Dear Friends,
It seems to me, in every interaction, there is a judge, that judge is Jesus Christ. Therefore, no matter how any temporal interaction appears to turn out, the real question of winning or losing, is made by that judge. Moreover, we all have the innate ability to evaluate for ourselves who the ultimate judge will cast his vote for. However, very few of us, if any really, actually engage with that parameter in mind. Instead, we seek to win the temporal at cost to the eternal. If an interaction leaves you bloody and beaten, but in the eyes of Jesus you won, then you won. If a cat excretes on the couch, it thinks it won a great victory, but did it? Instead of always seeking to win in the temporal, like the cat, we should look to win in the eyes of Jesus and God, then our victories will be real.
If someone who has just lost, taunts you that they were cheated, the sun was in their eye and the referees were biased, do you agree and hold your head low? Then beg forgiveness? Of course not. Those are sour grapes. The same applies to someone who has defrauded you, lied to you or stolen from you. Then taunts you. They are like the cat that excreted on the couch. They are too stupid to see that not only have they lost, in the most important of ways… their actions have insured a lower standard of living for themselves in the future. Karma if you will. Liars, frauds and cheats will win often but in each “victory” they will lose slightly more. Exchanging their life satisfaction for a burden. Like a drowning man clutching gold when there is a life preserver within reach.
There are temporary victories and permanent ones. Upon consideration, only the permanent victories count. The temporary wins may give succor in the short term, but if they result in greater losses in the future… they can only be considered as a loss. That is why people don’t count it a good idea to shoot arrows into the air. No matter how many times you win that game, all you need do is lose it once. Which brings us to those who gamble when there is nothing to be gained but great losses to be incurred. No matter how unlikely the loss, such a game is a fool’s errand, nevertheless, we all engage in them from time to time. Passing on a hill, lying when the truth would serve us better, and not chewing our food enough. Where winning is no victory but losing is disaster.
When you watch an interaction between strangers, it is not usually difficult to determine who is acting in a human hearted manner, and who is not. Or is it? If we had perfect knowledge, then I suspect it would be easy, yet that is not available to us. It is only available to Jesus. That is why it is almost always a mistake to get involved in family squabbles. There are dynamics going on that are unknowable to the outside observer. If someone in a police uniform is wrestling with someone in a hoodie, would you step in? What if the guy in the uniform is impersonating an officer and the guy in the hoodie is an undercover cop arresting him? Judging is not as easy as it appears. Because we lack perfect information. Yet we get most of our mental exercise jumping to conclusions.
If everyone judged for themselves, how Jesus would gauge an interaction, then fought to win, in that context, the world would quickly become heaven on Earth. Don’t worry though. With the examples of our elite, and people follow their leaders… that will never happen. The best we can strive for is to get more people to fight in that arena, knowing they are judged by that judge and with an eye to win, in his eyes. Were we to accomplish that, most of the world’s problems would just vanish. When someone gets the better of you, by hook and by crook, know they lost in the most profound way. They are to be pitied, because that counter effective strategy will only bring them ever increasing misery, until they die and reap their eternal reward. What good is winning a booby prize… and losing your soul?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
