My Questions for Self-Reflection

 

My Questions for Self-Reflection

Below are some questions (and thoughts) that I’ve needed to work through over the last several years, weeks, months, and days. Sure, I have an agenda in posting them, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t legitimately needed to answer them for myself. I really have wrestled with the issues each question raises. Read on if you dare.

Which is better? To feed the poor or to cry about handouts?

Does Bruce Hornsby’s song, The Way It Is still move me? (For others, have you heard it? Here’s a YouTube link: The Way It Is )

If someone needs a hand up, shouldn’t I give it? What if that person has a different skin color? What if they’re an indigenous person living on a reservation? What if that person has a different faith?...a different orientation?...a different political stance? What are the limits of my willingness to help others?

Does my definition of “neighbor” match Jesus’ definition?

Which is more beneficial? To scatter the homeless like cockroaches or to address the issues that have made them homeless? To push them here and there or to help them recover a sense of self-worth and self-esteem? To help them get up or to shove them down and hide them away? Is there another way?

Which is more compassionate? To leave those with mental health issues to fend for themselves or to ensure they have the care they need?

Which is better for our society? To leave the addicted to wallow in their addictions or to take proactive action to give them the healing they can’t get for themselves?

Which constitutional amendment is more important? The 1^st? The 2^nd? The 5^th? The 14^th? The 22^rd? Which guarantee of freedom am I willing to sacrifice for everyone else so that I can get my own way?

What if all the billionaires took some time away from piling up their wealth long enough to pool their resources and fund solutions for the weakest and most vulnerable among us?

I’m not a billionaire, but am I willing to have some skin in the solutions game?

Which do I value more? Power or compassion?

What good is it to gain the wealth and power of the whole world only to lose the very essence of being a human being?

Why does our society let insurance companies dictate medical care?

Even if that guy holding the sign at the intersection is running a hand-out scam, how low does a person have to fall in order to think that begging in traffic is the best use of their talents?...the best way to make a living? Can I still find some compassion in my heart for them despite their deception?

Maybe I should send a supply of WWJD bracelets to the President, to the congressional leaders, to the ICE agents, and to each of the various federal departmental secretaries. Would Jesus cut medical funding for the elderly, the poor, the struggling? Would Jesus send those people back to Haiti to be killed by the ruthless gangs that have overrun the country? To Mexico to be beheaded by the local drug cartel? Would Jesus burn the food supplies that were halted when USAID was shuttered instead of sending it on to the starving children in Africa? Would Jesus have nothing to say about the starving people of Gaza? What would Jesus do? What should I do at this point?

How could I claim to be a Christian if my political ideals were more important to me than loving my neighbor, feeding the hungry, clothing those who need clothes, and caring for the sick? Isn’t that a functional oxymoron?

How corrupt would my favorite politician need to be before I stopped believing everything he or she said? How many pardoned fraudsters? How many conflicts of interest? How many lies?

At what point does it become okay for me to turn a blind eye to human suffering?

What would it take for me to harden my heart to the pain being inflicted on people who are just trying to find a better life for themselves and their families?

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.” –The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America – Am I still committed to this? (Are you?)

For all of you who’ve read through my questions of self-reflection...

Which of the above questions gave you pause?

Which one is your favorite?

Which made you mad?

Are you mad at me for asking the questions, or are you mad because they made you uncomfortable?

My reflections are ongoing and I’m still in a state of transformation. Are you willing to do some self-reflection of your own, do you have the guts? Or are you going to harden your heart?

Did you even read this far? Let me know if you did.

The Tender Kiss of Hope (A Poem)

 

The Tender Kiss of Hope

By Michael DeCamp

 

Hope is…

the dawn sun peeking into the eastern sky,

the view from a rocky mountain ridge,

an ocean breeze on a moonlit night,

and ears to hear.

Hope is…

crocuses appearing in the springtime,

sunflowers waving in the wind,

wildflowers in a meadow,

and a shoulder for tears.

Hope is...

fresh apple pie á la mode,

iced tea on a hot afternoon,

a glass of wine with soft music,

and a warm, lingering embrace.

Hope is…

fallen leaves swirling in the street,

the wee hours of Christmas morning,

icicles dripping in the sun,

and my lover’s tender kiss.

Pop the Delusional Bubble

 Pop the Delusional Bubble

I have a great niece that I often frustrate with one simple question. “When does two plus two equal two?” These days, we’ve been through it so many times that she just looks at me with a sneer, but in the earlier days, she’d fight me. “It can’t,” she’d say. “Two plus two equals four!” Then I’d point out that if I have two brown socks and two blue socks, I have both four socks and two pair of socks. Two plus two can equal two. Both can be true at the same time.

