LABELS

OK, Here we go!  My first blog...I've thought about doing this for some time.  I always enjoyed writing, and thought I was pretty good at it.  Plus, it's been a long time since I've had an outlet for getting those thoughts out there.  So here goes....This blog will be about the things that I observe in the world, and things that really get me thinking.  It may be about serious world events.  It may be conversations about religion, the church and society?  It may be about silly stuff that just make me say, "huh?"  It may just be me getting some stuff off my chest!  Who knows!!  We'll see where the old thought process leads me...and trust me, the way I think sometimes...we could be in for a bumpy ride!

I've entitled this first blog "Labels".  Labels can be a good thing!  They tell you whether or not you're buying cling peaches or brussel sprouts!!  Labels tell us what's in the tin cans, the boxes and the plastic bottles.  They tell us when things are bad for us or good for us.  Labels can also provide a means of division within a group.  Why do we place so much importance on labels?

• are they signs of the need for order?..."A Place for everything, and Everything in it's Place?" 
• Are they ways for us to seperate ourselves from others?...going back to that whole "peaches vs. brussel sprouts" thing...because peaches probably wouldn't hang out with brussel sprouts.  They'd have nothing in common! 
• Are they simply an excuse to sell those cool label makers from OfficeMax and Staples that look like Star Trek Phasers?  (Come on, admit it...you've had "phaser" fights at work with the label maker!!!)

 Imagine that human beings had labels.  What would these labels say about us?  First of all, the most obvious: are we male or female?  It's pretty safe to assume that a majority of the population of the world fits into one of these two labels, giving all deference to those in the transgender community.  From there, we can continue to subdivide into age levels:  children, youth, young adult, middle adult, senior adult.  We subdivide again to include:  rich, middle class, poor, poverty level.  Politically we have democrat, republican, independent, liberal, conservative, middle of the road, radical, militant and every other possible combination of the above.  Same for religion:  Christian, evangelical, seeker, protestant, catholic, pentecostal, cultic, emergent and so forth and so on.  Moving into the social labels:  heterosexual, gay, lesbian, transgendered, bisexual, questioning, asexual, pansexual.....OK, I'm getting a headache with all these labels now! 

Maybe it's just a pipe dream of mine, but I'd love to see a day where we as a society can look upon each other, and not see a label with a list of qualities that we either accept or not.  I believe that we are put on this earth to look out for each other...to care for each other.  We are meant to be in relationship with one another...not to go through life alone!  One of my favorite songs from the Broadway show "Wicked" says it the best way I can think to say it:

"I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn.  And we are led to those who help us most to grow, if we let them.  And we help them in return"...

No labels....Just us!  Radical thought, huh?