Man's bane; God or Man?

I often complain at the level of intelligence in today's society. I often feel the liberation of sex has lowered the necessity for people to engage one another on an intellectual level. Sure people talk to one another, but formulating opinions, of things that matter, has fallen a little by the wayside. I die a little inside every time I hear someone say that they don't care about the election; like my vote makes a difference. Not caring about the issues of life carries a heavy cost in my opinion.

When people do care about this world, such as when a natural disaster (or three are we up to now?) occurs, all they can do is point the finger of blame. Poor God and I suppose the gods, get a lot of hate when things go wrong today... but according to the lengthy and eloquently versed "The Odyssey" by Homer, man has been pointing the finger of blame to the sky (or the ground if they think its Hades' fault) for eternity.
Part of the verse in book one, admittedly the only book I've decided to read at this point, the classics take a toll, really struck the chord of what I have been contemplating;

"Oh how falsely men,
Accuse us gods as authors of their ill,
When by the bane their own bad lives instil,
They suffer all the miseries of their states,
Past Our inflictions, and beyond their fates"

We blame God when things go wrong in this world. But the way we live, treat each other, treat the world, and think is the true author of the ills of the world.

When looking for someone to blame, look to yourself, or better yet, question why you are bothering playing the blame game when you could be considering a solution instead. The miseries of the world increase ten fold when one trys to find meaning and the guilty party.

God gave us the freedom to act as we wish; we take the freedom, but fail to realise the consequence, until it comes baring down on us.

Peace

the commencement of the forty day diet!!!!!!!

So, yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which is preceeded of course by (Shrove Tuesday) Pancake Day!
This means everybody that we should all be giving up that delicious yet oh so not nutritious food that we cannot abide without, and why not do it for lent??

WRONG!

Lent, in my humble opinion is supposed to be about remembering when Jesus spent forty days in the desert, being tempted by the devil, not drinking or eating, but preparing for his final showdown and ultimate triumph over the devil. Therefore, for me, lent is about remembering what Jesus did for me, and preparing my heart for the power, majesty and joy that is Easter. In my opinion its not a good excuse for a diet. If you dont know why you are giving something up, dont!

I applaud those who do put to themselves to give something up for lent, to experience, in however minute a form, the self-denial and sacrifice that Jesus experienced over that forty days. However this crazy pop-culture that has sprung up about the forty day lenten diet drives me wild!

Its likely that I should give up being such a pompous ass who judges too freely for lent, that would be a case of serious self-denial. But I fear that as it means nothing or too little to too many people, my desire to do it is limited at best.

Perhaps we could use this as a conversation starter with non-christians, or atleast individuals who dont really get what it is all about. This holiest time of the year is a time for self-reflection and wonderment at the ultimate sacrifice and love we all have a part of.