Witt's End

  It’s the Sunday before Memorial Day.  It’s always a weird day for me. Remembering. Trying to live life.  Some years it’s a patriotic theme for church. Other years other congregations it’s Sunday as usual, just with some typical people missing from the pews for the long weekend.  That’s the way it should be I think. Sunday as usual. Even if it’s not for me. Veterans Day doesn’t result in this reflection. Only Memorial Day. Probably cause of the dead. All those in the line duty, combat, training, rescue. And then those who lost the fight after they’ve made it home.  So many. The list grows. But that’s not what’s carrying my thoughts today. It’s comparing the gospel I love to the decision I made to enlist.  There’s an incongruence that’s hard to ignore about being a follower of Christ and being trained and ready to do violence. Now I loved my service. I continue to work with veterans for a reason. But I can’t ignore a bit of unease.  When it comes to military service and action  there i

"Change your thoughts, change everything." I keep seeing variations of this quote or idea all over. And it's not horrible. But it's not universally beneficial either.  I don’t disagree with the idea that our thoughts can be the difference. That they can set moods. That they can make the difference in outcomes, mental, emotional, and physical. Thoughts matter. We have to learn how to control them. Develop them. Use them. It’s a more than worthwhile endeavor. It’s just not an equal one. All people have different struggles. Different trials with this.  Uncontrolled moods, intrusive thoughts, physical addictions, traumatic events, neurodivergent struggles, and even brain damage. They all wreak havoc on one’s cognition. Purposeful thought isn’t as easy for some as it is for others. The amount of effort required is different.  At one point in my life, I'd convinced myself I still had pain. There was racing anxiety that accompanied my every move. The line between physica

 I've been thinking a lot about my faith recently and how it interacts with my life. What's central, what isn't, what's evolved, what hasn't. That sort of thing. And it really made me reflect on what my faith is bound on. Two things rose to the top. One was Jesus Christ as a figure divine. The other was the inherent good I see in other people.   So we're going to start with the second first. I think that mankind is inherently good. I just do. I see it every day. I think the majority of suffering inflicted upon is brought on by hardships. Hardships that lead to desperate acts. All while the majority of people attempt to just live their lives. Lives that need redemption and alleviation to suffering.  Lives that I admire and come to goodness to alleviate that suffering and find redemption in various ways. Ways that continue to amaze me.  I could talk about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Viktor Frankl's Logotherapy, or Carl Jung Archetypes to show how this fai

Ch rist interacted with everyone he met individually according to their unique needs and circumstances. I mean it.  He healed some by degrees, others immediately, and yet others were healed by the word of another.  Some were corrected with absolute compassion. Some were condemned forcefully. Others were chased away from their sin by him with a scourge of nine tails. Some he told to proclaim his deeds. Others he told to keep that in their hearts. It was individual. There was no single silver bullet other than going to him. But even that act has a variety of roads and outcomes. We need to keep that in mind. In our interactions and our expectations of those around us. Some of us will go through life with privilege and blessings that others will not have. Others will struggle financially or physically throughout their lives.  Some will suffer traumatic injury or diseases that will be healed in a manner that will only be considered miraculous. Others will never be healed. Some will suffer w