“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” -G. K. Chesterton
My initial thoughts stem from a conversation that I had the other night with a friend a couple of evenings ago. I was arguing that travelers are lame and that vagabonds/drifters/gypsies/nomads were much better. I mean, come on, they have a cooler name, they have a more adventuresome outlook on life, they’re counter-cultural, and the argument goes on and on. But this is not the case. I formally relinquish the defense of my previous perspective on this particular contention. The term traveler is an umbrella term, used to cover every type of person that moves from Point A to Point B. Thus, gypsies, vagabonds, drifters, and nomads are types of travelers. All gypsies/vagabonds/drifters/nomads are adventurers; but not all travelers are adventurers. After all, there are those dreadful lot that we call tourists. With that, I think that we all can agree on one more thing: tourists suck.
A tourist has a plan. A tourist goes to the Grand Canyon to see the Grand Canyon, the hawks, the sunrise and sunset, to hike a couple short hikes, etc. There’s not much to be said about the tourist. He will have pictures at the end of his trip but his experience is radically different from the traveler, the adventurer.
The traveler is an adventurer. What he sees is his adventure. There are no plans, no agendas, no pretenses, no expectations. Everything that happens is the adventure. The traveler will see the Canyon, the hawks, the sunrise and sunset. But that’s not all he’ll experience. The traveler’s travels are more than what meets the eye. Oh, yes! The traveler experiences the road, feels the Canyon, is the sunset. There is a perfect union between the experiencer and the experienced. In fact, the individual becomes the experience!
Have you ever gone to Colorado with no plan? Have you gone on a date with no idea where you’ll be taken? Have you ever just gotten in a car and drove? Have you closed your eyes but stayed awake for ten minutes? Have you ever seriously tried to pray in silence by yourself to a God? Be honest: have you ever really felt alive?
The more I think about it, the more I think that adventuring is a mind set. I reckon that it's possible to go on a planned adventure. But in order for it to be an adventure you must be willing for the plan to change, adapt to the circumstances, add to, take away from. An adventure is adventuresome only if the adventurer does not constrict himself to an agenda that could potentially jip him out of another adventure.
It all comes down to the fact that a person really just needs to experience life on a minutely basis. Was there a moment today that you were unconscious of what you were doing? Was there a time today when you slipped into a typical pattern? Was there a time today when you were on auto-mode? Was there a time today when you were a zombie that just went through the motions? These are all signs of tourism. Be alive; be an adventurer.
Showing posts with label Passions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Passions. Show all posts
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Prayer?
Let’s start with this: I’m no theologian. This is not an original idea but a beautiful concept that I’ve stumbled upon. Karl Rahner S.J. in On Prayer did something similar that I am about to do with the Our Father. (Or, rather, I'm doing something similar to what he did.) It is a common problem (especially among Catholics) to become complacent and merely gloss over the words of formulated prayers. Hence why so many people get bored while praying the Rosary or don’t have a personal relationship with Christ. However, Rahner tells his reader (and I agree) to pray despite boredom. True prayer is an invocation of the name of God, right? True prayer is prayer in the Holy Spirit, right? Well, he says that everyday, common, boring prayer leads the Holy Spirit in to the soul for strong and powerful encounters. Most beautifully he says, “If he feels himself incapable of praying, he must nevertheless kneel, join his hands, speak words of prayer even if he feels that these words come only from his lips and that his heart remains unmoved.”
I wrote this in ten minutes. I could’ve put more thought, time, and prayer into it but it was too good of an idea for me not to start writing on right this minute and I’m busy the rest of the night to give it the time it deserves. Regardless, it was an outstanding and very fruitful experience but it’s nothing much so I might revisit it later. That being said, it was good prayer and sought to avoid what I’ve been discontent with in my own spiritual life lately--that of blandness. Consider making a project like this every week for the duration of Lent.
Our Father,
My daddy. My dad. My heavenly Father. My personable Father. The one that I trust and cling to throughout everything.
who art in Heaven,
- Who created all the Heavens. Who is the Almighty Creator of the majestic expanse of the Universe.
hallowed be Thy Name.
- Holy be your most High name. You are worthy of praise. I should fall down at the sound of Your name.
Thy kingdom come,
- Bring your kingdom among us. Bring your presence fully to our lives. Infiltrate the fiber of my very being. Let me fully be one in union with You.
Thy will be done,
- Allow me to be receptive and courageous in the face of Your eternal will, that which is greater than all else, that it may be carried out. You know all.
