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.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
I am NOT Josh Matthews.
The trouble with the world these days is that it’s inhabitants, the rational ones at least, struggle to define what a thing is. Allow me to present this problem to you in a more simplified way:
If somebody were to ask you, “Who/what is Josh Matthews?”
I would expect to hear answers like these:
- he is an idiot
- he is a human being
- he is a philosophy/psychology major
- he sucks with girls
- he likes to hear himself talk
- he is Catholic
- he is a red head
- he is an intellectual
It wouldn’t surprise me to hear many qualities of Josh Matthews. But I am coming ever so close to the conclusion that I am not just Josh Matthews. If you define me by who or what I am then you are doing me an injustice. Likewise, if I were to define you by my experiences with you or even the qualities that you actually do possess then I am not adequately describing your essence and I am being unfair to myself as well. Let us put this example into practical use:
Place yourself in the 1950’s for a moment. Imagine you are an average white male of the times and if I were to ask you what/who is De’shawn Williams then I would reckon that your answer would be that of a typical white male, “A nigger.” This wasn’t so uncommon, as you know. My argument is that if we merely define a man by his skin color then we define ourselves also by skin color. So not only are you degrading De'shawn's worth but you are also claiming that you are no more than a white person. Skin color, in this case, becomes the essence of De’shawn and your own being. You have limited De'shawn and yourself.
Same goes for 1943 Auschwitz, Poland. If I were to ask you who Anne Frank was, I would assume that your reply would be, “A jew.” If this is the case you are limiting Anne to her religious affiliation. By doing so you are disregarding any other quality in which she might possess. You would also be limiting yourself to your own religion.
The above problems manifest themselves in many arenas of today’s society as well: homosexuality, government employees, religion, Middle Easterners, and other prejudices that we might have.
I ask myself, what is it that we should do about this problem. What is the answer to “Who/what is Josh Matthews?” How can we accurately define a person? If we cannot merely limit a person to his/her particulars then how can we tell somebody who another person is? We can tell them what our personal experiences with this person have been like but we cannot claim that these personal experiences are generalizations for how the person always behaves.
These are problems that I am not sure how to address but I do know that these are definitely problems. I am definitely open to suggestions or rebuttals.
If somebody were to ask you, “Who/what is Josh Matthews?”
I would expect to hear answers like these:
- he is an idiot
- he is a human being
- he is a philosophy/psychology major
- he sucks with girls
- he likes to hear himself talk
- he is Catholic
- he is a red head
- he is an intellectual
It wouldn’t surprise me to hear many qualities of Josh Matthews. But I am coming ever so close to the conclusion that I am not just Josh Matthews. If you define me by who or what I am then you are doing me an injustice. Likewise, if I were to define you by my experiences with you or even the qualities that you actually do possess then I am not adequately describing your essence and I am being unfair to myself as well. Let us put this example into practical use:
Place yourself in the 1950’s for a moment. Imagine you are an average white male of the times and if I were to ask you what/who is De’shawn Williams then I would reckon that your answer would be that of a typical white male, “A nigger.” This wasn’t so uncommon, as you know. My argument is that if we merely define a man by his skin color then we define ourselves also by skin color. So not only are you degrading De'shawn's worth but you are also claiming that you are no more than a white person. Skin color, in this case, becomes the essence of De’shawn and your own being. You have limited De'shawn and yourself.
Same goes for 1943 Auschwitz, Poland. If I were to ask you who Anne Frank was, I would assume that your reply would be, “A jew.” If this is the case you are limiting Anne to her religious affiliation. By doing so you are disregarding any other quality in which she might possess. You would also be limiting yourself to your own religion.
The above problems manifest themselves in many arenas of today’s society as well: homosexuality, government employees, religion, Middle Easterners, and other prejudices that we might have.
I ask myself, what is it that we should do about this problem. What is the answer to “Who/what is Josh Matthews?” How can we accurately define a person? If we cannot merely limit a person to his/her particulars then how can we tell somebody who another person is? We can tell them what our personal experiences with this person have been like but we cannot claim that these personal experiences are generalizations for how the person always behaves.
These are problems that I am not sure how to address but I do know that these are definitely problems. I am definitely open to suggestions or rebuttals.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Holy Spirit
God is constantly surrounding us. God is completely transparent, look around and what do you see? Do you see God?
