Wonder. Or, It's all just too whimsical isn't it?

Sometime ago I was watching a movie called Agora. I remember a scene where Hypatia and her students are discussing (or debating might be more accurate) whether the Earth was the center of the universe, or whether the Earth revolved around something. During the scene one of her students makes the comment: "It's all just too whimsical isn't it?," referring to the theory that the Earth revolved around something and was not the center of the universe. 


I didn't make much of the comment at first, but lately I've realized just how profoundly insightful that comment really is.

World's Meanest Mother

My mom had a copy of this poem called "The Meanest Mother " a while ago, but threw it out. I liked it however and wanted to find a copy of it one day, and today I did! 

Since I like this so much I decided to share it with the Internet. Hope you like it. 

Final Thoughts on Monkery

I embarked on this experiment intending to disengage from the busyness of everyday life, but I quickly found that this would not be an easy goal to attain. I found myself burdened by obligations and other things that "had to be done." It was because of this that I had to change my experiment to only two meditations instead of three, and even after I changed the experiment I still found it quite difficult to even do the two! Apparently carving out two to three hours a day to spend in meditation and prayer is an impossible task these days.

Open Question: Why don't I (we) do what brings me (us) the most pleasure?

I've been thinking about this for a few days and I have absolutely no idea why this is, so I thought I would ask you all for some input on this. 

This past Monday I was trying to decide between doing two things in the evening: reading some more of The Idiot or watching Monday Night Football. In the long run I knew that reading would bring me more pleasure and satisfaction than watching football, especially since the game probably wasn't going to be very good, but it was still such a strong temptation to watch the game even though I knew that I would be more satisfied by reading. On this particular occasion I ended up reading, but only because I realized what was going on and took the time to think through what was happening. 

I would like to know if anyone can relate to this and has any idea as to why we decide to do the thing that we know won't satisfy us long term. Sure it might bring us short term satisfaction, but if we know ahead of time that something else will bring us more satisfaction in the long run, why do the other thing? 

Sometimes we have obligations that take us away from doing the things that will bring us that long term satisfaction, but those are not the situations I am talking about here. What I am talking about here is those situations where there are no obligations that prevent you from doing something. I am talking about those situations where there is nothing preventing you from choosing either one.

Anyone?

The Third Greatest Commandment? ... Also, An Experiment in Monkery: Day 13

Monkery Update
 
I've had to modify the experiment down to two meditations per day instead of three. I've gotten really busy with various things (that weren't on the radar when I started!) and doing three a day is just unworkable. I realized that while I was doing the three daily meditations that I was losing touch with reality because it was such a shock to me when I actually had some real world responsibilities. They basically took me by surprise and I wished that I could have avoided doing them. But alas, I could not, and so I have modified the experiment so that I can tend to these real world responsibilities. I think it is a good thing that I have had to modify this experiment though.

I've been thinking for the past few days about what Jesus would have said the third greatest commandment was. I think he would have said, "Do not covet what belongs to your neighbor." 

An Experiment In Monkery: Day 4

It has become apparent to me that doing 3 1-hour meditations a day is difficult if you have any sort of real world responsibilities. In order to do this indefinitely you would have to be a monk! However, I have managed to keep the schedule, only missing one meditation because of a certain football game. Ahem.

I am enjoying having a certain period of time to focus my thoughts on one subject. Since writing helps me think better my journal is quickly filling up with thoughts on the passages I have been meditating on. In 4 days I have managed to fill up 5 pages in my 11x9 journal. There are so many good thoughts in there that one day will hopefully see the light of day in some fashion. It's like having a storehouse of good ideas and waiting for the day when you get to bust them out.


Here is my reflection for today from Matthew 7:7-11:

It is important to realize that this passage is not saying that everything a Christian asks for and seeks after will be given to him. The passage implies that fathers give good gifts to their children, not bad ones. If a child asks his father for a harmful gift would the father grant his child's request because he or she earnestly desired it? Of course not! The father knows what is good for the child and will not give him or her something that would be harmful, even if he or she earnestly desired it.

A good father though would not simply deny the request and leave it at that. A good father would show his child what is good to desire and seek after. And so when the child asks for one of these good things the father gladly grants the request because he knows that it is good for the child to have this thing. 

If our earthly fathers know how to do this, then how much more does our heavenly father? 

Through all the denied requests to earnest prayers we learn to desire what is good for us and ask for that instead. We learn to desire and seek after Christ and ask to be like him. 

