Everyone has pride about something. Proud to be an American. Proud to be a Cougar. Proud to be ______. Pride. Why must I be proud to be an American? I am not saying I am or am not. I more so am asking. Why? Why must I have pride in the school I go to? Pride in my last name or in the color of my skin? Or more so certian things I can have pride in, and yet others I can't. I cannot, or 'should' not have white pride. But I can have gay pride, heck we even get our own parade and weekend called "Pride". But straight people 'should' not have straight pride. This is the society in which we all live.
Us vs. Them.
I was told recently to be proud to be an American, but I thought to myself...Why? What is America. Land. I live on soil, my soil is no better than the soil in Africa. I went to Zambia, I walked on their land and yes, if you are wondering, it felt just like ours. Land. That is all this world is. But I need to have Pride in that land. Why? Because people fought for this land....which is just that, land. I am not bashing on Americans or those who were the founders of our nation. I simply do not understand that world in which we live. I guess it is more that I am not glad I live in the US more than Canada or somewhere else. I live here because this is where I was born, this is where my family is. If I had been born in Italy, I would be proud of that. Who are we to decide who gets to live on our land and who does not. Citizens? I did not choose to be born here, I lucked out, I don't have to take a bunch of tests and pay money and try and try and try again and again to be a citizen, I was just born here. I am one of the 300,000,000 something that was born in the U.S. But why does that make me more worthy of being a citizen? Because it does. Why do we have boundaries? Because we do. We divide land up like it is ours to divide, and then we say who can and cannot be on that land. But I did not create this land, did you? No. For some, evolution did and for others God did and for me, God did it through evolution or whatever other way He wanted to, because He can do that, He is God. But either way, I, nor you were a part of that. And yet we take pride in our land. Our land is our land, but a foot later and it's some other persons land. My "property". Odd isn't it. But I am proud to be an American, not because of the country or land it's self or because of the boundaries that hold this country, but instead because of the people. The people that I know who fight for the freedom we have, because of the hard work my grandfather put into this country in farming the land, and the fact that the people in this country change peoples lives all over the world by missions and charity, I do see those great things. That doesn't change that I don't understand why we have states and countries and what not.
"Gay Pride" I hear this all the time. Allena, why don't you have gay pride. Well because I didn't pick it, so I can't be proud of it. I'm not not proud of it..I'm just mute on the issue. It's just like my eye color, I'm not proud to have blue eyes...I just do. But I am proud, more so excited, to be a Christian. I choose that every day. I wake up and consciously decide to live my life by Him. I have to go against my very nature of lying and sin and choose Him, I am honored to do that. I am honored to be a Barnes, not because of the name, but because of how cool my sisters and parents are. The name is simply our way of announcing our coolness. Pride in baseball teams, football teams, college teams and so on and so on. Yes, I totally get that some of it is out of fun and play, of course I leave room for that. But still there is extreme pride. Pride. It will never go away, and yet, I think it sometimes should. We have pride in money and status, and yet once again, just like the land topic, none of this is ours. It is simple objects. Land will blow away in the sand, concrete will crumble when struck and money will burn. And yet we firmly build our lives off of these basic items. I am in awe of how much the world is against each other based on pride, money and competition.
At Hollister I couldn't work at Buckle because they were our competitor. It was a job. A teenage job. But you had to choose, Us or Them..HCo or Buckle. Cougar pride. You cannot wear a Husky jersey at WSU or the other way around, and yet really, all the the school is, is a place of learning. The USA is a place to live, Hollister is a place to shop and work, WSU is a place to learn. And yet all are places of competition and pride. I honestly could not tell you the exact reason behind this blog. I am more so just intrigued by it all.
Throw away your money, strip yourself of your status and clothes, leave behind your house, remove your name and show me what you have left.
You.
