Walk in the Woods

Daily Journal Nik Curfman Daily Journal Nik Curfman

Vol II: #91 Think On These Things

However I affect the world it will not be out of anger or fear. If I want a peaceful and kind world, I must be peaceful and kind. And to be peaceful and kind, I’ve got to shut off all the channel aimed to distract me from Jesus. He’s the source and His kingdom is my home. Whatever I do and however I affect people will be because of the Jesus inside me, not how educated and articulate I am on social/political issues.

They almost got me last week while watching videos on YouTube. It was subtle and appealed to my intellect just like the enemy does. The first was a video on Critical Race Theory in which a clean cut young man named Andrew explained- in great detail- what Critical Race Theory is according to the people who created it. The second video was done by a young black woman from Africa. She hates wokeness and explained why. Again, she was thoughtful and did not speak in language common to Fox News or CNN. Rather, she talked about forgiveness and restoration as part of the Civil Rights process. And then, YouTube, as it does, brought me slightly darker content from less eloquent people.

I could feel my attitude shifting as I became more defensive and angry. In the following days I battled a sense of doom and hopelessness. These were not the thoughts and feeling of the Holy Tree. So…I stopped watching the videos and went back to writing and reading and drawing. However I affect the world it will not be out of anger or fear. If I want a peaceful and kind world, I must be peaceful and kind. And to be peaceful and kind, I’ve got to shut off all the channels aimed to distract me from Jesus. He’s the source of peace and kindness, and His kingdom is my home. Whatever I do and however I affect people will be because of the Jesus inside me, not how educated and articulate I am on social/political issues.

The world will say we are ignorant and useless. That’s ok. As I’ve said before, I’d rather be a hopeful idiot.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. - Philippians 4:8, The Message

Read More
Daily Journal Nik Curfman Daily Journal Nik Curfman

Daily Journal: #101 My Guide To Politics

I asked myself “what’s most important” in 2012, and it brought everything into focus. My answer is Life. Life is the most important thing. My life, your life, my neighbor’s life, the immigrants, the unborn, the convict, the trans kid, the old black lady, the atheist, the Muslim, all the plants, animals, and the land…are all important. We are all God’s inspired creation. Once I had my answer, I was able to center my political beliefs.

This blog is my place of solitude. It is my space to discuss life and the faith required to run after God. I love pounding the keys and the moment I click ‘Submit.’ You may have noticed I tend to stay away from current events, culture, and politics. The internet is already stocked with hot takes, memes, and a myriad of opinions. To be frank, I am not interested in those discussions.

So it makes perfect sense for me to write a Guide to Politics.

What is Good?

Many people seem to vote against one candidate as oppose to voting for a candidate. This is literally the dumbest rationale on the planet, and it is why we have a hypocritical government. We don’t vote out of hope or vision. We vote out of fear. Donald Trump won the election in 2016 because Hillary Clinton was a terrible candidate. How do I know? Because, I asked Trump voters why they voted for Trump. A surprising number of them responded “I couldn’t vote for Hillary” or “I would’ve voted for Bernie.” That’s astounding.

I refuse to accept this as our only option. So, I’ll start with the ‘why’. And do to that, I’ll determine what we value. Here is a simple but powerful question: What is your most important thing in life? It may take time to narrow it down, but it’s there. We all have one thing above all else.

I asked myself “what’s most important” in 2012, and it brought everything into focus. My answer is Life. Life is the most important thing. My life, your life, my neighbor’s life, the immigrants, the unborn, the convict, the trans kid, the old black lady, the atheist, the Muslim, all the plants, animals, and the land…are all important. We are all God’s inspired creation. After I had my answer (my why), I was able to center my political beliefs.

Important Questions

My answer isa bit broad, and yours may be more specific. I advise you remove politics from your mind- somewhat hard to do, but try. Your answer could be family, or education, or church, or freedom. There is no wrong answer. The next step is aligning your political beliefs with your values. Use the following to guide you:

  1. Question: What’s the most important thing to me? Try to make this about you and not a projection of what you think is good.

  2. Question: How does this apply to other people? What do I want for them? Again, try to stay away from politics at this point. Example: If you believe family is the most important part of life, what do you want for your family and what do you want for others?

  3. Challenge: Let’s take this a step further. All too often we are caught in a scarcity mindset. It leads us to believe some people must suffer, and we need to protect our own. Take scarcity off the table. What if, as He says, God can ‘supply all our needs in riches and glory?’ Now redo #3. If you had the faith to believe God is a good God, what do you want for other people? If their life doesn’t affect yours, what do want them to have? HINT: You should want for others what you have for yourself.

  4. Question: Are my values congruent with my political beliefs? In my situation, I had to make some changes. For example, while I am no lover of government run healthcare schemes, citizens in South Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany, the UK, and New Zealand all live longer than the average American. And they pay less for it. Something has to give.

    If I say life is important, but sellout to a corrupt private medical system, what am I doing? (Maybe? Socialized medicine isn’t so bad? Private companies decided what treatments and procedures they will pay for. We already have death panels.)

  5. The snag. Once you begin to define what is important to you, you may find yourself in a political wasteland. I did. I have no party. I am a pro-life, pro-environment, anti-death penalty, pro-equal rights, pro-freedom, pro-immigrant, anti-prohibition, anti-corrpution capitalist, pro-gun Christian white man. I do not fit the mold of a conservative, liberal, socialist, or libertarian.

  6. The solution. Know your values. Know your issues. Vote for a candidate(s), for your hopes. Stop voting your fears.

Am I being naive? No, I am not. The country we have today is direct reflection of compromised values and the projection of fear. And all I am asking is for you, dear reader, to vote out of faith and hope. If that leads you to Donald Trump, so be it. I don’t understand that, but I will respect it. (Same for Biden.) Moreover, take this guide with you into the future. Use it in every election, including primaries. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are not the two best candidates available. We got them because we vote our fears.

It’s time to take a stand, one person at a time.

Like this blog? Share it with people you love.


LINKS

Read More