If God is completely translucent and He is always surrounding us then it follows that we should see Him in everything. Sometimes God is more simple than what we make Him out to be.
Look around. Take Him in. Enjoy His work. Cherish His presence.
If God is completely translucent and He is always surrounding us then it follows that we should see Him in everything. Sometimes God is more simple than what we make Him out to be.
Look around. Take Him in. Enjoy His work. Cherish His presence.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
To all Men,
Calling all men! Every man out there: every son, every brother, every boyfriend, every father, every seminarian, every priest, every man that has his heart rooted in Christ has a responsibility to fight. We are directly called by God to fight the evils of this world.
“The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” Matthew 11. 12 as quoted by John Eldredge in Wild at Heart (a must read for any man)
We know that God holds the children of this world in the highest regards. Jesus tells us, "Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." (Luke 18. 16-17) Children are crucial. Childlike qualities are crucial. Innocence is crucial.
Where does Satan strike first? The weak, feeble and innocent. Satan, in his cunning and powerful ways looks to influence and create turmoil among God’s people by targeting those that have little or no defense. Our children are innocent and weak, as they should be. But more so, our children need the hand of a man to protect them.
Men, the pillar of the house, are called to be strong against temptations and raise God’s people in His ways. It is the responsibility of men to be devoted to bringing up his children faithfully. In educating, instructing and leading our children closer to the King of the Universe we raise men and women capable enough to defend themselves and pass on a tradition of a warrior like mentality that will conquer the ever-present evil. It begins with the man and is nurtured by the woman.
Look at our society today: 52% divorce rate. This is evidence of Satan at work. Families of weak men are at a particular disadvantage. Satan attacks the weakest points in a relationship and capitalizes. How do we begin to end this war? We fight. We fight and teach our children to fight. If we do this then we can build a family which strong and united. Strong and united families produce more strong and united families. Strong families are the answer to our society’s troubles. The family is the basic cell of society. I’m no chemist but by changing the chemistry within the cell then we can change the organism itself.
Men, demand from your woman a heart rooted in God. There is no greater aid in battle than a faithful army. If our friendships, relationship and families are grounded in Christ then we are virtually equipped to create a society that is better for every person affected by it.
Men, don’t be cowards. Seek a woman that has her eyes set on the prize. Allow God to be your source of strength in all your friendships. Raise your children to be warriors. Be men of faith. Fight the Good Fight.
“The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” Matthew 11. 12 as quoted by John Eldredge in Wild at Heart (a must read for any man)
We know that God holds the children of this world in the highest regards. Jesus tells us, "Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." (Luke 18. 16-17) Children are crucial. Childlike qualities are crucial. Innocence is crucial.
Where does Satan strike first? The weak, feeble and innocent. Satan, in his cunning and powerful ways looks to influence and create turmoil among God’s people by targeting those that have little or no defense. Our children are innocent and weak, as they should be. But more so, our children need the hand of a man to protect them.
Men, the pillar of the house, are called to be strong against temptations and raise God’s people in His ways. It is the responsibility of men to be devoted to bringing up his children faithfully. In educating, instructing and leading our children closer to the King of the Universe we raise men and women capable enough to defend themselves and pass on a tradition of a warrior like mentality that will conquer the ever-present evil. It begins with the man and is nurtured by the woman.
Look at our society today: 52% divorce rate. This is evidence of Satan at work. Families of weak men are at a particular disadvantage. Satan attacks the weakest points in a relationship and capitalizes. How do we begin to end this war? We fight. We fight and teach our children to fight. If we do this then we can build a family which strong and united. Strong and united families produce more strong and united families. Strong families are the answer to our society’s troubles. The family is the basic cell of society. I’m no chemist but by changing the chemistry within the cell then we can change the organism itself.
Men, demand from your woman a heart rooted in God. There is no greater aid in battle than a faithful army. If our friendships, relationship and families are grounded in Christ then we are virtually equipped to create a society that is better for every person affected by it.
Men, don’t be cowards. Seek a woman that has her eyes set on the prize. Allow God to be your source of strength in all your friendships. Raise your children to be warriors. Be men of faith. Fight the Good Fight.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
To-do List
Smile.
