Ode to Goth

When did cynicism come into style? When did it become popular and seemingly intelligent to rebel against life, and to declare that life is nothing but a series of letdowns, backstabbings and cruel twists of fate? When did we get the impression that we are nothing but dust clinging to the surface of a cold, barren rock hurtling through space, alone without rhyme or reason? And when did we decide that it is best to show this chronic pessimism in everyday life? By grumbling to ourselves, complaining and shutting ourselves off from others we further the cause of sadness (not to mention we do absolutely nothing to fix whatever problem we were complaining about). We make the world a little bleaker.
As if it isn't bleak enough.
Let's turn this trend of misery around. Let's come to realize that life really is a continuous miracle, and that we really are incredibly lucky. Let's come out of our holes, put the pedal to the metal, wake up and smell the coffee, apply ourselves and make the world a better place. Let's realize that life is more than just "not bad." It's pretty awesome. Fluffy as this sounds, as much like a sugar-coated kindergarten teacher this may seem, it's really not a bad idea, for, (to quote Dave Matthews) "life is short but sweet for certain."
A little message from the Society for a Society that Stops Pretending to be Miserable. Thank you.

Okay, I lied

So, I'm driving to school with my mom, and she tells me that she's surprised I give up this blog for Lent. It seems to her that, since Lent is about reflection and spiritually advancing oneself, it doesn't make sense to stop the blog, which is a type of reflection, I guess. She suggests I use it as such: reflections.
Mmmkay.
I hatched up this little plot for Lent. I thought about writing spiritual reflections, and (anonymously) making a few copies of them and dropping them in other students' lockers. Kinda goofy, but my reasoning behind it was this: while I may not come up with anything of genius, writing for the sake of "enlightening" others is enlightening for me, as well, and so writing the reflections would be a good idea. And in the event I came up with any words of wisdom, well, why not share them?
I've written two of those so far, and those will be the meat of this very hypocritical post.

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“Remember you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
Think about these words the priest says for a moment--because they’re true. Without God’s Will, we would cease to exist. Without His guidance, attention and constant, loving care, all things in existence would dissolve into a blizzard of atoms; meaningless. It’s because of God’s care and love that you exist to read this, and that I exist to write it. Without Him, we are dust. During Lent, we should remember this and praise God for having the love to keep the thin strands of our existence together and in His hand.
Take a moment to do that now; thank God and praise Him for the unbelievable gift of your life.

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Pain is Gain…what?
One of the best things about religion is how it gives meaning to suffering. The general opinion of the world is that pain should be avoided AT ALL COSTS. Religion knows better. In many ways, suffering is a gift from God. How’s that?

• When going through a difficulty, we come through stronger. Mistakes, suffering, and pain educate us and build us up.
• Jesus underwent unimaginable, torturous pain—mental, spiritual and, of course, physical—to save our skins. Whenever we experience suffering, we should be thankful for the opportunity to imitate Jesus and come closer to Him by following His example and accepting what is given to us. It’s abstract, I know, but it’s true.
• Our suffering has unbelievable spiritual value. When you’ve complained to your parents about something, perhaps they have said “Offer it up.” Right, whatever. No, really, they’re right. We can offer up our suffering for the good of others. Another abstract concept, but think about it: by offering up our own suffering for others we can, once again, make a tiny imitation of what Jesus did. The whole reason He suffered was so we wouldn’t have to. When we suffer, and offer up the suffering to God so someone else won’t have to (whether in Purgatory, or through sin, or literally through physical suffering, whatever), He will hear us and accept the gift.
  
  These are only some of the reasons that suffering is to our (and others’) advantage. Now, does this mean we all turn into Masochists, flogging ourselves with leather belts whenever we get the opportunity? No. What it does mean is that, next time something doesn’t go our way, instead of griping we should just silently deal with it, and remember all the good things it is doing for us. Believe me, it’s doing good things.