Then there’s the old white/gold or blue/black dress thing. Some people perceive it one way and others perceive it another depending on lighting and how your brain interprets the information it receives from the light receptors in your eyes. People will almost go to blows over which perception is correct, which one is true.

Truth has become a touchy concept. Sometimes we can even convince ourselves of the truthfulness of something we know is a lie. I remember once being so adamant in telling someone that I didn’t do something they said I did that I had to remind myself later that I had actually done it. My denial was a lie, but I’d even convinced my own 8^th grade brain, briefly, that I was telling the truth. (I’ll admit it today. Yes, Irene, I did leave the necklace as a Christmas gift for your granddaughter on your porch.)

These days, we all find ourselves in an age where the truth as a concept is on the endangered species list. AI, deep fakes, political spinning, conspiracy theories, and plain old lying is everywhere. It seems prevalent in the world of internet media that if the facts don’t fit the narrative they prefer, it’s perfectly fine for them to make up a new set of facts to present instead, passing them off as reality with such vigor that they even begin to believe their own lies.

To say that I never lie would be a lie in and of itself. That said, I don’t make it a habit. I’m not very good at it anyway. I have just enough obsessive compulsiveness in me that being untruthful will eat at my mind. In general, I tell the truth, or I just don’t say anything at all. But that doesn’t always work, because I’m not great at keeping my failures to myself either. To illustrate this, I’ll use the restaurant “Hooters” as an example. Obviously, the name carries a double meaning, so my wife gave me a strong message that I didn’t need to be frequenting a restaurant that projects that image. So I don’t go there. If I went, my conscience would make me fess up later, so I don’t go. If I stay out of that establishment, I don’t have to lie and I don’t have to worry about fessing up. My conscience stays clear.

“You can’t handle the truth!” This is the iconic line delivered by Jack Nickolson’s character in the movie A Few Good Men. As I look around at the world today, I think we better reflect something like “you can’t decipher the truth!” The right wing says they have it. The left wing says they’re lying. Back and forth it goes. Who’s telling the truth about anything? How do you figure it out? Am I in an echo chamber or are you in an echo chamber? Are we both in different echo chambers and the truth is something else entirely?

Which group is not telling the truth? The Republicans or the Democrats? I’ll go back to my opening paragraph. The answer is yes, both. The truth is that both parties have guilty hands (or tongues) when it comes to operating apart from honesty on any number of issues. I wish I could say with a clear conscience that the Democrats were the bastions of verifiable truth, but I’d have to admit my lie, and as I explained, I’d rather avoid needing to admit that failure on my part.

However, the Republicans are the party in power right now. And they are not the same party as the one who elected the Bushes or Ronald Reagan, whether you like those guys or not. This new Republican party seems to have completely unhinged itself from the fidelity of even a hint of honesty. The lies flow daily, constantly. From excuses for unfair firings to cover-ups for deals made behind closed doors; from reasons for pardoning fraudulent felons, to blame games for the consequences of bungled decisions. I turn on the news in the evening to catch this administration’s current list of lies.

And people buy into the lies. That’s the truly frustrating part.

They hear what they want to hear, so they fall in line with the deceptive narrative.

I watched with my own two eyes on live TV as hundreds of people waving various flags and wearing MAGA hats (and some wearing combat gear) overran the capitol police and stormed the capitol building on January 6^th, 2021. Yet, others will tell you that it was just a peaceful protest. Nothing to see. No one was doing anything wrong. Those people breaking windows and beating cops are actually the victims.

President Trump and his team claimed (and still claim) that despite the Republicans being the party in power, and despite the government not being able to even deliver the mail efficiently anymore, somehow the party out-of-power, the Democrats, orchestrated (across party lines, mind you) the largest and most widespread conspiracy ever successfully carried out in order to steal the 2020 election. Say it long enough, say it loud enough, and people will believe anything. I’m pretty sure that space aliens and some sasquatches were also in on it.

All that said, I think the thing that gets me the most are the people who should know better. People who should be anchored to honesty. People for whom lying is a sin. Or people who work in industries that rely on the integrity of systems, both private and public. People who have bought into the deceptions despite a previous dedication to truth. People who have convinced themselves of the truthfulness of the lies. I just don’t understand it.

Maybe it comes down to whether people actually love the truth.

