29 years later, same speech

Yesterday while watching the coverage of Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy's funeral and his life in general, I realized two things: 1. I had no clue who this man was and what he stood for. 2. Listening to the political talk from the past sounds like it is 2009 and not 1980. (I will get to this in a moment.)

Now let's address the 1st realization. Before this past week if someone would have asked me what I thought of Senator Ted Kennedy I would have said something like this: "From what I know he is a liberal politician from a famous political family that has been in office way too long, got away with a crime possibly at Chappaquiddick, and probably doesn't see eye to eye with my conservative views." Watching the coverage made me curious to get to know more about this man and the life he led. According to the conservative talk shows that I have been exposed to he was not a good man and not a good politician. The fallacy in my opinion of him was that it was based upon what someone else said. The 2nd fallacy of my opinion was that the people who were saying these things clearly had an agenda, they were getting paid to cater to the conservative people and had clear motivation to "spin" the truth or paint an ugly picture of this man.

This 1st realization has given me a piece of humble pie. Because although I don't agree with everything I discovered about this man, there were many things that I discovered about him and his politics and his beliefs that I completely, whole-heartily, 100% agree with. I realized that I need to find things out for my self as oppose to take people's word as fact. Just because Sean Hannity says it, just because you hear on the radio, just because it was typed into an email doesn't make something true or from a credible source. In the end I realized that Ted Kennedy did much more good for this country than harm. He was a man that also kept his family together through tragedy and shame. Trust me, this family has seen more tragedy and shame over the last 4 decades than any one family would want to endure of a 1000 decades. It is up to you to decide what your thoughts are on this man, but think for yourself, don't take the common road and follow the crowd, take the road less traveled, the high road, and educate yourself on this man if you ever plan to have an opinion of him.

Realization #2: Nothing has changed in our society. In 1980 one of the presidential candidates was recorded as speaking about the problems that America faced at the time. High inflation, High unemployment, high energy costs, the need for immigration reform, and the need for health care to be available to all Americans. Why does this sound like 2009? Because the same politicians who have been running our country for decades are talking about the topics that get you thinking passionately. Because you might be directly affected by one of these hot topics, it gets your attention when it is spoke about. But where is the help? Where is the change? Why do Americans wait for their mighty government to help them out? Where is the accountability of self? In fact, when I hear politicians on TV talk about how they want to protect American jobs because Americans are the hardest working people on the Earth, I about fall out of my seat laughing. America listen up. Nothing is going to change in the grand scheme of things if you don't change things at the personal level.

As a whole we are fat, as a whole we are lazy, as a whole we are asking for a handout, as a whole we are waiting for our neighbor to help the other neighbor in need, as a whole we have stopped evangelizing, as a whole we cry, complain, claw, fight, and whine for our nation to remain a "Christian" nation because it was founded on those principals! Yet where is the action to uphold these Christian morals? Where is the action in our lives to make this place a better Earth than we found it? America is in a decline. This decline is real. Don't talk to me about the few who are out there doing good, talk to me about joining the few. If you want change, look in the mirror. America wake up and do something about what is wrong, it starts with you, and don't lie to yourself.

Tell yourself the Truth

In a world where success is defined for some by the possessions we have, one thing that is lacking is self-honesty. Most people ignore the truth or hide it under the rug. How do I know this? I have done it for years, in fact, in some ways I still do this! Even though I weigh 30 Lbs more than I did when I was a college athlete, I still tell myself, "I am not that out of shape!" But the truth is told in the elevated heart rate I have after 16 steps to my 2nd story of my house!

How can we expect to be honest to others when we struggle being honest to ourselves? I bet if a poll was taken about which commandment is the one most often broken, the results would show that lying wins in a landslide. Lying is so easy! Kids start to lie as soon as they can conjugate sentences. We all think we are smarter than those that are leading us!

Hebrews 6:18 Says it is "impossible for God to lie." Now let's look at a few truths God has told throughout the ages. He told the truth when he talked about how corrupt humankind was when he decided to destroy the Earth before the great flood. He told the truth when he was angered that the Israelites had quickly broken their covenant with him and wanted to destroy them. (Exodus 32) He told the truth when he said "This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3)

Truth #1. God does not lie.
Truth #2. God sent his son Jesus.
Truth #3. Jesus lived a sinless life and was doomed to a cross to atone for our sins.
Truth #4. Jesus offers freedom from the bondage of sin and death.
Truth #5. We all sin.
Truth #6. We are all born with what hollyweird calls "Primal Fear." (The fear of death!)
Truth #7. We all need Jesus to be free from Sin and Death.
Truth #8. There is no fun in Sin.
Truth #9. Being honest with yourself is liberating.

Try something new. Give yourself a spiritual exam. Look inward and tell yourself what you see. When you come across the things you don't like, write them down one by one and find a way to resolve each one, one at a time! Find someone whom you respect and look up to and have them hold you accountable to the things you are resolving.

Maybe you need to lose weight. Maybe you need to stop a bad habit. Maybe you need to listen more. Maybe you need to be home more. Maybe you need help finding a way to "tell yourself the truth."