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
- Bring to fruition your plan here and now. We desire You with enthusiasm.
Give us this day our daily bread
- I need your nourishment. You are the source of strength, courage, love, forgiveness, humility, patience, everything. As my body can’t go a day without food, nor can my soul go a minute without prayer. Give me the patience to hear you but the courage to initiate conversation.
and forgive us our trespasses
- Forgive me. I’ve sinned against You, myself, and everyone else.
as we forgive those who trespass against us
- Give me the strength to be able to have but one ounce of Your patience to forgive.
and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Bring me perfectly back into you.
AMEN.
- I believe this wholeheartedly and I'm more confused than ever but I still trust in You.
Remember that “God is more true the center of our being than we are ourselves” and that “Deep in our hearts there is a profound restlessness because God has given us a thirst for the Infinite, for the Incomprehensible, for Himself.”
I wrote this in ten minutes. I could’ve put more thought, time, and prayer into it but it was too good of an idea for me not to start writing on right this minute and I’m busy the rest of the night to give it the time it deserves. Regardless, it was an outstanding and very fruitful experience but it’s nothing much so I might revisit it later. That being said, it was good prayer and sought to avoid what I’ve been discontent with in my own spiritual life lately--that of blandness. Consider making a project like this every week for the duration of Lent.
Our Father,
My daddy. My dad. My heavenly Father. My personable Father. The one that I trust and cling to throughout everything.
who art in Heaven,
- Who created all the Heavens. Who is the Almighty Creator of the majestic expanse of the Universe.
hallowed be Thy Name.
- Holy be your most High name. You are worthy of praise. I should fall down at the sound of Your name.
Thy kingdom come,
- Bring your kingdom among us. Bring your presence fully to our lives. Infiltrate the fiber of my very being. Let me fully be one in union with You.
Thy will be done,
- Allow me to be receptive and courageous in the face of Your eternal will, that which is greater than all else, that it may be carried out. You know all.
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
- Bring to fruition your plan here and now. We desire You with enthusiasm.
Give us this day our daily bread
- I need your nourishment. You are the source of strength, courage, love, forgiveness, humility, patience, everything. As my body can’t go a day without food, nor can my soul go a minute without prayer. Give me the patience to hear you but the courage to initiate conversation.
and forgive us our trespasses
- Forgive me. I’ve sinned against You, myself, and everyone else.
as we forgive those who trespass against us
- Give me the strength to be able to have but one ounce of Your patience to forgive.
and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Bring me perfectly back into you.
AMEN.
- I believe this wholeheartedly and I'm more confused than ever but I still trust in You.
Remember that “God is more true the center of our being than we are ourselves” and that “Deep in our hearts there is a profound restlessness because God has given us a thirst for the Infinite, for the Incomprehensible, for Himself.”
Monday, August 22, 2011
A Taste of Something New*
*could be offensive to some readers
*not appropriate for family (unless it’s my family)
*not supper table discussion material
Faithful followers,
Here we go. You may be wondering what is brewing in my mind this time after having the title’s disclaimers. While, yes, it may be a little provocative I still fully intend for it to be taken very seriously. This is the best medium that I could think of in order to convey my grand idea. What is this idea? Freeballing. Going commando. No underwear. Dangling. Unfurnished basement. Pantyless. You get the point. What in God’s good name does this relate to? Well, it relates to my idea that what is natural is morally good. This also means that what is unnatural is immoral. Once we are able to find true cause and effects and understand the natural nature of our surroundings/actions then we can begin to determine morality.
I asked a couple of avid freeballers their opinions and this is what they said. (Their names will be altered in order to conceal their identity and to maintain their prestigious reputations in a society of such staunch anti-freeballers)
“Freeballing is the epiotme of not giving a fuck. Less laundry, it’s against social norm, there’s just less to worry about in general (except getting depantsed). It’s like 'I’m going to wake up and give zero fucks and my testicles will reap all of the benefits.'” -Ross
“Freeballing (in the voice of Tom Petty) is a way of delivering a swift kick to the groin of Lucifer. He burdened us indirectly with the embarrassment and awkwardness of nakedness and the lack of comfort caused by clothes, specifically undergarments, we say, ‘Take this Satan, I’m not controlled by you. I am free -- I am controlled only by myself and God.’” -Jason
God is not constrained by anything but He follows certain axioms. Within our universe, all evidence points toward a God and a God that works within the Laws of Physics, a moral code, ethics, philosophy, etc. His very nature seems to be natural. He never creates or does anything unnatural.