Pat someone on the back.
Take a walk and embrace the sounds around me.
Dance around the house.
Eat with my hands.
Take a nap.
Read.
Randomly text somebody on my contact list.
Watch Titanic.
Play with magnets.
Try to understand the mysteries of the world.
Reorganize my sock drawer.
Write a letter to my future wife.
Build a laser of mass destruction.
Smile.
Pat someone on the back.
Take a walk and embrace the sounds around me.
Dance around the house.
Eat with my hands.
Take a nap.
Read.
Randomly text somebody on my contact list.
Watch Titanic.
Play with magnets.
Try to understand the mysteries of the world.
Reorganize my sock drawer.
Write a letter to my future wife.
Build a laser of mass destruction.
Smile.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Twelve.
Outcasts, poor, weak, hated were the apostles. Yet Jesus chose them. God Himself chose socially and politically weak people that weren’t the brightest people of their time to follow Him. These twelve men were just like you and I. Jesus chose the twelve most unlikely people to spread the Truth that would profoundly change the world.
These men dropped everything. They were committed in their safe and unchanging lives as fishermen, tax collectors, and carpenters. They were willing to ditch everything for a life of simplicity and sacrifice. They had everything that they needed to be comfortable for the rest of their lives yet they walked away from it all. The apostles were settled into a life-long routine until this hipster came into their lives and said, “Let’s do this!”
I can see only three reasons why these men let go of their families, routines, and established life for a stranger:
- They were crazy. These men were psychopaths and didn’t head their parents’ advice to not talk to strangers. They were completely nuts to let go of everything that was comfortable and easy for this stranger. They were established in their lives but had they must have been crazy to have left their comfortable lives.
- They were desperate for change. They didn’t like their current life. They wanted to get the hell outta dodge and this Jesus guy was the one guy that was able to show them a life of adventure and spontaneity.
- Or they found and unreasonably powerful love overcome them. Something like no other that they hadn't ever felt before. In every single muscle fiber, comfort and peace filled them.
Who knows why these twelve men let go of everything that was guaranteed for a life that was not for certain? They knew nothing yet in time and with much trust, they became the most powerful men in the world. Because of their craziness, “despair”, and/or their ability to sense the awesome love of Christ these men dedicated their lives to our Lord and became the four cornerstones of the world.
The question that I’ve been wrestling with and am sharing with you is, what would you do? If some guy showed up on your campus recruiting people to spread this new and crazy concept to the world, would you join Him? Would you join Him because you are crazy and want to try something off the cuff? Would you joining His cause because you are bored with your life and are desperate for any sign of change to come and sweep you away? Or would you join Him because you are open to the love and beauty of God and are so committed to searching Him out that you recognize Him when He stumbles into you? What is your special quality that you can contribute to the Almighty King to help His divine mission? Why should He choose you? What do you have that He needs? Are you ready to drop everything for Him?
It’s obviously Advent. During the next couple of weeks I’m reflecting on whether or not I am ready to leave this life and join the War. He needs us, are we ready and prepared for taking on His battle?
These men dropped everything. They were committed in their safe and unchanging lives as fishermen, tax collectors, and carpenters. They were willing to ditch everything for a life of simplicity and sacrifice. They had everything that they needed to be comfortable for the rest of their lives yet they walked away from it all. The apostles were settled into a life-long routine until this hipster came into their lives and said, “Let’s do this!”
I can see only three reasons why these men let go of their families, routines, and established life for a stranger:
- They were crazy. These men were psychopaths and didn’t head their parents’ advice to not talk to strangers. They were completely nuts to let go of everything that was comfortable and easy for this stranger. They were established in their lives but had they must have been crazy to have left their comfortable lives.
- They were desperate for change. They didn’t like their current life. They wanted to get the hell outta dodge and this Jesus guy was the one guy that was able to show them a life of adventure and spontaneity.
- Or they found and unreasonably powerful love overcome them. Something like no other that they hadn't ever felt before. In every single muscle fiber, comfort and peace filled them.
Who knows why these twelve men let go of everything that was guaranteed for a life that was not for certain? They knew nothing yet in time and with much trust, they became the most powerful men in the world. Because of their craziness, “despair”, and/or their ability to sense the awesome love of Christ these men dedicated their lives to our Lord and became the four cornerstones of the world.
