What Happened To Black and White

As age creeps up on me, and I gain in years, I would like to think I am also gaining in knowledge. This knowledge obtained not so much in the reading of great works, but rather gained from walking out the experiences and challenges of life, while increasing knowledge. The understanding one gains from time spent on earth can never be compared to the knowledge obtained by greater learning, and the two, hand-in-hand I believe, lead to wisdom. Wisdom seems to have become something that has waned in value, at least in the eyes of today's information-aged culture. Wisdom has been replaced with information, and information can be a very dangerous and misleading thing if left untethered by the balance of experience. My grandpa was so very correct when he told me, "If you have knowledge without common sense, you may be smart, but you can't do anything with it." While this statement is not all true, it does bear enough truth to be taken seriously. In this age of information, so much of what we are being fed is based upon opinion, theory, or rhetoric, yet because we have no experience with which to weigh out this information, we react without wisdom. Those who have grown up with technology and information so close at hand are being fed information that is largely subjective and often untrue, and yet they have no idea that this is the case. We often respond to theory, opinion, and conjecture with the same fervency with which it was shared with us; we run and react believing in our cause, yet we don't realize the negative effect of that cause until it's too late. And as seems to be the case more often than not, before the true results and effects of these actions are realized, we have moved on to another passionate subject and are not the least bit concerned about the trail of damage left behind. In most cases, I believe we are not even made aware of these damages due to the misdirection of the information being fed to us. This age of technology has created the perfect avenue for the enemy of God and man to deceive more people than he ever has before, and he is now able to do so almost instantaneously. This constant misdirection and deception creates a constant view of gray with few boundaries of black and white. What do I mean, you ask? In the pre instant and social media age, there was a definitive line between right and wrong. These lines were defined by long-term experiences that had seen, with time, the positive and negative results of actions. Immediate gratification, for example, was something our parents and grandparents truly understood the danger of. For example, my grandparents didn't have credit cards because they understood that unless you could purchase something other than major necessary purchases, such as a home or vehicle, with cash, you could not afford it. The practice was to save your money up until you could afford the item you desired, and often, by the time you saved the money, you realized it was not at all what you wanted. Now we purchase things on credit and whims, and if we decide we don't like them or if we find something better, we simply throw them away. Much like items we no longer have use for, we have begun to throw away our values, principles, morality, and more. Why? Because these values, principles, and morality no longer serve our desire for instant gratification—they don't work for us, so out they go. Therefore, as opposed to morality setting the standard, our standard is now determined by need, desire, popularity, and even profitability. Wisdom is now no longer appreciated or needed. It has instead become the old way of thinking; the place we say we are no longer at and the thing we no longer have a need of. My conclusion is this. We must return to moral- and wisdom-based thinking. We must look for the black and the white in life for our standards. We must have truth to base all of our actions and reactions upon; otherwise, truth becomes subjective and inconsequential; useless and thrown aside. Folks, the Bible is the truth, and if you are a true believer in Christ, this fact should never be denied; otherwise, you are like the man who built his home on shifting sand—foolish. If we do not return to the foundation of our beliefs as true believers in Christ, we will fall, and we will fail. We must begin to question our own beliefs, our own actions. We must weigh that which has been accepted against the scales of God's Word, and when we find our error, we must repent and turn away from those beliefs and their consequent actions. You may choose not to agree with me, and that is your freedom; however, not agreeing with the truth does not change the truth; it is rather simply being ignored until such time that truth will no longer be silent. Are you ready to face the truth? Gene Burroughs, Navarre, FL, Author, "Jesus Paid the Price"