Addictions

When you talk about addiction, most people automatically think about drugs. Certainly drug addiction is a serious problem, but there are other addictions. Some people don't think of alcohol as a drug, but it is, and so alcoholism is just another drug addiction. Nicotine is also a drug, but it is generally more habit-forming than addicting. Part of the problem is that different people are susceptible to different things. One person may be able to smoke for awhile, and then stop for awhile, and then pick it up again, while another person may suffer withdrawal symptoms within hours after putting out a cigarette; for one, it's a habit, for the other, it's an addiction.

But drugs are not the only thing. For some people, gambling is an addiction. Granted, there is a certain amount of thinking that they just need one quick win to get ahead, and then they will stop; but the more they gamble, the more they lose, and the bigger the win needed to get out of the hole, and then, on the rare occasion that they actually get that big win, then they develop the attitude that they can afford to gamble now, they have money, and end up losing everything anyway. Casinos don't exist to make their customers rich--they exist to make their owners rich.

Some people find pornography addicting. Psychologists say that the appeal of pornography is that one can engage in sexual activity without actual having to go through the social activity that normally leads to the emotional closeness that should lead to, well, I'll say marriage, even though most psychologists probably don't consider marriage to be a mandatory precursor to sexual activity... The problem, of course, is that God has given us a desire to procreate: We, being the basically simple-minded people that we are, have turned that into a simple desire for sex, at least on the surface. Below the surface, though, there is a desire to see our genes, our DNA, in the children that will eventually grow up and, either take care of us in our declining years, or choose our nursing homes. No matter how much pornography one views, that basic need is never met: It's sort of like painting over rotting wood to cover the problem instead of replacing the wood and fixing the problem.

There is a statement commonly attributed to John D. Rockefeller (although I can't find anything to directly link him to the quote), that, when asked "How much money does it take to make a man happy?" he replied, "Just a little bit more." In the book of Ecclesiastes, God tells us that we will never be satisfied with increase; this doesn't just apply to money. Whatever action that makes one feel better, if it is not of God, will snowball; it will take more and more to achieve that same feeling, and, even then, it's a temporary feel-good type of thing, it is not satisfaction. Mick Jagger was right about that...

Silly Questions

Dave Barry once wrote that "a woman is someone who, when asked what is wrong, says, 'Nothing.' A man is someone who, when he asks a woman what is wrong, and she says, "Nothing," believes her.

Really, I think that it is not so much that we believe her. I know that on more than one occasion, I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get a woman who was obviously troubled, to tell me what was wrong, only to come to the conclusion that she wasn't going to tell me until she was ready. So, after exhausting all known methods for extracting information, I decided that is was best to go along with the game and pretend that nothing was bothering her. Apparently, women find it considerably more satisfying to lower the boom on someone who appears not to realize that she is upset. I'm not sure why that is, but that understanding can be a real timesaver.

God sometimes doesn't answer right away, either. Maybe that's where women get it, I don't know. Oftentimes, we pray to God, expecting a yes-or-no response, and the answer we get is, "Wait." And we ask, "For how long?" and we get no response. And a lot of times, when the solution (finally) arrives, we realize that God set the answer in motion before we even asked. Is that because He knew that we would, or just that time is meaningless to God? I'm not sure.

You've probably heard the story about the man who had a conversation with God and was asking silly questions:

"God?"

"Yes, my son?"

"How long is a million years to you?"

"A million years to me is like a second to you."

"Oh. (long pause) God?"

"Yes, my son?"

"How much is a million dollars to you?"

"A million dollars to me is like a penny to you."

"Oh. (long pause) God?"

"Yes, my son?"

"Can I have a penny?"

"Certainly, my son. Just give me a second..."

Money is certainly meaningless to God, and I suspect that time is, too. We know that He knew the end from the beginning; some say that it is because He controls everything, but I believe that He has given us freedom of choice. I believe that God knows everything that will ever happen because He is not constrained by the flow of time the way that we mere mortals are. He can see what is going to happen, without guessing, and without manipulating. Oh, don't misunderstand me, God does manipulate things sometimes, but only for the greater good--and, usually, because one of His children has asked Him to.

May 15th, 2007

This is my blog ("Why, how very interesting{yawn}," I can hear someone say). Okay, well, this may be a little slow getting started. The idea is that I am just going to write about whatever is on my mind (that is the idea of a blog, isn't it?). I'm sure that there will be many daze when this space is not updated, because there are many daze when there is nothing on my mind. Although money seems to always be on my mind. I never seem to have enough of it. This, of course, makes me part of the financial majority. I can't really complain about what I get paid. I get paid very well for relatively little work. I just always seem to *need* more than I have. I don't think I'm alone in that. We had a financial planning seminar at our church Friday night. I learned a few things, but, to be honest, I don't think any of that is really going to change my life any. I did learn that most people don't carry enough life insurance to take care of their family if something happens to them. I carry enough to pay off the house (if anybody in my family actually wants it), and pay for my funeral, and take care of pretty much anything else, but I don't owe that much on my house. Apparently most people carry less than I do, and should carry more than I do. I know a lot of people look at insurance as something that doesn't help *now*, so it's an unnecessary expense. If you stop to think about it, though, any one of us could get hit by a bus (or a drunk driver) at any time, and then what happens to your dependents? Sorry to get so morbid (I promise I didn't start out writing with the plan of talking about death), but, like I said, it's just whatever is on my mind. Still, if you check it out, I think you will find that 'single mother' is probably the toughest job out there. Single father's not that easy either. But if your spouse has to work a job (or two) to make ends meet and raise your kids without you, when an insurance policy would definitely make a huge difference. Hopefully by now you understand my use of the term ramblings. I know how I get.