In the end, it is not even the fault of the actual leaders of the corporation. If they wanted to do the “right thing” and forgo profits to be more ethical, they could be sued by their stockholders for not looking out for the best interest of their investments. If a CEO tries to do the right thing, it usually means that profits will not be able to continue to increase. However, if the CEO does this, you can be guaranteed they will be out of a job very quickly.

There is something anonymous about the corporate structure that “frees” people of moral and ethical obligations. You may never personally pollute the environment, exploit workers, or sell dangerous products to others; however, if you are a stockholder in many corporations, you are in fact playing a role in doing this by demanding that the corporation maximizes your profits no matter who is hurt in the process.

In many ways, we have created a monster that now controls us. We can make villains out of different corporate leaders, but the real villain is the corporate system itself. Until we can change that, our world and society will continued to be damaged under the demand of profits by the few in society who control the market.

I love how Wendell Berry put it, ““A corporation, essentially, is a pile of money to which a number of persons have sold their moral allegiance.”

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Essentially, this idea of taking Darwin’s ideas on evolution and applying them to human society is nothing new; this was a growing movement at the turn of the century both in the U.S. and Europe. The idea was that the weak should basically fend for themselves, and those on top are there because they deserve it. It was the justification given for the massive colonialism and domination of indigenous groups. At the end, Hitler took these ideas of Social Darwinism to their most extreme, and the theory was basically exposed for the evil it was.

No politician will blatantly say they are a Social Darwinist, but many hold to the majority of the beliefs of this system. It seen in the writings of right wing heroes like Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism, where selfishness is the highest morality. The poor are that way because of their own fault, and the wealthy and powerful are there because of their hard work. It can be seen in the current budget plan of Congressman Paul Ryan who basically want to shred the safety net to nothing, while making sure more wealth is funneled to the wealthy through large tax cuts.

It took people in the labor movement and progressive movements to stand up to the rise of Social Darwinism at the beginning of the century and make real reforms in the country, and I believe it will take another large scale movement to say that we are not animals. We do not operate by a system of the survival of the fittest. We are humans, and all people should be treated with dignity, care, justice, and equality.

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It is hard for many people to even picture the rules at a school like Bob Jones, but basically you give up most of your rights when you enter. The university decided to monitor him and gave him “demerits” for doing things like watching unwholesome television. Basically, they found the little infractions needed to kick him out and decided to do so just weeks before his graduation- an act in itself that is repulsive.

We are creatures of comfort, and it is much easier for us to not speak up when something is going wrong. It is easier to not make too much of a disturbance and just go on with our daily lives. How many times should we speak out against something, but decide not to out of personal preservation? However, it is only those who speak out and are willing to suffer the consequences that actually make real change.

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Though I am sure there are few that doubt that the government already does this large scale spying on their citizens, this law basically just makes it legal. The government is setting up a police state in the name of protecting our security. However, the reality is that they are taking away all our liberty and privacy. It is amazing how the biggest proponents of bills like these are often those who scream about “smaller government”. Well, there is nothing small in the government tracking and monitoring all the conversations, messages, and insubordination of its populous.

This is all being done quietly, without much fuss in the corporately owned media. We do not realize how much closer and closer we are getting to George Orwell’s 1984 society. All it will take is one revolution, one big terrorist attack, one large scale disaster, and the police state will be right there to monitor, censure, and punish any dissent. This is not a conspiracy theory; it is a reality that is happening before our eyes.

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If we have the strongest faith in the world, a faith that is willing to be martyred, a faith that is willing to go to the ends of the earth, but have not love as the Apostle Paul wrote-we have nothing. The American church has wanted to be strong on many different fronts, whether it is the culture wars, the battle against homosexual marriage, or keeping ¨family values¨ strong. However, have we not realized that all of that is worthless? It is worthless because most of those battles have been waged out of fear, anxiety, and anger, but very little love.

While it is easy to pick on those on the right with a failure to show love, those on the left can also be guilty. It is easy to get so caught up in the cause of social justice, equality, and pacifism, but to do so in a way that actually is hateful rather than loving. As a Christian community, those on the right and on the left need to realize that without love, our faith is a sham; it is worthless. In the end Jesus did not call us to become believers, he called us to become followers, and his most important commandment was that we love one another.

Paulo Coelho puts it so poignantly, “We are used to hearing that the most important treasure in spiritual life is faith. Many centuries of religion rest on this simple word. Do we hold faith to be the most important thing in the world? Well, we are quite wrong.

In his epistle to the Corinthians, chapter XIII, Saint Paul takes us to the early days of Christianity. He ends by saying: “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.”

This is not some superficial opinion of the author of these words, Saint Paul. After all, talking about Faith a moment before, in the same letter, he said: “And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” Paul did not avoid the question; on the contrary, he compared faith and charity and concluded: “(…) the greatest of these is charity.”

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The tithe has of course remained popular in the church, selectively taken out of the Torah (while leaving almost everything else) for obvious reasons. Somehow, each church is entitled to 10 percent of everyone´s income. This is great news for mega churches and churches with wealthy members. It is a gold mind waiting to be exploited. They can use that many to build even bigger facilities, give the staff a nice bonus, and if they can, give a little to the poor. Unfortunately, it is the antithesis of the message of Jesus.

The tithe is also good news for the rich. I attended one semester of a Christian college, and I will never forget the introductory freshman teacher I have saying that as a Christian he needs to give his 10 percent, but after that-everything is his. While that might soothe the conscious of the wealthy, it is not what Jesus taught. All of our money is on loan from God and should not be spent in a wasteful or overly luxurious way. The tithe is also bad news for the poor. Can you imagine churches asking their members who are struggling to get by to give 10 percent, especially if that money is going to go towards salaries and buildings that those poor cannot even comprehend? I don´t think there is anything more disturbing than a wealthy TV preacher asking for money from his poor congregants and then using that money lavishly. That kind of exploitation is one of the greatest evils that I can think of.

Should we give? Absolutely- but we should not give a standard 10 percent based on some misplaced guilt and bad theology.  We should give as St. Paul said what we have purposed in our heart to give. For many of us, we should be giving much more than 10 percent. Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. Should we be giving it the local church? Possibly. If you feel your local church is really using their position to preach good news to the poor and help out the hurting, than by all means give to that church. It is very important for the local church to have their needs met, and those who are being ministered to should try to give back. However, do not for one second feel you are obliged to give to the church if they are using the money in foolish and extravagant ways which go against the teachings of simplicity that Jesus taught.

