It's All About Me (sure it is, dear, sure it is) 7

I recently composed a spoof based on Nancy Sinatra's legendary song, "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'"  We all remember Nancy, right?  If she hadn't been Ol' Blue Eyes Little Girl, she likely would have been a flight attendant or hair dresser, maybe a bank teller, and maybe on her free nights, a karaoke queen: Bought my Nikes at the local Sport Chek.Shelled out almost half a K,Now I'm takin' over every city sidewalk.Gonna mow down everybody in my way,These shoes are made for runnin',That is just what they'll do,One of these days these shoes are gonna run all over you, Hear my favourite tune on my Bluetooth.Inspire me to run just like a racehorse,Protect me from the songs of the birdies,And from all you inferior people of course.These shoes are made for runnin',That is just what they'll do,One of these days these shoes are gonna run all over you. Running will make me live forever,Forever young and sexy I'll stay,Won't have to look hard for a partner,Gonna get laid every single freakin' day,These shoes are made for runnin',That is just what they'll do,One of these days these shoes are gonna run all over you. I'm the centre of the universe,It's all about precious little  me,So I can knock down little old ladies,And everyone I don't wanna see,These shoes are made for runnin',That is just what they'll do,One of these days these shoes are gonna run all over you. They are everywhere, every single day, infesting the sidewalks and footpaths of Vancouver like a locust plague, or like an outbreak of scabies.  I am referring here of course to joggers, or runners, as some prefer to be called, but,hey, in spite of halo effect, we all know they are a social and logistical public nuisance.  They are not all obnoxious.  A few will make lots of room for pedestrians (sorry, City Hall, but joggers move too fast to be labelled pedestrians), some even going out onto the street (where they really belong). However, most don't seem to really give a crap.  I have seen elderly people with canes or walkers and small children almost getting knocked down by those idiots.  Not a word of apology nor even a glance of recognition.  When I was still working as a mental health support worker, while walking with my client on a narrow trail in Pacific Spirit Regional Park, he was actually knocked into a shallow ditch by an oblivious young female jogger.  I gave her supreme shit. She did sort of apologize but didn't even stop to see if he was okay. I could go on. I used to get hugely annoyed at joggers.  I would either step off the sidewalk  or cross to the other side to avoid them.  Should they have the nerve to say thank you I would simply reply, I didn't do it for you.  And if they really violated my boundaries some nasty shouting matches could result, including getting sworn at by some of those young wastes of DNA.  However, in the interests of peace, sanity and good common sense I have come to accept this public nuisance and just simply say hi, or beep beep or happy Tuesday, or burn rubber to them as they pass.  Most say hi back, smile or even laugh.  I think they really appreciate the connection.  Others, and they are a minority, simply try to pretend I am not there, or they are so distracted by whatever they are hearing on their bluetooth that they simply think they are the only person in existence. I see this as a symptom of the kind of entropy that our society is crumbling towards.  This deification of self, this heightened toxic individualism, this utter narcissism indicates a culture that has lost its moral and ethical moorings.  With climate change and  global capitalism, we have all become balkanized into little organic bots.  Our sheer value to our governments and to the corporations that control our elected politicians is purely economic.  Only the strong, the pretty and the compliant will survive, until they two get swallowed into this growing engulfing vortex. As a Christian, as a First Century Disciple of Jesus Christ, as a Spirit-filled Red Letter Christian, I am proposing nothing short of a complete revival.  Only as Christians rediscover the Living Jesus of the Gospels and surrender unconditionally to the Lamb of God who was slain for us, will we see any effective bulwark against this rot that threatens to engulf us.  I am not proposing religious syncretism or vapid spirituality.  Simply that we come to know Jesus.  In a new way.  In a powerful way, so that the love of God sweeps through our lives and into this fallen and broken world in great torrents of pure Living Water.