I’ll Give You Yours, but you might not like it! (August 5 [Laramie])

I want what is mine.
You want what is yours.
What is mine?
What is yours?
If I were to give you yours would you recognize it? Would you be able to reach out and grab it off a shelf? Would you?
There are days when I get the sense that I have missed something; that I am owed something, but because I don't see it, I go unpaid for something just out of my reach. I don't mind, because I don't know what it is that I am missing out. Then the news comes on. I hear stories. I see pictures. I read articles. People are out there claiming that they are owed, that they are being deprived of something vital for life, that they are out to get it. They want what is theirs and they are going to get it—come hell or high water—because they need it for something or another.
They need respect.
They need lots of money.
They need fame.
They need… the world to eat out of their hands.
If only for a minute, they need the spotlight to be on themselves, but when it hits they are ready to go for years. They get a taste of the shine and they can't let go. They need it, they crave it, and have to have it… even when it's gone!
When the spotlight is gone, they create pathways in order to get back to the shine. They need it. They want it. They make up stories; create lives that don't exist; and all but destroy the lives of others to get what is theirs—the spotlight. The need it so bad that nothing will stand in their way: not families, not friends, not strangers or even God.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY, I NEED THE SPOTLIGHT!" they scream as they charge forward towards what they believe is the spotlight waiting to share their story with the world.
It's just a train.
It's just a lighthouse on the edge of a cliff.
It's just a UFO.
It's not yours.
Believe me. You have yours coming, but you aren't going to like it.
You had your moment in the sun, now move on. You had your time in the shine, now keep moving. You had your 15 seconds of fame, now you're done. There are other people in the world who will never have an opportunity to share their story; and then there is you… constantly seeking a way to get your voice in the conversation; your picture in the paper; your face in my life. You got a moment and you want it to last a lifetime. MOVE ON!
Now, so far this has been about those who have been provided a moment to tell their story. They were afforded a moment in the spotlight for a legitimate reason: be it volunteering for a cause; helping grandmas cross the street; or saving a basketful of kittens from the river. Whatever the case may be, they had their time, but there comes a time when you move along with your life. You get your time to shine, and you move on with your life until another moment is afforded to you. The universe will appoint you a time and place to share your story, you don't need to hijack the evening news every night or come up with new outlandish reasons for the newspaper to do a feature on you. This is just crazy: sit down, relax and do life.
There is a call for storytellers, but not glory hogs. Everybody deserves to tell their story, but not for the sake of becoming famous, or standing in the spotlight. Stories are powerful things that should be shared, but not for the sake of being on the front page of the newspaper every day. Headlines are not life stories, and generally aren't worth reading… is that how you really want to live your life?
Chances are you said yes, which means my plea have fallen on deaf ears.
I will give you yours, and you aren't going to like it.
Being an American, we are the top of the food chain. We are staring down on the rest of the world with hungry eyes; we can have everything, take everything, feel everything, and taste everything. It's all OURS. Give me mine. I'll give you yours. It's all ours, and we must fight to protect what is ours. We are the top of the food chain; the spotlight is ours—look at us, the most powerful nation in the world!
There are things happening around the world, LOOK AT ME!
People are dying of curable disease; LOOK At ME!
People are running for their lives, because they are truly being persecuted for their beliefs… LOOK AT ME!
People are suffering in your back yard; LOOK AT ME!
The poor, the truly forgotten, the beaten, the bruised, the broken, the suffering all around the world; LOOK AT ME!
They're stealing your spotlight and you can't have that; you have to draw the spotlight back to yourself so that the world never forgets you!
You are the most important person in the world! You deserve to be looked at! You deserve to be listened to! You deserve it all…
Even though you may deserve all of the accolades in the world. I will give you none. You will get yours, and you get nothing.
P.S. I read a story today about a lady who applied for a job at a health service provider of some sort (a health clinic of sorts). During the interview she admitted that she was not willing to provide clients with certain types of birth control. As you may have guessed, she did not get the job, and as a result of her not getting the job she decides that they are attacking her religious beliefs and is suing for religious discrimination. Really? What is happening in the world today that we, as American Christians, feel as if we know what it means to be discriminated against for our religious beliefs? Nothing that I can think of. We are still one of the most powerful countries in the world, where people come for the freedoms that the country were founded on. However, it would seem that we are becoming confused about how this world works. To me, it would seem that we have the right to practice whatever religion we want—some may not go over as well as others, but nonetheless, freedom of religion is there; and we have the ability/right to seek gainful employment. Free enterprise and some such thing as that allows almost any sort of business to exist—again most go over well, but some don't do as well as others. There are then, those areas where religion and enterprise overlap; likewise there are those areas where they are mutually exclusive (they don't overlap). If you are against open heart surgery, birth control pills, and sewing brains back into people's skulls, then maybe a health clinic isn't the place for you to apply for a job. If you are only going to go through the process just so that you can claim discriminatory acts and sue, then maybe you should re-evaluate life, and wait for your appointed time to shine in the spotlight.
If I could give you yours… you wouldn't like it very much!