An example would probably suffice to clarify this point. Let’s look at morality. More specifically, abortion. You know my stance on abortion from my previous blogs but here is one more reason/proof as to why I believe abortion to be morally wrong. Evolutionarily, biologically, psychologically, and chemically we can see that sex is a natural desire and naturally creates life. In the union of man and woman, the sperm and egg collide in the act of intercourse which naturally results in a child. This is a pure example of a cause and effect. Have sex, have baby. This is the natural causation of a child. The word abort means to prematurely destroy something that is already set into motion towards a determined natural end. To abort is to end that which has already begun. Abortion in terms of a pregnancy is to end or terminate the pregnancy. And because the cells are reproducing at a rapid rate as a result of sex and this is the pure cause and effect then we can know that this is a natural transpiring of events and thus is morally wrong. To interrupt this via abortion is to destroy what is natural.
If life is the result of sex and it cannot be altered (naturally) and we are also attracted/have desires to do this action then we must accept the result. It’s my belief that God is perfectly natural. So to alter the order of naturalness is to go against God. I personally want to follow God and grow in holiness the way that He calls me to....
On to freeballing. Freeballing is just natural. We can see with ancient humans, they didn’t wear underwear. To wear underwear is not immoral but not wearing underwear is definitely moral.
On a serious note and more compelling arguments for freeballing: it just feels so good. No constraint. No limitations. Pure freedom.
We can see from the quotes from Jason and Ross that there are several legitimate reasons to freeball:
- less laundry
- stickin’ it to the Man (Hanes, Fruit of the Loom and all other Corporations)
- money saver
- hassle/time saver
- it’s hipster/against the norm
- testicles gain much joy
- by freeballing we apparently kick Satan straight in the balls
- and intrinsically pledge our allegiance to God
- it is overwhelmingly comfortable
- allows for a greater range of motion
Now, a few final words. I endorse nudity 100% as long as a couple of things take place: respect, discipline, honor for the human body. We must maintain control or things will spiral out of control very quickly. But by all means please ditch the briefs; they really do nothing for you.
[The reason that I don’t think it’s immoral to wear underwear is as follows. The development of what is natural can also be considered natural.
Example: a house can seem to be an unnatural and manmade object. But look at the history of architecture, we see that ancient man started out in rock carvings called caves. As intellect developed man was able to create a replica of this cave and eventually called it a house.
This relates because it is perfectly natural for man to roam free of clothing. It is also natural for man to stay warm. I’d imagine that much heat probably escapes from the head, hands and genitals; thus, the creation of undergarments. Over time they then developed into more sophisticated clothing wear. So it’s natural to wear underwear, all you underwear wearers. But it’s also natural to not. That is what my intent was--to bring awareness to your consciousness that it is okay to freeball.]
Cheers!
PS I wish that I could speak on behalf of the other half of my crowd (women) but due to natural restraints, I can't. My sincerest apologies. However, this doesn't mean you don't have to give your input either on how disgusted you are with this post, the validity of this post, your indifference, etc.
*not appropriate for family (unless it’s my family)
*not supper table discussion material
Faithful followers,
Here we go. You may be wondering what is brewing in my mind this time after having the title’s disclaimers. While, yes, it may be a little provocative I still fully intend for it to be taken very seriously. This is the best medium that I could think of in order to convey my grand idea. What is this idea? Freeballing. Going commando. No underwear. Dangling. Unfurnished basement. Pantyless. You get the point. What in God’s good name does this relate to? Well, it relates to my idea that what is natural is morally good. This also means that what is unnatural is immoral. Once we are able to find true cause and effects and understand the natural nature of our surroundings/actions then we can begin to determine morality.
I asked a couple of avid freeballers their opinions and this is what they said. (Their names will be altered in order to conceal their identity and to maintain their prestigious reputations in a society of such staunch anti-freeballers)
“Freeballing is the epiotme of not giving a fuck. Less laundry, it’s against social norm, there’s just less to worry about in general (except getting depantsed). It’s like 'I’m going to wake up and give zero fucks and my testicles will reap all of the benefits.'” -Ross
“Freeballing (in the voice of Tom Petty) is a way of delivering a swift kick to the groin of Lucifer. He burdened us indirectly with the embarrassment and awkwardness of nakedness and the lack of comfort caused by clothes, specifically undergarments, we say, ‘Take this Satan, I’m not controlled by you. I am free -- I am controlled only by myself and God.’” -Jason
God is not constrained by anything but He follows certain axioms. Within our universe, all evidence points toward a God and a God that works within the Laws of Physics, a moral code, ethics, philosophy, etc. His very nature seems to be natural. He never creates or does anything unnatural.
