DeeGeesLifeBlog ~ Life as Art ~ Or is it Heart?

Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. ~ Philippians 2:14-16

As you can see, the apostle Paul exhorts us to do all things “without murmurings and disputings.” The result, he says, is that we will be blameless and harmless, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, “among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”

So regarding murmurings and disputings, how do obedient Christians stand out? After all, this is one of the central duties assigned to us. We are described as the light of the world, so how should we then seek to have that light shine brightly?

Well, not to put too fine a point on it – stop whining. Stop complaining. Stop murmurings. Stop muttering under your breath. Stop cursing.

.. and Lord of lords..

Last week within these pages I was on about how easily we can get sidetracked in our daily lives by all the trivial stuff that somehow gets a hold of us through one form of ‘fake news’ or another. Next thing you know, we’re into a murmurings cursing fit which sets us off into one or more hours of angst, generally ruining the rest of the day’s activities.

What is interesting to me is that the modern trend of cursing, murmurings and mockery is a double-edged sword. Sometimes it is used as a method of avoiding the tough task of defending something that doesn’t have good evidence. This is what the identity politics of the Left relies upon. Other times, it’s used as a method of shocking people who would in no way be persuaded no matter how strong the case. This is what we see happening at times from Isaiah, other prophets and Jesus himself.

I am always curious about what persuades people. Obviously proving something doesn’t always persuade, and in many cases people are persuaded without proof.

As I pointed out last week, one interesting point to note about this is that ofttimes, this instinct toward murmurings and cursing is the root of an anger problem. Murmuring is socially acceptable discontentedness, while anger is discontentedness run amok. In my younger days, one way that I had to finally confront my seemingly relentless anger and cursing was by recognizing that it started with discontentment. After a while, the time it took to go from discontent to throwing things and shouting was pretty short. We humanoids do tend to get good at it.

Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn with disbelief at Meryl Streep rant .. Golden Globes.

So what tops the list of the things people complain about? Well, they complain about their pay, their lack of recognition at work, their health, weather, kids, their parents, their husband, their wife, their lawn, the snow, in-laws, aches, pains, the thermostat at the office, the President, Congress, Supreme Court, the city council, potholes, the highway department, the rates at the swimming pool, referees for Monday Night Football, their savings account, sex life, their unmarried state and no sex life, their marriage overall, they have a husband, they don’t have a husband, they have a wife, they don’t have a wife, too hot, too cold, too tall, too short, too close to the window, not close enough to the window . . . you get the point.

Yeah, anger isn’t so much a pressure valve that needs releasing from time to time, as much as it is a muscle that gets better the more you exercise it. Contentment and thankfulness are also muscles.

Which leads me to what began me thinking yet again about anger, murmurings and cursing, and it was that incident with Meryl Streep and her politicized comments at the Golden Globes the other week. Other than the look on Mel Gibson’s face while she was spewing her vitriol, my mind was automatically shooting back to this clip by Jerry Seinfeld.

The mess that is currently identified as ‘Hollywood’ is in bad enough shape both financially and ideologically without having actor-props like Streep and others get up to accept bibs and bobs of some clearing-house ‘trophy’ and pontificate on the why’s and wherefore’s of a Leftist Communist nature; and especially-so within the borders of the largest capitalist nation on the planet to which they are gratefully compliant – especially for all that lucre.

Next year, instead of the Academy Awards, the nation just needs to screen and watch this…