bal⋅ance

 /ˈbæləns/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [bal-uhns] noun, verb, -anced, -anc⋅ing.–noun

1.	a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.

I have been doing more and more thinking about religion, balance, and Avatar. I am intrigued by the idea of believing in balance. The more I think about it the more I realize how egocentric and preemptive Christianity is. For a religion that boasts a belief in such a wonderful God we spend a lot of time praying and devoting ourselves to Him in hopes that it will help us as individuals. Yes Christianity says that we need to treat others the way we want to be treated etc, but it all comes back to us. When we have a loved on that is sick, dying, facing hard ship... how often do we pray for them and not for our own good? Do we pray for a loved one that is sick to get better so that we do not have to grieve a loss or because we really believe that God doesn't know what He is doing and we are supposed to remind him to look after that person? If we believe in God shouldn't we trust that He knows what He is doing when a loved one is sick, injured, or even killed? I'm not saying this is an easy task at all, but if we believe in God shouldn't we also trust He knows what He's doing. Is it our right to know what His plan is? Shouldn't we instead always pray for balance, harmony, whatever you want to call it?

I think that Christianity tries to be a preventative religion, rather than focusing on ways to cope after a situation happens Christians try to pray more for the prevention of events happening and focus a lot on "being good so bad things won't happen". I see religions like Buddhism as a religion that focuses on dealing with and understanding the world knowing that some god won't come intervene if we are good enough. A religion that focuses on the balance of good and bad. I don't know much about Buddhism and was raised a Christian but I am starting to wonder if us Christians have it right. More and more I find comfort in knowing that no matter how much I pray God isn't going to come down and fulfill my direct request, but that I am part of a whole world of energy that must maintain balance. Terrible things happen, and really good things happen. You can't take it personal right? I like a religion that helps us understand that it's not personal but the world all has to maintain balance. That helps us deal with it. It's not a balance system based on each persons rights or wrongs but a world of rights and wrongs and we have no control over how we fit into how the balance is going to play out.

This part is why I feel it relates to Avatar because I believe that even Buddhism works on a more individual scale when it comes to karma and all that. Avatar talked about balance. They didn't "pray" so that each person was saved or chosen because they knew their god didn't work like that. They knew that all they could do was to believe in the idea of total balance and that their god's job wasn't to help one race, species, or situation be favored but to favor balance and the people trusted that balance would keep them safe. I find this idea comforting. There isn't some grand master moving us around like pawns and influencing each of our lives individually. If there is a war between two groups of Christians and they are both praying to God then how can we really believe that the prayer works? God isn't going to choose a side. It seems silly to believe that when you think of it that way. When you accept that balance will be maintained at the end of the day and whatever happens to you is a part of that balance then it's a lot easier to accept what happens to you. Think of all the energy in the world and it all has to stay in balance. When it gets out of balance 'bad' things happen so that balance is returned. Our earth for example is being destroyed by us and as a result we are seeing more natural disasters which are 'bad' to humans but the earth is attempting to restore it's balance. Is it God smiting us? No.

I'm not saying Christianity is all bad, and I myself am not ready to give up my belief in God but I'm wondering if we haven't confused His message and turned the religion in to a self-serving justification for everything we do... good and bad. Watched an interesting movie the other day called "The Man From Earth" and it suggested that Christianity was rooted in Buddhism and has become confused and misconstrued over the years. An interesting idea.

Anyway, I have to get ready for school but these are my thoughts for the morning. I don't know what the 'answer' is and I hope I haven't offended anyone. I'm just rambling on. Hope everyone has a positive day.

Signing off.