{"id":738,"date":"2009-10-23T08:49:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-23T13:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/?p=738"},"modified":"2009-12-22T14:20:26","modified_gmt":"2009-12-22T20:20:26","slug":"discontentment-leads-to-a-better-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/2009\/10\/23\/discontentment-leads-to-a-better-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Discontentment leads to a Better Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I am a discontent person. \u00a0Just ask my wife or co-workers.<\/p>\n<p>Its not that I walk around all day and mope about how life sucks and I got the short end of the stick; far from it. \u00a0I feel incredibly lucky. \u00a0I have a great family, a wonderful life and the freedom to do the things I enjoy.<\/p>\n<p>For me, discontentment is not about what we have or our personal lives, but rather it is about the way things could be. \u00a0I become discontent when I believe there is a better way. \u00a0I am the kind of guy who can spend an hour trying to figure out the best way to do a 15 minute task. [<em><strong>Side Story: <\/strong>When I kid I was\u00a0responsible\u00a0for bringing up the firewood to the house. \u00a0I tried every conceivable way to make the process easier but usually ended up carrying it up by hand. \u00a0After a year or two I finally realized the shortest way was not the best way and was able to perfect &#8220;The Wheel Barrel Technique&#8221; and thus finally suceeded at finding &#8220;The Better Way.&#8221;<\/em>]<\/p>\n<p>I tend to look at the world in the same way. \u00a0Sure there is a lot of good going on &#8212;\u00a0especially\u00a0in this country, but I refuse to be content because I know things can be better. \u00a0I am convinced this is because of my understanding of the Christian Narrative. \u00a0The story of God&#8217;s interaction with Creation and Humanity is not about a magic wand where all things are set right (I would even argue the cross is not the final solution). \u00a0Instead, it a constantly evolving story of redemption where each generation is called to take the torch and continue to partner with YHWH in making the world a better place. \u00a0The message of Creator-God is constant: I will bless my people so that they can be a blessing to ALL THE NATIONS.<\/p>\n<p>Yes I am discontent. \u00a0But, that is because I refuse to be content in a world where there is still genocide and human trafficking and corporate exploitation and racism and rape as a weapon of war and&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>It would easy to curl up into a ball and enjoy my happy life. \u00a0To be thankful that my family has healthcare and a warm home. \u00a0To use my disposable income for personal\u00a0pleasures\u00a0and to ignore the plight of so many who do with so little. \u00a0But I can&#8217;t. \u00a0I can&#8217;t because I don&#8217;t believe we have yet arrived. \u00a0I don&#8217;t believe where we are as a community, country, society, world is good enough. \u00a0I am discontent because I believe there is a better way. \u00a0I believe we have a long way to go and I want to be a part of getting there.<\/p>\n<p>Below I have included a video (I am pretty sure you are going to have to go to youtube to watch it) and the lyrics from one of my favorite songs: Better Way by Ben Harper. \u00a0He has one stanza that I often repeat to myself whenever I find myself moving from a healthy discontentment into cynicism: <em>What good is a man who won&#8217;t take a stand \/\/\u00a0What good is a cynic with no better plan.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In looking to live out &#8220;a better way&#8221; I am constantly aware that it is not enough to simply be discontent with the way things are, but we must be active in bringing it about. \u00a0It is like Gandhi said: &#8220;You must be the change you wish to see.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ben Harper - Better Way\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XOZj1Xyx354?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Better Way &#8211; Ben Harper<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m a living sunset<br \/>\nLightning in my bones<br \/>\nPush me to the edge<br \/>\nBut my will is stone<\/p>\n<p>Fools will be fools<br \/>\nAnd wise will be wise<br \/>\nBut i will look this world<br \/>\nStraight in the eyes<\/p>\n<p>What good is a man<br \/>\nWho won&#8217;t take a stand<br \/>\nWhat good is a cynic<br \/>\nWith no better plan<\/p>\n<p>Reality is sharp<br \/>\nIt cuts at me like a knife<br \/>\nEveryone i know<br \/>\nIs in the fight of their life<\/p>\n<p>Take your face out of your hands<br \/>\nAnd clear your eyes<br \/>\nYou have a right to your dreams<br \/>\nAnd don&#8217;t be denied<\/p>\n<p>I believe in a better way<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am a discontent person. \u00a0Just ask my wife or co-workers. Its not that I walk around all day and mope about how life sucks and I got the short end of the stick; far from it. \u00a0I feel incredibly lucky. \u00a0I have a great family, a wonderful life and the freedom to do the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,21],"tags":[416,414,417,266,415],"class_list":["post-738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-thoughts","tag-ben-harper","tag-better-way","tag-discontentment","tag-trajectory-of-redemptive-history","tag-yhwh"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions\/849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}