Observations

 Observations-I have been pretty out of touch with the world for a lot of
years. However, whether it is on tv or one of the few times when I have gone
somewhere other than to church, I have made some observations on the state
of the world. At least, in our North American society.

My first observation is that people, in general, are obsessed with 3 things.
Money, appearance and sex.

Of course, we all need money to live on. Even I need a certain amount of
money. But, it seems to me, there are lot of people who want a lot more
money than they actually need to lead a comfortable life. I have heard so
many
people wishing that they could win the lottery. I suspect that these
lotteries are helping to make the obsession with money worse. I suppose
having a lot of money, no matter how it comes (as long it legal), is not
necessarily a bad thing,
depending how it it is used. But it is an obsession when people keep wanting
more and more of it to stockpile in the bank. Another observation that I
have made in regards to the excessive craving for money are the people who
are half-killing themselves, working two or three jobs, just to have more
money to put in the bank or spend on possessions. Unfortunately, too often
it is at the expense of their family. If they understood that we can't take
money or possessions with us, I suspect it would be different.

Another obsession that people have is with their looks. And everything seem
to be feeding that obsession. Fad diets, face creams to "make you look
younger", the latest styles, etc. People are so busy trying to fix up their
outsides and neglecting the people they are on the inside. While, I am sure,
God doesn't want us to look like slobs if we can help it, He is much more
concerned about the people we are inwardly. Things like being born-again
Christians, getting rid of stinky attitudes, developing godly attributes,
etc.

A third obsession that I have observed in our society is with sex. It sex,
sex, sex in everything. I watch a lot of tv to help pass time. However, I
limit myself mostly to sports, with an occasional documentary or game show,
simply because it is almost impossible to find a sitcom or movie without
strong sexual innuendos, if not blatant sex scenes. Sex also seems overly
prevelent in people's conversations.  Especially when it comes to making
jokes. I seem to hear very few jokes that don't have some reference to sex.
I have to admit that it is sometimes hard not get caught up in it or, at
least, laugh at comments that I know I should not be laughing at. God
made sex. I know that. But, somehow, I doubt He intended sex to become so
public.

A second observation that I have made is in regards to all this technology.
One thing that I have observed is that, because of social media or whatever,
people don't spend as much time together as they used to. Somehow, to me,
that seems rather sad. Another observation that I have made is that some
people seem to be downright addicted to their phones. Nobody can have a
conversation with them without them checking their phones several times
during the conversation. I also wonder what effect all this technology is
having on children. Even though there are some really good educational
materials out there, I wonder if excessive time in front of "screens" is
limiting the children's scope of imagination. How much imagination does it
require when everything is on the screen in front of the child? Having said
all that, though, I suspect that all this technology, at any age, is like
anything else. Good unless it is carried to excess.

My final observation is how much the morals of our society have degenerated
since I had the stroke. Not that they were the greatest back then, either. I
don't watch the news on tv but, most days, I do check the headlines on my
computer so I have some idea of what is going on in this world. All the
murders, suicides and terrorist attacks make me sad because it shows how
little value people put on human lives. Both of others and their own. But I
guess that is what happens when you take God out of the picture. Of course,
their were gay relationships before the stroke but they were kept rather
"hush-hush", not out in the open like they are now. I can't get over how,
now, when people hear about that sort of relationship, they don't seem to
think anything of it. Back then, sex before marriage was common as well but
people didn't openly live together without being married like they do now.
And they certainly didn't have children without being married.

But, for Christians, Jesus has become a buffer between them and the world.
Not that He takes Christians, most anyway, out of the world but He gives us
His values and priorities to replace those of the environment around us.