I love how Frank Viola puts it in his book Pagan Christianity, “Under the Old Testament system, tithing was good news to the poor. However, in our day, mandatory tithing equal oppression to the poor…Conversely, contemporary tithing is good news to the rich. To a high earner, 10 percent is but a paltry sum. Tithing, therefore, appeases the consciences of the prosperous without impacting their lifestyles. Not a few wealthy Christians are deluded into thinking they are ¨obeying God¨ because they throw 10 percent of their income into the offering plate.”

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For example, this past weekend, I decided to climb the mountain in my town. I just started walking up from our house until I reached the very top. For some reason, in my three years of living at the same house, I have never taken the time to climb the mountain. However, as I am leaving I am realizing the natural beauty around me that I have often taken for granted. I have also decided to eat as many of the cheap, exotic, and abundant fruits that I can before I leave. How foolish has it been for me to pay for a 6 dollar box of cereal, when I have an abundance of bananas, papayas, pineapples, and other tropical fruit to choose from.

How often do we do this? It takes us realizing that something dramatic is going to change in our life for us to actually appreciate what is around us. This is probably why many cancer survivors or other people who have had a close brush with death say that would not take back the experience if they could. The sense of loss made them appreciate the friends, family, and life all around them. It is unfortunate that as humans we often need this sense of loss to gain appreciation.

How much of our life do we savor everyday? How many great adventures or opportunities have we passed up because we think we have forever to do them? We were never guaranteed another day, yet we live our lives thinking that we have forever to live out our dreams. The reality is that we do not. This time as we are getting ready to leave Costa Rica has reminded me of that. As I look around me at this beautiful country with all the life it has to give, I am much more appreciative. It is my prayer that I can live with those open eyes through my life and refuse to take the beauty and grace around me for granted.

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The real sad fact is that policies that clearly do violate the constitution are not touched, issues such as indefinite detention, warrantless wiretapping, and the denial of the right to due process. Instead the judges are busying making their laws, whether it is more left leaning rulings such as Roe vs. Wade or more conservative rulings such as Citizens United. At the end of the day, whatever you view is on abortion, gay marriage, campaign finance, health care or a whole range of issues, it should be up the people to decide those issues not a highly ideological and partisan group of nine individuals.

As the current health care law is brought to the Supreme Court, and the Court once again looks to become activist legislators, the people of the country need to stand up and say that enough is enough. If people do not like the health care legislation, then elect people to overturn it. Our whole country should not suffer because of the decisions of nine individuals, especially when the majority of them seem to be more concerned with protecting the interests of the wealthy and corporations than the Constitution.

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Oil speculators and defense contractors are some of the groups looking to make a killing on another war. While the nations goes further in debt, funds are cut for the poor and needy, public education is defunded, and our society collapses due to the expense of war, the greedy and wealthy will be lining their pockets laughing at our stupidity. War makes money for many, which is certainly one of the main reasons, some would argue the only reason, that war is even waged.

It becomes even more disturbing when you realize that those who are going to become even filthier rich in the next war are buying out congress. Defense contractors have so many members of congress bought out, and many former military personnel go to work for these companies when they get out of the military. It is almost amusing watching the news and seeing how former military officials, who are now spokespeople for the defense contractors (men such as former defense secretary, William Cohen) are the ones speaking out on cable news about the dangerous “threat of Iran”.

It should be something that outrages us. Already wealthy men are going to become even wealthier at the expense of the young soldiers of our nation and other nations, and the hundreds of thousands or even millions of civilians who may die. The old Proverb rings true, “the love of money is the root of all evil.”

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So wrote Dalton Trumbo in his famous anti-war book, Jonny Get Your Gun. The famous book was written after the horrible events of World War I. Before the war, many had forgotten how atrocious war really was, and many countries haphazardly entered the war without any real reason. After the war, those who fought realized that war was hell; it was something that should be avoided at all cost.

It seems that in many ways, we are living in the same era as those who were so quick and foolish to rush into the First World War. We have forgotten the horror of war. For one, most of so are removed from the actual conflict that we do not even have to worry about it. Foreign Middle Eastern civilians and unfortunate U.S. soldiers will have to experience the conflict, but not the average western citizen. So many support whatever new war effort because they see war as something heroic, purifying, or even righteous. They have never lived through war, so they have no problem supporting another one. They have forgotten the atrocities, evil, suffering, pain, and death that war brings both to those who it is inflicted on and those who are inflicting it, to both the victims and perpetrators.

As so many in the U.S. public blindly support another horrific war with Iran, a war that could be much bigger and far reaching than our previous wars with Afghanistan or Iraq, we should at least contemplate the horrors of war. Are we really willing to so nonchalantly enter another deadly conflict?

Simon Weil says it so perfectly,

“War perverts and destroys you. It pushes you closer and closer to your own annihilation—spiritual, emotional and finally physical. It destroys the continuity of life, tearing apart all systems—economic, social, environmental and political—that sustain us as human beings.”

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A part of us loves to see when people fall. There seems to be some sick voyeuristic pleasure in it for many. Perhaps it makes many feel better about their own lives. However, it is saddening. I do not know if Russell and the makers of Invisible Children’s strategies on stopping on child soldiers are the best or wisest, but I do believe that they did have good intentions. You can argue with them about their message or their methods or even how exactly they run their finances, but it is very dangerous to accuse their motivations.

Mental illness seems to still be something that people feel privileged to make fun of and mock. You wouldn’t see anyone mocking a patient with cancer or a heart disease, however, when people have a mental breakdown, it is often made out to be that they are a bad or irresponsible person.

Those with mental illness are not freaks to be made fun of; they are children of God who should be loved, protected, and cared for. In our country, many of them are simply thrown out to the streets and are forced to live a life of homelessness. Hopefully, this episode with awaken people to realize that mental illness is something that we are all susceptible at some point in our life, and we need to create a society where people who do fall unto hard times are cared for and loved.

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So, what do these teachings of Jesus mean? Are they just nice sayings to work out family rough patches? Do they have no application to real struggle and violence in the world? If the teachings of Jesus are worthless on a grand scale, they are pretty insignificant on a personal scale. If it is morally justified to create a pre-emptive war and kill hundreds of thousands of people in the name of stopping a “hypothetical threat” then all the teachings of Jesus about loving our enemy, about how those who live by the sword will die by the sword, and turning the other cheek are pretty much worthless, and the teachings of Jesus should be abandoned.