The question that I’ve been wrestling with and am sharing with you is, what would you do? If some guy showed up on your campus recruiting people to spread this new and crazy concept to the world, would you join Him? Would you join Him because you are crazy and want to try something off the cuff? Would you joining His cause because you are bored with your life and are desperate for any sign of change to come and sweep you away? Or would you join Him because you are open to the love and beauty of God and are so committed to searching Him out that you recognize Him when He stumbles into you? What is your special quality that you can contribute to the Almighty King to help His divine mission? Why should He choose you? What do you have that He needs? Are you ready to drop everything for Him?
It’s obviously Advent. During the next couple of weeks I’m reflecting on whether or not I am ready to leave this life and join the War. He needs us, are we ready and prepared for taking on His battle?
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.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Listen.
My inspiration to write this blog post comes from Wednesday of Week II’s reading from Evening Prayer. But to be honest, when I first read it I thought to myself, “Tell me something my mum didn’t already tell me when I was 3.” I thought to myself that I have a practical knowledge of the statement that the apostle James so eloquently states in Chapter 1:
“[19]This you know, my beloved brethren, but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; [20]for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”
Then I said to myself, “Josh, if you know this so well and are confident that you are such a fantastic guy, then you must act on this and do the things that James talks about, right?”
I am writing this post on purely selfish instincts. I’m writing this as more of a reflection on my life rather than to lecture or instruct others how to live. I hope that you might draw from this whatever you can.
Anyway, there are several points that I’d like to attack here:
- James’ use of endearment, “My beloved brethren”
- “Be quick to hear and slow to speak” and
- The issue of anger
As I sit here in front of my computer screen, I reflect. How James can address people whom he doesn’t even know as he does? He is instructing the twelve dispersed tribes (major groups of people spread out among many countries) with gusto on how to live a better, more full, and more Godly life. This implies that these people weren’t living a very holy life in the first place. As I thought/am thinking about this I asked myself how I typically think about or address people who are not being intelligent. I call them things like “jackass”, “idiot”, “moron”, “dumb ass”, and they only get progressively worse. And yet James calls them, his “beloved brethren”. He speaks to them with almost serene patience. All the other letter writers in the Bible also use this language, addressing people as their brothers and sisters...even in the face of their idiotic tendencies.
“Be quick to hear and slow to speak.” Yeah, yeah, yeah, you were always right, Mum. I should listen before I talk. I should be a better listener than talker. I should listen to peoples feelings. Yadda, yadda, yadda. While all this stuff is great, I’m reflecting on what I think are the deeper cues and hints in which James might be trying to get at. I am just wondering what the world would be like if we took this statement, “Be quick to hear and slow to speak,” to its most extreme limit. If we could never speak and could only listen. What would the world be like then? Imagine the things we would hear: a more profound whisper of the wind, the intricacies of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, the howl of a distant coyote, the sigh of a stressed passerby, and the tick of the rushing second-hand of my watch. I have more than enough to say but how much of it is truly influential to the world or even to those that are immediately connected to me? I know for a fact that I have taken the common sounds that I hear every day for a grain of salt, but without that grain of salt I would have nothing, eh? I figure I should talk a whole lot less and perhaps not worry internally so much and genuinely listen to the beautiful sounds of things around me.
Also, on this note, not only would I hear just the physical things that surround me, I imagine I might hear the voice of the One who created these sounds. Maybe I should try this out more often.
Lastly, anger. Probably one of my greatest weaknesses. It rarely amasses to anything substantial but a little bit of it everyday always manages to squeeze itself into my daily routine. This little bit of frustration tends to sometimes overwhelm me. I think that in these situations, if the previous two points that James make are taken care of then we will be ready for action. Imagine for a second how incredible we could feel if we responded to a sticky situation with an address of endearment and then listened to the person or hear out a nasty situation. If I could only take a step back and comprehend what is going on and hear out the beauties of humanity, then I highly doubt there’d be any room for frustration. If I am constantly reflecting on the subtle complexities of what I am surrounded by, is there any room for any feelings other than the desire to call an idiot my friend and to embrace the internal beauty upon which I should be reflective upon?
