Eric’s Sunday Sermon; ‘Is It All About You, Or Me?’ The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

About a tenth of the time when I do something good it is all about me. But a lot of the time when I do something good it is all about you. So when is it all about you or me? Probably mostly about you and me. The good, the bad and the ugly in our lives sometimes determines if the issues are about you or me.

This could be labeled a self-help how to succeed article/sermon. What we are going to try to do is to break down the good, the bad and the ugly and apply them to “is it about me or you”. And you can be certain there is a whole lot of gray area here. You can see where taking out the “about” and the “The(s)” can give us some insight.

Let us start by a favorite quote of mine; “Judge not lest you be judged.” This can lead us to not decide to quickly about if something really is good or bad or ugly. And of course there is the be, Us and We, instead of you or me.

Good: It would appear with just minimal observation and study that we get “good” from parents and various mentors. That is good and that is bad. Somethings we learn the hard way like sticking your hand in flame is not so good. Why can fighting ever be good? Why do bad things happen to good people?

Death is a very salient one. Death can be ugly, bad or even good. Somethings just are and we do well not to label.

Bad: “I had a very bad feeling about it so I didn’t geton the road with ice and snow that night”. There was a huge accident – I am just suggesting that sometimes bad is good. If we cannot sometimes do bad for good reasons or the inverse, we have not lived. Hmm, telling a lie? Telling a white lie to protect another.

Ugly: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Racism is just plain ugly. But some even argue that some of it can be a good thing to get rid of a worse bad. If you use Hollywood as a bench mark there are quite ugly people. If you use love as the criteria the only ugly comes from the inside.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions is the biggest BS line I have ever heard. There is a very narrow exception and that is when that good you were intending was only good for you. Bad stuff there that is void of love, and God is love and so a distance from God is hell. You intended to only be good to yourself and there is your road to hell on earth.

Selfishness. I have spent more time dealing with this demon than I should have. I went the whole gambit of “achieving success” to self-destructive behavior. But selfish either can be ugly for others. But the good think is that now I get to be selfish for me for others. Without all of those past ego driven ugly bad things I would not be in my spot today. I have lost the me and the we, as far as this article reflects who we do things for.

Synergy! One and one come together in a mutual love harmony and they do not equal 2, they could equal infinity. But at the base core level they start out doing it just for themselves. A lifetime evolution occurs and they try to do more for other and then a crazy meld happens and the 2 do it together for the we. The “we” now starts doing it in the form of the “us” and the them and that my good friends is the synergism of love that can accomplish anything.

Please do not read too much into the above, of course unless you like to. Read as the progression of our journey light and love and understanding. As I like to say; We are just me, myself and I and you and them and us. Our we is all of us.

I am a co-dependent. Think the term is usually derogatory and also people use it to become selfish and loose empathy and sympathy. It is one of the most interesting notions. Of course this is just very general. But folks I know who have been “cured” of it not in a world of their own. It seems the only disease where it is somewhat else’ fault in the psych of the matter.

Tough love is a crock. Loving, kind brutal honesty is where it is at. I do not ever need to say what was or is bad or good or ugly about you. But I may venture into expressing what I think, which does not reality make.

The good in us prevails at most every juncture. Evil! Now that is a great one when speaking on these words. Maybe we say evil when there can be no intrinsic or extrinsic possibility of good coming out of a circumstance. But check this out. Suppose you believe in a firey pit of Hell for all eternity. Now that is evil and just the notion has caused millions to leave a faith and others to live in fear. That is evil stuff.

But back as a young Christian, maybe 45 years ago. I had a choice and did the “good” thing because of fear of death in hell and a desire to walk with Jesus. The “bad’ would have hurt so many. My brother told me just having those thoughts was ugly. Just another 20 years later and I kind of got it.

Are repenting and forgiving all about me? Well that is a gray space but a great lead in. You have to start someplace. Maybe a starting with your self and all about you gives you some solid. Ground. My wife likes it when I am on my certain game (offense). She gets all proud. I hear her call Auntie and brag. That is about me but “for” them. Of course this requires a lot of introspective me time. But she also likes the part when it is all about her and her boy.

So repenting and forgiving are for that great big WE!

A fun one to wrap up is my writing. It is all about me. But ten people just last week thanked me for it. Seems like if you are all about others, if you do not judge harshly. And you do it with love. There are no “grammar” rules and definitions here. A blur as it were.

There really is no I. Simply an illusion that we are Islands. There is simply no you. There can really only exist a “we”. (leave out Evil here) But are there nice neat lines somewhere putting ugly, bad and good in separate boxes. Probably just easy intersecting circles and we enjoy the circles of life.

I am going to give you a simple very easy, easy to remember and quick way to rephrase that bad words in your life. Don’t get all excited. Just once a day will work but I go about 20. You just say to yourself silently or out loud; Love love love. Don’t go any deeper – save that for another time. Just repeat love 3 times a day and you will see the title here is a boogie man.