Better Days.

So I was just sitting here thinking (I know that's scary but hang on) about the song I just got done listening to, "Better Days" by the Goo Goo Dolls. I was thinking about when John Rzeznik (lead singer) is ask the question in the song as to what he wants this year and how his response to that was that we would have the chance to find "Better Days". He says that "he does not need boxes wrapped in strings or designer love and empty things, just the chance that maybe we'll find Better Days". He goes on to say that he wishes that "everyone was loved tonight and some how stop this endless fight for just the chance that maybe we'll find "Better Days". He continues to challenge his listeners to take these words and sing out loud cause everyone is forgiving now." And that in a nut shell is his idea of "Better Days".

So the more and more I listen to this song and think about what he is saying, I start buying in to it. I mean is the world ever going to be a completely peaceful place? I don't really think so, but should that stop us from going out of our way to forgive quickly and always give love a fighting chance? No, it should not stop us.

There is so much hate going on in the world today it's sickening. Whatever the case may be there is no excuse. I think about what Gandhi once said. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." There is a huge lack of love and a lot of hate in everything that exists today and it is starting to make the whole world blind and if it continues the way it is now things are just going to get worse and worse until the world is blind.

I know some of you reading this blog may not believe in what I'm about to talk about and that's okay, because I'm sure you have good reason with how the representatives of what I'm about to talk about have dropped the ball and dropped it bad. It's going to be a little bit of a bunny trail but I think it's needed to make the point.

You may have been hurt by these people (representatives) just as I have, and as hard as it is for me to move past the confusion and lies and lack of love, we must not turn away from the One that created love and then set the ultimate example of what it looks like to forgive quickly and to give love a fighting chance. This Man came on to this earth and was determined to change the world around Him one person at a time and the rest is history. He had made this world and everything in it and set the whole story up and all its elements and what happened? The people turned it into this fancy religion with all these rules on how to be a good God follower and totally lost sight of the Love. They turned it into a system with all their little formulas and rules and God allowed this to go on for some time. Then after He had had enough He decided to come on the scene and turn the whole thing upside down and throw away all the rules and formulas and all the hate He saw going on in the world that He had made, and became a personal Love offering and the greatest example of Love mankind has ever seen.

So here we are thousands of years later and guess what? As you already know, we have done it again. I know you might be thinking, "What in the heck does that have to do with all this "Better Days" and "Love" talk?! Well I believe it has everything to do with it. I believe that the Life of Jesus was and is the ultimate example of what Love and forgiveness looks like, and if we don't have a belief in Him and the love life he lived and still lives, then maybe it will keep us from really being able to forgive quickly and love unconditionally and have the chance for "Better Days".

I believe that God is the creator of everything, including Love and the ability to forgive. The hard thing is that why would we want to believe and have a relationship with God when it appears that His followers are some of the most judgmental unloving people on the planet? Why would we want to risk becoming "one of them"?

Well the good news is that we don't have to become "one of them". We don't have to start following a set of rules and start living out these pointless formulas that do nothing except give us a reason to be proud of ourselves and to look good in the sight of our fellow "Christians" or our pastor. What we do have to do is understand and believe that God is the author and creator of love and that His hearts desire is to have a love relationship with us, and the way that happens is for us to love every single person we come in contact with no matter who they are or what they've done, and by doing that and believing in God we are at that point in a love relationship with Him.

The reason I throw the "God card" on the table, and the reason I talk about all this is because without God, and without the life of Jesus, love and the ability to forgive would not exist. You may have some friends just as I do that don't even believe in God that are some of the most loving people you know. When you see that you may think that it would be pointless to have a relationship with God when you see and understand that you don't have to have a relationship with Him to show that love. If you think that, then you're right. You don't have to have a relationship with Him to forgive quickly and love unconditionally, but what you also have to understand is that God is still the one behind that love you may see in people that don't care about Him. And so it certainly does not mean we should not want a relationship with Him. It just means that we should want even more to have a relationship with Him. I mean just think that if we had that relationship with Him just how much more we could show that love and how much more it would shine out.

Well this is a very long blog and I could go on and on but I may lose you if I haven't already. It has just taken me a long time to understand that we can all have a relationship with God without all the religious bs, and I just wanted to share this with anyone that wants to read it. Just know this. Religion is a performance. It's all about saying "look at me, look at what I've done!!" It is not about what we do, it's not about what we write. I mean I could write a million blogs a year and they may even be true, but if I never get out in to this world and show unconditional love to everyone I come in contact with, then my life has amounted to nothing, nothing but a performance. A true authentic relationship with God is all about believing and having faith that God is who He says He is. When we can do that, and when we can start showing this unconditional love, when we can start practicing the words of MLK JR. when he says, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend". When we can do all that, then at that point I believe with all my heart that we will all start having and seeing "Better Days".

Thanks for reading,
SB