An Experiment In Monkery: Day 1

Today marks the first day of my monkery experiment. I'm not planning on doing a post everyday so as not to overwhelm everyone with posts. I'm planning on doing one every couple of days of though.


So lets get into the experiences of the first day. 


For the morning meditation I've decided to use the readings from the SOARing devotional. Except for today I used the one from September 30th (Galatians 3:1-14) because I didn't see them listed on the right side and it was the latest audio file available. *dunce cap* 

An Experiment in Monkery

Monkery is not a word in case you were wondering, but I think it is accurate for this latest crazy idea of mine.

One of the activities that I enjoy most is thinking and contemplating things, but unfortunately it’s very hard to make a living doing such things. So I figured I would pursue a path that would allow me to think and contemplate as well as earn a living, enter seminary. My main goal with seminary is to be able to communicate biblical truth in a fresh and engaging way to reach people who are ordinarily not interested in theology for some reason. This way I should be able to cultivate my ideas and, hopefully, bring them into the mainstream to benefit others as well as earn a living.

Recently though I read a news story about a monastery in North Dakota that had to shut down because they were ranchers and had an issue finding monks with cowboy skills. After reading the story I realized that thinking and contemplating things was exactly what monks did! So I did some quick research into the daily lives of monks and came up with the idea to try out the monk life for a while.

Mormonism Part 2

The second video in my Mormonism series. The subject of this one is the beliefs of Mormons. Mormons claim to be Christians, but Christians do not accept Mormons as Christians. Being a Christian I have commented on some of my objections to their beliefs and why I believe some of them to be unbiblical.


The next one is going to be on family and will also address polygamy more in depth. I just mention it briefly at the end of this video.


Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=544a_3NFl_A

Mormonism Part 1

I figured I would do some videos recording interesting things and facts that I am learning about in my Mormonism class. These videos are not intended to be a replacement for actually studying the religion yourself though should you be interested in it. This is part 1.

Natural Human Rights

First video post for this blog. I may actually continue to do this in the future because it is easier for me than having to write these posts out. The audio is behind the video, but I figured out what the issue was so future videos will not have this issue. If the embed does not work for you the link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt-vm7Lhb2c

What I Learned About Introversion and Extraversion

Psychology has been something of interest to me ever since I took a course in it in college, and if I could have at that point I might have changed my major but it was the final course so I wasn't able to. Well lately I have been looking into introversion and extraversion. What has prompted this interest has been, as modern psychologists might say, "the way I have been experiencing myself" recently. Commonly it seems that extraverts are thought to be people who are outgoing, sociable, always up for doing something, and incapable of reflection. And it seems that introverts are thought to be people are not outgoing, prefer to be with their thoughts, and can go for weeks without social interaction. Now I think there is truth to those definitions, but I think that it is an incomplete definition of introversion and extroversion.

Life Interrupted By Life

This last week you could say that my life was very much interrupted. Last Wednesday (May 11) I got word that my grandmother had passed away, and while it wasn't totally unexpected news to me it did come sooner than I had expected it to. I had been enjoying a much needed mini-vacation from all the work I had been doing earlier this year and this news changed the non-plans I had quite quickly. Instead of me sitting back and enjoying my time off and catching up on some video projects for church that had been pushed to the back burner I was forced to make a 20+ hour drive up to Pennsylvania with my brother and spend my days running around helping complete everything that was necessary for the funeral. 


Now it would be very easy for me to be quite angry and upset at all this because my plans had been interrupted and I was forced to put in much more work than I had been planning to this past weekend, but I'm not. I'm glad that my life was interrupted like this because it forced me to reevaluate the direction that my life is headed and the some of the choices that I am making in heading that direction. My life being interrupted was a very good thing in this case.

Rules

I've been reading Psalm 119 over the past few days (it's so long it warrants a two day reading in my opinion) and it occurred to me that the psalmist is quite joyed at the fact that God had given rules for him to obey; he is excited that there are rules! His attitude seemed very strange to me at first because I myself do not get excited about following rules usually; I certainly follow them, but I don't think to myself, "Woohoo! I get to follow rules! Yeah!" As I thought about it some though I realized that this should be my attitude.

Back and out of body

It has been a while since I actually posted something due to my being so incredibly busy; not because I had forgotten or lost interest in this project. 


