scattered thoughts

Lately I have been struggling with some things.  These issues involve several different aspects and I probably won't be able to address each of them.  I'll just touch on a couple.

I generally shy away from most political arguments and let people say what they want to say about how great or how bad of a job the President is doing without putting up much resistance.  Safe to say, there are things I like and things I strongly dislike about how our country and leaders are handling their very tough positions.  I just opt for the 1 Timothy 2:1-4 approach because in the long run I really don't have much control or say in the matter, but I know the One who does.

The specific issue I have decided I can't handle to hear about anymore stems from the whole health-care policy.  Yeah, I get it.  People that aren't 'earning' their keep are getting assistance they don't 'deserve'.  I mean, yeah, this goes against the 'American Dream' that America was founded upon; work hard, get what you deserve, aspire to wealth, success and fame by any means necessary.  You get what you earn.  Some Christians even say, "Hey, that's scriptural.  'You reap what you sow'".  Well then, shoot, the Bible must be telling us to do away with the new health-care plan and everyone just get what they can afford.  Everyone gets what they deserve, right?  Risky.  As one of my unnamed, college professors used to say, "If everyone got what they deserved we'd all be burnin' in hell."  

Others argue that it's going to destroy the health-care system as a whole and the quality of care is going to decline.  Very possible.  In fact, I can't argue against this very probable result.  I think it probably will too.  Shoot, my wife is a nurse.  Don't think I don't hear about this scenario regularly.

If you aren't a Christian or apart of some other type of religious oriented group or, I guess, even just a good person who cares about the well-being of other people, then yes, the idea of the working for your pay and then having an even larger portion of your pay taken away from you to provide care for a person who isn't working seems ridiculous, unfair, silly and can become frustrating.  So, if you are a person I just described then this post will be of no interest to you and is a waste of your time...


If the thought of someone sitting at home all day, watching Jerry Springer and slamming down Budlight after Budlight while you are at work isn't frustrating enough, now you are having to help pay for that same person to get their ingrown fingernail surgery paid for because they can't pay for it themselves.  WHAAAAAAAT?!?!?

This describes the guy who had his chances.  He has his high-school education.  He went to a few semesters of college but dropped out because it was too hard.  He is in great health (except for being a little overweight from the couch-potatoe life style) and completely functional.  He had a job a few times but decided getting up before 10:00 am was overrated.  Then, he figured out how to work the system.  He is milking all the government assistance programs like a pro.  He even figured out a way to get Meals-on-Wheels to deliver to his house and he's only 38!  Niiiiiiiice!  I agree.  Seems a little bit, kinda, somewhat, extremely foolish to have a cut of your income pay for this dudes medical bill just because you work hard and make a lot of money.

No where in all of God's inspired Word does it say anything about helping the lazy, leaching guy that opts out of work or earning his way.  Trust me, I goggled it.  In fact, I am sure a lot of you out there are clinging to 2 Thessalonians 3:10 during this time.

But I'm not even going to get into all the health care stuff (seems like I did already, huh?). Honestly, I'm just not qualified enough to get into all that goodness.  But, what I will get in to is very similar.  I would like to get in to the idea of the children of a person like I just described.

I want to unload on this subject a little bit because...I work with some of these kinds of kids.  And, sometimes, often times, it can be super frustrating.  They don't listen, they don't follow directions, they struggle interacting with the other kids and, if I'm not careful, I will express my frustration with their parents towards them.

So, here's the scenario.  You have the fat, lazy, couch-potato guy who has chosen his own destiny and then he has a boy.  The mom is out of the picture because the boy was really just a good time that turned into a baby.  So now the boy grows up with a lazy, uninterested, leaching dad who teaches him nothing.  Dad doesn't discipline him.  He doesn't help him with homework because he doesn't enforce going to school unless he really just wants him out of the house during the day so that he can have sole possession of the tv.  Dad doesn't feed him.  So, when he does eat it's because he scavenged through the fridge and cabinets, through some junk together and choked it down. He runs the streets looking for any type of interaction from other people and hopefully it's another kid before an adult.