So many in the Christian community have focused their social and political attention on issues that Jesus never even addressed like birth control, abortion, and gay marriage. While I am not saying that none of these issues are important, what I am saying is that the actual teachings of Jesus on violence, peace, and revenge are ignored. We are ready to go to another war with a Bible in hand justifying our actions. However, the teachings of Jesus are nicely brushed aside so that we can justify killing others to “defend” ourselves. Let’s take the teachings of Jesus and actually apply them to the way we treat our enemies. If Christians fail to do so, they are denying the faith they claim to follow. Even for those outside the Christian faith, Jesus’s teachings about peace, love for enemies, and the futility of revenge is the only path to follow to get us out of this crazy cycle of war.

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Drumming up war is great business for media outlets. Even if a war doesn’t take place, they will drive people to watch their stations anyways in the anticipation that there could be a war. If people are glued to the news stations it means more money from advertisers. From the media perspective it is a win-win situation; however, for the country and the world for that matter, it is a pretty deadly game to be playing. They already helped solidify people against the war in Iraq, and they have come close to doing the same against Iran. I was actually watching a little CNN the other day, and it said that in some polls almost 60% of the public favor military action against Iran if they are developing nuclear weapons. I was enraged by this type of statistic; has the media really been that thorough in brainwashing the American public?

The media has been positive of getting us out of some conflicts once the excitement from the war dies down. They were instrumental in turning the American public against the Vietnam War. However, while they might not favor staying in a country for long (because no one really is watching the news after 10 years of occupation), they are more than willing to start another conflict. The news media loves new wars because it creates news, which in turn drives up their popularity and cash flow. It is great deal for them, but not so much for the hundreds of thousands that will die and the nations that will be left in ruin.

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However, this call for war is not based on objective rationality; it is based on a subjective and irrational fear. That fear could lead us to major problems. In the processes of protecting ourselves from a “possible threat”, we could be bringing real disaster and a costly and widespread war. More people could be killed than would ever be killed in an airstrike from Iran.

There is a lesson to be seen here for all of us. How much of the time do we act or fail to act out of mere paranoia and thinking of the worst possible outcome? How many great possibilities have we missed out on in life because we live in fear of something go wrong? How many mistakes have we made out of the motivation of protecting ourselves, our families, and our assets from an irrational threat?

Obviously, this needs to be put in balance; we should not make foolish decision or purposely put ourselves in harm’s way. However, I am convinced if we lived more of our lives out of optimism and reaching for possibilities instead of running away from our fears, we could do amazing things. Maybe, we could even change the world.

The next time you hear the paranoia about Iran, do not only think about the foolishness of the political rhetoric, consider how we make our own decisions out of paranoia and fear. The disease that plagues many in the U.S. and Israeli governments is something that plagues all of us from one time or another. Let’s pray that the U.S. and Israel move past their paranoia and let us resolve to not let paranoia hinder us from doing something great with our lives.

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I will never forget a discussion I had with one of my cousin’s friends who was a soldier in Iraq. I remember him telling me with viciousness in his eyes how much he hated all the Iraqis and by extension-all Muslims. On one hand, it is hard for me to blame him. I am sure if I had been fired at and my friends had been shot and killed, I would not have a very objective view of the Iraqi people either. And here lies the problem with the whole idea of foreign invasion and occupation. You are simply asking for these types of atrocities.

I do not know what led this soldier to commit this horrible act. Perhaps, he simply snapped under the pressure of war and violence. Perhaps someone he knew had been killed by Taliban forces and decided to just take his rage out on the innocent civilians. Perhaps, he was simply so screwed up in his head and never was given or offered help.

The bottom line is that we cannot condemn the soldier while failing to thoughtfully critique the whole military system we have. We send young, inexperienced civilians into treacherous and completely foreign situations where they are mentally damaged for the rest of their lives. Suicide, depression, and family problems are extraordinarily highly in military men. We have asked them to fight and police the world and many of them have no idea why they are even fighting. As we stand in shock and horror of what happened this past week, let’s take this an opportunity to realize that war is hell, and when we create war, we create a hell on earth. This is particularly relevant as the drum beat of war grow louder towards Iran.

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However, there are some precautions that should be taken. Many people have come out, including people on the ground in Uganda, saying that the strategy that Invisible Children are pushing could actually make the situation worse. And many things are not clear, such as the fact that the Ugandan Army itself has been accused of war crimes and that the Lord’s Resistance Army is not even in Uganda anymore. Here are a couple of articles with this perspective-

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_complicated_things

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/9131469/Joseph-Kony-2012-growing-outrage-in-Uganda-over-film.html

Here is a response from one of the bloggers,

“Suggesting that the answer is more military action is just wrong,” said Javie Ssozi, an influential Ugandan blogger.

“Have they thought of the consequences? Making Kony ‘famous’ could make him stronger. Arguing for more US troops could make him scared, and make him abduct more children, or go on the offensive.”

Taylor Marvin put it this way,

“Just because a cause is fashionable doesn’t make it wise. Invisible Children’s efforts to raise awareness is laudable, but its faith in military solutions isn’t.”

At the end of the day if Joseph Kony is killed, would the Lord’s Resistance Army really die out, or would someone else just take the place? We like to focus on villains, whether it was Osama Bin Laden, the Iranian Ayatollah, or Joseph Kony, but at the end, will taking them out really change the underlying issues and problems?

I am torn as a teacher as my student come and talk about the film. On one hand, I am overjoyed that they are involved and passionate about the issues of suffering and injustice in the world. On the other hand, I am afraid that they could be getting the message once again that we could rid all the world’s problems with more military action, an attitude that is especially dangerous as more talk is growing to attack Iran. In the end, I am still very torn on this issue and would love to hear your feedback.

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Kucinich is one of the few congressman who was actually willing to stand up to presidential administrations and party leaders, both republican and democratic, whether it was against military buildup, the Patriot Act, or the latest defense act which legalizes indefinite detentions. He has pushed to end disastrous trade agreements such as NAFTA. He has been a vocal critic on the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the impending war against Iran. He was one of the few that really stood up for the working man and progressive values.

He has been labeled a Communist, extremist, unpatriotic, and naïve; however, despite all the labels, he is one of the few leaders in Washington who has actually represented the people, not the corporate wealth and militaristic special interests. He will be missed, and I truly hope he finds the way back into the discussion. More, now than ever, the U.S. needs his prophetic voice.