An example would probably suffice to clarify this point. Let’s look at morality. More specifically, abortion. You know my stance on abortion from my previous blogs but here is one more reason/proof as to why I believe abortion to be morally wrong. Evolutionarily, biologically, psychologically, and chemically we can see that sex is a natural desire and naturally creates life. In the union of man and woman, the sperm and egg collide in the act of intercourse which naturally results in a child. This is a pure example of a cause and effect. Have sex, have baby. This is the natural causation of a child. The word abort means to prematurely destroy something that is already set into motion towards a determined natural end. To abort is to end that which has already begun. Abortion in terms of a pregnancy is to end or terminate the pregnancy. And because the cells are reproducing at a rapid rate as a result of sex and this is the pure cause and effect then we can know that this is a natural transpiring of events and thus is morally wrong. To interrupt this via abortion is to destroy what is natural.
If life is the result of sex and it cannot be altered (naturally) and we are also attracted/have desires to do this action then we must accept the result. It’s my belief that God is perfectly natural. So to alter the order of naturalness is to go against God. I personally want to follow God and grow in holiness the way that He calls me to....
On to freeballing. Freeballing is just natural. We can see with ancient humans, they didn’t wear underwear. To wear underwear is not immoral but not wearing underwear is definitely moral.
On a serious note and more compelling arguments for freeballing: it just feels so good. No constraint. No limitations. Pure freedom.
We can see from the quotes from Jason and Ross that there are several legitimate reasons to freeball:
- less laundry
- stickin’ it to the Man (Hanes, Fruit of the Loom and all other Corporations)
- money saver
- hassle/time saver
- it’s hipster/against the norm
- testicles gain much joy
- by freeballing we apparently kick Satan straight in the balls
- and intrinsically pledge our allegiance to God
- it is overwhelmingly comfortable
- allows for a greater range of motion
Now, a few final words. I endorse nudity 100% as long as a couple of things take place: respect, discipline, honor for the human body. We must maintain control or things will spiral out of control very quickly. But by all means please ditch the briefs; they really do nothing for you.
[The reason that I don’t think it’s immoral to wear underwear is as follows. The development of what is natural can also be considered natural.
Example: a house can seem to be an unnatural and manmade object. But look at the history of architecture, we see that ancient man started out in rock carvings called caves. As intellect developed man was able to create a replica of this cave and eventually called it a house.
This relates because it is perfectly natural for man to roam free of clothing. It is also natural for man to stay warm. I’d imagine that much heat probably escapes from the head, hands and genitals; thus, the creation of undergarments. Over time they then developed into more sophisticated clothing wear. So it’s natural to wear underwear, all you underwear wearers. But it’s also natural to not. That is what my intent was--to bring awareness to your consciousness that it is okay to freeball.]
Cheers!
PS I wish that I could speak on behalf of the other half of my crowd (women) but due to natural restraints, I can't. My sincerest apologies. However, this doesn't mean you don't have to give your input either on how disgusted you are with this post, the validity of this post, your indifference, etc.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
What is Love?
First and foremost: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpN60KKBAjc
Love. I believe that there are two levels of love. There is the basic love that can be applied to pizza, kazoos, unicycles, pan flutes, football, sleeping, your parents, friends, and spouse. But this type of love is not enough to carry on a commitment that will last throughout a lifetime. This type of love has a greater chance of leading to false love. I think that a false love would be something like a guilty pleasure. The best that I can define “false love” as is through example. It is something that leads to self-absorbtion and doesn’t complete the person or lead to something that is greater than themselves. An example might be infatuations, obsessions, pornography, alcohol, etc. This type of love lacks one (or more) of the following three things: intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment. These three things are the foundational building blocks of romantic love. If we can define the necessary parts of love (intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment) then we can more accurately define love itself.
There are three vocations: priesthood (included is sister-hood, brothers, deacons, and any other religious life), the devoted single life, and the married life. All three of these require the three elements of love in order to be happy. And this is where romantic love comes into play.
