“In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.”
—Michael Jackson.
I recall a friend recently mention the worldly family’s proclivity in raising cynical, sarcastic children, and I agree, this seems to be the sharpest difference between the child brought up in a spiritual environment and one not. This is an easy thing to observe.
Cynicism and sarcasm, though they feel cool, are a trick of thinking. The dominant thought when we engage in them is we think we’re smarter than others, smarter even than God. It’s the chief blight on humankind that we’re like this. It’s so entrapping—a curse over our being.
If anyone knew the harshest side to this cynicism and sarcasm it would have been Michael Jackson. Indeed, there would scarcely have been more belligerent divergence between people’s responses of love and hate than toward the King of Pop.
The only way anyone can resist the worldly push toward this terrible God-forsaken phenomenon is to embrace a purity of mind and a love-giving heart, repelling every instinct toward it.
The quote of Jackson’s at top expresses this desire; to resist the prevailing “easy” way to go and go on beyond that, to hope and not hate; to comfort, not falling instead for selfish rage; to dream beyond the despair—and finally to choose to believe rather than go the selfish “safe” way of distrusting all.
The unbelief of the world is shocking and it’s right after the prince of this world himself. Satan swims in lies and innuendo and simply loves it when we do too. He’s not interested in whether we believe in God or not. He just wants to interrupt the flow and cause the subtlest division.
Cynicism and sarcasm are two of his favourite weapons which he foists joyously and sadistically between the spokes of our wheels of faith sending us over our moral handlebars and flat on our backs. They undermine, confuse and condemn—they betray truth point blank.
And we ought to be ever watchful. Whenever we fall for cynicism and sarcasm—and we all do—we fall right into a deceptive pit, and this is a place we’d never personally want to be caught in, within touch of the sight of God.
We think we can get away with it when we engage. It’s a trick. It’s an ethical and moral trick of justice. Let us remember there is One who sees all.
The fear of the Lord helps us.
© S. J. Wickham, 2009.
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