Perspective on Unity

What does true unity look like to you? I’ve been in contexts where unity looked like conformity; everyone has to think, act, dress, and behave the same way. I’ve been in contexts where unity looked like control; everyone lives the way they’re instructed. But I’ve also been in contexts where unity looked like diversity in communion; different voices, styles, behaviors, and backgrounds coming together for the common good.

As a person trying to create a new community that strives for unity, I’m learning this truth:
Healthy unity embraces individual uniqueness.
Unhealthy unity controls individuals through conformity.

Perspective on Fear

What are you afraid of? And how much of your decision-making is based on fear? It seems like everyone around us is freaking out these days because of omicron. But how much of our fear is based in reality?

For example, if you look at the NY Times graph below, your eye naturally gravitates toward bright red line, which is the dramatic spike in Covid cases in the last month. However, that’s actually the least important data on the graph. You’ll notice that hospitalizations have not increased as drastically and that death rate has virtually plateaued. Yet, it seems like the level of fear in our culture is hyperbolically heightened. Why is that? Who benefits from your increased level of fear and panic? Do small business owners benefit? Or is it the people who control the news, social media, and technology?

New Perspective

Happy New Year? Another year, another surge, another, well, everything. Do you remember when 2021 new year rolled around? Parades were cancelled, holiday parties were shut down, and most people were working and attending school online. We naively thought 2021 would be better because the vaccine was more readily available. Now as 2022 rolls around, people tend to look forward to it with far less excitement than they used to. What do we need to get through this new year without fear and anxiety? We don’t need the toxic positivity that we see flooding our social media feeds. Nor do we need to get angry at every institution and lash out at everybody.
What we need is a NEW PERSPECTIVE.

Advent: North Star

ABOUT SUNDAY’S THEME
As we’re all aware, the Covid-19 pandemic has swept the world the past two years and has left millions dead. Yet there’s another surge not many people are talking about; the sharp rise in anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. This highlights a deep-seated problem within humanity; the lack of emotional, mental, and spiritual health. What happens when people are prevented from engaging in regular activities that regularly distract them from their loneliness, sadness, and internal fears? All of those feelings will eventually come out. This is precisely what we are witnessing right now. And this is precisely why Jesus came into the world. Jesus came in the midst of darkness, disparity, and desperation. Jesus came to give humanity hope, peace, and guidance. Jesus is our North Star.

Jumping to Joy

What happens when you skip over the good parts of a movie and jump to the end? You miss a lot of what the filmmaker intended for the viewer to experience. You have a limited view of the story. And you miss out on a lot of the benefits of the journey.
Often times when it comes to faith, people want to gloss over the hard parts or bail as soon as things get difficult. When we do this, we miss out on a lot of the ways God wants us to grow, mature, and experience life.

Three Enemies of Gratitude

We shared earlier three different ways of expressing gratitude and how it can help us become more grateful in our lives. But what are the great obstacles or enemies of gratitude? Since gratitude needs to be regularly practice, gratitude is a practice that needs to be intentional and exercised often. If we are not cognizant of the things that discourage gratitude, then we will inevitably drift into complacency and entitlement.

Anger and Gratitude

Can healthy spirituality and anger coexist? Also, can gratitude and anger coexist? When some people think of enlightened individuals, they think that anger cannot be part of that equation. But some of the most spiritual people in modern history were people who were angry about injustice; MLK, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, or Rosa Parks. Yet, remaining in a state of perpetual anger is not helpful either