The Blog Redesign

After work tonight the Goose and I went to the Bee Movie.

In that movie there was a point where Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) is about to be killed by Ken (Patrick Warburton) but is saved by Vanessa Bloom (Rene Zellwegger) who then says something along the lines of, "Why does his life have any less value than yours?"

Now, as stupid as that concept is...and yes, I am fully aware I just offended millions of "animal rights" activists...but that is okay, because the concept that an animal is of equal importance to a human offends me....as stupid as that concept is, the line did get me to thinking a bit about some other things, and the value of life overall is one of those things.

On the way home we lost contact (we drove separately today due to scheduling conflicts) and for whatever bizarre reason, I had the thought that if something horrible happened and she were in a wreck, I would be absolutely crushed.

Then I started compartmentalizing the way I would feel if various people were involved in crashes or just naturally lost their life through age, disease, etc. And I really started thinking about my priorities.

So as I thought about them, this post began to "organically" develop. Because I do have priorities that I think are fairly unusual.

I guess the first priority of all for me would be the eternal destination of the Goose. No offense meant to my family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or anyone else, but THE most important person in my life, bar none, is my wife. And her eternal destination is of paramount importance to me.

Obviously, for anyone new to reading my ramblings, I believe in God, in Heaven and Hell and an eternity spent in one place or the other. And it is very important to me that whatever else I do, my actions are consistent with helping her achieve Heaven.

My second priority then would be the eternal destination of my family...from Dad through my siblings, out to my nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, grand-parents, in-laws, and so forth.

My third priority would be the eternal destination of my friends, both close and those with whom I have drifted apart.

My fourth priority then would be my own relationship with God and my eternal destination.

Following these things would come the "happiness" factor for people in almost the same order, with the added step of people around me just ahead of my own. I know how that sounds but the truth is the happiness of others IS and long has been more important to me than my own.

Somewhere down the list comes financial success. There are a lot of things I would LIKE to do, but none that I feel I NEED to do that are not accomplished by the first set of priorities.

Now, as I look at that set of priorities, it becomes an open question whether my actions fit my priorities. And I have come to the grim, inescapable conclusion that many times...they do not.

So effective immediately, the focus of this blog will change markedly. Oh, you will still see little bits on history, little comedic takes on the news, etc., but you will also see occasional pieces on Scripture and theology. And hopefully you will see changes elsewhere in my life too.

Because if I want the people I know and care about to know and care about God then I need to take a leading role in making sure the information is available to them.

Now, anyone that knows me will realize I will still say a lot of controversial stuff...I will still hold "hard line" positions that Christianity and the military do not mix (how can you "love your neighbor" while trying to kill them? How can you "be at peace with all men" while aiming your weapon at them?), that abortion is murder, that wanton destruction of the world we are set to be stewards of is wrong, but so is refusing to use the resources God gave us...

But for the most part I will be taking a bit from the passage I read that day and making comments on it that struck me for whatever reason.

Patience and comments are, as always, appreciated.