It's an analogy I've heard in many capacities. If you put a frog in a pan of boiling water, he'll jump right out. If you set the frog in a pan of water and turn the heat up gradually he'll cook because he doesn't sense the danger. (Has the ASPCA heard of the people who found this out?)
Lately I've been watching more tv than is healthy. We're inundated with adult shows dealing with many controversial issues. Two especially noticeable have been homosexuality and euthanasia. But I find it quite interesting HOW these issues are presented.
Firstly, Lesbianism seems almost ignored on television now. I think perhaps the opinion is lesbianism will be more socially "acceptable" because it is less "invasive" than male homosexuality. Secondly, gay men are nearly always portrayed as fun and funny; the life of the party: or they are portrayed as stable, serious men in a comitted, monogamous relationship who would be "perfect" parents. No attempt is made to show an accurate account of the homosexual lifestyle; the rampant promiscuity, the accompanying psychological problems, the increasing physical risks....
Euthanasia is presented almost exclusively as a loving choice done at the request of the ill or injured victim. I love you so much I don't want you to live with me like this and you love me so much you'll kill me if I ask you to (?!) In the shows it's done by a loving family member or friend. No mention is made of the emotional scars on the remaning family who weren't involved in the "choice". Nothing is said about the probability that eventually it will be doctors & insurance companies deciding who will die rather than family. Not once is the word "murder" used.
In both of these cases the television audiences are expected to become inured to SIN. For the most part, our public school system is not teaching people to think for themselves. A society getting its ideas from increasingly liberal programming will eventually accept without question that agenda. In other words, our culture is cooking some frogs. By the time our children are lawmakers the hope of those extremists is that they'll have been in hot water so long they won't recognize it and will vote accordingly so that anything goes. Except , of course, religion. We will not be able to tolerate such intolerance.
"...'Cause it's the best you can do." A recurring theme I've heard in various forms in kids' shows the past few years. Is it really applicable? I've been debating this interiorly for some time. In our Christian lives are we called to do our best in everything?
So I talked it over with my Beloved. We agreed God is a God of details and yes, He does expect us to do our best. Everyday. All the little things. The best dusting I can do. The very best hug for this child. The best smile I can muster. It sounds exhausting.
You know, God, sometimes this Chiristianity stuff is just too hard.
You ask too much of me.
Whereupon I imagine Him shaking a crucifix in my face and saying, "Too much? Too much? I haven't asked THIS of you yet!"
That "yet" scares me a bit.