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie ¹² and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

2 Thessalonians 2:10b-12

This bible passage is referring to something occurring in the early church, not specifically today’s scenario. However, I think the concept is the same. I think many in our nation have fallen under a powerful delusion. Unless we can reawaken a love for truth, I think our future as a nation is in question. This delusion is putting us all in jeopardy.

Still, maybe I’m the one in the echo chamber. Maybe I’m the one under the delusion. If you strongly disagree with my last few paragraphs, I’m sure that’s what you think. So, let’s all check ourselves. Let’s all take a hard inward look. Do I love the truth? Am I willing to check sources? Am I willing to dig a little deeper before I believe and repost that politically-charged meme? Am I willing to listen to a variety of news sources? Do I examine the journalistic guardrails that any of my new sources have in place? Do the words of the Secretary of You-Name-It match what he or she said previously? How about the President? Do his current explanations match his previous statements?

We can still sort this all out. All is not yet lost. But, I think we all need to make a commitment to the truth. No more spins. No more slants. No more deep fakes. It’s not just about politics anymore. It’s about whether we genuinely care about truth enough to pop the bubble of the delusion enveloping our country.

My thoughts for the day. 

Whispered Words

Some people think I’m a very religious man. I suppose they’re right. There’s really no honest way to deny it, but I hope I’m more than just religious. In today’s terms, being religious carries a negative connotation. I don’t want to be that stereotype. Some have (secretly) looked down on me because of my faith. Others put too much stock in my devotion to God. I’m really just a regular guy with faults and failures like everyone else. Sometimes, in the past (I hope), I’ve come across as rather religiously obnoxious. My apologies. It’s something I’m trying to change.

My family wasn’t a religious family. We didn’t go to church. In fact, we were mostly the opposite of religious. Can you say “dysfunctional”? However, there was one thing that happened that changed everything for me. Read on…

When I was two or three years old, my dad directly impacted the course of my life. He didn’t know that was what he was doing. He was just being a dad, telling his young (and only) son something he thought he should know. A little parental insight at the close of another day.

It was nighttime. Bedtime. I was lying on his hairy chest, resting my head over his heart.

“Mike, the most important thing you can ever do in life is please God.”

I’ve told this story many times over the years. It made the greatest of impressions on my young mind. It pointed me in a direction that I’ve tried to follow ever since, sometimes well and sometimes not so well. It’s something I’ve always tried to live up to; something I’m still trying to live up to. I’m a work in progress, as they say.

At some point though, my brain changed the message slightly:

“Mike, the most important thing you can ever do in life is love God.”

I was shocked when I discovered that my old brain had made this change. Recently, I was looking through some old papers as my wife and I sorted through stuff during a move to a new home. I came across a paper where I’d previously documented the story. It said, “please God” rather than “love God.” Huh. Why did I change it? When did I change it? It was perplexing. Which version is truly accurate? After all, I was three years old at most when I first heard the words. Maybe my first documentation was off, and my subconscious mind fixed it. Who knows?

Then again, does it really matter?

Aren’t they the same thing? Is there a difference between loving God and pleasing God? Can you love God without pleasing him? Can you please God without loving him?

I think the meanings are close, similar, but there is a difference. I think that difference is subtle but important. Maybe not so subtle when you dig into it.

You can love God but be off-base in how you understand him and his expectations, as well as how you express it. Your subsequent lifestyle would end up being displeasing to him. Your attitudes and actions cause him pain. This would be like loving a person (spouse, child, parent) on an emotional level but then being hurtful to them in how to act within the relationship—ignoring, berating, cheating, disrespecting. Specifically, this person would claim to love God but have a lifestyle hurtful to those that God loves—his neighbors, friends, family, others in his life. Or her life. This is a gender-neutral issue.

On the other hand, I think you can please God with your life without really loving him specifically. You do the right things without a bond with the Creator. It would be akin to Romans 2:14 -- ¹⁴ (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) You’re doing the right things. Treating others the right way. You’re loving your neighbor, being fair in your dealings, taking care of the needy—all without any respect or knowledge of God the Father. He finds your lifestyle pleasing but he’s missing that bond that comes with love for Him.

You know what I think really lights God’s fire, though? I think it’s when you combine the two greatest commandments into one giant, magnificent, over-arching approach to life. You love God AND you love your neighbor!

