Let Me Sum Up

 Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.

It might surprise some of you that a blog so overtly Christian would use a quote from Karl Marx. Marx was not a big fan of Jesus. Or any other religion for that matter. Even though he technically grew up in a Christian family (his father, a non-practicing Jew, had joined an evangelical church for political reasons) and he did get married in a church. He openly felt that philosophy would one day replace theology. Which is kind of funny as they both wrestle with the same questions, just from different angles. But it isn't terribly important whether Marx believed in God or not. The point is that I believe in God but my belief doesn't blind me to the truth. There are a lot of areas that Karl and I do not see eye to eye on, but I absolutely agree that change is where it's at.

I don't think it takes much paying attention to our current state of affairs to know that things have gone a bit off the rails. You'll also notice there is no shortage of pundits, philosophers, preachers and politicians who are willing to literally talk your ears off about how and why we got here (and certainly don't forget who and what helped along the way). But let's face it. People have been talking for centuries. Obviously, I have done and am going to do some talking myself. But the point of the Chaotic Good Party is that talking must end and doing must begin. Only by actually doing can we change the world.

Which brings us to the five foundational words: love, grace, joy, peace and hope. And my attempts to turn what are essentially emotions and concepts into easily repeatable actions. To recap, here are the genius acronyms that have been previously revealed:

Choose Love

Join Others to Yourself

Give Radical Attention to Connect with Everyone

Perform Every Act in Christian Empathy

Help Other People Endlessly

These are what I will forevermore refer to as the Basics. The basic hows and whys behind what we do. It is still my intention to spend a good chunk of time coming up with all kinds of whats to do. Whats like knitting scarves, random acts of yard work, giving gardens and who knows what else. I will always be on the lookout for new ideas. This doesn't mean I don't also have more topics I want to talk about. I'm passionate about modern myths that need to go and the seven social sins of Gandhi, among other things (our church is just finishing up a fascinating sermon series on that second one). Lots of great stuff to anticipate.

And if I've rambled on too much or those acronyms are more than you'll ever remember, here's the wall art version:

Let's Choose Love, Join in Joy, Give Grace, Perform Peace and Help Spread Hope

Are we going to face opposition every step of the way? Count on it. But realize that if a certain kind of people are horribly upset by what we do, we are on the right track. It is now time to be radical, my friends. To fly in the face of systemic evil. To strive towards making on earth as it is in heaven a reality. To be together, to be chaotic and to be good.