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In the film, Redford paints Surratt as innocent of the crime she was convicted of, conspiring to kill Abraham Lincoln. While this is certainly an issue that is up for historical debate, that is not the essential point of the film. What is extremely relevant today was how the U.S. government wanted to find Surratt guilty and hang her, so they did. They refused to try her in civilian court, and instead put her in a military tribunal where her fate was sealed before the trial even began.

It is a story where the law of the land, the Constitution, is simply disregarded in a time of distress and conflict. The Bill of Rights with its guarantee to a fair trial by jury is exchanged for the will of Washington. It is amazing how we have done the same thing today, even though we do not even face a fraction of the turmoil, bloodshed, or danger they faced back then. It stands to reason that if was a real threat, today’s U.S. would turn into a complete police state in a matter of weeks, or even days.

If you have not seen the movie, I would highly suggest it. It is not only a well-directed and historically intriguing film; it is a film that we need to see today. In an era of Guantanamo Bay, indefinite detentions, and unlimited executive power, we need to wake up and realize that our own rights and values are slowly slipping away.

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However, let’s take a look back at the deadly war. It was a horrid bloodbath where men from the same country were killing one another and in the end….for what? Yes, the war eventually was used as a tool to end slavery, but that certainly not the reason it was fought. It was fought over the right to secede vs. keeping the union together. Thousands upon thousands of men gave up their lives for whatever their sectionalist or nationalistic ideology was. Men who claimed themselves as part of the Christian faith were killing their own brothers in the faith.

In the end, like all wars, it was started for the rich and fought by the poor. Many northern business leaders would profit greatly from the Confederate States in the union for their commercial and trading interests, and the ones who would really benefit from a southern victory were a small group of elitist slave owners. On this point, it is the most disturbing of all. For the sake of a few wealthy slave owners, young southern men breathed their last breath and killed their fellow men.

The real problem is that when we obsess about wars in the past and honor their memory, we in a way sanctifying them. Instead of teaching the next generation about the awful and horrid nature of war, we justify it, saying that it was fought for a righteous cause.

As our national history is littered with one war after another and with more talk of another war with Iran on our way, we would do good to mourn our past wars, not honor them and sanctify them. We should mourn the fact whenever we choose war over peace, when we forced the young in the nation to go and kill and die. We should mourn and weep, and perhaps, we could actually find sanity and peace.

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Jesus preached a message of peace, turning the other cheek, and loving one’s enemies. He warned the Jewish community of his day about the dangers in pursuing war and violence and how it would lead to their own destruction. He told his followers that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Jesus had the opportunity to pursue Israel’s political objectives during his time on earth, but he chose not to. His goal was the Kingdom of God, not the Kingdom of Israel, even when Israel was facing a real enemy in the Romans (compared with the fabricated enemy of Iran).

Somehow over the years, the mind of many in the church (particularly the U.S. church) has become very skewed towards the Israeli state. “Supporting Israel means supporting Jesus”. Perhaps, it is in part a reaction to the horrible way that the church has often treated Jews throughout history. However, it is also pushed by a literalist reading of Revelation and a new end-times philosophy that was never seen before in church history, an eschatology that really reflects a lack of scholarship. Of course, this type of “Left Behind” philosophy is pushed in the Christian community by popular books, movies, and TV preachers.

For those Christians who are afraid to call out Israel on their militaristic ways in the fear of offending God, just look at the life of Jesus. Most of my Jesus’s life was a fight against the political and religious leaders of Israel. I believe if Jesus was here today, he would have no problem being the first to call out Netanyahu on his militarism and his appeal to trust military might over God. We have a choice. We can choose the way of Jesus, refuse to fall for the fear and propaganda which is seeking to lead to another war, and try to be peacemakers. Or we can blindly follow the Israeli government, a government led by right-wing leaders that many in Israel itself find dangerous, and abandon the teachings and message of Jesus.

The Kingdom of God’s purpose is for us to love all people and seek justice and peace for all people-Israeli, Palestinian, and Iranian. Let’s let the message of Jesus take over the message of Netanyahu and the pro-war factions of the U.S. and Israel. In the end we have a choice, follow the teachings of the Prince of Peace or a militaristic government hungry for another conflict.

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In fact, Jefferson’s famous letter that held the ideas of the separation of church and state was not written to agnostic leaders who were concerned about religion in the public square. No, it was written to the Danbury Baptists, who had previously written to Jefferson about their desire for religious liberty in the State of Connecticut.

Jefferson responded with the famous words, “…I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

Catholics were another minority who were persecuted by some states in the early colonies. The separation of church and state was essential to them being granted religious freedom. Both the Baptists (and other “evangelical” groups) and Catholics were the minorities, and for many of them, Jefferson and his hope to build a wall between church and state was heroic and a gift from God.

It is amazing to see many modern day conservative evangelicals and Catholics decrying the separation of Church and State and actually fighting to limit religious freedom and break down the barrier of church and state, whether it is freedom to build mosques and Islamic religious centers, pushing for government funding for private religious institutions, trying to make church teachings the law of the land, and using theological litmus tests for political office.

Santorum, Gingrich, and the other conservatives who decry the separation of Church and State, should review the history surrounding the issue and realize that the separation of church and state is there to protect all people from theocratic government, both religious and non-religious people. For those who are pushing a more theocratic or religiously based government, they need to realize that in doing so, they are going against the hard fought victories of many of those who went before them.

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These were the words of Father George Zabelka, who had served as the U.S. Navy chaplain in the Pacific for the forces that would drop the atomic bomb. He spoke out years later in regret for his choice to essentially “bless the bombs” that would destroy thousands upon thousands of lives.

As the rhetoric picks up towards another war with Iran, the U.S. church has a choice. They can choose to be the voice of empire and war, making another pre-emptive attack “sacred” or they can stand with a prophetic voice and state that those who live by the sword will die by the sword, and if our country wants to follow the path of militarism, we too will come to ruin.

Regarding the most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many in the U.S. church were largely supportive of the war, with a minority standing with a prophetic and decrying the militarism and violence. Of course, in the eyes of the rest of his world, the name of Jesus is cursed when his church uses him to promote and defend their nationalistic wars. Instead of loving our enemies, we have said it is morally acceptable to kill them. We have said that pre-emptive attacks are justified, out of the slight possibility that our enemy could pose a threat in the future.