Romantic love fulfills those three things completely. If one is lacking from the beginning of a relationship then that true companionship, relationship, marriage, etc. will likely crumble. It can be restored but that greatly depends on the situation.
Now, what is intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment?
Intimacy, I believe extends past physical contact. Intimacy is a true yearning to be with a person for who they are and not what they look like. This romantic type of love has no basis in physical attraction because your experiences for said person outweighs any physical feature. Intimacy is an attraction to a person because of their vulnerability to you with the trust that they will not be misused. (Thank you Lauren Kissel for your impeccable timing of input) The priest has an intimate relationship with the Sacraments, Church, and the Eucharist. The single life has an intimate relationship with his/her community. The married life, obviously has an intimate relationship with their spouse and children.
Sacrifice is the willingness to replace desires of your personal will with the priority of the relationship. It is also the inclination to have a give and take relationship in which the giving or the taking leads to something more than the individual in the relationship whether it is the Church, the community, or the couple’s children. There are clear needs that must be met in all three vocations and sacrifice is what allows for those goals to be met.
Commitment is passion for the person of affection. If a person is committed then their partner is the highest priority to them. This being said, it is the husband/wife’s job to be committed in getting their spouse to Heaven. Heaven is the ultimate goal. Why? Because Heaven/God is the ultimate form of love. Without Him love does not exist. As stated above, God is love. Commitment is the desire to bring their spouse into complete unity and fullness, which is in God. The priest is committed to his Church. (Fun fact: if within the parish that the priest is serving if one of his parishioners dies and goes to hell then that rests on the priest’s shoulders so he better be committed to getting his flock to Heaven) The single is committed to his/her community. And the spouse is committed to his/her one love and must remain celibate from the other 6.8 billion people except for him/her.
With this all being said, I think that, yes there is a One True Love out there for every person. If God is all-good then He wants nothing but the best for us and will constantly be helping and aiding us to him/her. But there is a catch, we have free-will and are fully capable of not listening to Him and His divine plan. If this is the case then we probably won’t find the winner. But if we are consistently receiving the Sacraments and abiding by the policy of love then God will make it happen because He wants nothing more for us than happiness and for us to be reunited fully with Him by way of man or woman. I do think that there are many people that we are compatible with and that we can make perfectly awesome marriages with but the One True Love will best be able to lead us to God. The saying that “God writes straight with a crooked line” is perfectly applicable here. If I marry my not One True Love then He still desires happiness in my life and will find away to bring me back on track. Anyways, I digress.
Above all, love is a CHOICE--not a feeling. God is love. God chose to create. Because God is love He expects us to love, which means that we must choose God in order to love. In all of our relationships, God must be the forefront/foundation. Feelings and emotions change, that is our nature. Feelings for another person may very well change but love is not a feeling; love is a choice, therefore one cannot fall out of love unless one chooses to. If love is a choice then intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment are also choices. If any of these decisions begin to whither then love begins to become less prominent. Without intimacy, sacrifice, or commitment one can still choose to love but it CANNOT be true romantic love and will often lead to false love.
It is my conclusion that true romantic love is a commitment to your spouse that is like no other commitment for any other human being. Love is the willingness and enthusiasm to sacrifice your own desires for that of which will further your relationship with your spouse and children. Love is intimacy that is based around complete openness and passion for the company of the other. Above all, God created us in love for love. Our sole (and soul) purpose is to love but given that we have freewill, love is a constant choice. Love is not selfish, hurtful, undevout, or a feeling. Love always leads to a greater cause whether it is your husband/wife, your children, your community, your parish, or whatever. But these causes that lie outside of your own personal boundaries all lead to God.
The purpose of dating is to discover the person who can best propel you to true Happiness, aka God. To do this, it is my belief that intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment must be present in all three of the vocations. So in essence, dating is a process of discernment of each vocation. Dating another person is the discernment to see if he/she has the necessary qualities and levels of intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment. The ultimate ends to dating/discernment will lead to ordination, marriage, or a devoted life to God and community. Dating is a test run of the three qualities of love in order to best find where God is calling you to ultimate happiness in this life.
The issue of homosexuality has come to my attention. I will address this in a civil manner. Allow me to preface this by saying that I have absolutely no problems with gays. However, God created man for woman and woman for man. That is what is natural. I do think that two men can be completely happy together. But like I said two sentences ago, God made man for woman and woman for man. I do not believe that a gay will find his One True Love in another man but that is not to say that that man will not bring him closer to God or more joy to his life.
