Is there ever a time when acting with good intentions is optional? Is there ever a time when it's ok to hate?
I can't think of it.
Perhaps there is a time when something so terrible happens that we are driven to it... such as mass killings, abuse of children, rape, betrayal... But thank God the really terrible things in life are somewhat rare.
It's in the normal flow of life where it seems to slip in for really no good reason. It's easy to lose sense of the big picture, and let self-indulgence drive us to hate people for silly things - most of which we can, if we choose, simply rise above. Bitterness is just not worth it.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
All you need is love?
the beatles - yes, that icon of rock n roll - their famous song claims "All You Need is Love". One of the most famous of all sappy love songs. And there are thousands. But is it true?
Well, sort of - it depends on how you define love I suppose.
Love without good rational thinking is ignorant, and love without articulate speaking, through word or action, is lame. Serious heartfelt love motivates us to do both of these things as part of it - because real love can not stand to be lame and ignorant. But if love is just a happy feeling, a temporary romance, or a fleeting wave of emotion, then we all need a whole lot more than just that.
Well, sort of - it depends on how you define love I suppose.
Love without good rational thinking is ignorant, and love without articulate speaking, through word or action, is lame. Serious heartfelt love motivates us to do both of these things as part of it - because real love can not stand to be lame and ignorant. But if love is just a happy feeling, a temporary romance, or a fleeting wave of emotion, then we all need a whole lot more than just that.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
amateur lovers
One of my favorite bands, Switchfoot, has a song on their latest album "Oh! Gravity" called "Amatuer Lovers". Not one of their greatest songs, but I like some of the lyrics.
"Everyone I know needs love like drugs
Like a common cold we could never shrug
My baby and me, we're missing the same stuff
We've all got a disease, deficiency of love
Every day we still try
Every night we still cry
We don't know what we're doing
We do it again
We're just amateur lovers
With amateur friends"
It makes an interesting point: we know what we need, we know what we need to do, and we keep trying to do it, but we just aren't very good at it - we're amatuers. None of us are professionals when in this. And that's ok, because the point is really in the struggle - we try, we sometimes fail, but the next day we pick ourselves up and keep trying again. To give up and stop trying is the real failure.
"Everyone I know needs love like drugs
Like a common cold we could never shrug
My baby and me, we're missing the same stuff
We've all got a disease, deficiency of love
Every day we still try
Every night we still cry
We don't know what we're doing
We do it again
We're just amateur lovers
With amateur friends"
It makes an interesting point: we know what we need, we know what we need to do, and we keep trying to do it, but we just aren't very good at it - we're amatuers. None of us are professionals when in this. And that's ok, because the point is really in the struggle - we try, we sometimes fail, but the next day we pick ourselves up and keep trying again. To give up and stop trying is the real failure.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
right actions
We've all done it - said something mean, hurtful, angry, insensitive, rude, embarrassing, foolish, prideful, arrogant, etc. etc. - some words have slipped by our lips that we later regret.
And the actions we sometimes take can be even worse - a look, a huff, a roll of the eyes, a slam of the door, a heavy march of the feet, perhaps a slap with the hand - and we all know that actions speak more loudly than our words.
Hopefully an appropriate apology helps to heal these momentary slip-ups, when perhaps emotions catch us off guard.
To speak is to act - and we speak and act sometimes in ways we know we shouldn't. We of course mature and learn to leave behind some of these things, but we'll always make mistakes in our far from perfect selves. The pre-meditated actions we take, however, are not so easily healed by a simple apology, when the action we've taken isn't a simple mix-up or emotional outburst.
I think back on the times when I've done things I later regret, and besides simple maturity, it seems that there are two reasons that keep popping up for why this occurs. One is that I simply didn't care about the thing I should have cared about. Like when my friends and I teased that weird boy in 5th grade - we didn't care about him. He was gross, uncool, and whatever else we couldn't see past. We place things out of their proper order in the heirarchy of stuff that matters; our values are not where they ought to be. Apathy kills almost as much as outright hatred. A second reason is simple ignorance - a lack of knowledge or information, an oversight of something that we should have taken the time to be aware of.
But if I first check the heart, and then check the head, perhaps the body will follow with actions that heal instead of hurt, that build instead of tear down.
And the actions we sometimes take can be even worse - a look, a huff, a roll of the eyes, a slam of the door, a heavy march of the feet, perhaps a slap with the hand - and we all know that actions speak more loudly than our words.
Hopefully an appropriate apology helps to heal these momentary slip-ups, when perhaps emotions catch us off guard.
To speak is to act - and we speak and act sometimes in ways we know we shouldn't. We of course mature and learn to leave behind some of these things, but we'll always make mistakes in our far from perfect selves. The pre-meditated actions we take, however, are not so easily healed by a simple apology, when the action we've taken isn't a simple mix-up or emotional outburst.
I think back on the times when I've done things I later regret, and besides simple maturity, it seems that there are two reasons that keep popping up for why this occurs. One is that I simply didn't care about the thing I should have cared about. Like when my friends and I teased that weird boy in 5th grade - we didn't care about him. He was gross, uncool, and whatever else we couldn't see past. We place things out of their proper order in the heirarchy of stuff that matters; our values are not where they ought to be. Apathy kills almost as much as outright hatred. A second reason is simple ignorance - a lack of knowledge or information, an oversight of something that we should have taken the time to be aware of.
But if I first check the heart, and then check the head, perhaps the body will follow with actions that heal instead of hurt, that build instead of tear down.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
right discernments
A simple definition for "Think" - simply right discernments.
I'll be honest - I'm not totally sure how we can always know if our thinking patterns will lead to the right kinds of discernments. But I'm not really interested in getting overly philosophical about this here in this blog. So here are a few key things that I think at least aim us in the right direction:
1) strong basis in factual information
2) recognize the limits of what we know
3) make good and careful observations
4) logical steps in a rational argument
5) stay focused
6) do our thinking after checking the heart for good motives
7) reach balanced judgments
I'll be honest - I'm not totally sure how we can always know if our thinking patterns will lead to the right kinds of discernments. But I'm not really interested in getting overly philosophical about this here in this blog. So here are a few key things that I think at least aim us in the right direction:
1) strong basis in factual information
2) recognize the limits of what we know
3) make good and careful observations
4) logical steps in a rational argument
5) stay focused
6) do our thinking after checking the heart for good motives
7) reach balanced judgments
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