I hope and pray that in this new conflict, the U.S. church will not be cowardly and remain silent or even worse, play the role of warmonger and openly push and support a new war. Instead, I pray they choose the way of peace, the way of Jesus, and realize that this war is not the answer.

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My favorite podcast, Common Sense, is by a man named Dan Carlin. On his latest show he was talking about this issue. He brought up an interesting point. If you went and asked the average citizen in Great Britain, Spain, or France whether they would have rather lived in the time of the imperial greatness of their country or now, what would they say? Undoubtedly, the majority would say they prefer their government the way it is now. Imperial power and might may make a country look great on paper, but it does not necessarily mean it is in the best interest of its citizens.

Usually the most important and positive changes that have occurred in history have come in times of distress. It took the Great Depression to cause the U.S. government to limit the powers of big business and set up a responsible welfare system. It was in times of economic peril that some of the most important progressive reform was passed.

If the U.S. does start heading for a massive decline and the dollar drops  as many people suspect, the U.S. will be forced to stop being the empire of the world. The massive and insane military spending will simply no longer be a choice. The giveaways and handouts to the wealthy and corporations will be feasibly impossible. The irresponsibility of what the government has become will not be accepted. Perhaps, we will actually get democracy if the U.S. government’s power declines.

It doesn’t mean the U.S. will cease to exist, but it will have to go through some hard times like all great empires when they fall. However, hopefully, we can be like so many other countries that were able to make positive changes after their empires fell, they had stop worrying about controlling the world and they could actually listen to and respond to the voice of the people.

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Essentially, many in the U.S, especially President James K. Polk, wanted to expand U.S. territory in the modern day southwest, and they were going to find whatever possible way to do so. However, it would look bad to just blatantly and unjustifiably strike another country. So, Polk decided that the U.S. would provoke Mexico into firing the first shot to make them seem like the aggressors. They sent troops into land that was still “disputed” after the Texas Revolution (where Texas was essentially stolen from the Mexican government), but which Mexico considered their own land. They tried setting up a military fort. Polk knew this was a move that would provoke the Mexican government. Some American troops were killed by the Mexican army, and Polk came to the Congress with the message that the U.S. had been attacked, and war was the only option.

In reality, it was a war solely to spread land; the hope of many southerners was that it would give more land for the expansion of slavery. Though some resisted the war, especially in the North, in the end most of the country walked in step out of fear of not appearing patriotic and fought a greedy and unjustified fight for the lands which are now the southwestern United States.

Here is how one of the U.S. Colonel’s, Colonel Hitchcock, put it,

“ I have said from the first that the United States are the aggressors..We have not one particle of right to be here…It looks as if the government sent a small force on purpose to bring on a war, so as to have a pretext for taking California and as much of this country as it chooses.”

I think there is a deep relation between what happened with Mexico and what is happening with Iran. The U.S. has Iran surrounded on all sides, especially with the strong presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are putting sanctions on Iran and convincing other nations to do the same. U.S. politicians are making startling remarks about attacking Iran. We are spying on them and flying over their airspace. In short…we are provoking them. Many are hoping that Iran will attack some U.S. or Israeli vessel, thus giving justification for the war on the grounds of us “defending ourselves”.

To paint Iran as the aggressor is simply mind blowing, but when that day comes and war begins, I fear many will simply drink the Kool-Aid of the media and support a war, all the while willfully ignorant of the steps that led to the war. We look back on history and say how dishonest Polk was in his dealings with Mexico and with the American public. However, it seems we have not learned from our mistakes. We are heading to another unjustified war, where though we are the aggressors, we will be able to paint ourselves as the innocent victims.

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Now, I know those who support libertarian ideas will say that we never truly had libertarianism, and they might have some truth to this claim. However, we do have a picture of what a libertarian society would look like from the Gilded Age. There are few government regulations in the workplace, so workers get treated like animals. There is no quality public education system; so many children have to go to the factories to work. There are next to no environmental or food regulations, and so the environment and health of the nation suffer greatly as a result.

Another problem with libertarianism is that those who preach it cannot give one solid example of it working in the real world. Those who claim the positives of a more welfare state or socialist system can give the examples of Denmark, Finland, or Norway, which have some of the highest standards of living in the world. What examples can libertarians give? The only examples of societies that were close to libertarianism were not very good places for the majority of the populous. We could give the example of the U.S. in the 1800s or Latin American countries.

Another problem with libertarians is that those who push this economic idea are often led by ideologues and right wing think tanks rather than responsible economists. Why? Because any responsible economist realizes that libertarianism would be disastrous for the masses and ultimately bad for the overall society. After all, it was a lack of government regulation that led us to so much of the current mess we are in. Libertarianism has been pushed by the likes of past ideologues such as Ayn Rand, and modern ideologues like Peter Schiff. Libertarianism may look great on paper, but in reality, it would be disastrous, with a few people controlling everything and the masses struggling to merely  survive.

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It was only a few years when Saddam Hussein was the scary boogey man that was going to destroy western civilization. If we didn’t act fast, he was going to wipe us off the face of the earth; he was going to launch biological attacks of anthrax and smallpox into our biggest cities and make our most awful nightmares a reality. We had to act, to use any type of caution or restraint was bringing us one day closer to our demise.

Looking back we realize that we feel victim to a media created paranoia. The war was never necessary; there were no weapons of mass destruction, and those who pushed that story were never held accountable for pushing us into war under false pretenses. Now Iran is our new target. While there is a general public that is more skeptical after 10 years of the War on Terror, there is unfortunately still a large percentage of the population which has no problem going in to another foolish and expensive war.

As the calls for war began expanding against Iran, it is time for us to think rationally instead of relying on our worst fears and paranoia. We need to learn the simple truth that we could destroy ourselves faster by “preventing” a hypothetical attack than if an actual foreign strike occurred. Let’s not waste thousands upon thousands of lives, billions upon billions of dollars, only to realize that once again we have played the part of the fool.