Love. I believe that there are two levels of love. There is the basic love that can be applied to pizza, kazoos, unicycles, pan flutes, football, sleeping, your parents, friends, and spouse. But this type of love is not enough to carry on a commitment that will last throughout a lifetime. This type of love has a greater chance of leading to false love. I think that a false love would be something like a guilty pleasure. The best that I can define “false love” as is through example. It is something that leads to self-absorbtion and doesn’t complete the person or lead to something that is greater than themselves. An example might be infatuations, obsessions, pornography, alcohol, etc. This type of love lacks one (or more) of the following three things: intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment. These three things are the foundational building blocks of romantic love. If we can define the necessary parts of love (intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment) then we can more accurately define love itself.
There are three vocations: priesthood (included is sister-hood, brothers, deacons, and any other religious life), the devoted single life, and the married life. All three of these require the three elements of love in order to be happy. And this is where romantic love comes into play.
Romantic love fulfills those three things completely. If one is lacking from the beginning of a relationship then that true companionship, relationship, marriage, etc. will likely crumble. It can be restored but that greatly depends on the situation.
Now, what is intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment?
Intimacy, I believe extends past physical contact. Intimacy is a true yearning to be with a person for who they are and not what they look like. This romantic type of love has no basis in physical attraction because your experiences for said person outweighs any physical feature. Intimacy is an attraction to a person because of their vulnerability to you with the trust that they will not be misused. (Thank you Lauren Kissel for your impeccable timing of input) The priest has an intimate relationship with the Sacraments, Church, and the Eucharist. The single life has an intimate relationship with his/her community. The married life, obviously has an intimate relationship with their spouse and children.
Sacrifice is the willingness to replace desires of your personal will with the priority of the relationship. It is also the inclination to have a give and take relationship in which the giving or the taking leads to something more than the individual in the relationship whether it is the Church, the community, or the couple’s children. There are clear needs that must be met in all three vocations and sacrifice is what allows for those goals to be met.
Commitment is passion for the person of affection. If a person is committed then their partner is the highest priority to them. This being said, it is the husband/wife’s job to be committed in getting their spouse to Heaven. Heaven is the ultimate goal. Why? Because Heaven/God is the ultimate form of love. Without Him love does not exist. As stated above, God is love. Commitment is the desire to bring their spouse into complete unity and fullness, which is in God. The priest is committed to his Church. (Fun fact: if within the parish that the priest is serving if one of his parishioners dies and goes to hell then that rests on the priest’s shoulders so he better be committed to getting his flock to Heaven) The single is committed to his/her community. And the spouse is committed to his/her one love and must remain celibate from the other 6.8 billion people except for him/her.
With this all being said, I think that, yes there is a One True Love out there for every person. If God is all-good then He wants nothing but the best for us and will constantly be helping and aiding us to him/her. But there is a catch, we have free-will and are fully capable of not listening to Him and His divine plan. If this is the case then we probably won’t find the winner. But if we are consistently receiving the Sacraments and abiding by the policy of love then God will make it happen because He wants nothing more for us than happiness and for us to be reunited fully with Him by way of man or woman. I do think that there are many people that we are compatible with and that we can make perfectly awesome marriages with but the One True Love will best be able to lead us to God. The saying that “God writes straight with a crooked line” is perfectly applicable here. If I marry my not One True Love then He still desires happiness in my life and will find away to bring me back on track. Anyways, I digress.
Above all, love is a CHOICE--not a feeling. God is love. God chose to create. Because God is love He expects us to love, which means that we must choose God in order to love. In all of our relationships, God must be the forefront/foundation. Feelings and emotions change, that is our nature. Feelings for another person may very well change but love is not a feeling; love is a choice, therefore one cannot fall out of love unless one chooses to. If love is a choice then intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment are also choices. If any of these decisions begin to whither then love begins to become less prominent. Without intimacy, sacrifice, or commitment one can still choose to love but it CANNOT be true romantic love and will often lead to false love.
It is my conclusion that true romantic love is a commitment to your spouse that is like no other commitment for any other human being. Love is the willingness and enthusiasm to sacrifice your own desires for that of which will further your relationship with your spouse and children. Love is intimacy that is based around complete openness and passion for the company of the other. Above all, God created us in love for love. Our sole (and soul) purpose is to love but given that we have freewill, love is a constant choice. Love is not selfish, hurtful, undevout, or a feeling. Love always leads to a greater cause whether it is your husband/wife, your children, your community, your parish, or whatever. But these causes that lie outside of your own personal boundaries all lead to God.
