Sacrifice...
A whole year? Really!? Wow, who would've thought I could go that long without Blogger.com deleting this stagnating thread? I'm glad they didn't toss my posts... my attitude towards life and everything else has changed and grown over the last 5 years. If I lost the record of it, I wouldn't see the change as sharply. Anyway, I'm glad to update you today blog, since I have great news.
For the last year we've seen nearly everything change. The economy, wars, leaders, even our culture have experienced drastic shifts. For many of us, what lies in the near future, makes us apprehensive at best. A growing sense of mistrust sits in our gut, waiting for the hammer to fall. Most of us are hard-working, independent types who know the value of looking out for family, self, and one another. I say most because until this year, I would not have considered myself hard-working. Sure, I've accomplished much in school and abroad... but my attitude was that of folk my age... "What's in it for me?" Entitlement is the word the pundits on the TV assigned to the phenomenon. And I will confess... I am guilty of entitlement.
Why have many people developed this tumor of selfishness? Is this anything new or is it a theme of the fall of humanity? I'd say it's both. I won't attempt to defend the disposition at all, but maybe an analysis of why we are suddenly overwhelmed with a "me" sentiment is in order. What does it mean for the future? How can we change? And with a few speculations of my own, perhaps the few who really see the problem can do something about our "Entitlement".
It seems to be a new issue, but I know better. Selfishness is the original sin after all. We've carried it since the dawn of mankind and it has wrecked everything we have ever done on our own. So why does it feel like a new problem now? Are we really being selfish, or are we genuinely entitled to something better? For ages man has tried to improve his condition, make work easier and remove obstacles. To our credit we've made great strides, the overwhelming number of them have occurred in the last century... most in the last 30 years. How does working hard to improve our circumstances make us selfish? In itself, it doesn't... but we've reached a tipping point of comfort. Waiting in uncomfortable circumstances has become a non-option. The routine of instant results has trained us to expect them in every facet. In a time when literally everything is a few clicks of the index finger away, why wouldn't we expect more? I see it all the time in the hospital. A patient will refuse to see that the best solution to his problems is long-term lifestyle change. Instead he seeks the instant, easy to swallow pill because... well, it's easier.
I've brought all of this up today because I see it as the root problem in our culture... and I've had a change of heart. In this last year of no job, and what seemed no clear purpose, I've craved work. Any work... I cleared brush and trees in Ireland just for food in return and it was the most satisfying experience I have had in a long while. The effort made me grateful. And for the first time in a long time, I was willing to do anything just to give back. God rewarded me with a task I would have scoffed at a year ago. This last March I got a residency in Family Medicine. I am grateful. It isn't what I would have chosen, but that's exactly my point... if it's not what I want, but I still work hard to give back to my people, then it is worth so much more. Sacrifice for others is the definition of love. And that, my friends, is not easy.
My generation has forgotten these lessons, or was never taught in the first place, but God will teach us again with the difficult times ahead. They are coming. My hope is that our record, the history of my age, will not say we were a selfish generation, but that we repented and humbled ourselves to the difficult work God gives us.
Keep the fight.
For the last year we've seen nearly everything change. The economy, wars, leaders, even our culture have experienced drastic shifts. For many of us, what lies in the near future, makes us apprehensive at best. A growing sense of mistrust sits in our gut, waiting for the hammer to fall. Most of us are hard-working, independent types who know the value of looking out for family, self, and one another. I say most because until this year, I would not have considered myself hard-working. Sure, I've accomplished much in school and abroad... but my attitude was that of folk my age... "What's in it for me?" Entitlement is the word the pundits on the TV assigned to the phenomenon. And I will confess... I am guilty of entitlement.Why have many people developed this tumor of selfishness? Is this anything new or is it a theme of the fall of humanity? I'd say it's both. I won't attempt to defend the disposition at all, but maybe an analysis of why we are suddenly overwhelmed with a "me" sentiment is in order. What does it mean for the future? How can we change? And with a few speculations of my own, perhaps the few who really see the problem can do something about our "Entitlement".
It seems to be a new issue, but I know better. Selfishness is the original sin after all. We've carried it since the dawn of mankind and it has wrecked everything we have ever done on our own. So why does it feel like a new problem now? Are we really being selfish, or are we genuinely entitled to something better? For ages man has tried to improve his condition, make work easier and remove obstacles. To our credit we've made great strides, the overwhelming number of them have occurred in the last century... most in the last 30 years. How does working hard to improve our circumstances make us selfish? In itself, it doesn't... but we've reached a tipping point of comfort. Waiting in uncomfortable circumstances has become a non-option. The routine of instant results has trained us to expect them in every facet. In a time when literally everything is a few clicks of the index finger away, why wouldn't we expect more? I see it all the time in the hospital. A patient will refuse to see that the best solution to his problems is long-term lifestyle change. Instead he seeks the instant, easy to swallow pill because... well, it's easier.
I've brought all of this up today because I see it as the root problem in our culture... and I've had a change of heart. In this last year of no job, and what seemed no clear purpose, I've craved work. Any work... I cleared brush and trees in Ireland just for food in return and it was the most satisfying experience I have had in a long while. The effort made me grateful. And for the first time in a long time, I was willing to do anything just to give back. God rewarded me with a task I would have scoffed at a year ago. This last March I got a residency in Family Medicine. I am grateful. It isn't what I would have chosen, but that's exactly my point... if it's not what I want, but I still work hard to give back to my people, then it is worth so much more. Sacrifice for others is the definition of love. And that, my friends, is not easy.
My generation has forgotten these lessons, or was never taught in the first place, but God will teach us again with the difficult times ahead. They are coming. My hope is that our record, the history of my age, will not say we were a selfish generation, but that we repented and humbled ourselves to the difficult work God gives us.
Keep the fight.
posted by Medpilot at 10:52 PM
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