Brother (And Sister) Hood

We all have best friends. “Besties”, “BBFs”, etc. These people are fun to be around! You joke around, call each others’ parents ‘mom’ and ‘dad’, and you practically live with each other on weekends. These relationships are all over the place, but while you have a best friend, do you have a brother or sister?

I have found there to be many types of brothers

(Printer Company)

But I'm not talking about those types of brothers. I’m also not talking about the younger/older children that live in your house, steal from your room, and eat your fruit roll-ups.

No, I’m talking about your spiritual brothers and sisters. These spiritual siblings help you through rough patches; catch you when you are doing things wrong, and most importantly, help you grow closer to God. Your best friend doesn't have to be your spiritual sister and your spiritual sister doesn't necessarily have to be your best friend, but most of the time they end up taking that role.

Think about it really hard for a second. Search through every person you know. Now take your deepest, darkest secret. Out of all the people you thought of, who would you tell that secret to? More than likely, these people are your brothers and sisters.

Your brothers will be guys and your sisters will be girls. This has to be established (thanks to the hit song by Avril Levigne). Most of the time, you can go to your sisters for advice and your brothers for support (of course there are exceptions, this part isn't exactly a rule, it really depends on the person.) But guys lean on your brothers and girls lean on your sisters. It’s good for a girl to have brothers, but she should also have sisters to lean on. The same goes for guys. There are just some things that you can’t tell the opposite gender.

Above all, these people should bring you closer to Christ. If you find that your friend is constantly dragging you into bad situations, then they are not your brother or your sister. Your brothers and sisters should do the opposite, actually. They should notice when you are about to make a poor decision and then quickly pull you out of it. It may hurt them to tell you when you’re doing something wrong and it may make you mad when they point it out, but trust me. They’re doing it for your own good.

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17

I had an instance yesterday that got me thinking about brothers and sisters. It wasn't even that complicated of a situation. All I did was leave my trash on the table, but my friend said, “Dude, come on. Pick it up”. Of course, I did, but it was a little weird to me that he pointed it out. But then I realized that I wasn't thinking about the people who would have to clean up my garbage because I was being inconsiderate, and that simple sentence whipped me into shape for the rest of the day.

If you have a serious problem at 3 in the morning, there should be at least one person in your life that you can pick up the phone and call without them getting mad. That constant listening ear or comforting personality. Or maybe even that harsh word you need to hear to straighten up your life. God created us as social creatures. Christianity is a contact sport! You can’t be a Christian and be alone, it just doesn't work! No one can be godly by themself; everyone slips up once in a while. That’s why we need someone there to catch us.

"For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—and a threefold cord is not quickly broken" Ecclesiastes 4:10-12

Also, just a quick thing to add. I've heard of a few of my friends getting in pairs for a challenge that goes great with this topic. You find another person very close to you in your life and you challenge each other. Every week you come up with a different challenge for that person, like “smile all day” “say three good things about yourself every time you see me” stuff like that. This is a great way to form a bond with someone while simultaneously becoming a better person. I've seen it in action and it seriously works.

God Bless!

Patrick

Brainstorming Session

Okay, so the last post was a success. I am in the process of brainstorming topics for articles to make. Again, I would love input on a topic to discuss or  write about, so if you have anything you want me to write about or if you have any questions, feel free to comment on the box below this post or just e-mail me! I will try to answer all questions and I will consider any suggestions for future articles.

So far, suggested topics I am seriously considering include:
-Apologetics as a Practice
-The Year of Faith
-True Manhood
-Current Social Issues (this will probably be a long time from now)
-Thorn in the Skin
-Social Pressures of Teenagers
-Prayer (How and Why?)
-The Retreat Experience
-Being a Christian
-Responding to Anti-Catholic Remarks
-Christian Brotherhood/Sisterhood

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys!

God Bless!
Patrick

Bobo

Hey everyone (and by everyone, I mean the 11 people that have viewed this website.) I completely forgot about this site and came back to check. I thought it was cool that I got two views from Russia and one from Germany. and about 7 from my own United States. This 'spike' in viewership has encouraged me to actually write, so here it goes:

[I wrote this article a few days ago, and I plan to make it into a video. For the videos I am using my Youtube Channel: Link To Channel Here. There are currently no videos, but I am looking for suggestions, so if you have any suggestions on a religious topic or question, e-mail me! I will do my best to respond or make a video/post about it.]

Hey look! Clown clones. Clownes?