With all this under our belts, we may not be as fantastic of people as we think we are. There is always stuff that needs fixing. End of story.
“[19]This you know, my beloved brethren, but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; [20]for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”
Then I said to myself, “Josh, if you know this so well and are confident that you are such a fantastic guy, then you must act on this and do the things that James talks about, right?”
I am writing this post on purely selfish instincts. I’m writing this as more of a reflection on my life rather than to lecture or instruct others how to live. I hope that you might draw from this whatever you can.
Anyway, there are several points that I’d like to attack here:
- James’ use of endearment, “My beloved brethren”
- “Be quick to hear and slow to speak” and
- The issue of anger
As I sit here in front of my computer screen, I reflect. How James can address people whom he doesn’t even know as he does? He is instructing the twelve dispersed tribes (major groups of people spread out among many countries) with gusto on how to live a better, more full, and more Godly life. This implies that these people weren’t living a very holy life in the first place. As I thought/am thinking about this I asked myself how I typically think about or address people who are not being intelligent. I call them things like “jackass”, “idiot”, “moron”, “dumb ass”, and they only get progressively worse. And yet James calls them, his “beloved brethren”. He speaks to them with almost serene patience. All the other letter writers in the Bible also use this language, addressing people as their brothers and sisters...even in the face of their idiotic tendencies.
“Be quick to hear and slow to speak.” Yeah, yeah, yeah, you were always right, Mum. I should listen before I talk. I should be a better listener than talker. I should listen to peoples feelings. Yadda, yadda, yadda. While all this stuff is great, I’m reflecting on what I think are the deeper cues and hints in which James might be trying to get at. I am just wondering what the world would be like if we took this statement, “Be quick to hear and slow to speak,” to its most extreme limit. If we could never speak and could only listen. What would the world be like then? Imagine the things we would hear: a more profound whisper of the wind, the intricacies of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, the howl of a distant coyote, the sigh of a stressed passerby, and the tick of the rushing second-hand of my watch. I have more than enough to say but how much of it is truly influential to the world or even to those that are immediately connected to me? I know for a fact that I have taken the common sounds that I hear every day for a grain of salt, but without that grain of salt I would have nothing, eh? I figure I should talk a whole lot less and perhaps not worry internally so much and genuinely listen to the beautiful sounds of things around me.
Also, on this note, not only would I hear just the physical things that surround me, I imagine I might hear the voice of the One who created these sounds. Maybe I should try this out more often.
Lastly, anger. Probably one of my greatest weaknesses. It rarely amasses to anything substantial but a little bit of it everyday always manages to squeeze itself into my daily routine. This little bit of frustration tends to sometimes overwhelm me. I think that in these situations, if the previous two points that James make are taken care of then we will be ready for action. Imagine for a second how incredible we could feel if we responded to a sticky situation with an address of endearment and then listened to the person or hear out a nasty situation. If I could only take a step back and comprehend what is going on and hear out the beauties of humanity, then I highly doubt there’d be any room for frustration. If I am constantly reflecting on the subtle complexities of what I am surrounded by, is there any room for any feelings other than the desire to call an idiot my friend and to embrace the internal beauty upon which I should be reflective upon?
With all this under our belts, we may not be as fantastic of people as we think we are. There is always stuff that needs fixing. End of story.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Life.
My last post was all about death and after reflecting I thought some very profound thoughts. What else is also guaranteed about us? Life is. 10 out of 10 people live. You must live before you die. What is tragic about this fact though? We live in a society that believes that this is not a fact or that we can control this. We have begun to shift the way we think about life, as if we control it. We have introduced death into the world in the evil form of abortion.
Abortion is the termination of that which is living. There is dispute within the argument of life; "when does life begin?" My answer is simply--WHO CARES? Let us look at the problems of abortion in a the light of truth-since that is what people care about...and yet truth has been ignored.
Whether the life begins at conception or at birth, abortion is still wrong because:
- it is not natural,
- it is harmful to the mother,
- and it is not the intention of God
The act of sex is natural. Babies are natural. Sex produces babies. Therefore it is necessary that we expect that which is natural: babies are intrinsically expected to come from sex. It follows from this logic that we should have sex with full intent of having a baby, unless you don’t mind a surprise. To terminate the baby is to take away from the essence of nature. In the act of abortion we are overriding the forces of nature.