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We have a system that has become so corrupt that no matter what party is elected, the special interests and corporations soon find their way into the system and set up their own rules. While certainly individual politicians bare partial responsibility for this system, ultimately we should not be upset with them; they cannot work honestly or justly when the whole system is designed to weed them out if they do. No, the ultimate problem is not the Republican leaders of the Democratic leaders; the ultimate problem is that we have a democracy in name only. When you allow corporations and special interests to give unlimited money to advertising for candidates, you are essentially letting them buy votes. You cannot call that type of country a democracy; it is nothing but a mere oligarchy. Until this is changed, needed reforms will never happen in the U.S. Healthcare in the U.S. will never be just because drug companies and private insurance will make sure that costs stay at outrageously high levels. Wars will continue to be fought because war profiteers and arms industries will create a new conflict we “have” to become involved in. Wall Street will never be reformed, because the banks have so many lobbyists in the halls of Washington that it would make Jefferson turn over in his grave.

If we want real change, we now realize the system has to be changed. The constitution has to be amended. No corporate funds should go to any political campaign and corporate lobbyists should be banned from the halls of Washington; it is a mockery of our democratic republic. Once this happens, so many of the other issues people are fighting for would fall into place and a more just society would begin to form.

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As I am teaching U.S. History, it is amazing how ingrained the belief that the U.S. Revolution was completely justified and worth the bloodshed is in the minds of many students. The question I have as a U.S. citizen and teachers is what kind of message are we sending to our young people? What are we telling them about justifying war and violence? Are we continuing to choose war and conflict in the present because it is glorified in our history?

The reality is that during the Revolutionary War, a large majority of colonists were either Loyalists or did not want to take side in the conflict between the colonies and England. This is a fact that is often obscured in U.S. History. We want to make it sound like everyone was supporting the war effort; they were all just longing for freedom. The reality is that the revolution started by a small group of radicals in Massachusetts and eventually was spread to the other colonies, with many people resisting the revolution.

On one hand, I agree with the goal of the Patriots for self-government. They wanted to be free from the rule of Parliament and the Monarchy, and I truly believed they were justified in that desire. However, should we be teaching our students that this desire was worth the enormous bloodshed? In the end, where does the justification for violence end? There are lot of people that are being heavily oppressed by our own corrupted government and a financial system that favors the very few at the expense of the many. Are they justified to shed blood in the name of their freedom? Of course, all people in the U.S. government would say absolutely not. However, if we follow out the logic and justification of the Revolution, the answer would have to be yes.

We need to teach our young people that violence just creates more violence. Maybe one of the reasons our country has been bathed in so much violence is because from the very beginning we have taught that violence is justified. Perhaps for us to avoid more errors like the War in Iraq and a never ending War on Terror, we need to realize that violence is not a viable solution to create change. There is a greater way. Let’s teach our children the way of Jesus on the Sermon of the Mount. Let’s teach them the way of Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. Real change can come without hate and violence; it can come through love, determination, and a desire for peace and justice among all men.

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The same could be said of the American Revolution. The reality was that the majority of the colonists did not have life off that bad. They had to pay simply taxes on certain products, which unlike historical myth, was not heavily burdensome on the majority of the population. In fact, many paid higher taxes after the Revolution than they did beforehand. The benefits of the country were not going to reach the lower classes. In fact, after the Revolution, many could not even vote. Unless they were landowners, they were barred from voting.

The Revolution was also a loss for the African-Americans and the Native Americans. No matter how much propaganda is created saying how certain African-Americans and Native-Americans supported the patriot cause. The reality is that the majority fought with the British, because a British victory would have granted them more freedom. Slaves and Native Americans lost in the “War for Independence”, because the war meant that their independence, freedom, and land would be taken away.

The U.S. Revolution was like any war. Some people profited greatly, but for the great majority life was not any better off, and in many cases, life was much harder. There obviously was injustice from the British, and the British crown was abusive of their power. The problem that we have when we glorify the Revolution is that we teach our students a falsehood- that after the Revolution, all humans were thought of as equal and there would be liberty and justice for all, that the war was fought so that everyone could have “freedom”. This simply was not true. We also teach a horrible lesson about war. Most wars are not really fought for freedom or the human rights of a population. While those may be used as justifications for a war, most wars are fought over power and money. This was certainly the case in the American Revolution. To celebrate the revolution and to teach our students to do so is a very poor lesson; it teaches them an improper view of the world, peace, and war.

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Well, this message was on my heart the rest of the night when the news that Steve Jobs died came up on my computer. As I was reading the article about his death, one quote that he had made a few years ago to a group of students at Stanford struck me, “”Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.” We can’t live too safely, because in the end we are all going to die. We can choose to go to our graves with regrets that we never followed our dreams, or we can choose to live dangerously and make risk to follow our passions and dreams.

Later on in the night, my wife and I were reading the book Sex God together. This is a Christian book talking about the link between spirituality, sensuality, and the Kingdom of God. It is a great book. The author was talking about how love is always a risk. Whenever you choose to love, you are risking being rejected, hurt, and disappointed. However, in the end, choosing to love is worth it, no matter what hurt you may be risking. By this point, I think God had gotten my attention and had made the message pretty clear.

In the end, we have a choice. We can choose to live our lives in our nice, comfortable, and safe routine, never risking anything, never losing anything. We can choose to live that way, but in the end, we start to die a little bit inside, we lose our purpose in life. On the other hand, we can choose to take risks, abandon the safe, typical, and mundane, and run as fast we can into the Kingdom of God. I love how Paulo Coelho puts it, “A boat is safe in the harbor, but that is not what boats are meant for.”

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Williams Jennings Bryan, Woody Guthrie, Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck, and Dorothy Day- These were populous leaders, activists, writers, and musicians who fought for the rights of the common people against the interests of the powerful and wealthy. Unfortunately, we have abandoned their spirit and ideas for a long time, but I have a sense that we are now seeing a revival of their passion.

Most of the leaders of these populous movements rose to power in times of great inequality and economic depression. Some fought against a corrupt monetary system that was great for the bankers and wealthy, but was horrible for the common worker. Others fought against the large companies and land owners who exploited their workers. Others fought for humane living conditions in the inner-cities of America. There were others who wanted to expose the dark side of Capitalism and what could happen when all government regulation was absent. These movements sparked huge changes in the United States. They led to more factory regulations, government sponsored job programs for the unemployed, restrictions on big banks and Wall Street, better housing conditions for those in the inner-city, and a more fair tax code where the wealthy had to pay their fair share.

After World War II, the United States grew rapidly. The economy grew at an extraordinary rate and the money was more evenly distributed in the society. Successful progressive ideals were implemented in the nation, such as the right to unionize, Medicare, Medicaid, expansions in public education, the G.I. Bill program, and high marginal tax rates. This trend continued on until the early 80’s, when Reagan and his economic policies set the path for inequality and income disparity to skyrocket again. However, so many of the populous and progressive moments that were active in the late 1800’s, 20’s, and 30’s were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps, people thought this new direction was going to be good for the country. We assumed that we had already been granted our basic economic rights and that they could not be taken away, but we were wrong.

