Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 26 seconds.
If you follow me closely on social networks, you may have noticed an increase in post content intensity over the past few weeks. There is a method to the madness. Over the past two weeks, I have unfriended over 200 people that I no longer consider life-giving. In fact, if anything, their vitriol—and unwillingness to dialogue and debate in a reasonable manner—is unhealthy to my well-being. It is not that I desire all my fans and followers to agree with me—on the contrary, I value a tribe of rivals—its just that I insist on dialogue and debate without shame, judgment, and ignorance. In the second half of life, I plan to surround myself with people who are congenial, curious, and intelligent.
I have exercised what I believe to be my patriotic duty to America and have attempted to stand against confirmation bias and have strongly advocated a Democratic Congress and Senate to provide checks and balances for Trump and the Republican Supreme Court. I consider Trump to be the worst President in the history of America. I have openly questioned the rationality of any Christian or American who continues to justify his increasingly erratic and heinous behavior and traitorous character. For better or worse, right or wrong, I have done my part.
And now forward.
I have asked Gina to hold me accountable and as of tomorrow help me take an extended break from the insidious addiction of Mainstream Media, YouTube pundits, and politics. I fear for our country and for our freedom. I am deeply concerned about a U.S. federal budget deficit that is $985 billion. But I have come to understand that although my personality assessments label me as someone who feels deeply called to right perceived wrongs—my purpose in life is not that of a religious or political reformer. What brings me meaning—the core of my existence is encouraging others to become who they are.
The current dysfunctional Trumpian political climate and the shocking evangelical Christian support of it have distracted me from my existential center. It has seduced me into an urgent life rather than one that is the ultimate. In some ways, I feel like I’ve fallen down some ideological rabbit hole.
I am disgusted with all politics and I’m deeply disappointed (but not surprised) in the majority of evangelical Christians. This ongoing disgust and disappointment are not conducive to a healthy and peaceful life. For me, at least.
I plan to spend my working energies honing the craft of writing and speaking, mentoring, and encouraging those who genuinely desire to become who they are. And I want to savor life with my companion Gina at our beach cottage in Dunedin and in the mountains at our Appalachian farm. I plan to explore and practice physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental meditation. I plan to celebrate the human body by painting with watercolors, but most of all, I want to read widely, think deeply, live freely, and love fully.
And now forward. Because life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be experienced.