The purpose of dating is to discover the person who can best propel you to true Happiness, aka God. To do this, it is my belief that intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment must be present in all three of the vocations. So in essence, dating is a process of discernment of each vocation. Dating another person is the discernment to see if he/she has the necessary qualities and levels of intimacy, sacrifice, and commitment. The ultimate ends to dating/discernment will lead to ordination, marriage, or a devoted life to God and community. Dating is a test run of the three qualities of love in order to best find where God is calling you to ultimate happiness in this life.
The issue of homosexuality has come to my attention. I will address this in a civil manner. Allow me to preface this by saying that I have absolutely no problems with gays. However, God created man for woman and woman for man. That is what is natural. I do think that two men can be completely happy together. But like I said two sentences ago, God made man for woman and woman for man. I do not believe that a gay will find his One True Love in another man but that is not to say that that man will not bring him closer to God or more joy to his life.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Passion.
...My favorite word in the English language. There are several reasons for this: Its phonetics and etymology are perfect. It carries such a strong emotion. It is unbelievably universal, applicable to thousands of situations. It just rolls off the tongue. Lastly and most importantly, nothing can be accomplished successfully without passion. I believe passion to be the most intense word in our language.
My good friends may read this and say, “Josh, I thought ‘chimney’ was your favorite word...?” Well, at one time it was but this is not true anymore. Passion. The word has everything a good word needs, like: a double letter (ss), a “sion” sound, the best vowels “a”, “i”, “o”. The word passion has a demanding tone which instantly prompts imagery and triggers immediate interests. The word carries so much gravity in our society that when somebody begins to talk about passion, you know the topic is serious. It packs a punch.
Passion can be used in virtually every circumstance. Sports, dreams, performances, in reference to a strong love, a movement, an interest, and suffering. Passion signifies an acute admiration. Passions are a spark inside that motivate you to act on what fires you up. For me, it seems that passion is deeper than love. Love has not lost meaning and has become so commonplace of a word that is thrown around and thus, losing its value. Think of the things you can do with passion: play football with passion, act with passion, love someone with great passion, and be passionately interested in something.
The greatest passion is not one of human origin, but the Divine Passion. The word passion comes from the Latin word patior, meaning to suffer or endure. The greatest display humanity has ever seen is most often recognized as “The Passion”. There was more love than is able to be comprehended by any human mind, in the act of Christ’s death. And what do we call it? The Passion. He did what had to be done with passion. He suffered and endured for His overwhelming love for sinners...with passion.
A passion is an immaterial substance in your heart and soul that compels you to do what will fulfill what you have a deep internal love for. There is a reason that passion is talked about by your parents, your coaches, your teachers and everybody else that care about you. It's because passions are easily the most important things in this world. What is life without a motivation? What is the meaning of anything if we have no excitement for what could be? And what are motivations and potentials worth, if we don’t follow through on them? And then what is the point in doing anything without zeal, without passion?! Passion is the solitary force that brings a much deeper meaning to our lives and makes our achievements worth more than just accomplishments.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German Idealist and a major influence in Marxism (in other words, a very influential philosopher and political theorist), said, “Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.” I completely and 100% agree with Hegel. To be great you must find passion. You must desire beyond any love to fulfill your dreams. Invite passion into your life. Find passion in the small things and you will accomplish the great things.
My good friends may read this and say, “Josh, I thought ‘chimney’ was your favorite word...?” Well, at one time it was but this is not true anymore. Passion. The word has everything a good word needs, like: a double letter (ss), a “sion” sound, the best vowels “a”, “i”, “o”. The word passion has a demanding tone which instantly prompts imagery and triggers immediate interests. The word carries so much gravity in our society that when somebody begins to talk about passion, you know the topic is serious. It packs a punch.
Passion can be used in virtually every circumstance. Sports, dreams, performances, in reference to a strong love, a movement, an interest, and suffering. Passion signifies an acute admiration. Passions are a spark inside that motivate you to act on what fires you up. For me, it seems that passion is deeper than love. Love has not lost meaning and has become so commonplace of a word that is thrown around and thus, losing its value. Think of the things you can do with passion: play football with passion, act with passion, love someone with great passion, and be passionately interested in something.
