Isolation (2005 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Politics has to do with the things of man.  The meaning comes from the Greek word “Polis”, which means city.  For where there is a city there are people.  And where there are people there are the things of people.  Someone has to govern for the sake of survival.  And why do people need a governor?  We need a governor because of our greed.

As an example: We put governors on engines so that the user won’t exceed a certain use of the engine.  And this usually has to do with speed, though the governor on a lawn mower engine is to limit its rpm so that the materials used in building the engine won’t be caused harm from too much friction or vibration.

I hate politics, because I hate greed.  But what am I to do?   There is even politics between one man and God.  He is my governor, if you will.  He limits us all, individually, according to His wisdom so that we won’t destroy ourselves or others because of our greed.  He even limits the ungodly and the sinner, in full sight of God and man.

In considering this today, I came to a startling understanding.  You could punish me by putting me in a crowd of people for 30 years.  Others would be punished by isolation.  But I fear I would thrive there.  Interactions with others, are always filled with greed, no matter how much each of us desires to be rid of it.  One wants this, another wants that.   And, before they are even aware, a friction is born between them.  Greed is going to be a given as long as we have things to own.  And this is why I hate crowds.  The more people gathering in one spot the more possibility for friction between them.

The only way this friction of greed can be limited is if there is no end to the resources and each person has exactly what they want.  Greed cannot exist if there is no desire.  But where, on earth, will you find such a place?  The only place on earth where greed can be killed is by loving isolation and poverty of the things that others desire.  This is why I have come to love isolation. And this is the reason I own very few things.  The more isolation the less friction. The less isolation there is, more is the potential for friction.  In a crowd the potential for friction between people grows exponentially with the number in the crowd.  Why do the police learn riot control?

Most people will read this and think to themselves, “Poor man, he doesn’t know the value of friends and loved ones.”  I will tell you, that’s simply not true.  I do know the value of friends and loved ones.  But the greed born in us, all too often, outweighs the positive potential.  So I have learned that being alone is more to be desired than fame, popularity, or an embrace by those who only love me on the surface.

Is isolation the only answer?  Absolutely not!  Deliverance from greed is the answer.  What we desire is the key.  Do you want to kill greed?  Then allow the Lord to govern your desires.  That’s the ticket out of this mess of a humanity starving for ownership.  Remember what James said about this?

“1 Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? 2 You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; 3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.”   (James 4)

Even with me, greed enters in.  For I want isolation from the greed of others.  But this is not pure Christianity.  For the message of the Gospel is delivered to everyone.  And isolation does the purpose of the Gospel no good at all.  So I am compelled to endure the greed of myself, and that of others, for the sake of the Lord who calls us all to unity.  Is this plight of humanity uncomfortable?  Absolutely!  But what shall we do?  The fix is not to gain anything and everything  we want.  The fix is to stop wanting what is “best” for ourselves.  In this we end up desiring what is truly best.

But to achieve this we need (without question) the wisdom of God.  What man can know what is truly best for everyone he meets?  Remember what James said about Godly wisdom?  “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”  (James 1: 5-8)  So I endure the nearness of others for the sake of the Lord who calls to me and for the sake of the others the Lord is also calling.

Now, surely there is one or two who will desire to help me over come this problem with humanity.  Perhaps they will desire to come along side me and show me what love is all about.  No thanks.  If you want to help me in this, help yourself.  Lay down your desires and turn to the Lord out of a pure heart.  Then you can be of great help to every person you come into contact with.  That is exactly what I am trying to do every day.  And it is exactly this the Lord commands all men to learn so that they do it.

Consider this:  I’m a truck driver.  All day long I witness people shove their desires in the face of others.  And all this is for the simple sake of getting where they want to be.  If where they find themselves were their only desire, there would be no need for their greedy ways on the highway.  I see it the worst in other truckers.  They are compelled to be in a certain place by a certain time or they might lose their job.  And even when they are not compelled by time constraints, they have taught themselves to react to speed and position on the road with an aggressive attitude.

I have learned (or perhaps I should say, “am learning”) to take my place according to what is best for all.  Some need to be taught to wait.  Some need more room because they will actually become enraged if you block them in.  And some simply aren’t paying attention to their surroundings.  Others are in a sincere hurry but are at the top of their game in controlling their desire, reaction to delay, and attitude. The latter few will receive respect from me.  And they are not hard to notice.  People behind the wheel of steel are a curious lot.  If their actions were done in a steelless environment, blood would flow from fists that fly.  And all this is because of greed.  How utterly foolish!

Perhaps a man thinks that he will rise up in the morning, ask God for wisdom, inhabit that wisdom all the rest of his days, and never again come to the place where he flounders in his desires (the point of this man’s mind is that he thinks he will never again have to talk to God for what he thinks he needs; selfishness).  This is not the case.  For the wisdom of God is given to man as man encounters a need for it.

We eat when we are hungry so that we can continue to do the things necessary.  And we do not eat the same food over and over.  A new plate of food is required for each eating moment.  How is it that we don’t perceive this in the way of God’s gift of wisdom?  Instead, most men will ask for wisdom and consider that what they have just been given is sufficient for every purpose.  That man is like one who sits at breakfast and considers that his plate of eggs, bacon, toast, and milk will last him until the next morning.  And from my experience, you don’t drink milk in the same way as you ingest a piece of bacon.  God has designed us to require what is good on a moment by moment basis.  And it will not be taken out-of-the-way as long as we inhabit this bag of blood, that bag which is so very full of all kinds of greed.

God has granted us eternity.  Eternity is not yesterday.  And eternity is not tomorrow.  Eternity is now.  The very moment your eyes read this next word is eternity.  Eternity is where God IS.  He has been there for eternity and will be in that same place forever.  He demands that we learn to live in that eternity which belongs to Him.  And in living that eternal present, we learn to overcome the desires of the future as well as the regrets of the past.  Understand this.  Because it is in this very understanding that we find release from desire.  Jesus promises to forgive the past and lead us as the future becomes the now.  Our response to that truth becomes our religion.