"If You Don't Mind, It Don't Matter" Really??

     Mark Twain, the 20th century American author and playwright, once said, "Age is a case of mind over matter; if you don't mind it, it doesn't matter!" I believe the meaning behind his thoughts was probably that as we get older, if we only think of age as a number, then it doesn't really matter how old we are in terms of going out and enjoying life. At least that's what my takeaway is from Mr. Twain's quote. That's all well and good, but in reality being indifferent about our getting older doesn't change the fact that we are aging. Being indifferent about that fact allows us to move forward with what we want to get done, so in this case being indifferent about getting older is a positive thing. Problem is our indifference in other "matters" can become a real stumbling block for ourselves and for humanity. 
      Take the "if you don't mind it, it don't matter" philosophy and apply it to things going on in your life and all of a sudden it does matter. Some things in life aren't worth getting tore up about, for example if you don't mind that your favorite football team got destroyed today, then does it really matter in the scope of things? I used to be a Bigggg University of Tennessee football fan, I graduated from UT and I followed the Vols pretty much everywhere they traveled. If I wasn't at the game, I was in front of a TV watching it, my Saturday calendar was set by when the Vols were going to be playing. I'm still a loyal Big Orange fan, but a few years ago my mindset changed. I started looking at how much of my weekend was being consumed with my Big Orange Saturday, and when I really put things into perspective I was giving most of my weekend up to a football game that in all reality would not be impacted based on whether or not I was there in body or mind. Regardless of how angry I got when our quarterback threw an interception, or how bad I thought that last call by the ref was, whether I was there or not was not going to change that game. In other words, "If I didn't mind, it didn't matter". There exists a long list of items that would fit under that category in your life. If you don't mind that someone swerved in front of you in heavy traffic, then it don't matter and you hopefully won't experience road rage. That's a good thing. You can fill in the blanks for your own "if you don't mind" instances. 
      Today's FTM isn't really about those experiences where it probably is a good thing that you can be a little indifferent to the scope of what really matters and what doesn't, but instead today I want you to focus on the consequences of being indifferent in the world you live in each day. Does the "If I don't mind, it don't matter" way of thinking apply if when we walk down the street and a displaced man or woman is sitting on a curb surrounded by two or three trash bags filled with their whole life's possessions? What if they look to us for some type of hope and we walk on by? Does that make the problem go away? Maybe in your mind if it doesn't matter because it isn't you or someone you directly care for, but to that person filled with hopelessness, life is still hopeless. If you can sit down to watch the evening news and the vast sea of injustice, hatred, and division that fills this country doesn't directly impact you, you can sit there and flip on through the channels and say that you don't really "mind", does that mean it really doesn't "matter"? One more, if you can wipe out the visions of children in despair, in need physically, mentally, or emotionally, children of all races and from all socioeconomic classes and convince yourself that you really don't mind does it mean that it doesn't really matter? You may be able to convince yourself that it is the victim's fault, you may be able to even be able to convince yourself that you are the victim in all of this, but does that mean that just because you don't mind IT, IT really doesn't matter? 
       Mark Twain's words of wisdom may apply to the efforts of so many that strive to stay young at heart and active in life, but I'm afraid Ole Samuel Clemens may have missed the mark, (pun intended) when it comes to the responsibility to react and respond to the needs and care of our fellow man. In the book of Revelations 3:15-16 the author shares this warning to each of us, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Sorry to be so blunt, No, there isn't room here for being nice and hiding reality behind the mask of "If I don't mind it, it doesn't matter". We were created to be called to action, to be humane, to care, to give more than we receive, to live in harmony, and to love in the same way that our Lord and Savior loves each of us regardless of the color of our skin or the circumstances that life has placed us at this moment in our lives. Who are we to be the judge and say "Well I don't mind, so it really doesn't matter"? When did we become so arrogant to assume that we are so entitled to the point that we can decide whose life deserves to have a better quality and who doesn't deserve that same basic human right? "For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous." Romans 2:13.
      Our heart can grow cold and indifferent, we can assume that if we look the other way that it really isn't there, but at the end of the day IT is still there and IT does matter. Stop and reflect on what you have pushed to the far reaches of your conscience and pull IT back to the front of who you are and what you believe. If it doesn't matter to you anymore, maybe it's time you realized it really does matter.
Stop. Reflect. Then React.
Coach Carter