Yesterday, Pastor Don Cua, the guest speaker for the 10:30AM service of my church the Capitol City Baptist Church, gave his message on “The Positive Influence of the Family”. He started his message by quoting a popular E-mail message that was forwarded around the world. The title of the piece was “The Paradox of our Time”. Here’s the complete version of that e-mail message:
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've split the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.
*Remember spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
*Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
*Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
*Remember, to say, "I love you" to your spouse and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
*Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.
The moment Pastor Don flashed the passage on the screen, I immediately recognized the piece by its opening sentence. It has always been one of my favorite messages of all time because it clearly speaks about our time. And I have always been intrigued by the word “paradox” and how it simply defines where we are right now. Unfortunately, Pastor Don didn't acknowledge the original writer of this very eloquent and moving text.
And I think I know why. The authorship of this piece has been the subject of deliberation for quite some time. And I think a lot of people are still in the dark about the authenticity of the source.
This e-mail has been tagged as one of the more popular “urban legend spam”. I first got hold of this e-mail around in 2002, just a little over a year after 911. In the e-mail that I received, credit for this piece was given to an American stand-up comedian George Carlin who incidentally just passed away last June 22, 2008.
George Carlin allegedly wrote this piece after 911 and just soon after his wife died. Talk went around that being a native New Yorker, this disaster must have really struck a major chord in his heart. For those of you who are not familiar with George Carlin, like I said earlier, he’s an American stand-up comedian, actor, and author who won four Grammy Awards for his comedy albums. Carlin was noted for his political insights, his black humor, and his observations in language, psychology, religion, and many other subjects deemed as taboo by many.
When I first read this piece I was surprised to learn that this poignant writing came from the same person who often delivered his material in a misanthropic and nihilistic fashion. At that time I thought “wow”. I guess this only proves that when disaster hits very close to home, it softens or breaks even the most stone-hard cynics amongst us.
After getting hold of this piece and knowing naively that this is supposedly from the iconoclast George Carlin, I got curious about this guy and started researching about him. Before this wonderful “spam sermon” (as I would like to call it), I was already a bit familiar with Carlin’s works and this DEFINITELY DOES NOT sound like him at all. So I tried to research more about his life and hope to find some proof of significant turn-around that led him to write something “positive” such as this.
Unfortunately, I got rebuked. While doing my text investigation, I found out that George Carlin was NOT the original writer of this proverbial piece. In fact, he emphatically denied he had anything to do with it which he ever refers to as a “sappy load of sh*t” … uhm, ok… I guess that puts an end to our assumption that Mr. Carlin had a life-changing epiphany.
So who wrote this marvelous piece? Is it enough to settle with “Anonymous”? Is it really important for us to know who wrote it? Or is the message strong enough to hold true throughout generations?
A piece like this just didn’t pop up from nowhere. And true enough, my research produced an answer. The original writer was DR. BOB MOOREHEAD, former pastor of Seattle’s Overlake Christian Church. The essay appeared under the title “The Paradox of our Age” in Words Aptly Spoken which is Dr. Moorehead’s 1995 collection of prayers, homilies, and monologues used in his sermons and radio broadcasts. BUT I’m about to tell you a very interesting fact. If Pastor Cua was aware of such fact, this could be the reason why he probably intended NOT to acknowledge the writer. The interesting footnote to this piece is that during Pastor Bob’s tenure at the said church, 17 members of his congregation reported that he had sexually assaulted them. These allegations, which surfaced in 1997, prompted his resignation in 1998. After a year of publicly supporting Moorehead, the church elders withdrew their support, their own investigation into the charges having led them to conclude their pastor had indeed been guilty of molesting a number of male churchgoers.
Whew! Talk about PARADOX! Even the author was a walking paradox himself. Tsk tsk tsk. Well, the human courts may have judged him as guilty, but I think we really can’t know the real story. ONLY GOD KNOWS and we all know he’s accountable to no one but GOD.
But what’s the point of this really LOOOONG PIECE? (hehe) Well, I just want to share my reflections on how we should be careful in picking up tokens of inspiration. Most of us memorize a lot of quotable quotes, from Chinese proverbs, to the Dalai Lama, to genius philosophers, and we even quote some supposedly witty Hollywood directors. I am guilty in a lot of these things. As people we tend to always be moved by what our fellow “humanly imperfect” people say. We quote famous people and give them all the credit in the world and yet what we don’t realize is that all the GOLDEN NUGGETS OF TRUTH that we pass around orally and textually all come from one source. What else is the ultimate source of all things good but JESUS CHRIST? If you study the famous quotes in the world, I really believe that you can all trace them back to the BIBLE – the source of all inspiration, wisdom, goodness, and LOVE.
To those who don’t believe this, let this be a challenge to you. Pick up the Bible and discover God’s word – His promises and the absolute truths that will make all the difference if we all just obey.
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