So, there the boy is.  He has zero discipline.  He has little education.  He has no skills.  He can't even carry on a general conversation because he doesn't attend school regularly and no one talks to him at home.  He smells.  He has no manners.

So what's to come of him? - I'll tell you what is to come of him...more times than not, he becomes his dad.

I'm a first hand example of this.  Now, I am no where close to my father in terms of wisdom, knowledge, experience or faith. But, because of the life that he has lived (and is living), the things he taught me, the way he disciplined me, the way I observed him interact with people, the EXAMPLE he set has a lot to do with where I am today.  My point, if I had a different dad growing up I would be in a different place than I am now.

I believe, the same holds true for the boy I have just described.  Right now, though, he is the cute, innocent, dirty kid you see walking home from school or on the street who you have pity on because he's just a kid.  He isn't to blame.  He has parents that are to blame, right?

Based on the two people I just described, which one would you be more willing to give a portion of your income towards to help assist with medical care? Or other things, like, buying groceries, giving clothes or helping further education?  Or what about intangible forms of help, like, building confidence, teaching discipline or spending an afternoon with just to be his friend?

Easy choice, the kid.  Remember, the dad had his chance?

The boy, because of his environment, lack of teaching, lack of education ect, becomes his father.  He models all he knows.  15-20 years down the line he becomes the lazy, couch-potato, governmental leach of a person his dad was.  So now, his cuteness isn't there anymore because he has facial hair.  The dirtiness that you once showed pity on now disgusts you because it has turned into b.o.  His innocence is now replaced with life experiences that have tarnished him to become the disgusting, unapproachable guy that you drive past everyday on your way to work as he heads to the liquor store.

Here are a coupe questions I have:

Who decided that once you reach a certain age you are no longer 'helpable'?

Isn't the once innocent boy going to model the very actions, lifestyle, decision making ect. that his father modeled to him?

Some of you may be asking, "Oh, well, what about God?", "Where does God fit in to the picture?", "Don't you believe God can work a miracle in his life?".

Yes, I do.  But what if the miracle involves us?  What if the miracle is someone stepping up, going against the norm of what the world says is appropriate and being the catalyst to help jump start the miracle?

It's hard.  I know.  The whole reason I started this specific blog post is because I'm really bad at extending sympathy to all without knowing their specific life story.  I assume.  I assume that because someone sits at home all day, smokes, doesn't enforce their kid to go school and then wants a handout is because they're lazy.  Yeah, there are people like this who know better, have been taught how to live and by their own choosing opt to get the handout rather than applying what they know is right.  But what I am finding out is there are also a lot of people that don't know any better.  They didn't have parents that taught them how to say, "Thank you", "No mam", "Please" and other 'common' courtesies.

What I am finding out is that sometimes that lazy guy is really just a grown up kid that doesn't know anything different.

So, I have to check myself.  Consciously I have to consider my own life, my own upbringing.  Isn't what I am doing, or a large portion of what I am doing, directly a result of me mirroring what my parents taught me?  That's why parents teach, so their kids will know how to behave.  The same can be expected from kids who haven't been taught.  They don't/won't know 'how to behave'.  And, just because they get older doesn't mean they will know anything different from when they were a neglected chid.  They still don't know 'how to behave'.

I say all of this to say a few things...

The health care reform may suck now and may end up being a huge disaster but don't be the person who throws a fit about it all because people who haven't 'earned' their way are getting a hand out at your expense.  Because, along with all the people who are taking advantage of the system, there are legitimate cases, men, women and children who can't or don't even have the tools to help themselves.

Be the person who disagrees with the health care reform because it isn't addressing the needs of the marginalized, the poor, the sick, the orphan or the widow in an appropriate manner.  Not because your pocket book takes a hit.

Also, next time you begin to decide that the fat couch-potato guy is just being lazy, surprise everyone and find out their story.  You might be the component God was waiting for to begin His miracle.  You might be surprised.