It is written, "Beware the love of money, for it is the root of all evil." It is also written, "He who loves money never has money enough." Greed and avarice are evil. What is good? Well money can be a good wholesome thing, if used rightly. But times like these drive people to desperation. Nobody sits back and takes a look at the bigger picture, but rather panics. Even our daughters see prostitution as viable. Is this necessary? No, I tell you. What is the viable alternative to panic and worry and fear and desperation? Jesus said, "Do not worry, Consider the lilies of the field." Therefore, let us do just that: consider the lilies of the field. They just grow and become beautiful come rain, come shine. Jesus spoke of them as grass. Remember the old adage, "The grass is always greener on the other side?" The other side of what? Well, we are in a time of a small hardship. The other side of hardship, then. Another saying comes to mind: "That which doesn't kill us only serves to make us stronger." Therefore, let us not worry, let us not panic. We are becoming stronger, not poorer. Look at the wealth of knowledge we have, especially here in the age of the proliferation of information! It is time to sit back and not panic or worry or despair. Now is the time to invest in study and personal resourcefulness. It is time to rethink our beliefs and reinvent ourselves. It is time to realize a new renaissance to prepare us for when times are good again. Jesus said, "Hard is the way that leads to life; easy is the way that leads to destruction." It is time to regroup and redouble our creative efforts. That calls for introspection. The Bible says, "When your on your beds, search your hearts." It also says, "In repentance and rest does your salvation lie." Therein, in repentance and rest, as we search our hearts, not worrying, we will find the saving grace from above. It is time to meditate. "Whatsoever is good, upright, pure, praiseworthy...think on these things," St. Paul wrote.
For instance, I am an art student and a composer/musician. Now is the time for peace and cool heads, not strife, bitterness and worry. Therefore, we ought to rethink our paradigms. Let it be a philosophical and thoughtful burgeoning of knowledge and reason, a time when we are given to a rationale that is bereft of anger and hostility. It is time to begin a new thing, since something that we became used seems to be at it end. Remember, Solomon, no less than Solomon, said, "That which is has already been, and that which is yet to be has been before. " He also said, "Money is the answer to everything." On the surface, this seems to be convoluted reasoning on my part, but I tell you, there is a bit of a valley right now, economically speaking.
Speaking of valleys, the Prophet Isaiah wrote, "Every valley will be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low." I humbly submit to you that now is the time to believe! In what? In whom? In you, in me, in us, in God and in Jesus Christ! I have, as have many others, been looking at the holistic campaign that is beginning to burgeon. It is a spiritual cause started by conscientious people looking for a better way than what was and has been in the past. Don't get me wrong. I am not abandoning traditional Christianity , but rather, I am considering incorporating new tenets into my personal experience here under heaven, here on earth. I have been a Christian for nearly twenty years, and I believe in holism. It is not a new thing, yet a new thing. It was theorized, in part by Socrates, and even Jesus is said to have used Socratic method in his preaching and teaching. Truth is one thing. Truth is like water. water begets water, and all need it to survive. Truth has a definite makeup, just like water. Water is H2O. How is Truth like H2O? A good question. Two parts Hydrogen, on part oxygen: even there, there is truth, the truth concerning water's makeup. But, again, how is truth like water, and how is water like truth? Truth refreshes, and water, too, refreshes. Water washes and makes clean, and truth, likewise. When the truth comes, that which tarnishes is swept away, sometimes like a flood. Perhaps we, as a people, have done wrong. In times of old, when people repented, they fasted and put on sackcloth and put ashes on their heads. They waited for no holy day as we do now, even though that is a good thing. But there is better. There is right here and right now. Always, there is right here and right now. What is more important? Money? Is not life more than money? A resourceful person can do great things with less than one hundred dollars. For instance, last week, I went to our local Barnes and Noble, and purchased two fine art drawing pads. I'm not claiming to be the greatest artist around, but what if that were in the hands of someone like Michelangelo, or Leonardo? For less than one-hundred dollars, they could produce timeless masterpieces that they work on for several months. A great thing does not take a great investment for a resourceful person. Let us consider Jesus' Parable of the Mustard Seed: "The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a mustard seed that when it is sown is as the least of the garden seeds; but when it grows up, it becomes as the greatest of trees, that even the birds of the air can perch in its limbs." I have, dear friends, for less than one-hundred dollars, actually just over fifty dollars here in Peoria Illinois, something that carries the potential to be a timeless treasure of my own making, and I have faith that it will get me closer to that glorious end, if I use it rightly and wisely, God be praised. I also have compositional tools with which to create music. Remember the old saying, "Idle hands are the devil's playground?" Well, so long as I have two hands that function, and I do, (and I treasure them greatly, by the way,) it gives the devil no engenderment to folly. There is always something great to be done, and that by you, by me, by us and by them (whoever they might be.) If we want, this is a new beginning, and not a hardship at all. It is just a time to look at the cup as being half-full and ever refillable, with plenty to spare just in case someone isn't quite the optimist you and I have become today.
It is time to teach our children to do great things, and to give them good things with which to do them. Every problem has a solution, and a child is not a problem, but a problem-solver. Encourage them according to their aptitude. Thankfully, race no longer carries the creative barrier it once did in the proliferation of the artistic and creative knowledgebase at large, especially in places of higher learning. Let there be a proliferation of educational gifts to the people and their children, and a paradigm of pragmatism be spread. One day, when Jesus returns, there will be such a burgeoning of all things being practical that the prosperity it ushers in will be unequalled in all human history. We can taste of that coming glory now, and if we do not, we are cheating ourselves. Therefore, Let us not look downward to that which is below, but onward and upward to that which is above.
Do me a favor. Go look in a mirror, and look down as you are peering at your reflection. You will have an almost insane look about you. But if you look up, still looking in the mirror, you have a happy look, all without changing your expression. Look up always, as best you can!
That said, Happy Holidays and God bless us, everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Peoria, IL!
Jaszbo Christus
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