I'm Marrying the Jinx (So There)

When I was little, my sister and I would play a card game that involved animal characters. To be left with the cat of nines, the Jinx, was sudden death. My sister was competitive at the age of four but, being younger, she did sometimes get left with the Jinx. Whereupon, she would avow that she was going to marry the Jinx. She changed the rules in her head and moved on, still winning. ( Monopoly was impossible with her. She landed on my Boardwalk once and immediately drew blood from my arm with her little teeth.) I am happy to say she has left her psychotic competitiveness behind and is a well-adjusted woman, devoted to faith, family and service.
I think many of us retain a mindless need to win that disregards rules, or even truth at times. It is popular today to change the definition of truth to match our needs, our choices, our desires. When we make a bad choice and call it a good choice we are bending truth to match our actions. We have a natural desire for good but it is often overshadowed by our selfishness.
We see this avoidance of truth very clearly in the abortion debate. Denying the life of the unborn, ignoring the life of the unborn, attacking the imagined character of the protector of the unborn, emotional “what if” appeals, leaning on worst case scenarios while still avoiding the real issue are all methods used in avoiding addressing the truth—that the unborn are live human beings with an equal right to life.
What a vista opens up before us when we grasp at the concept that truth is relative to the individual. A man can say, “I am married to this person. I promised to be with her alone. And yet, I am attracted to that one over there. Lo, that is a good thing. I will go over there.” A woman can say, “I have this child, and yet I really want to take a trip to the Riviera. I will take the money for his school clothes and go. It is something I want and it is good. “ A developer can say, “The ground is unstable here and the geologist’s reports don’t look good. Yet, I will lose money if I don’t continue with the building. I have to continue the project.” An employee might say, “I am not making ends meet. I will skim some cash from the drawer.” or “my employer is mean so I will sit down here and read a book instead of working.” A Reader’s Digest poll once found that a majority of Americans think it is ok to steal from a big corporation, on the contention that big companies won’t miss the money.
Some people have a problem with the Christian concept of loving the sinner, hating the sin. When Christians follow Christ and his words in red, they are called unloving, intolerant, and hypocritical. The modern world has repainted Jesus in monotones. In today’s world, an inclusive Jesus who does not judge, or point out evil, or castigate sinners is preferred. This is a mythical Jesus. Jesus was inclusive all right—he died for all people. He was loving—he healed all who came to him. But what did he do first? He healed souls, forgiving the individuals’ sins. Sin is not the person. Sin hurts the person. Everyday in our world selfish choices cause pain and death—the death of peace, happiness and hope.
There is something creepy about floundering in a world where there is no objective Truth. We lose our intrinsic dignity. We become shadow beings with no foundation. To say that truth changes with the individual is to hold onto a bag of sterile platitudes. In a world where anything goes, someone always gets left holding the bag. Peace cannot consist in everyone getting his own way. Where do we stand down? At the Word of the Lord. And don’t avoid it.
“And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to the light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.” “ John 3:19-20