A Life Worth Living

I've been reading Bono on Bono lately and recently came across a wonderful quote:

I'm never surprised by evil, but I'm much more excited about what people are capable of.

The timing of this quote has just been impeccable, largely due to certain conversations I've been having with a friend lately.

He had told me a rather sordid tale about a fellow Christian and upon finishing the story (or rather, rumour, and this is where I have to hang my face in shame and admit that I've been privy to rumour-mongering) proceeded to look at me earnestly, "Are you surprised that a Christian can do something like that?"

I looked him straight in the eye and replied simply, "No, I'm not actually. He's Christian, but he's also human."

That was when I got the most bizarre reaction. He actually stared at me in shock and after a few seconds of trying to find his tongue, asked again, "You're not surprised?"

I shook my head.

Maybe it's because I'm a cynic by nature. Maybe it's because I've seen so much that nothing surprises me anymore. Maybe it's simply because that's not the point in life?

It's so easy to choose to focus on the negative, the bad things in life, the fact that our dreams aren't coming true or shock, horror, the fact that Christians aren't all that Christ-like in their actions and basically spiral into a "woe is me, I'm stuck in a horrible world" attitude.

But the point of the matter is, we choose to focus on whatever we want to. As Bono so aptly put it, we need to be much more excited about what people are capable of, instead of simply sitting around talking about how surprising someone's behaviour is.

It's not our place to whisper in harshed tones about the mistakes of others, because in all honesty, I've committed enough mistakes in my lifetime to have others do the same to me.

But I'm confident in my life because I believe and know that I've been forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ and am absolutely and thoroughly loved by God. I try to lead my life as best as I can, but God only knows how often I've stuffed up.

The thing is, God forgives me and allows me to go on. And if God can do that to us, why can't I treat others the same way as well? After all, it's not really in my place to ascertain whether someone's behaviour is kosher or not, is it?

I'm not surprised by evil, but I'm much more excited about what people are capable of. And I trust that God's in charge enough to make things right.

Technorati tags: Bono, positivity, attitudes