The greatest passion is not one of human origin, but the Divine Passion. The word passion comes from the Latin word patior, meaning to suffer or endure. The greatest display humanity has ever seen is most often recognized as “The Passion”. There was more love than is able to be comprehended by any human mind, in the act of Christ’s death. And what do we call it? The Passion. He did what had to be done with passion. He suffered and endured for His overwhelming love for sinners...with passion.
A passion is an immaterial substance in your heart and soul that compels you to do what will fulfill what you have a deep internal love for. There is a reason that passion is talked about by your parents, your coaches, your teachers and everybody else that care about you. It's because passions are easily the most important things in this world. What is life without a motivation? What is the meaning of anything if we have no excitement for what could be? And what are motivations and potentials worth, if we don’t follow through on them? And then what is the point in doing anything without zeal, without passion?! Passion is the solitary force that brings a much deeper meaning to our lives and makes our achievements worth more than just accomplishments.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German Idealist and a major influence in Marxism (in other words, a very influential philosopher and political theorist), said, “Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.” I completely and 100% agree with Hegel. To be great you must find passion. You must desire beyond any love to fulfill your dreams. Invite passion into your life. Find passion in the small things and you will accomplish the great things.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Dreams.
Nobody knows for sure what they are. There are scientific postulations about what dreams are but at the end of the day there is no conclusive evidence for what they may be. Figments of our imagination? Possibly. Repressed thoughts? Possibly. Desires or aspirations? Possibly. Chemical firings within the brain? Possibly.
The fact stands that I am not yet a psychologist, a neurologist, or any kind of doctor at all. But what I am is a Dreamer. I can tell you that a dream is something that ought to be chased. I have no idea as to what a dream is or what they mean but I can suspect that they contain some element of truth or insight that is worth pursuing.
In my humble and unprofessional opinion, a dream is a motive in which our interior self (the self that is fearless) is positively influencing the culturally-influenced conscious self that carries the “That’s impossible” mentality. A modest British Army soldier of WWI, T. E. Lawrence, said,
It was “impossible” for Lawrence to have led a successful revolt against the great Ottoman Empire. It was “impossible” for man to walk on water. It was “impossible” for that cancer patient who was given six months, to live 16 more years. It was “impossible” for man to get to the moon. It was “impossible” for any human being to consume 68 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. But behind every conquered “impossible” feat lies a dream.
As Lawrence said, we become “dangerous men” when our dreams take form in the physical world. Our “impossible” desires become completely realistic if we can ever find the interior strength, commonly known as “guts” to pursue that which has been regarded as not possible. I am willing to make a bold statement in saying that the minute we are able to trust in our fearless self and do the undareable, go far out on a limb, and just try then we can better know ourselves and perhaps achieve the “impossible”.
Don’t be afraid to dream. Test the unknown waters. Dream with eyes wide open.
I'll leave you with this, Rodgers and Hammerstein said, "Impossible things are happening everyday." Believe it.
The fact stands that I am not yet a psychologist, a neurologist, or any kind of doctor at all. But what I am is a Dreamer. I can tell you that a dream is something that ought to be chased. I have no idea as to what a dream is or what they mean but I can suspect that they contain some element of truth or insight that is worth pursuing.
In my humble and unprofessional opinion, a dream is a motive in which our interior self (the self that is fearless) is positively influencing the culturally-influenced conscious self that carries the “That’s impossible” mentality. A modest British Army soldier of WWI, T. E. Lawrence, said,
“Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
It was “impossible” for Lawrence to have led a successful revolt against the great Ottoman Empire. It was “impossible” for man to walk on water. It was “impossible” for that cancer patient who was given six months, to live 16 more years. It was “impossible” for man to get to the moon. It was “impossible” for any human being to consume 68 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. But behind every conquered “impossible” feat lies a dream.
As Lawrence said, we become “dangerous men” when our dreams take form in the physical world. Our “impossible” desires become completely realistic if we can ever find the interior strength, commonly known as “guts” to pursue that which has been regarded as not possible. I am willing to make a bold statement in saying that the minute we are able to trust in our fearless self and do the undareable, go far out on a limb, and just try then we can better know ourselves and perhaps achieve the “impossible”.
Don’t be afraid to dream. Test the unknown waters. Dream with eyes wide open.
I'll leave you with this, Rodgers and Hammerstein said, "Impossible things are happening everyday." Believe it.
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