An Open Letter To Fellow Men Guys

It's time to step it up a little.
I'm thankful to be from a state where common courtesy is uncommonly common. Not to say Texas is better than anywhere else (though it sort of is . . .), because i have much disdain for numerous aspects of it.

1 Peter 3:7 "Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered."

Now, this is directed not just at men, but rather married men. Still, parts of this can be applied to unwed men, namely the part where it says "showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel."
Here lies some controversy, as this could be seen as a male supremacist quote. How many male manual/heavy laborers are there for each female one? How many male bodybuilders are there for each female one? There are women stronger than me, and more physically capable than me. But on average, men are stronger than women, and that's fact. Deal with it.

Now on to the point of this post.
Guys, we really need to work on our manhood. In the verses leading up to this one, it speaks of the conduct of wives; how they should act and why. It tells them to be, essentially, not just women but ladies. There is a difference in the two terms; a woman is a person of the female sex. A lady is a woman who is noble and true. She is an upright, moral, intelligent woman. She is not one to fall in with any crowd, to appease for the sake of appeasing but rather for the sake of setting an example, and she is respectable in her respect for others.
And guys, with what is asked of women in this chapter, we are asked merely to show honor to them as the weaker vessel.
Our gender-role is quite simple, really.
Yet we still fail at it.
It's time we fixed that, yeah?

I'm not saying we should all become gentlemen overnight (though we should try). Let's start by becoming men. Let's work on the gentle part after we have mastered the way of being a man.

In this, i'm challenging any man that would accept.
Let's start simple, like opening doors for women, or offering to help load groceries. If we see a woman carrying something heavy or trying to lift something strenuously, it's our duty to show honor to them by offering assistance. Not to flex our muscles, but to use them so that they aren't required to.
We're not flirting, we're not trying to win hearts, we're not trying to impress, we're not even trying to be gentlemen; we're just being men.

And yes, i'm trying to add contrast between the genders with this, to repaint the line between our natures.
Not for the sake of friction or to say one sex is greater than the other. No, neither is greater; we're both required, we're both capable, we're both equal. Our natural tendencies and capabilities are different--not better or worse, just different.
But we need lines. We need contrast. We need character. We need God-given roles in our lives.
A brain and a heart are both required for life, so which is greater? The heart for pumping the blood to the brain so that the brain can tell the heart to pump blood? No, they're different, mandatory, and equal.

Without these gender-roles, society's heart will stop pumping blood to the brain, or else the brain will stop telling it to . . . Society will lose both its heart and its brain if we continue diminishing the contrast between the two.

The Lord's Prayer (pt. 2)

"Give us this day our daily bread."

In another verse, Proverbs 30:8, the author, Agur, pleads for only two things, one of which is to have neither poverty nor riches. For in poverty, we may become thieves and "profane the name of my God," whereas in riches we will forget where our hope rests and where our blessings come from.
Not only this, i find the whole aspect of "daily bread" to be quite interesting. It's long been in my thoughts to always have a need, but not poverty. I want just enough, nothing more. I'd prefer a little less than enough rather than a little more, so i have to strive, i have to better myself, and i have to trust God wholeheartedly to provide.
But daily bread; the literal translation of that is "the bread of my portion" (in Proverbs).
Enough, nothing more and nothing less. Paraphrased, that could imply "give us this day [just enough so that we rely on You always]."
But we're not to live by bread alone, but by every word of God. The basics of this world, and the blessings of the spiritual. Adequacy here, and abundance in our soul . . . And our cup will overflow.
¹² 
"And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors."

I'm analyzing these two as the same line . . .
Forgiveness is something we have to strive for from mankind. We have to earn it. Jesus earned forgiveness of sins for us and gives it freely to us, all we have to do is ask.
But to forgive, that's not just an empty phrase. If we say we forgive someone, we should mean it. We should eliminate that wrong from our memory as best we can and live as though it never happened. In Romans chapter 10, it says "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Forgiveness is much the same way; to forgive, we must believe in the heart that we've forgiven, and by mouth we utter that the wrong has been washed away. It's an oath to not throw a past sin in someone's face after it's been said that you've forgiven. Jesus was God's oath to us that He'd not hold us accountable after we've been forgiven. By Jesus' blood, our 'debts' against God and man have been washed away. His blood is grace, and we're covered in it. It's not that He can't see our sins, it's that He chooses not to.

"And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one."

God does not tempt us to do wrong, so i've caught myself wondering why we'd ask God to not lead us into temptation.
But it's simple, really. In Romans chapter 1 (i'm using other verses to make my point a lot this go-'round), we can see where God doesn't lead people into wickedness, but 'gives them up to uncleanness'. Their hearts were darkened.How do you darken something? You remove the light. God is the light of salvation. He removed Himself from them, and left them to their own hearts' desires. Without a glimmer of God in our hearts, we revert to things that are unnatural, diseasing (not a word, but its intended meaning should be obvious), and crippling. They professed wisdom, all the while becoming fools. Their hearts became void of God's light.
Romans 1:29-32 says: "being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."See, this shows that it's God alone that keeps us from evil.
To me, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" is much as a plea to have God continue to shine His light in our hearts, which will keep us from evil.