Being really busy will do a lot of things to you, a lot of bad things. This last semester I have been working 2 jobs along with taking a full course load (4 courses + 1 independent study from last semester), which has left me little time for being me. When your entire life consists of moving from one task to the next you tend to lose touch with yourself and instead become like a robot who only completes tasks. So now that I've had time to relax a little it has been like having an out-of-body experience in a way: I will do something, find it enjoyable, and think to myself, "Wow, this is really fun! Did I like doing this before? Oh yeah, I did like doing this before, I remember now!" These sorts of experiences have been cool; they remind of all the unique gifts that God has blessed me with.

Things I Learned in Texas

This last week I got an opportunity to visit the great state of Texas. I've only been there once really and I'm already calling it great? Great. Anyway, I went to visit Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) where I am considering attending after I finish with USF this summer. I learned a few things about Texas, DTS, and myself during the trip.

Becoming

When I woke up today I was dreading all the work that I would have to do today. I was hoping to have nothing to do today and enjoy the day off, but instead ended up with a list of things that I needed to accomplish. As I was lying in bed, not wanting to get out because I knew that it would mean I actually had to start the day and be productive, I was wondering what  the point of doing all this work was. In a few years I won't care about the grades I got this semester or how much I accomplished at work, so why do I put so much effort into doing these things? Why not just take the day off? After all I did wake up tired today, I could use a day off.


Far be it from me though to possibly be able to justify such a stance towards work for very long. 

Love Story #1

So in honor of Valentine's Day I figured that I would write a little love story. Love is one of the greatest things that we can experience as humans and so I wanted to hopefully honor that by writing a little story. For now the title is Love Story #1, very creative I know. You will notice that it is very much written from the perspective of a man, and more specifically my own personal one. I didn't feel up to the task of providing the point of view of the woman and because of that I feel the story is incomplete in a way. So if someone feels up to the task of providing the woman's point of view that would be awesome. Actually that might be a good creative exercise now that I think about it. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Valentine's Day Rant

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching I've been thinking about how retailers make a big deal out of this holiday and why for some reason this holiday is such a big deal (for couples anyway) in our culture. Why is it that people feel the need to celebrate their love for each other on this one day? What is wrong with all the others days of the year? Are those other days not good enough or something? 

I forgot I was a human

So I thought I was going to get this posted earlier, but I obviously didn't, so now I am. Better late than never, right? This one is more personal than the others have been thus far. I said that I wasn't planning on posting personal things here, but I didn't really have a plan for this blog other than my thoughts. This blog is really an experiment for me and I don't know where its going to go or what it "should" look like until I try it out. 

Last week I was thinking about how I was constantly being reminded that I was in fact a human and nothing more. You see, I sometimes have a tendency to get lost in my own world and think that I am so completely awesome, but then I go out into the real world and reality comes crashing in and I realize that there are big limitations on what I can do. 

Being Sought and Seeking

Last night after church I was talking to a friend and during the course of our conversation the topic of relationships came up, specifically friendships during the teenage years. As we discussed this a bit they made the comment that thing about it was that everyone wants the same thing, to be sought. As soon as they said that I realized that it was such a profound and true statement of kids during those years. As I thought about it more though I realized that it was also quite true of adults. 


As I thought about it more I asked myself why it was that we even desire to be sought in the first place; what is it that is driving us to be sought after by others?

Pride and Prejudice

Before I start this post I should note that I changed the comment settings so that anyone can leave a comment, as long as you're a human of course. ;)


Since I am of the highest intelligence I decided that, in addition to a full course load, 2 jobs, and a Bonhoeffer biography, that I would also add Austen's Pride and Prejudice to my already full burden of work. It seemed a like a good idea at the time at least, and plus it allows me to try out my new nook that I got for Christmas. 


Anyway, I'm not real far in the book yet (chapter 9 of volume 1), but as I read this I can't help but think of the era in which this story takes place. I'm sure the novel idealizes things a bit, but it seems like such a perfect world and system. There are well defined roles for people in society and the people that are in those roles seem perfectly content to fulfill them; no one is trying usurp or rebel or anything like that, and things just move along perfectly. No one seems rushed or in a hurry; they seem to have plenty of time to get things done and plenty of time (and will) to invest in developing relationships with others.

Who and How

I was thinking today about how sometimes people will ask themselves the question: "Who am I?" Or perhaps they may say it the form a statement: "I don't know who I am." I was always puzzled by this question because I never understood how someone could even ask this question in the first place.