For the last 30 years, we have seen the disparity of income grow more and more. More of the social and economic protections have been stripped away, and so many jobs have been shipped overseas by the same multi-national corporations who are paying historically low tax rates. The top income tax rate has gone from 91% to 35%, so we went more and more in debt and had to cut more programs for everyone else in society. A few powerful people have bought out the halls of Congress, and because of an incompetent Supreme Court, this is not even illegal. For too long, the overall population, the bottom 98% of the country, has sat by idly while this has happened. However, as with anything, there comes a breaking point.

This past month as the Wall Street protests have grown, there is a sense that the populous and progressive spirit is being revived in the hearts of normal Americans. They are tired of their rights being taken from them. They are tired of the powerful and wealthy taking them as fools. They are tired of so much poverty in a country with so much wealth. Perhaps, the spirit of Steinbeck and Guthrie is back again. For the sake of our country and our world, we should all hope so.

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Here in Costa Rica, multinational companies have come and taken over much of the food business. Where street markets and small shops used to once control most of the food market, there are now huge supermarkets-the majority of them controlled by foreign companies. What are the problems with this?

One of the biggest problems is the type of jobs which are created. While it was true that most small shop owners and fruit stand venders were never wealthy-many could make a fair and decent wage. This is often not the case in large corporations, where wages are always kept low, as the people who ultimately profit from the labor are not workers, but CEO’s and stockholders.

The earnings in return to not stay in the country, but rather are giving to stockholders who overwhelmingly reside in the developed world. On a national level, it does not create more wealth, but rather gives the appearance of economic development, while at the same time taking more of the wealth out of the nation.

On a practical level, it is often more difficult. It is easy to simple go to one of the large supermarkets and do all your shopping; it saves time and energy. It is more difficult having go down to the local seafood shop, then go to the local meat shop, than go buy your vegetables and fruits at another shop.

However, in the end, the extra effort we might have to do to shop more ethically has long reaching effects. As we move into a world that is becoming more and more corporatized with the wealth going to the hands of the very few, there needs to be some grassroots movement to save the small and local establishments, where people still are able to receive the fruit of their labor.

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There has been a tradition in the church called Calvinism or Reformed Theology which basically takes the position that God has selected certain people for heaven and others for destruction or hell. Though actual logical thinking about this issue makes it seem quite hard to reconcile with the love of God and the whole life and message of Jesus, it is taught nonetheless and is actually had a large resurgence in the modern day. It seems that being elect means that God has simply chosen people for love or destruction, rather than “choosing” people that can be his vessels of love to heal the world. Obviously, not all reformed people take it this way, but it is an obvious consequence that often results from this type of teaching.

There is often the same philosophy that is seen in Western society. Though many may not believe that they were “predestined” to be born in North America or Western Europe, there is often an entitlement that comes along with it. Instead of seeing the fortune of us being born in a relatively affluent society and using our gifts to help out the less fortunate among us, we often decide to wallow in our own “exceptionalism” and simply forget those who were not given the same opportunities and resources as us.  We are often very angry at those that are trying to come into our countries, as we see them as “stealing” from our blessing. Instead of our blessedness making us more giving, it often makes us colder.

I love the way that Robert Kennedy put it, “Through no virtues and accomplishments of our own, we have been fortunate enough to be born in the United States under the most comfortable conditions. We, therefore, have a responsibility to others who are less well off.”

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It was Eisenhower that blasted the discrimination in the South as he said it would be tool used by the Soviets and the Communist world to show the hypocrisy of the United States. Eisenhower was the president who sent in federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce integration in the schools after that state’s governor was trying to defy it. It was a pretty brave move by the part of the president.

It is also important to note how great labor unions and labor rights grew from the 1930’s to 1970’s. A large percentage of the population belonged to a labor union. Labor unions and labor rights were seen as necessary to keep moderation and to keep the country from the route of Communism. The fear that there could be a Communist revolution often compelled the country to seek more rights and justice for its workers.

Finally, the Soviets helped the U.S. go after the issue of poverty more strongly. Johnson was famous in his campaign to end poverty. We wanted to show the Soviets that we could have a prosperous and just society while still having a free market.

Unfortunately, today it seems we do not have any enemy like the Soviets to actually strive against or to keep us in check. There is little fear of a Communism, anarchy, or revolution. With the diminished fear has come more oppression and inequality. We have felt there is nothing to fear, and the powerful have simply walked over all the rights of the working and middle classes. In the future, we might be looking back at the Cold War as a time we had much of the social progress and the present day as a time we lost our values and sense of justice in the society.

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Two and a half years later, we can see how this excessive open-mindedness and need to always reach across the political aisle has cost him dearly. He has been walked all over by the Congress and the Republican Party in general. The Democrats had complete control over the Congress for his first two years, yet in reality, they achieved very little. Obama proposes progressive ideals, but he doesn’t seem to have the strong character or will to fight hard for them. He is too willing to compromise and concede his position.

What we need is a strong progressive fighter, not merely a liberal idealist. We need a FDR, Williams Jennings Bryant, Upton Sinclair, or Martin Luther King. We need someone who does not merely believe in progressive ideals, but it is also willing to fight for them even though will anger many people in the process.

I hope Obama can wake up to the reality that his current way of doing politics is not getting him  anywhere. The Republicans do not respect him; they know they can get him to cave into their extreme demands. Many Democrats do not respect him anymore either, as they see that does not have backbone to make the hard and strong decisions. If Obama could start being a progressive fighter, the nation would follow him in droves. He could be the next FDR; the next election would not even be an issue. However, if he continues on his current path, he will not only sacrifice his progressive goals, he will also see that his political career will soon come to an end.

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2. The overwhelming majority of the land that we currently have is only ours because we have stolen it from others, often the people we stole it from are some of the same people we are now trying to keep out.

3. In the United States, most of us are descendants of immigrants (all the non-Native American population). Perhaps, those who are clamoring against immigrant rights should realize that they would not be here if it wasn’t for the immigration of their ancestors-who were probably  also hated when they came.

4. We are not special because of where we are born. We are not given a birthright to be wealthy, prosperous, and comfortable because we were born in the United States. We have been blessed, so we can bless others.

