LOOK at the world and tell me what it looks like to you?! Brokenness. We have forgotten the face of our Father (Dark Tower), so to speak. And yet, He…. His Word, the Bible, is how we know what TRUE love looks like.********************************** When did we turn away from Christ? WHY did we turn away from Christ? When did He become a catch phrase or a passing phase? When did we start blaming God for what people do and don’t do? When did we stop feeling the need, because let’s face it, we DESPERATElY DO need Him still, but when did we FEEL the need to cast Him aside and break our bonds with the church?! When did we ever stop and think, “I can do this alone.” Or “Hm, my kids don’t need to know the creator of Heaven and Earth.” Or “It isn’t really important that we teach our children how to love others as they love themselves, about forgiveness and sin.” Especially when did that damn phrase, “Do as I say and not as I do” come into this world?? That is STRAIGHT from the devil himself, that is! The epitome of hypocrisy and completely ineffective in parenting.******************************* The Cain syndrome is alive and thriving today. (If you read the bible, you know what I am saying. :-) We feed it and nurture it and discuss it in front of our children and families until they adopt it too. Think KKK, Arian brothers, human traffickers, cults, gangs, mafia, serial killers, school shooters, rapists, child molesters, lying politicians, shady businesses, prostitution, drug dealers, unethical corporations and the like. The VILE nature of violent crimes against other human beings, especially innocent children, is beyond the scope of any decent person’s understanding. And yet...******************************************** Look at our failure to parent properly. One only needs to know and talk to a teacher or parent to see our refusal to take accountability for our own wrongs (as parents) teaches our kids they don’t have to either. Our lack of biblical principles in rearing and educating our children is creating a literal nightmare for our children’s teachers. Kids in elementary school are sexually molesting other kids, verbally assaulting them, physically abusing them, bullying, stealing…. Killing them. There are consequences in school. They are suspended. They cry and lie to mom or dad and instead of supporting the school, the parent ‘fights’ for the kid. The same parent who probably screams at the kid at home (or worse) is raising that kid NOT to treat others how you want to be treated, but to demand the world bow to the kid’s every whim even when they are wrong. And we wonder where we went wrong when the children’s natural ability to hate others so badly makes them decide to go out and kill. They learned hate and entitlement and control. They are not being taught the biblical principles of being able to LOVE, COPE, HOPE and FORGIVE.************************************** That being said, don’t worry about it. Let them skip school if they have a hang nail or are being picked on. Just feed them fast food and give them a cell phone as soon as they can walk to keep them quiet. Sit them in front of the tv with ramen noodles and a coke. Don’t worry about the chores, you can scream and smack them in the head for not doing it in a week, when you notice. Meantime, let’s give them that party they wanted and pay for all of their friends and carry on like the best parent ever. Oh and make sure they have the best clothes, the newest cell phone, the trendiest hair style, the coolest fake nails, and hey, they will be just fine. Teach them how to be melodramatic to get attention; How to post duck lips and provocative poses; how to manipulate others to get the wrong kind of attention and sympathy. Don’t teach them how to cope with life’s chaotic moments. Teach them how to post about it for attention.********************************************** Look … don’t starve. Don’t teach your kids to starve. Teach them to fish and they will eat. I know how you can be eternally fed with manna from Heaven. Please…. I am not kidding. Get connected. Get hooked up to His word and His people. Yes, His people are flawed, but that is the whole ‘free will thing’ that I talk about in other blogs. Just because we as humans mess up, doesn’t mean that there isn’t true healing, peace and guidance in that beautiful book. Feed your children. Teach them how to fish. Show them the love of Christ and parent in a way that protects them from themselves. We are our own worst enemy. Don’t let them be.********************************