This story involves a county fair and a rude clown named Bobo. Over the summer I went to the county fair with a few of my friends and I was walking around waiting for them, and looking at all this stuff. There was a dunk tank booth with a clown shouting insults through a microphone at people passing by, it was pretty funny, so I was laughing. People were yelling things back, but you could barely hear over his nasally clown-laugh. As I was about to pass I heard “HEY Kool-aid!” and I kept walking, not realizing the smiley face shirt I had on looked like a Kool-aid shirt. He said it again and I paused, then I heard “Yea I’m talking to you fatzo!” I turned around and told him to have a nice day and as I walked away he made a remark about buying cheeseburgers, so I yelled back something about being lactose intolerant, and that got a few laughs. I walked away, but you know, it still hurt a little. After I had found my friends we passed by again and he faked an earthquake shouting about how “Kool-aid was back”. He said he was scared I was going to eat him and I said I liked my clown well-done, so he’d have to jump in a fire first. I was appearing clever, and unscathed on the outside, but on the inside I was feeling insecure and hurt by this complete stranger.

After a few more laps around the midway, each of the insults got more severe. After the 7^th time, I lost my cool. I flipped out on the guy with words and tears flying and I stormed off. He yelled something about bringing him back a cheeseburger unless I got too hungry. I have no idea why this guy could only think of cheeseburgers. But I picked up a ball and threw it, dunking him. It was the first successful dunk of the day, so I got a prize, but I got in trouble. Luckily, the whole “harassing a minor” thing got me off. They said it was fine because I was provoked, but still, I should be old enough to handle myself in public. Just the whole “fat” thing does not fly with me.

I feel like Bobo is a great metaphor for what we experience everyday. Not that I think we are all harassed by clowns every day, in fact, if you experience being harassed by a clown on a daily basis, please consult your physician, for you may be experiencing the plot to a Stephen king novel. But we all experience 'Bobo' every day. Sometimes Bobo is the name of a monkey that sits on our shoulder, and whispers things in our ear. “You’re getting a little chunky” “Was that pimple there yesterday” “your nose is way too big, maybe that’s why he doesn’t like you”, “Why do you even try” “Hah. Stupid.” “You don’t really have any friends”. It just gets worse and worse as he tries to shut down your self-esteem. The thing about Bobo is, he just sits there safley behind his bars. Watching everything. He’s able to talk to you from miles away. He could be talking to you through your brother, through your friends, through people that sit next to you in class, or even just those self-deprecating thoughts in your head. Sometimes his microphone seems too loud for you to say anything back. But the thing is, you can! Bobo seemed so strong. Strong man right? Sitting up there, untouchable. Yelling at people through a microphone while hiding behind the protective bars. There is nothing that can hurt him. There doesn’t seem like there is anyway to get to him. Except for the clear shot into the tank from the Ferris wheel right next door. Oh believe me. I took advantage of that. Although I shouldn’t have. Even though those Bobos seem untouchable and strong, remember: the strongest man isn’t the one that’s untouchable, but the one that’s not afraid to be hurt. There is a quote from Longfellow that says: "Self respect is an armour that none can penetrate"

There are two things to do to retaliate in a situation like this. The first is the thing that I did, and isn’t the good path. You can remark back. You can give him what he wants and throw that ball; he gets paid for every ball you throw. He loves it. Get mad, freak out, its all for his entertainment anyway. He loves watching people get mad. That’s his job! And he enjoys every second of it. Although, you could take the higher road. If you do, then you will find yourself at level ground. Instead of getting angry and throwing a hissy fit. Say: “You know what Bobo? In your eyes I may not be pretty, or attractive, or thin, or worthy enough for you. I may not be worthy in your opinion, but guess what Bobo? You’re not the one that matters! God is the one that matters!!”

"Let your spirit not be quick to anger, for anger resides in the heart of fools." Ecclesiastes 7:9

"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."James 1:19-20

This is what’s great about God. One of the many, many things. God sees you for what you are. He sees all of your “downfalls” all of your “faults” and sins. He sees every crappy thing that you’ve done. But God doesn’t care. He sees all of you, and knows all of you, but he would never say those things to you. If you ask God “am I worthy?” He will always say yes! Not only will He say yes, but He will also tell you how perfect you are, and how much He truly loves you. That’s amazing! The one person in the universe that knows you better than you do, wouldn’t even acknowledge one of your flaws. But instead, look at you with love and say, “You are perfect.” How could anyone who can only see what’s on the outside even think for a second about judging us? You can’t even fathom the life of that weird kid at the edge of the lunch table. We may not be good enough for the world, but to God, we are MORE than enough! Isn’t that all that matters? He is perfect! When someone who is perfect calls someone 'perfect' it is safe to assume they know what they are talking about!

I have no idea if that Bobo guy will ever see this. He may never. But I’ve forgiven him. We all have Bobos in our lives, so I challenge you: you don’t even have to do it out loud, but forgive every Bobo who has ever done something to hurt you. And whenever Bobo comes to you in the form of yourself, pray for your self esteem. Think about how much God loves you. After all, He made you exactly the way you are for a reason. There is not a hair out of place.

"You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I a wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalms 139:13-15.

God Bless!

Patrick