You have you. That is all that is there when all else is taken away. For some they are left with themselves and God, or who their God is. But all objects are gone, all things of this world leave and fade. That may be what I am trying to get at with this blog. Seeing that pride in our country, pride in schools or companies. All of it can be simple and fun, but look at the heart of the issue. I ask you to look deeper beyond what is comfortable and remove the mask from your eyes and hold strong to the fact that people are the same. No matter what land they were born on or live on, no matter if they are wearing cotton, silk or are naked and no matter the amount of money in the bank account. I am just like you. I have a mind and a body. We are not so different, you and I. And that person, you despise. You are not so different from them either. Keep that in mind when you carry your pride on your back, be conscious of the fact that you are equal to the enemy you have. Their sin, is as equal to your sin as yours is to mine. So, proud to be an American? Is that what we need, or is more..I am an American. I am gay. I am white. But I am proud to be equal. My world is not so different from yours, My passions may be a little different but none the less we are both humans. Tomorrow, when you see a homeless man, a prostitute or stripper, an immigrant, or a person who is just..different from you. Grab that pride from your back, the part of you who wants to judge them, the part that wants to be proud to not be them, and realize..there is someone who is starring at you thinking that exact same thing. They are proud to not be you. You are someones enemy. Someone is judging you. Someone is wealthier than you. And if you can get to the point where you realize this, that you are no better or worse than the prostitute you were judging and the person judging you is no worse or better than you, than you can understand the heart behind all of this. You can see that people are something to be passionate about, not something to judge. Life is not judged off of how much money or pride you had, but how much you loved and cared. Next time you go to a funeral. Better yet, go to a strangers funeral. And you will see that when you go, knowing nothing about this person, you will leave still not knowing how much is in their bank account, but you will know what kind of person they were, and what kind of impact they left behind based off of stories and the people they kept company with.
So I ask you this. When you die, what will your funeral be like? What stories will be told and what people will be there. What memories will be brought up? Will it be only about your success and pride, or will it be about the lives you changed, the moments you embraced and the people who you loved. What will your funeral, the last event of your life, be about?
Pride. How necessary is it really? Go a day without love, passion and a smile and you will feel the effects of it by the end of the day. Go a day without pride or status, and you will find that your day is still a beautiful day to be alive. I wish you all a stunning day. Take in the deepest breathe and feel the air in your lungs and know, you are alive. You are still an active part of this revolving world and you can impact it in so many ways, take pride in that.
Us vs. Them.
I was told recently to be proud to be an American, but I thought to myself...Why? What is America. Land. I live on soil, my soil is no better than the soil in Africa. I went to Zambia, I walked on their land and yes, if you are wondering, it felt just like ours. Land. That is all this world is. But I need to have Pride in that land. Why? Because people fought for this land....which is just that, land. I am not bashing on Americans or those who were the founders of our nation. I simply do not understand that world in which we live. I guess it is more that I am not glad I live in the US more than Canada or somewhere else. I live here because this is where I was born, this is where my family is. If I had been born in Italy, I would be proud of that. Who are we to decide who gets to live on our land and who does not. Citizens? I did not choose to be born here, I lucked out, I don't have to take a bunch of tests and pay money and try and try and try again and again to be a citizen, I was just born here. I am one of the 300,000,000 something that was born in the U.S. But why does that make me more worthy of being a citizen? Because it does. Why do we have boundaries? Because we do. We divide land up like it is ours to divide, and then we say who can and cannot be on that land. But I did not create this land, did you? No. For some, evolution did and for others God did and for me, God did it through evolution or whatever other way He wanted to, because He can do that, He is God. But either way, I, nor you were a part of that. And yet we take pride in our land. Our land is our land, but a foot later and it's some other persons land. My "property". Odd isn't it. But I am proud to be an American, not because of the country or land it's self or because of the boundaries that hold this country, but instead because of the people. The people that I know who fight for the freedom we have, because of the hard work my grandfather put into this country in farming the land, and the fact that the people in this country change peoples lives all over the world by missions and charity, I do see those great things. That doesn't change that I don't understand why we have states and countries and what not.
