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thoughtnuggets
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Expertise: If you've ever had a question about your beliefs as a Christian, or are interested in pursuing a deeper more understood faith, i've written this journal for you. But it's more for me.
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Member Since:
8/26/2003
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| A dollar for your thoughts?
Uhh, more amateur political thinking. I apologize. I fault YOU for
reading. Ok, so in a previous entry, I questioned why Christians bother
involving themselves in matters such as Homosexual marriages, and other
policy of the like that really have no baring on themselves. And i
suppose in a very distanced, isolated viewpoing of the issue, i suppose
it really shouldn't matter. But another view is to see the Christian's
responsibility as setting the stage for evangelism, or "Preparing the
soil" as Jason Mak would say. It makes sense. The point of a
Christian's duty to Earth is to Evangelize, right? Right. And we've all
been given this opportunity to vote and help shape society in a certain
way we feel is the best. And to a Christian, that would be to help
point the world towards the way God would have wanted it. And
furthermore, to create a society that lives in this world, and through
it, will be able to see God. So this matter of "preparing the soil" is
a putting people in a situation that they will be ready to be
evangelized to. Perhaps a world where homosexuality was not encouraged
may bring people God? i don't know. But you catch my drift? So hence, i
see a different perspective in a Christian's role in politics.
But is it pushing personal beliefs on people? You're darn tootin it is. But isn't that what evangelism basically is?
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| There's beauty in the breakdown...
I must speak
honestly about what it's
like to be in my mid- twenties and finally working. It's surreal,
disenchanting at times, vague, always intimidating, and a constant
state of self-consiousness whose confidence is in flux. Sounds bad, but
it's not really.
It's just...different.
Although...see, school was nice because
it had an incremental bar of time, but work is like "space", if you
catch my drift. Is it endless? Is there something else? Is this...It??
And on and on. Soon i find myself assessing other people lives around
me, especially other employees, telling myself that's what you have to
look forward to at 40. More often than not it's depressing.
Self
conciousness is a weird thing because you never are sure who you are
and how you really act because you're constantly analyzing and second
guessing yourself. Then this obsessive curiosity of what others think
of you sets in, which feeds this vicious cycle of uncomfortablilty
around anything that breathes. Then on top of that, you're constantly
judging every little thing about people, from their bad clothing to the
lame comment they made by the water cooler, just to feel a little better about yourself.
Watching GARDEN STATE, i realized my feelings were not all that isolated:
[Zach]Braff
says he was inspired to make GARDEN STATE because he felt there were
few films that spoke honestly to his generation, to people in their
twenties who were beyond adolescence and for whom at one point or
another a whole new sense of overwhelming anxiety sets in."
He
observes that, "People my age are not getting married right away. As a
result, they have more time to question themselves and everything
around them. I wasn't seeing a whole lot of films that gave an honest
account of what it felt like to be a 20-something in 2004."
Here's
the thing: I think i just don't want to get...comfortable. Lifestyle,
opinions, ideas, relationships...are all an ever evolving condition for
my generation, and i hesitate to feel like anything makes sense right
now. Perhaps that is why my spiritual disposition as well has gone the
way it has. Maybe it all just comes with the territory. Or, maybe it's
just me and my issues.
One day when i'm older and wiser,
perhaps words like security and stability will be praised, but right
now, i suppose i've found contentment in my confusion. | | |
| Take a bow, Oh Lord...
It's weird when we are told to give God a hand...although clapping is a
form of worship in a sense, i'd rather leave that to meager human
praise.
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| Check thyself....
The longer I
live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to
me, is more important than education, than money, than circumstances,
than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or
do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will
make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we
have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people act
in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we
can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I
am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to
it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes.
-Chuck Swindol
I apologize for posting a seemingly prosaic and chicken soupish quote
that you'd probably find on the family refrigerator or some 80's mini
poster with a landscape on it, but for some reason this quote resonated
with me one day and it was quite refreshing. I found it printed out by
my mom's handbag, and i assume my dad had given it to her in light of
all the jerks she's encountered over the last couple months. And for
her, i hope it encouraged her in whatever way it can. For me, i am inspired to hope that i can
retain an optimistic mind and friendly countenance as i soon begin a
new stage in my life. And i hope the same for you.
(After all, you're never fully dressed without a smile)
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| The conservative's consideration....
If i haven't already encouraged you to watch Michael Moore's new
documentary Farenheit 9/11, then i behoove you now to do so. Not that
it is a particularly amazing movie, or one that aligns with any sort of
political belief I hold (For if I hold any, it's usually whatever i was
told that day), but it's food for thought. And movies are so accessible
and social, and hey, why not skip whatever fluff came out that week and
catch this one instead. I think White Chicks can wait, can't it?
Contrary to popular belief, movies can make you think too.
I suppose in content, we are to learn that we live in a quite dismal
time. Can we trust our leaders? Can we trust the system to elect those
leaders? Can we trust the people giving us information? is there really
anything to fear? The most visceral responses are the images of war,
and i suppose no matter what legitimate and necessary reasons would be
to engage in it, who could be pro-war when you see actual footage of
people dying. And among all this, while the movie is still rolling and
Moore's voiceover contintues, i found myself asking the most primal
question of all... if God is there, where did He go?
Pehaps in the years to come, we will see His providence in some shape
or form, but i can't imagine that many victims care to think that way.
I feel it would be hard to deny that the film makes a poignant
argument, but even if so, will Christians ever agree to it? Because if
they do, then are they not turning on their conservative political
counterpart that they are inherently inclined to vote for? So let me
ask it this way my fellow Christians: If you do believe that the
President should not have gone to war (or did so for corrupt
reasons), should we consider a Liberal president who perhaps
believes in Abortion/ Gay marriage as a lesser of two evils?
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