"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

By Him, through Him, and to Him are all things; all things were made for His glory, and this is stating that all glory will be properly directed to Him. All power we may gain, whatever strength, ability, respect, honor, or place among men, it is His. He gets our glory, He gets the power appointed us by man, and His is the Kingdom that is established with such power.
The kingdom of God; this universe but a territory. His is the kingdom.
Forever. It's hard to think of something infinite with a mind as finite as ours. Let me put this in a finite manner: The Voyager I Probe was launched in 1977. That's 35 years ago. It's travelling nearing to 50km per second. Each breath you take, it travels the distance it would take you an hour and a half to drive. And it's been going for 35 years. It's 33 hours away at the speed of light. Now picture walking that distance. It would take millennia, and that's 1/265th of one lightyear. Our galaxy is 100,000–120,000 lightyears across. Now imagine walking that. There are galaxies billions of lightyears away . . . Imagine walking back and forth between here and one of them . . . Now picture it a thousand times. And that's a flash in the pan compared to God's eternal glory.
To Him is our glory, and our power (our all), and our kingdoms. Forever.
Amen: to be firm, confirmed, reliable, faithful, have faith, believe, so be it.

A simple matter . . .

I think I'm beginning to understand something.
There are always exceptions to rules. However, around rural areas, like the area I live in, people are generally Conservative and they fear God. I wondered why large cities have a lower ratio of Conservatives and/or steadfast Christians.
I've heard a theory about a lack of education. I disagree. I'm not boasting, just pointing out a fact, my IQ is about a third higher than average. There are smart people and not as smart people in both areas. It's not education. It's something more than that.
And I think I know what it is.
It's kind of simple, actually.
It's a matter of replacing things.

Look up at the countless stars every night, seven of which are planets, many are stars with their own planets, and so many more are galaxies with their own stars that have their own planets, and you can see evidence of God. Look up at an orange-lit, smoggy, light-polluted sky every night, and you can see evidence of man.
If you step out your front door in the morning and are greeted with nature, a blue sky, birds, flowers of every color, green grass, a fresh breeze, maybe even a rabbit or a squirrel, you see evidence of God.
If you step out of your front door and are greeted by a hallway leading to the exit of your apartment, or else a pallid expanse of concrete and cars, you see evidence of man.
If you plant a seed in a garden (not a flower box on your roof), watch it grow, harvest the fruit or leaves, and watch as the plant reacts to these things, you see evidence of God.
If you go to the store and shove your way past a few people to grab a couple pale, unripe tomatoes, you see evidence of man.
There's a pattern here. People in rural areas are more inclined to be greeted by God's creation wherever they go. They walk along dirt roads, or in small forests, along riverbanks, etc. They are surrounded by life. They are surrounded by an impossibly balanced ecosystem. They are surrounded by God.
People who live in or around cities, they live in man's dwelling. They're surrounded by what man has done to God's creation. Instead of looking around and seeing what God has made, they see what man has made of it.
This is my belief as to why more God-fearing people live in the 'country'.

Now as far as Conservatism, be it socially, morally or politically, I think they all stem from a common mindset: More with less.
For instance, around here, a Conservative likely has a garden, or has had one. They do so not necessarily out of necessity, but to save money and to be able to have a say about what's going into their food.
A Liberal around here does so because it's "fun", or to have a say about what's going into their food.
The difference here is a replaced reasoning.
A Conservative will usually have a garden for the reason of, well, conservation. Growing food because they need to, or because it will benefit them and their family in the long run. They do so because it's conserving and it's cheaper and it's natural. And also because you can see God's work and plan for food production.
A Liberal will usually have a garden as a hobby or simply because they can. Their gardens usually end up costing far more than it would've just to drive to the grocery store, because they're not trying to conserve, but instead, they're just wasting time and money on something fun. That's why a garden on the roof of your apartment doesn't count. It's not out of necessity. If it was, you wouldn't be living in an apartment like that, you'd be living in cheap housing (read: conserving).
A Conservative is, around here at least, typically one who makes due with what they have, cutting costs wherever possible, growing their own vegetables, raising their own animals to butcher.
A Liberal is typically the kind that sees chickens as animals that should be free (they should be--or at least happy), but to the point that they cry foul (or "fowl", if you will) when they see a chicken in a 4'x4'x4' coop.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with living in a suburban area, or being a Liberal or anything like that.
I just happen to identify with the Conservative lifestyle, seeing God's creation and not man's distortion of it, and it just 'clicked' today as to what causes the city people to typically be Liberal and the country people to tend to be Conservative.