"Gay Pride" I hear this all the time. Allena, why don't you have gay pride. Well because I didn't pick it, so I can't be proud of it. I'm not not proud of it..I'm just mute on the issue. It's just like my eye color, I'm not proud to have blue eyes...I just do. But I am proud, more so excited, to be a Christian. I choose that every day. I wake up and consciously decide to live my life by Him. I have to go against my very nature of lying and sin and choose Him, I am honored to do that. I am honored to be a Barnes, not because of the name, but because of how cool my sisters and parents are. The name is simply our way of announcing our coolness. Pride in baseball teams, football teams, college teams and so on and so on. Yes, I totally get that some of it is out of fun and play, of course I leave room for that. But still there is extreme pride. Pride. It will never go away, and yet, I think it sometimes should. We have pride in money and status, and yet once again, just like the land topic, none of this is ours. It is simple objects. Land will blow away in the sand, concrete will crumble when struck and money will burn. And yet we firmly build our lives off of these basic items. I am in awe of how much the world is against each other based on pride, money and competition.
At Hollister I couldn't work at Buckle because they were our competitor. It was a job. A teenage job. But you had to choose, Us or Them..HCo or Buckle. Cougar pride. You cannot wear a Husky jersey at WSU or the other way around, and yet really, all the the school is, is a place of learning. The USA is a place to live, Hollister is a place to shop and work, WSU is a place to learn. And yet all are places of competition and pride. I honestly could not tell you the exact reason behind this blog. I am more so just intrigued by it all.
Throw away your money, strip yourself of your status and clothes, leave behind your house, remove your name and show me what you have left.
You.
You have you. That is all that is there when all else is taken away. For some they are left with themselves and God, or who their God is. But all objects are gone, all things of this world leave and fade. That may be what I am trying to get at with this blog. Seeing that pride in our country, pride in schools or companies. All of it can be simple and fun, but look at the heart of the issue. I ask you to look deeper beyond what is comfortable and remove the mask from your eyes and hold strong to the fact that people are the same. No matter what land they were born on or live on, no matter if they are wearing cotton, silk or are naked and no matter the amount of money in the bank account. I am just like you. I have a mind and a body. We are not so different, you and I. And that person, you despise. You are not so different from them either. Keep that in mind when you carry your pride on your back, be conscious of the fact that you are equal to the enemy you have. Their sin, is as equal to your sin as yours is to mine. So, proud to be an American? Is that what we need, or is more..I am an American. I am gay. I am white. But I am proud to be equal. My world is not so different from yours, My passions may be a little different but none the less we are both humans. Tomorrow, when you see a homeless man, a prostitute or stripper, an immigrant, or a person who is just..different from you. Grab that pride from your back, the part of you who wants to judge them, the part that wants to be proud to not be them, and realize..there is someone who is starring at you thinking that exact same thing. They are proud to not be you. You are someones enemy. Someone is judging you. Someone is wealthier than you. And if you can get to the point where you realize this, that you are no better or worse than the prostitute you were judging and the person judging you is no worse or better than you, than you can understand the heart behind all of this. You can see that people are something to be passionate about, not something to judge. Life is not judged off of how much money or pride you had, but how much you loved and cared. Next time you go to a funeral. Better yet, go to a strangers funeral. And you will see that when you go, knowing nothing about this person, you will leave still not knowing how much is in their bank account, but you will know what kind of person they were, and what kind of impact they left behind based off of stories and the people they kept company with.
So I ask you this. When you die, what will your funeral be like? What stories will be told and what people will be there. What memories will be brought up? Will it be only about your success and pride, or will it be about the lives you changed, the moments you embraced and the people who you loved. What will your funeral, the last event of your life, be about?
Pride. How necessary is it really? Go a day without love, passion and a smile and you will feel the effects of it by the end of the day. Go a day without pride or status, and you will find that your day is still a beautiful day to be alive. I wish you all a stunning day. Take in the deepest breathe and feel the air in your lungs and know, you are alive. You are still an active part of this revolving world and you can impact it in so many ways, take pride in that.
just beautiful...
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful heart and this is it speaking. Thank you for sharing x
ReplyDeleteYou make some wonderful points. Very inspiring. :D
ReplyDeletewitty :)
ReplyDeleteYou astound me.
ReplyDelete