Warning: If you don't want to be upset at me, you probably shouldn't read the following post.  Also, my emotions aren't targeted at any one person or any one recent event - they're targeted at a whole lot of people in a number of situations over many years.

Blech.  This is not really the tone I tend to take.  But I want to be really clear.  What are your priorities?  Figure that out.  Which action is more important to you?  Do that one.  It is that simple.

I am tired of people who just give in to whatever because they don't want to think about what is really important.  I know this will sound mean, but I am tired of people who say "I really want to help take care of sick people that day, but I was invited to go watch a movie."  Which is really more important to you - taking care of the sick, or watching a movie?  I am tired of people who use excuses like, "I would go to Bible study, but Mediterranean food is really good and I don't want to miss out."  Which is more important to you - studying the Bible, or eating out?  I am tired of the "only chance" excuse being legitimate, as in: "I would go help you build a home for the homeless, but this is my only chance to go scuba diving."  I don't really care how many chances you will have, or even whether this false "only chance" excuse is legitimate.  Just lay down the options right now: scuba diving or serving the homeless.  Which one is more important to you?

I honestly hate hearing people praise me just because I happened to hold to my priorities in a situation.  I don't turn down most invitations to eat out because I'm some amazing steward of my money.  I turn them down because I'm honestly thinking, "I enjoy food, but I will get much more joy out of putting this money towards someplace other than my stomach."  That isn't a sacrifice at all - how is it a sacrifice when I pick the option that pleases me more?  I didn't spend a weekend doing the barbeque because I'm a great giver of my time - I loved that time and money that I spent preparing the bbq.  If I spent too much money on them, or I spent too much of my time cooking, it wasn't because of a misplaced sense of obligation.  It was because more than anything else, that is what I wanted to be doing right then.

I get especially upset when people treat my involvement in my current profession as a great service to mankind, or act like my desires for my future prove that I'm some amazing human being.  If I had stayed in research science, I would be continuously discontent with my life.  Yes, I do believe that I am being obedient to God in choosing to teach in the inner city rather than analyzing bacteria and sending up satellites.  But that doesn't mean that I am some admirable person simply because I have made the right choice.  In making the right choice, I am doing what is going to bring me joy.  Yes, sometimes I have stayed in terrible situations (such as last year's work) because I believed I had a duty to my students and had to serve them no matter how much pain it caused me.  If anything I have done was a sacrifice, it was that.  But the basic decision of deciding to teach is not a sacrifice at all - it's the best place I can be right now.  And my desires to leave in a few years, to run off to work in an orphanage in India or teach street kids in Nairobi, are definitely not sacrifice.  It is what will make me the most happy!  If you think that there's something special about what I'm going to do, then do it yourself!  If you are jealous of where I am going, then drop the less important things in your life and go there!  Don't envy decisions you could be making yourself.

Most of all, I'm going off on this right now because it sickens me to hear people praising things that they will not do.  Sometimes God asks us to make really hard sacrifices in our life - I'm not going to deny that.  Sometimes I bite the bullet and listen to Him, and sometimes I am weak and can't follow through.  I'll admit that obedience can be hard, some of the time.  But don't talk about how much you want to do something, or how jealous you are of the service that someone is going to do, and then refuse to take up the opportunity when it comes.  Just set your priorities straight and do it.  If you really believe that studying the Bible is important, then go to Bible study.  Otherwise, just admit that you don't like it and go off with your friends or play computer games.  If you really think that buying drinks is your best way to reach God and encourages a more Christ-like lifestyle, then do it as often as possible.  But don't do it just because you were invited, or because it will supposedly be your "last chance".  Figure out your priorities, and then actually follow them.  Quit the pointless job, drop the unfulfilling career, move out of the materialistic lifestyle.  Make the leap and do what will bring you joy.

rant over