I’m not a Christian because it makes my life easier;
to the contrary, it makes my life harder.
It’s easier to fear
than it is to love
It’s easier to hold grudges
than it is to forgive
It’s easier to despair
than it is to hope.
For me,
it’s easier to resent how life has turned out than to accept it.
And yet my Christian faith requires — commands —
me to do, to choose the more difficult of these alternate paths
It’s easier to deceive myself than to
see clearly the truth around me
and inside me.
It’s easier to dissemble & rationalize
It’s harder to have integrity
It’s easier to project invulnerability
It’s harder to let down your guard &
show your weaknesses
It’s easier to be lazy & self-indulgent
It’s harder to suck it up & do what needs to be done
It’s easier to go along with the crowd
It’s hard – very hard- to ignore the crowd & follow your inner voice
It’s easier to be indifferent
It’s harder to persistently love those who are indifferent to you
It’s easier to act superior
It’s harder to be humble
It’s easier to be materialistic
It’s harder to practice self-denial
It’s easier to pat myself on the back
It’s harder to keep my head down
It’s easier to deny that my actions have consequences;
it’s harder to take responsibility for my actions & their consequences
It’s easier to believe, in this evil world, there is no God
It’s harder to understand that there is one
It’s easier to believe my life doesn’t matter,
It’s harder to know that nothing matters more.