Abortion is not safe. Here are just a few complications that may arise as a result of abortion: bladder Injury, bowel injury, laceration of the cervix, breast cancer, higher chance of having ectopic pregnancies in the future, hemorrhage, infection, perforation of the uterus, placenta previa, dramatically increased chance of miscarriages, and sterility. These are not small issues and none of these things are safe. There is nothing safe about abortion. If, for just a moment, we were to assume that the death of the child was a good thing, then it still does far more harm to the mother and her future wanted pregnancies even if the ultimate end of an abortion was good.
The previous two reasons against abortion are pitter-patter compared to what I am about to propose. Given that you believe in an all-powerful God, then we believe that everything that is enacted is because He willed it. If He wills everything then we must believe that our God intends for life to be embraced and cherished. If a young lady is to have a child then it is because God has intentions for her to have a child (that He has hand made for her). Who are we to make the ultimate decision to end that life? By having an abortion we are ending God’s own intention.
You’re probably asking yourself, well then if God wills everything then wouldn’t He will us to have abortions. To me this is just silly. When have we ever known God to be a God of death? Because of our free will we have introduced evil and abortion to the world. Our sinful nature is the inverse of God. Abortion is definitely not God’s will. Why would He enable something just for it to be ended?
Forgive me, I am no expert on the matters of abortion but it seems to me that life is the most important thing that we have been given, so how do we have the right to take this away? We, of course, produce the baby but after this the life-giving process is out of our hands. God’s will is that there is to be a baby. It is sad to think that we have the nerve to strip an all-powerful God of His own intentions. I don’t know about you but I would not want to try to stop God and His intentions.
Life is not something for us to determine. Naturally speaking, there is nothing good that can come from an abortion. Abortion is something that has irreversible harms that go hand in hand with each other. Spiritually speaking, there is nothing good that can come from abortion. There is an evil that goes hand in hand with abortion.
The true fight against abortion boils down to a spiritual battle. This war will not be won at rallies or protests. This battle will be won on our knees. We need retreat to prayer and embrace our God of life.
Abortion is the termination of that which is living. There is dispute within the argument of life; "when does life begin?" My answer is simply--WHO CARES? Let us look at the problems of abortion in a the light of truth-since that is what people care about...and yet truth has been ignored.
Whether the life begins at conception or at birth, abortion is still wrong because:
- it is not natural,
- it is harmful to the mother,
- and it is not the intention of God
The act of sex is natural. Babies are natural. Sex produces babies. Therefore it is necessary that we expect that which is natural: babies are intrinsically expected to come from sex. It follows from this logic that we should have sex with full intent of having a baby, unless you don’t mind a surprise. To terminate the baby is to take away from the essence of nature. In the act of abortion we are overriding the forces of nature.
Abortion is not safe. Here are just a few complications that may arise as a result of abortion: bladder Injury, bowel injury, laceration of the cervix, breast cancer, higher chance of having ectopic pregnancies in the future, hemorrhage, infection, perforation of the uterus, placenta previa, dramatically increased chance of miscarriages, and sterility. These are not small issues and none of these things are safe. There is nothing safe about abortion. If, for just a moment, we were to assume that the death of the child was a good thing, then it still does far more harm to the mother and her future wanted pregnancies even if the ultimate end of an abortion was good.
The previous two reasons against abortion are pitter-patter compared to what I am about to propose. Given that you believe in an all-powerful God, then we believe that everything that is enacted is because He willed it. If He wills everything then we must believe that our God intends for life to be embraced and cherished. If a young lady is to have a child then it is because God has intentions for her to have a child (that He has hand made for her). Who are we to make the ultimate decision to end that life? By having an abortion we are ending God’s own intention.
You’re probably asking yourself, well then if God wills everything then wouldn’t He will us to have abortions. To me this is just silly. When have we ever known God to be a God of death? Because of our free will we have introduced evil and abortion to the world. Our sinful nature is the inverse of God. Abortion is definitely not God’s will. Why would He enable something just for it to be ended?
