The Inmates Have Taken Over the Asylum!!!!

Insanity at it's finest

Exodus 21:28 “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.

Friends,

    This week the blog takes on two forms, and they depend on how you look at certain situations in life.  It can either be considered a rant, or something that really makes you think about what is going on around you.
    Two questions came to my mind this week: "When did our standards of society become so low?  When will people quit using the excuses of what happen to them in their childhood to effect what they do as adults?
   The first question arose from the following dialog I had with some kids I was having coffee with at Starbucks.  It went something like this.  "Hey Mr. O, I am really excited."  I answered, "Oh yeah, why are so excited?"  The kid answers, "I am excited, because I am turning 18 next week."  I said, "That is cool, are you going to have a big party?" He replies, "No, not really just a few friends and I are getting together to have pizza."  I then asked, "Are you looking forward to voting or moving out on your own eventually?" Kid, "No, I am excited because I can go apply for food stamps."  I had no answer for this.  I just sat there stunned, and there was a long awkward pause.  I then asked them. "Why do you feel like you need to get food stamps?"  The kids answer was, "It is easier in case I move out and I don't have to ask my parents for money to buy food."  I finally said, "Are you going to get rid of your iPhone 5 and get a cheaper phone?"  Would you be surprised if I told you that he said no.  I will let you contemplate how you feel about this on your own.
   

The next topic that came up this week, was that a friend of mine is making some changes in his life based on what happened to him as a child.  How often have we heard this in society?
    So, I got to thinking about it and have decided that if people are going to make excuses for things
in their lives, I am too.  So from this day forward I want money from the federal government for being disabled.  It is their fault that they allowed the dart board manufacturer to produce a dart board that would send a dart backwards into a five year olds eye when thrown.  I also want to be able to go into a bank that was baled out by the government and get money anytime I want, because when I was ten and dumpster diving for moldy pizza, it scarred me.  I feel that it is their responsibility to make me a millionaire.
    I know that the above sounds silly, but I believe these two situations described above are from the nature of our society.  We have become a society of people that are not willing to work hard to become mentally, spiritually or physically healthy.  I don't expect perfection, but Christ does.  We have all made mistakes, but it is what we learn from those mistakes that brings us closer to God.
    Some mistakes are bigger than others, but we still need to learn from them.  After getting hit in the eye with the dart and blinded, I didn't go near a dart board for years.  When my first marriage failed, I went to counseling to make sure that I didn't make the same mistake again.  Growing up poor, I learned that I didn't like it and have worked hard to prevent the same situation from happening to my children.
   

Swan Dive

   For many of these situations I could easily blame my parents.  They could have watched out for me better when I got hit in the eye with the dart, but it was an unfortunate ACCIDENT!!!!!!!  I can look back and see how that incident has shaped me as a person.  I could blame them for being poor and having me out of wedlock, but they were trying to survive and do the best they could.  I even remember the short time that we were on welfare and getting government peanut butter, cheese and powdered milk.  I will never forget how ashamed my mom felt.  Later, my dad and mom worked hard enough to give us a good life and give me the opportunity to go to college.  Finally, I could blame them for some of the things that caused me to get married too soon and to a woman that had some very bad issues herself.  But, the fact is, I am the one that needed to change on the inside and that could not come unless I asked Christ to help me to help myself through therapy.

Yummy!!!

I know that I have ranted a bit and am all over the place this week, but life is hard.  Life isn't always fair.  Bad things do happen to good people.  But can we please quit making excuses for things and get down on our knees and pray.  Benjamin Franklin once said, "God helps those that help themselves." So, as Christians it is our responibility to give our troubles up to God and then make ourselves healthy as well.
  If we don't, the insane are going to take over.  I know this because I recently saw a documentary about this that was very informative.  It was called Zombieland and it scared the heck out of me.