Survival vs. Love

First off, I would like to thank Donald Miller for inspiration. If you don't know who he is, go read Blue Like Jazz. If you've read that, read Searching For God Knows What. Buy them right now.

In the latter book, he proposed a situation where an alien came down from wherever and sat in with us and watched our behavior. This alien has no sense of good and evil, wrong or right. This got me thinking a little bit. What would he observe? Let's put a common situation in...I'm just watching a game of basketball on T.V. with some friends. First, he would probably wonder why we have clothes on. Although he wouldn't know what clothes were, he would probably say more around, strange fabrics covering our bodies. Regardless, he would not understand because he doesn't know that we wear clothes because being naked is considered wrong. Ever since Adam and Eve ate from the tree and realized that it was. Second he would wonder why the two teams were competing. I mentioned this in the last post. No real reason really...just to do it. Just to say I'm better than you. Third, he would wonder why we even care. That's something to think about. Why do we even care if "our team" wins or loses? Why do we pick teams and root for them? We aren't playing. Sometimes we don't even have anything to do with them. Why do I like the Saints? I don't really know...I just do. Then Lebron dunks it and he has a very quizzical look on his face. He then says, "Why did he do that? I thought the objective was just to get it through the hoop. That seemed a little unnecessary (all in perfect English)." The alien thinking objectively. Us thinking entertainmently (I know...not a real word...until now).

Wealth is the next big thing. He would probably notice that humans are the only species on earth that flaunt their wealth. You don't see birds with 5 story nests. Fish don't have heated pools or hot tubs. Granted fish don't have the technology of making hot tubs. But birds could build 5 story nests. There is a show on MTV now that is entirely based on people showing the world how rich they are. "Yea, I live here by myself, but I have 17 cars and 23 bedrooms." He would see a commercial for jewelry and notice that one is 4,000 dollars, while another is 500. They both look the same to him. One just has more gold in it. What's the purpose of wearing it anyway? We are the only species that does more than needed to survive. Way more at that. Especially in the U.S.

That's the huge difference between other animals and us. Other species' sole instinct is to survive. Human's sole instinct is to be loved. (That quote was made up by Matt Barnes and not to be used without the written consent of Matt Barnes)

But we were put here on Earth for more than survival. Our sole purpose is to serve God. If the alien heard us say that, he would have a million other questions. Like why do people have 9 story houses and 5 cars, meanwhile people are being sold into slavery in India, or why coffee farmers in Guatemala, Rwanda, and Ethiopia are receiving less than it costs to grow and harvest? He might ask why people use the church for political or financial gain. Or maybe why a country that was founded on the principles of God has a city nicknamed Sin City.

Or how about this one. Why the U.S. nearly doubles the U.K. for the spot as number one in crime. In the world. The U.S. has the most crimes committed. 14.9 percent more than India.

We are a nation that is falling apart. There is nothing truly logical about anything that we do. We look in all of the wrong places to find love, and never truly get it. It would be confusing to be an alien. Because everything we say we believe in is quickly negated by our actions. If aliens do exist, I know why they don't care to visit.