Forgive me, I am no expert on the matters of abortion but it seems to me that life is the most important thing that we have been given, so how do we have the right to take this away? We, of course, produce the baby but after this the life-giving process is out of our hands. God’s will is that there is to be a baby. It is sad to think that we have the nerve to strip an all-powerful God of His own intentions. I don’t know about you but I would not want to try to stop God and His intentions.
Life is not something for us to determine. Naturally speaking, there is nothing good that can come from an abortion. Abortion is something that has irreversible harms that go hand in hand with each other. Spiritually speaking, there is nothing good that can come from abortion. There is an evil that goes hand in hand with abortion.
The true fight against abortion boils down to a spiritual battle. This war will not be won at rallies or protests. This battle will be won on our knees. We need retreat to prayer and embrace our God of life.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Death.
It's a funny thing, death is. 10 out of 10 people die. Some die when they are young, some die when they are old. We know that it will eventually happen to us. We know that it will eventually happen to everybody that we know. We are born into this world with a sure-fire statistic that we all will die.
These are the facts.
Yet for some reason every time death claims another life we are upset. We knew it would happen, yet depression sweeps into the lives of the people that the person had affected.
I’m not going to lecture you about why you should be happy instead of sad when somebody dies but I am going to suggest what you probably already know: the actuality of death is that the person who died is in a much better place. Death is something to be rejoiced at. In death we have the opportunity to appreciate what this person brought to life. The old saying, “You never know what you have until its gone,” is just as true with people as it is with trivial things.
A Roman philosopher, Seneca, said, “The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.” In death we begin the rest of our lives. Just as when we go to sleep does tomorrow begin, when we die we really begin to live. Socrates said, “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.” We become truly happy at the moment of death because we reach full knowledge and are in complete union with God. According to J.K. Rowling, “To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” This adventure is the start of the relationship with God in a whole new realm and should be embraced.
We should not in the least bit be sad about death. If anything, the closer that we are to a person who dies, the happier we should be for them. In all reality we should be envious of the dead because of the glory and peace they are experiencing. It is right to mourn but to dwell on death is not fair to the person. Dwelling on death and wishing that the dead were alive is to do an injustice to the person. We want them back because they meant something to us, they took care of us, they taught us, they loved us but death is a vital part of life and should be embraced.
My last quotation is from DaVinci, “As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well used brings happy death.” A death is a reason to rejoice, and is to be celebrated, and should never be asked to be reversed. Death is just as great of an occasion as life. It doesn’t seem like this because death gives life a meaning that we can understand but death has greater implications than life ever could have.
“Don’t cry because its over. Smile because it happened.” -Dr. Seuss
Rest in Eternal Peace Grandma
These are the facts.
Yet for some reason every time death claims another life we are upset. We knew it would happen, yet depression sweeps into the lives of the people that the person had affected.
I’m not going to lecture you about why you should be happy instead of sad when somebody dies but I am going to suggest what you probably already know: the actuality of death is that the person who died is in a much better place. Death is something to be rejoiced at. In death we have the opportunity to appreciate what this person brought to life. The old saying, “You never know what you have until its gone,” is just as true with people as it is with trivial things.
A Roman philosopher, Seneca, said, “The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.” In death we begin the rest of our lives. Just as when we go to sleep does tomorrow begin, when we die we really begin to live. Socrates said, “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.” We become truly happy at the moment of death because we reach full knowledge and are in complete union with God. According to J.K. Rowling, “To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” This adventure is the start of the relationship with God in a whole new realm and should be embraced.
We should not in the least bit be sad about death. If anything, the closer that we are to a person who dies, the happier we should be for them. In all reality we should be envious of the dead because of the glory and peace they are experiencing. It is right to mourn but to dwell on death is not fair to the person. Dwelling on death and wishing that the dead were alive is to do an injustice to the person. We want them back because they meant something to us, they took care of us, they taught us, they loved us but death is a vital part of life and should be embraced.
My last quotation is from DaVinci, “As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well used brings happy death.” A death is a reason to rejoice, and is to be celebrated, and should never be asked to be reversed. Death is just as great of an occasion as life. It doesn’t seem like this because death gives life a meaning that we can understand but death has greater implications than life ever could have.
“Don’t cry because its over. Smile because it happened.” -Dr. Seuss
Rest in Eternal Peace Grandma
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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