Great Place to Be

I park at my church every morning to catch the bus to work. I get to see a lot of the same cars everyday. There is a truck in the parking lot that has this bumper sticker on it... or one just like it. When I first saw the sticker, over a year ago, it bothered me.

Its a joke. I get it. Ha, ha. My tendency is to hate bumper stickers like this. To make up stories about what the person inside that truck must be like. I don't have to make up any stories behind the guy in this truck. I know him. I have known him since we were both in elementary school. I know he means this joke. To him the joke is funny because of the truth he sees in its words. That bothers me.

Its gotten to the point where every time I see him I want to say ... "Hey! How are you? Mind taking that bumper sticker off your car?" I don't say it because I know it would open a theological can or warms that I don't want to get into. He has a very clear view of Christianity and all its rules. To him its all written down in stone. He just has to pull the bible verses out of his ass to prove it all to you.

I never know what to say to that. So I just leave it alone. Sometimes I wish my view of the world was that clear. I wish everything didn't just seem like one big blur. All I know is that I don't think God waits for us to ask before he forgives us for being assholes. I look at my own life and know that I have forgiven people. People who will never ask me to forgive them. People who in turn, will never forgive me.

I'm not saying that I am God. I'm far from being perfect. I'm far from being God. So if humans can forgive people who haven't asked for forgiveness... why can't God? Is there really some sort of mystical code of ethics that rules the universe? A code so binding that it binds the actions of God? Is our world just one long... really bad... sci-fi novel? I just don't buy it. It just seems to me that the bumper sticker has a tone of vindictiveness to it. Just the image of the Christian fish chasing down and destroying the Darwin fish seems cruel. It seems like its miles away from the love Jesus talks about all the time. If the sticker is right. If this really is just all about the survival of the forgiven, I'd rather not be a part of it.

Disclaimer: I am still recovering from a long weekend in a beach house with 15 people. It was really really fun. But I got sunburned and I haven't been able to sleep since Saturday. I say this now so if nothing I said makes since you know why.