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

When you love (agape*) God and you love (agape*) your neighbor, you’re combining the two ends of a spiritual rope into one infinite circle that pleases God and loves God in a way that shines through your life and gives light to the world around you. In essence, loving God becomes co-equal with how you treat your neighbor; they become the same thing—one unified way of life.

In our terms, you can love God without pleasing him and you can please God without loving him. However, if you wrap up the two greatest commandments into one interconnected package, you will also find that loving God and pleasing God becomes one and the same thing. Jesus confirms this perspective in his “Sheep & Goats” message in Matthew 25. Check it out.

So, as you read my various ramblings and postings or listen to my LOVEmentalism Podcast, this is who I am endeavoring to be. At the end of the day, this is the motivation for the things I write and the things I say in my blog and on social media. This is who I want to be, not yet having truly arrived. That’s it. I have no other agenda. It’s not political; not Republican or Democrat, not MAGA or Left-wing. I’m just trying to live up to those words my Dad whispered in my ear so many years ago. I’m simply trying to love/please God with my life and invite you to join me on the journey.

* Agape (ah-gah-pey) – A biblical Greek word translated to “love” in English but that carries an active and action-centric, others-focused, unselfish or self-denying connotation in the heart of its meaning.

Times with Tim

 

Times with Tim

By Michael DeCamp

 

“Do you need a ride home?”

My friend, Tim said

As he rolled slowly past me in his car

I was walking home from school

“Yeah,” I replied

“That’d be great!”

Then, I saw the gleam

The start of laughter in the bright of his eyes

“Piss in your shoes,” he said

“Then you can float all the way there!”

Laughter

Hysterical laughter

All at my expense

I could hear him as he drove away

Leaving me in the street

*

He's my friend

From childhood

I’ve known him my whole life

*

“Help me with my work”

He said another day

“Then we can go have fun”

“Okay,” I replied

“Sounds like a plan”

“You do this,” he said “And I’ll do that”

Cleaning horse stalls

I started my task, he started his

Then, laughter again as an engine revved

My back was turned, his foot slipped

I noticed and dove from his path

The tractor hit the stall as I crawled from the barn

“Don’t tell or I’ll get fired”

I limped for weeks so he’d get paid

*

He's my friend

From childhood

I’ve known him my whole life

*

Baseball and football in his grandparents’ field

Army and tag in their yard

Wiffleball in mine

Down the alley to Cantrell’s for pop

Hanging out on the porch

Tromping in the woods behind his house

It was so much fun

Then, “Piss in your shoes and float home”

Dodging a tractor and crawling for my life

I miss those times with Tim

Long time, no see

I hope you’re doing all right.

*

Despite it all, he is my friend

From childhood

I’ve known him my whole life

We the People....

 

WE THE PEOPLE…

Please hear me out.

I’ve often been seeing these three words over the last few years. Usually on stickers on the bumpers of pickup trucks, in the rear windows of minivans, and splattered across social media posts. “We the people are going to take our country back.” “We the people are coming for you.” I wonder, though, how many of the folks who are pasting those words to their personal property actually know where the little phrase comes from.

It comes from the United States Constitution.

When was the last time you read the Constitution? It’s been a long time for me. You see, after all these years, I think we’ve begun to take it for granted. We know we have rights, but we’ve forgotten what locks them in for us. The United States Constitution.

·       Freedom to say what you want? –1^st Amendment of the United States Constitution

·       Freedom to own a gun? –2^nd Amendment of the United States Constitution

·       Freedom to worship as you wish? –1^st Amendment of the United States Constitution

·       Want to “plead the fifth”? –5^th Amendment of the United States Constitution

·       Being born in Indiana or Wisconsin or Utah or any other state or US territory guarantees that you’re a US citizen? –14^th Amendment of the United States Constitution

·       You can’t be arrested and transported to a dungeon without anyone knowing what happened to you? –5^th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

I could go on. The right for women to vote? Constitution. The right for people of color to vote? Constitution. The right of a free and unencumbered press to report the news? Constitution.

Everything we have a right to do hinges on the dedication of our government to fully respect our constitution. If that begins to break down, then we are headed headlong toward widespread infringement of our fundamental rights. ALL OF US. We the people. All the people.

Here’s the extended version of the “We the people” phrase…

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” The Preamble of the United States Constitution.

Just so you all know, those three words (We the people) don’t ONLY apply to the percentage of folks on the right side of the political spectrum who identify as MAGA patriots. Rather, it applies to all citizens of the USA, and some portions of the overall document extend beyond citizens to other folks (persons) who are “within the U.S. jurisdiction.” The overall document was written to guarantee all of us—right, left, and middle—certain rights and protect us against assaults on those rights.

