Excellent post. Thank you very much -- that articulates some of the very things I've been down-trodden by lately!
I have a few points.. sometimes, instead of looking at all the things that are bad and about to kill us, I think of everything that has improved in the last 100 or so years.
*The civil rights movement won vast improvements for women and minorities. *Since 1960, the threat of all-world nucleat annihilation has really dropped *More people are living longer, better lives than ever before in the history of mankind thanks to better healthcare and antibiotics. *People have more choice in how to live their lives than every before in history. At least in our country, the family you were born in does not dictate your options forever. *Literacy is at or near an all-time historical high
Faith also helps me stave off despair for some of these. Christians believe that the world is finite, and that there is hope and even joy after the end of all we know. And as I have reminded myself, if Christianity is threatened with true extinction because some churches are having trouble doing what they've always done, then Christianity is not a true religion. (EG, if Christianity is truly a divinely inspired and supported way of faith, circumstantial factors will not push it off the face of the earth.)
I'd also like to point out that a millenial belief that the world is near ending has been a downright plague for the last 2000+ years. And it hasn't ended yet.
In the end, we have one life, and we need to live it with joy. You do that. Do your best to help the causes you believe in, and then rest and be well. Of course, I'm much better at saying this than doing this. But you have a finite responsibility, and that reponsibility is to do what you can. And you have a wonderful gift, and that is a life to enjoy.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2004-10-07 02:25 pm (UTC)I have a few points.. sometimes, instead of looking at all the things that are bad and about to kill us, I think of everything that has improved in the last 100 or so years.
*The civil rights movement won vast improvements for women and minorities.
*Since 1960, the threat of all-world nucleat annihilation has really dropped
*More people are living longer, better lives than ever before in the history of mankind thanks to better healthcare and antibiotics.
*People have more choice in how to live their lives than every before in history. At least in our country, the family you were born in does not dictate your options forever.
*Literacy is at or near an all-time historical high
Faith also helps me stave off despair for some of these. Christians believe that the world is finite, and that there is hope and even joy after the end of all we know. And as I have reminded myself, if Christianity is threatened with true extinction because some churches are having trouble doing what they've always done, then Christianity is not a true religion. (EG, if Christianity is truly a divinely inspired and supported way of faith, circumstantial factors will not push it off the face of the earth.)
I'd also like to point out that a millenial belief that the world is near ending has been a downright plague for the last 2000+ years. And it hasn't ended yet.
In the end, we have one life, and we need to live it with joy. You do that. Do your best to help the causes you believe in, and then rest and be well. Of course, I'm much better at saying this than doing this. But you have a finite responsibility, and that reponsibility is to do what you can. And you have a wonderful gift, and that is a life to enjoy.