Life-not apathy

Every year our school does something called Spurgeon Fest which is a week where three different students from our school get to speak in chapel. It's called Spurgeon Fest because Charles Spurgeon, who was saved at age 15 and preached his first sermon one year later as a 16 year old. The whole purpose is to give an opportunity to godly young men who are aspiring preachers.
Anyway, it got me thinking about what I would talk about if I were asked to speak (this thought distracted me from Patrick Stickney's message for a little bit-- sorry Patrick). At first I wasn't sure if I would want to pick a passage and try to exposit it and I wasn't sure if I would want to do a topical sermon. I started trying to think about things that would apply to our school, our culture, and I came up with something that I think needs to be addressed because it is a growing epidemic in our society today. This problem is a cesspool from which all vices emerge; it is a hidden pandemic that permeates our minds without our consent-- striking us at all times, never letting us alone. What is this virus I am talking about? It's called apathy.
It's defined as the "absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement."
It's sad to see that people don't care about their world, their society-- they don't care about other people, they don't care about themselves! Instead, our culture immerses itself into whatever pleasures it desires-- it's so easy, anything that you want to do can be done without leaving your house. Instead of working toward something with future benefits, we live for the now. We will watch a TV show instead of read a good book. We will escape from the world with our ear phones instead of enjoying the smell of spring and the sound of the wind. We don't have to actually interact with people anymore because there is instant message, Myspace, and Facebook--and BLOGGING! If I could have one wish it would be that our culture would turn away from apathy and live with passion. At this point, I really don't care what for! Live with passion--do everything you can do foster it, because without passion, everything is nothing. Enjoy real things. Myspace, Facebook, and instant messanger aren't real-- they're subsitutes for the real things. Talk to people, listen to nature, learn about the real world (not the world of youtube or TV) through books. Know what's going on in our country. Know why you like President Bush when everyone else hates him! Live curiously. This is why:
When we acknowledge the real things in life, we are interacting directly with God's creation. Whether I know it or not, but when I see a beautiful sunset and remark how great it is, I am attributing worth to God's creation, thus, glorifying God. When show people that I care about them by interacting with them, I am glorifying God. When I take time to read a book, I am exercising my mind--showing that I care about my mind--glorifying God. If I am learning about my world, it shows I care about my world--God wants us to care about the world he's given over to us to have dominion over. When we love life, we are loving God's greatest gift. Here's my challenge to you: the next time you admire something, stop and remember who created it. Open up to a world of life