You may love Donald Trump, or you may detest Donald Trump. Or, maybe you’re just trying to keep your head down, hanging onto your sanity with a white-knuckled grip. Regardless of where each of us stand, we ALL need to be dedicated first to maintaining the integrity of the Constitution.

On day one of the new DJT administration, our new President signed an executive order that specifically attacked the 14^th Amendment, attempting to breakdown the guaranteed right of citizenship by being born in our country. He did that within hours of swearing to “uphold and protect” the very document. Since then, he’s worked to restrict portions of the press that he doesn’t like—a deviation from the 1^st Amendment, he’s hinted at finding a way to have a third term—a violation of the 22^nd Amendment, and he’s arrested and deported people—putting them into a foreign prison—without any due process—a violation of the 5^th Amendment. On that last point, the 5^th Amendment guarantees “due process” to all persons, not just to citizens.

Here is the wording of the 5^th Amendment:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 5^th Amendment of the United States Constitution

Church members and gang members alike are guaranteed due process under the law. The burden is on the government to prove their accusations, not just simply announce guilt without due process. If Kilmar Abrego Garcia is really a violent member of the MS-13 gang as the government is stating rather than the loving father and member of a working-class union as everyone who knows him is saying, fine. Go ahead and deport him. AFTER you prove it in court. He has the right to due process.

Our government doesn’t have the right to just “disappear” someone they don’t like—citizen or non-citizen. That’s fundamental.

Either we’re all in on the US Constitution or it’s a dead document and we’re all screwed.

If you’ve been screaming for years about infringements of the 2^nd Amendment, you should be just as horrified at the attacks on the 1^st, 5^th, 14^th, and 22^nd Amendments.

If one right can be ignored, they can all be ignored. If due process can be denied one person, it can be denied for all persons. If one portion of the Constitution can be broken, it is all is broken.

We the people…. Right now, depending on your political perspective, the wind may be blowing your way. Good for you. One day, however, the winds may change. If we let the Constitution fall, what will protect you then? Maybe you’ll just disappear into an El Salvadorian prison.

“We the People….” That’s all of us, right?

If the Shoe Fits...

 

Last fall, just before the 2024 election, I wrote a Facebook post that got me into a bit of hot water with a number of my “friends.” I put friends in quotation marks because I think there is a distinct difference between being real friends and being Facebook friends. Regardless, a number of these Facebook friends that took issue with me were honest-to-goodness old friends from before Facebook existed, and even some family. A few supported me but the loudest responses came from those who strongly disagreed with me. Some of those disagreements went even further and became personally hurtful.

What was my crime? What horrible thing did I say?

I simply stated that I would not vote for Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president, because I felt he was disqualified in light of his response to the January 6^th, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol Building. Further, I mentioned that some viewed it as a religious obligation to vote for the Republican candidate, and I stated that that was just not the case.

Here are my actual words from the post regarding the religious pressure:

“Now, a note to my Christian friends. Don’t let anyone tell you that voting for Donald Trump has anything to do with your faith or your salvation. It doesn’t—either way. The evangelical right likes to point to the Bible to coerce you to vote their way, but you need to know that Jesus was neither a Republican nor a Democrat. The more liberal-leaning left can sometimes do something similar. In fact, both sides can make compelling arguments, but you must decide for yourself despite their noise. Just don’t let someone twist your arm to make you vote for someone out of religious fear.

My decision this time around: Kamala Harris.”

Almost immediately, the reactions from my Christian friends started burning up the comment boxes. Some were the ones I expected. Normal disagreements and the ones making their case for why it was the right Christian thing to do to vote for DJT. Others were more personal though, like the one from a long-time friend from my teen years in youth group who told me I was going to have to answer to God for voting against everything he stands for.

Here are her actual words: “Yes, Mike you will stand before GOD an answer that you no longer believed in his word with a vote for a person who stands against everything that GOD says in his word!!”

This one stung because of who it was, but still… Because of this vote, I “no longer believed in his word” and this person (Kamala Harris) stands against EVERYTHING that God says in his word? Really? Everything? I’m still standing pretty strong on the “Love your Neighbor,” “Love your Enemies,” “Love One Another” parts, I think. I’m really wanting to dig deeper and do more to fulfill what Jesus expects from Matthew 25 for how we treat the “least of these.” Seems to me that Jesus made caring for the needs of others a bigger deal than how I voted in the Presidential Election of 2024. As for Harris, well, her moral, ethical, and faith background look pretty stellar when compared to the same factors on the Republican side. She’s not perfect. No one is. There are some negatives. But, “everything”? Please.