5. To simply make a whole class of people permanently undocumented and illegal, without any chance of citizenship defies human dignity, human rights, and what the country was founded on.

6. Our nation needs immigrants. Without new ideas and ways of seeing the world our country is headed towards failure. What we have created now is simply unsustainable, and far from beautiful- we need immigrants to come offer us a new perspective and new vision of the United States.

7.  In our process of catching undocumented workers we have blatantly defied the whole idea of freedom and liberty and instead made some type of police states- stopping people who look Latino, punishing owners who rent out to undocumented workers, making it “illegal” to transport undocumented workers-in the process of keeping out “immigrants” we have allowed ourselves to slip into a police state.

8. We have simply let hate be passed off as immigration or “border-control” rhetoric. This needs to end. Hatred against Hispanics and Latinos is just as wrong as hatred and bigotry against Jews, African-Americans, Caucasians, Asians, or any other group.

9. Our current failed immigration system is allowed to stay the way it is because of greed. Large companies want to keep their workers undocumented, so they can keep wages low both for the immigrant population and keep out any labor rights movements by the overall population.

10. Anti-Immigrant rhetoric by law makers is done greatly to distract the blame from the real culprits of our economic decline. Instead of going after the few wealthy who are making billions at the expense of the population, the politicians are bought out by corporate interests, and the companies who do whatever they can to suppress workers’ right-they scapegoat immigrants. If they can keep people’s anger towards undocumented workers-than they continue their oppressive actions.

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There is the conventional wisdom that if you have a large military, your nation will be safe from attack. While there are obviously some examples of this being the case, especially in traditional warfare between nations, there are also many examples when having such a large army actually exposes to much more risk and danger. There have always been examples of this, but it is especially true in the modern day with the issue of terrorism.

For example: Why did the terrorists attack the United States rather than Sweden, Denmark, or Italy? All these other nations are certainly not Muslim nations, and they are opposed to many of the policies of many Middle Eastern nations. The quick and easy answer is because there military never got involved in the Middle East to the extent that the United States did. They were not in the Middle East supporting Iraq, then going against Iraq, sending military equipment to Israel, and then setting up bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. What we think of as “making us safe” actually led us to be put in a more vulnerable position.

I think you can say the same thing regarding our latest attempted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan-have they really made us safer or have they just opened the gates for more hatred and anger, which will results in more danger in the future?

It seems that throughout our history we have gone back and forth on this issue. At the beginning of the country, many of the founders wanted a very small military and opposed strong military action as this would actually be fatal to the Republic. Throughout history, we have moved away from that position with many times of Imperialistic expansionism (Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, Cold War Era policies). However, there have also been times when we have decided to draw down our forces and military realizing the danger that having a large military can bring.

It simply amazes me that in the current budget talks, most Republicans and Democrats are barely touching the issue of cutting military spending. They are talking about cutting healthcare for the elderly, educational funding for the poor, and overseas aid for the starving-but just bring up cutting one cent for the military budget-and all hell is raised.

How did we get to this point? Well, after World War II and the Cold War that followed, the United States created the most powerful and expansive military in the world. However, we have never drawn that military back down to a reasonable level. We could cut our military spending in half and still easily spend more on our military than any other nation. Not only is this military spending robbing us financially and socially, perhaps we should wonder if it is really keeping us safe. Perhaps, it is actually doing the opposite.

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In the United States, this fact is especially frustrating, as so many young people do not even go out and vote. There are many who love to complain, or just talk about how the whole system is messed up, but it seems that fewer and fewer are actually going to take the time and effort to actually to go out and fight for change. We have been walked all over in the last couple of decades by a small group of the rich and powerful, and for the most part we have just taken it.

However, perhaps change is on the horizon. This past week, as Greece and Great Britain look to take care of their financial problems by cutting the pensions and benefits of their public employees, many people are fighting back. There is a realization that the working and middle class have been completely trampled on for the interests and the wealth of a few. There is a realization that unless a strong cry of resistance is actually made, the rich and powerful will not stop until they have won over all the goods in the society.

Perhaps, what is happening in Greece and England can spread across the Atlantic. I know this coming July 4^th, there is going to be a large rally at the Washington Monument to protest the corporate corruption that is destroying our system of democracy. If the masses actually rose up and refused to let the few continue to fight for their interest at the expense of the entire nation, there would be massive change. If the people actually would actually go out and take a stand against cutting health care and education to keep tax breaks for a huge wealthy, those in power would be defenseless to stop it. Their plans and ideas would be exposed for the foolishness, selfishness, and greed which they are. We need a little more anger, a little more action, a little more passion. Not until, we actually start paying attention and demanding a just system will the situations that are facing us change.

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“Lord, protect our decisions, because making Decision is a way of praying. Give us the courage after our doubts, to be able to choose between one road and another. May our YES always be a YES and our NO always be a NO. Once we have chosen our road, may we never look back nor allow our soul to be eaten away by remorse.”-Paulo Coelho

There is a time to pass through a period of self doubt. There should be a time when we look back and reflect on our decisions we are making in our life. However, we should not live in that space. There comes a time where we need to make a decision and go with it, with the positives and negatives, gains and losses which are sure to come.

We live in a day of many choices. Most people in the past did not have much choice when it came to a career; you simply did what your father or your mother did. Most people did not even have much of a choice when it came to marriage. The bride or groom was usually selected for you, or at the best you chose the close family friend (or distant relative) that you had been with since the day of your birth.

Today, we have tons of choices. We go to the supermarket, and we have 100 different choices to choose from. We think that this abundance of choice makes us happy, but often leads to indecisiveness and an inability to be happy with our choices. The same is true in our careers, relationships, and big choices in life.

There is a time and place where we need to simply put the second guessing of our lives behind and simply follow the path that we have been put in to the best of our abilities. If we feel we should make a large change in our life, we should pursue it; however, we should never live our lives looking backwards with regret. So often our past successes and failures, keep us from being happy where we are at in this very moment. So much thinking of what “could have been” keeps us from experiencing joy and peace in this very moment.

Jesus told us told us that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains in our lives. However, the mountains will never move, greatness will never come, and our dreams will be realized if we cannot learn to move beyond regret, remorse, and second guessing and living fully and freely with the choices we have made. Let us seek the Spirit to help to make beautiful choices with our lives and the strength to not look back, but rather move forward, once those decisions have been made.

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