Apologies for the long gap in between posts; I’ve been preoccupied with a bunch of things. I am working on my degree, playing Witcher 3 for the first time (an excellent game; I highly recommend it), and watching the NHL playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, I can confidently say that after tonight, I have seen almost everything this world has to offer. The Edmonton Oilers, my hometown team, are going to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 2006. Pigs have flown, gravity has been reversed, and hell has frozen over. To say I’m in shock would be an understatement, and to say I’m proud would be an even bigger one.

One of my last posts talked about my thoughts on the then-upcoming playoffs and why I thought the Florida Panthers were going to win the cup. Well, it turns out I may have been onto something, because that’s who the Oilers will be facing in the finals, which start this Saturday. While I still have the Panthers winning the cup, and while I do think they will ultimately beat the Oilers, I can’t say I’d be very disappointed if that happened. The Oilers made it farther than I initially expected them to, as I had them losing to the Dallas Stars (my other favorite team) in the conference finals. In what was another great series in this year’s fantastic playoffs, they upset Dallas in 6, which sort of breaks my bracket, but I don’t really care at the end of the day. At this point, they’re kind of playing with house money, and that’s something to treasure. We’ll see what happens; maybe the Oilers will be the first Canadian team to win the Cup since Montreal in 1993. I know I’d never shut up about it if it happened.

Now, onto what I really want to talk about. To start off, let’s travel back in time to a couple Saturdays ago, specifically May 25. That day, I went to the downtown watch party for the second game of the Oilers/Stars series with some friends. We had a pretty good time overall, even though our legs were hurting quite a bit after standing for as long as we did. After the game finished, a 3-1 win for Dallas, one of my friends and I met back up with another one in the parking lot near the venue that we used. We decided to go to one of the city’s more active places during the night to meet up with some other friends, talk about the game, and maybe grab a bite to eat. We settled on a popular pub on one of the street corners, which we then waited at for around an hour or so for our other friends to arrive. Long story short, they took way too long; it was getting really late, and we decided to ditch the pub, grab a few burgers, and head back to my friend’s house for church in the morning. 

I’m sure you’re probably wondering what the point of this story is, as it’s pretty detached from what I was talking about before. It’s simple: I want to talk about party culture, and this bar my friends and I went to was a perfect example of it. People were fooling around at their tables with each other, alcohol was everywhere, there were almost certainly a few people who were high on marijuana both outside and inside the place, and the general vibe of the place screamed that it was meant for you to unwind and let loose however you wanted to.

As a Christian, this type of behavior has always been something I’ve avoided, even when it was all around me during my junior high and high school days. While many students I knew were busy talking about the raves they went to the night before or the hard liquor they had with their friends at some downtown dive, I was minding my own business and talking about other things with my group of friends who were similarly put off by those kinds of things. I have many stories that I could tell regarding people I knew that got up to morally dubious things after school and at places they really shouldn’t have been in at the ages they were out, but I’ll save that for another time.

For the record, it’s not wrong for Christians to have a glass of wine or beer once in a while. Jesus didn’t turn water into wine for laughs. It’s drunkenness and debauchery that Christianity forbids, and for good reason. Excessive alcohol consumption, along with partaking in drug usage, both impair our judgment and our ability to function properly. Sexual immorality is also obviously a bad thing, and this, along with the other vices mentioned, are all propped up and embraced in party culture, which has in turn been embraced by countless young adults and millions of other souls across the planet. This obviously isn’t a new development, as similar things have been happening for virtually the entirety of the world’s existence. Humans love to have fun, and we love to relax and let loose, and so many of us drink and dance until we can’t see straight. 

The thing is, this sort of fun isn’t edifying at all. In fact, it’s downright stupid at times. The way I see it, it’s a flawed way for people to completely forget the responsibilities of life and, in some cases, to mask their issues with themselves or their circumstances. Society loves a good story about how people get drunk and do stupid things, when the reaction should instead be one of disdain and concern. Why do people treat these behaviors and actions as something good? Because it makes them feel better? Maybe so, but just because something makes you feel better doesn’t mean it’s right. Doing weed might make you feel less stressed out, but is that really the best way to combat anxiety or depression? Drinking games might be funny in the moment, but are they really a good way to use your time on this planet, which is always ticking down instead of up? 

As a Christian, I obviously recommend staying away from excessive partying and that which comes with it. Hard drinking, drug usage, fooling around, and the various consequences that come from doing these things are both unneeded and overall detrimental to a person’s well-being. That being said, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t go to any parties at all. The average birthday party, family reunion, and wedding are all generally tame and light on things that could be considered suspect. It’s the parties on the streets, in the bars, and on all floors of the clubs that I’m warning against. Instead of messing around in those places, go out for coffee with some friends. Go on a walk and check out nature. Read and study the Word of God. All of these things are far better for yourself as well as for those around you, and they’ll help to make you a more well-rounded and faithful individual. Or, don’t do any of these things. I can’t force you to do something I don’t want you to do. I’m just a guy behind a computer screen; all I can really do is give my opinion and advise people to be cautious. It’s your life; make your choices. I pray that they’re the right ones.

At any rate, thanks for reading. Time for me to wait with bated breath until Saturday. Hopefully the Oilers can do it; we’ll see. God bless.