The Reason
So many times I've wanted to write about my life here at the Academy. But, words can not do this place justice, and that's not why I began this blog anyways. The reason is in the quote, "The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives." It was written by Albert Schweitzer. While I won't write on the daily happenings here at school, much of what I've learned from my time here, I will draw from.
It is sickening, saddening, and terrifying when I look around to see what has become of my fellow man. Our society, has desensitized that which we shouldn't and overly sensitized (if that's a word) that which we shouldn't. Consider Terri Schiavo, we, as a nation, watched her starve to death. The "experts," and her husband, declared that she would rather die than live. Our supreme court did nothing. Nothing. Ever heard of personhood theory? The idea that a human is no longer a human when he is no longer self-aware. Human non-persons. That's what they're called, "human non-persons." It's nothing new of course. Infanticide. Abortion. Now this. It should be no surprise. I have to admit, Satan knows what he is doing. He is far from some stupid red-man with horns and a pointy tail. He knows that the best way to destroy life is to do so slowly. If we are constantly put before something repulsive we eventually become calloused to it. Numb. Then something more repulsive is put before us. We become numb to that. In no time at all, we are walking zombies. That's not the worst of it. When that "zombie" is a non-believer, then it would be expected that he be like that. But what about Christians? How many Christians run through each day oblivious to what is actually happening? Jesus Christ died for us. He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to show us things that we could not have seen before we were saved. Why then do we not see? Why are we still blind? Is it by choice that we do not see?
Here at school, I am among some of the most calloused young men, and women, on a daily basis. They live out and speak what this culture has fed them since infanthood. Some have an inkling that something is not right, others seem entirely oblivious. Blind. So many call themselves Christians, and so many Christians embrace them as brothers and sisters, rather than confront them with their ongoing sin.
It has happened to me too. I've grown up in a strong Christian household. I came here after spending the first 19 years of my life at home, and I was home schooled. I was constantly surrounded by great men. Real men, the greatest of them was my own dad. Upon coming here I suffered a bit of shell shock. The crassness. The selfishness. Every word was foul. There was sneer beneath every smile. We haven't even gone to sea yet and already they have fulfilled that sailor stereotype. But at the same time there was something else. Something else beneath all of the fluff. From the smallest nerd to the biggest football player. All of them had a fear in their eyes, an uncertainty. I saw it then, on the day we first reported here, in July, of last year. I still see it today, nearly a year later. As Christians, Christ opens our eyes. We see the world differently. But we are just as susceptible to becoming numb.
It is sickening, saddening, and terrifying when I look around to see what has become of my fellow man. Our society, has desensitized that which we shouldn't and overly sensitized (if that's a word) that which we shouldn't. Consider Terri Schiavo, we, as a nation, watched her starve to death. The "experts," and her husband, declared that she would rather die than live. Our supreme court did nothing. Nothing. Ever heard of personhood theory? The idea that a human is no longer a human when he is no longer self-aware. Human non-persons. That's what they're called, "human non-persons." It's nothing new of course. Infanticide. Abortion. Now this. It should be no surprise. I have to admit, Satan knows what he is doing. He is far from some stupid red-man with horns and a pointy tail. He knows that the best way to destroy life is to do so slowly. If we are constantly put before something repulsive we eventually become calloused to it. Numb. Then something more repulsive is put before us. We become numb to that. In no time at all, we are walking zombies. That's not the worst of it. When that "zombie" is a non-believer, then it would be expected that he be like that. But what about Christians? How many Christians run through each day oblivious to what is actually happening? Jesus Christ died for us. He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to show us things that we could not have seen before we were saved. Why then do we not see? Why are we still blind? Is it by choice that we do not see?
Here at school, I am among some of the most calloused young men, and women, on a daily basis. They live out and speak what this culture has fed them since infanthood. Some have an inkling that something is not right, others seem entirely oblivious. Blind. So many call themselves Christians, and so many Christians embrace them as brothers and sisters, rather than confront them with their ongoing sin.
It has happened to me too. I've grown up in a strong Christian household. I came here after spending the first 19 years of my life at home, and I was home schooled. I was constantly surrounded by great men. Real men, the greatest of them was my own dad. Upon coming here I suffered a bit of shell shock. The crassness. The selfishness. Every word was foul. There was sneer beneath every smile. We haven't even gone to sea yet and already they have fulfilled that sailor stereotype. But at the same time there was something else. Something else beneath all of the fluff. From the smallest nerd to the biggest football player. All of them had a fear in their eyes, an uncertainty. I saw it then, on the day we first reported here, in July, of last year. I still see it today, nearly a year later. As Christians, Christ opens our eyes. We see the world differently. But we are just as susceptible to becoming numb.
posted by midshipman at 3.6.05
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