Life is still worth living, it’s just simply complicated
I don’t know if you have been watching the news the past few weeks, or engaging in religious discussions with friends, or looking at the politics of our state or nation, or simply trying to figure out the meaning of life. I want to share some reflections on these things. But first, to put things in perspective, a quote from “philosopher and theologian, Jimmy Buffett, “Life is complicated with its if's and ands and buts’. . . . life is still worth living, it’s just simply complicated.”
The issues our nation and state have been struggling with are important but complicated and well meaning people can and do have different opinions on them. The issues we look at in our religious life can also be complicated and again, well meaning people can have different opinions on them. I have had several conversations lately both in person and online, many with people with whom I disagree. The good news is that instead of screaming party slogans at each other, we have gone back and re-read the 14th, 17th and 18th amendments of the U.S. Constitution to see what is really said. We have gone back and looked at the number of times the debt ceiling has been increased in the past thirty years and how this was done in the past. What has resulted is that we have learned from each other and from the documents of our nation and from our history. As I write on Monday, it appears that our Nation’s leaders may well reach a compromise on the debt ceiling and the deficit that will be beneficial to our nation. “Life is still worth living, it’s just simply complicated.”
In our great state of Alabama there has been a great deal of discussion about the issue of Immigration. Our State Legislature passed a law during the most recent session that brought both cheers and tears from citizens of our state. Some of my friends in the legislature voted for the law and other friends in the legislature voted against it. And both groups are still my friends. What this has done for me is led me to participate in prayer vigils and walks for peace and justice for all, citizens and immigrants, documented and undocumented, and to read and re-read the new law as I seek to form my opinion about it. “Life is still worth living, it’s just simply complicated.” How wonderful that we live in a country where we can disagree, learn from one another and work hard for our beliefs.
Last but certainly not least, because I believe that our politics grow out of our faith, I have carried on an informative conversation with several friends on Facebook about our Christian faith. About how we worship, how we understand the Bible and God. We have used our best human words and our best understanding of scripture and not surprisingly, they were not sufficient. On the whole, this conversation was civil, and when some tempers began to rise, cooler heads took over and calmed the rest of us down. As you might expect, we did not all agree, but we seemed to be headed toward the acceptance of the “first and great commandment that Jesus took from his Jewish faith and passed on to all of us who follow him: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.” Come to think of it, if we all follow this teaching of Jesus, it just might help us deal with the politics of our lives as well! “Life is complicated with its ifs and ands and buts’. . . . life is still worth living, it’s just simply complicated.”
Blessings and Peace,
Ben Alford
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