Fatalism, Pessimism and Cynicism all walk into a bar. They order drinks, sit down at a booth and Fatalism holds his glass up, "What will be, will be!"
Pessimism clinks glasses with him and adds, "Yep, and it will most probably suck!"
Cynicism just takes a sip of his bitter drink and mutters, "You know why that is, don't ya."
"Man, who is born of woman,
Is short lived and full of turmoil.
Like a flower he comes forth and withers.
He also flees like a shadow and does not remain." Job 14
Dreams. Ambition. Desire. Hope. To live is to live FOR something. Whether one desires a quiet life or an epic one, one still has hopes and set requirements for those hopes. A steady job, a loving family and a house in the burbs or a mission field, a backpack and a pocket English-to-Whuddeesay dictionary or a million dollars, a mansion and a yacht or a rented flat in a grimy city and an IBM selectric typewriter or a charming brownstone, an artist girlfriend and a good coffee shop down on the corner; the family farm; the military career; the next promotion; the next raise; the next game; the next diploma; the next kid; the next grandkid; the next acquisition; the next sale; retirement or acclaim; travel or finally settling down; the next thrill; the next church plant; the next rung up whatever ladder you thought your life was about whatever that thing may be, that's what you're living FOR.
But a mountain falls; it crumbles away,
and a rock moves from its place.
Water wears away stones;
its torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so you destroy the hope of human beings.
You overpower him forever, and he passes away;
you change his countenance, then you send him away.
His children may come to honor, but he does not know it;
or they may become lowly, but he does not realize it.
He feels only the pain of his own body,
and he mourns only for himself." Job 14
Or you're just surviving. The stark contrast between the spark in one man's eyes or a thousand yard stare in another can be whether or not they still believe in their dreams, desires and ambitions. Whether their hopes still seem attainable or something... or someone... has crushed them. They might still have things to live for but those goals have a much different flavor than they once did: the next drink, the next card game, the next fishing trip, the next vacation, the next affair, the next chance alone in a dark room with their computer, the next hit, the next installment of their show, the next offering from Marvel or Marilyn Manson or Tim Keller, time alone in the garage, or in the library, or in the garden, or on the mower...
The Fatalist has given up but he hasn't really thought about why. The Pessimist has a why but he hasn't really thought out the implications of that why. He doesn't allow himself to. The Cynic has. The Cynic is a frustrated idealist. At some point he sentimentally believed in the good, the way things could be, should be and would be if people really, really tried. And if he's a Christian, then he thought he had every right to believe those things really could and would be!
But they did not. They did not come true. People didn't really try. They didn't. They were too busy, too important, too adamant, too weak, too interested in their own plans and dreams, too distracted, too fatalistic, too pessimistic, too cynical. His dreams failed and he did too. Whether he blames himself or not. He has looked behind the frustrated dreams, the crushed hopes and he has seen that man, at his core is selfish and always only thinks of himself. He's heard of Total Depravity and he buys it. There is no one who does good, no not one. All of humankind is a liar!
Man is just not good. Therefore, Life is just not good.
And if he's honest, and if the drink is bitter enough, you might get him to admit what he's truly thinking. What he's afraid to think out loud. What he's even more terrified to commit to writing but is the underlying framework in which he lives, breathes and chooses to be angry, disgruntled and morose.
That maybe God isn't good either.
No, i won't leave it here, this is a terrible place to leave it off for now but sometimes... we have to sit in a terrible place... to be continued.
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