Two other people have told me in two different responses, one text and the other a different Facebook interaction, that they didn’t like that I tended to “call out” other Christians in my posts. That’s made me go “hmm” for the last three or four months as I considered those accusations.

In general, I’ve not attacked other Christians because of their choice of Donald Trump. It did make me sad, but for the most part, I’ve held my tongue. I’ve only pushed back when some of them have tried to make it a moral imperative for other Christians to vote a certain way. What I have done over the last few years is perhaps annoyingly harp on the need to focus on loving God and loving others as THE primary focus of the Christian life. If that makes some feel like I’m calling them out, then check to see if the shoe fits. It might be a Proverbs 28:1 thing: “The wicked flee though no one pursues,…”

The church doesn’t need control. It needs to love.

The church doesn’t need political power. It needs to love.

The church doesn’t need a list of moral rules. It needs to love.

The church doesn’t need to enforce it’s own set of values on the world. It needs to love.

If you’re focused on loving your neighbor, you won’t…

·       Steal anything

·       Insult or denigrate anyone

·       Sexually use or abuse anyone

·       Lie to gain any kind of personal advantage

·       Leave them hurting, hungry, or helpless

Basically, everything that is sin is the antithesis of love. The solution is to love and to teach others to love. Then the problem of sin will take care of itself.

If you’re focused on loving your neighbor, you will…

·       Help them get what they need

·       Feed them when they’re hungry

·       Care for them when they’re sick

·       Hold them when they’re hurting

·       Stand up for them when they need support

Love drives us to do good to others.

My struggle is that I don’t see the modern church (yes, I know there are exceptions) focused on this. Rather, I see it pursuing control, political power, and the imposing of moral codes. This is short-sighted and out-of-step with the teachings of Christ.

I’m going to close out this blog post with a rewording of a portion of Matthew 25 so that it reflects how many modern Christians seem to expect Christ to address them on the last day.

Here goes:

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you left food supplies to rot on shipping docks, I was thirsty and you let factories poison my water supply, I was a stranger and you deported me, I needed clothes and you fired me, I was sick and you made it harder to get medicine, I was in prison and you made me disappear.”

Yes, now I am calling you out. If the shoe fits, my friends, if the shoe fits…

The Sting Lingers

 

The Sting Lingers

Michael DeCamp

3/27/2025

 

Truth is a fickle thing

It is what it is, you would think

Two plus two equals four

The sky is blue

The leaves are green

Facts are facts

Until they’re not

Except they still are

Even if disguised

Even if denied

*

They made up a new syndrome

To explain my condition

My immunity to delusions

It has a name.

It comes with a sneer

A roll of the eyes

With a sense of superiority

In my clear-eyed vision

I see the deception

The lies that cloud their minds

*

They can’t see it, though

Or maybe they refuse to see it

Lies on lies, covering up lies

They see what they want to see

Hear what they want to hear

Cheer, cheer, cheer

Blinders on, ears plugged

Can even the stink get through?

The odor of pigsty powerplays?

Seems not

*

Long-time friends condemn me

Loved family won’t listen

Once I was respected,

Once my words carried weight,

Now, I’m ignored, brushed aside

Replaced by a felon

I’m relegated to the heap,

The pit where “libtards” have no voice

A place were “Rinos” go to die

But I’m still here, discerning the truth

*

The innocent are made guilty

And disappear

Food is left to rot

While the hungry starve

Medicine is withheld

Sick babies die

“Don’t look over here…”

“Look over there…”

Distractions and sleight of hand

Magicians with all the money

*

Who’s worse?

The perpetrators?

Or those refusing to see?

Those who hold their tongue?

Or those who wag it like a rag in the wind?

Some say I’m a hypocrite

Because I didn’t speak before

Maybe I’m only late to the party

Because I thought you had more sense

Maybe I gave you credit you didn’t deserve

*

You think I’m wrong?

That’s fine.

But did you even listen?

Did you even consider?

Did you think about what I wrote?

Did you actually read it?

Or did you just roll your eyes?

“There he goes again!”

Just so you know

Your words sting

*

Your words sting

And we may never be the same again

Not because I hate you

Not because I don’t love you

It’s the sting

It lingers

Not because you hate me

Not because you don’t love me

Rather, the stinger went inside

It stung me in the heart