BANGER. thanks Randy good work, love the last line. These are thoughts I've had for a while regarding casual sex: "it kills you" and then the materialistic rationalist (hedonist) "no I'm still breathing your wrong". It's spiritual death, its Rejection of Christ, it's what Thoreau (or maybe Whitman) is talking about death before death breathing but not living. Great stuff. Still working on that painting by the way, I'll be in the studio next week
Randy, the anecdote you lead with is disturbing, because you lay out that you are giving up on someone you care about because you don't think you can do him any good, and spend the rest of the blog trying to justify that decision. Please don't do that. At the very least keep him in your prayers.
The amount of care you have to offer the world is finite. There is only so much of a duty that you can feasibly extend in this sort of dynamic- you could devote your whole life to them, and your whole life would be wasted because they're the way they are because they want to be. Christ sent forth his apostles to cities, and if the cities did not receive them, they were commanded to shake the dust off their feet in a testimony of effort and move on to where their efforts would actually be received and acted upon. Should the apostles have prayed for these cities? Maybe. But every night for the rest of their lives? Perhaps we are not asked to do that.
Forgive me, I misunderstood Randy's conclusion, so I didn't come across right. There have been too many times where I stopped caring for someone because I put my own judgement first. To pray is to be attentive to God. If it is profitable for our souls, He will give us discernment. The point being, it's not about how much effort to expend before giving up, but looking beyond "what feels right to me" and to higher judgement.
On projecting fears about the future as misguided, as what we fear in the future is often already the case emotionally. I am also reminded of the ancient quote that goes something along the lines of the things we fear the most never come to pass.
Helping those in need from a safe distance is easier than helping one's actual neighbor who may betray or hurt you. Doing random acts of kindness/charity without acknowledging or drawing attention to it appears more fulfilling in some ways than specifically attempting to help someone one-on-one; especially when you don't receive the thanks you deserve.
You argue that for most people, their minds are filled with repetition rather than generative or original thoughts.
- Life is generative, growing, expanding, and accelerating.
- Repetition of slogans is repetitive and stagnant.
∴ Therefore, repetition of slogans is not life.
I agree with this argument, and as you say people are dead if their inner lives are repetitive and their thoughts come from somewhere other than themselves. Very few people can discern philosophical and spiritual truths for themselves anymore.
Basically I say selective about who you invite inside. While it's good to be welcoming to others, overextending yourself could risk your own well-being. Carefully discern who seems genuinely interested in friendship rather than just taking what they can get. As for those in your inner circle, tough love is sometimes more helpful than endless patience.
Yes, i always wondered about people that are too stupid ,too ignorant to ever see the bigger picture, to gather enough thouht and conscience to see the rights and wrongs, are they doomed to be the victims of their surroundings and the time they live in or does the burden of their salvation fall to others. Brilliant essey as always Randy.
Seeing the people i love dead is one of the most painful things i must experience. Its my lifes mission to help those in need but when they cant hear what i speak to them its genuinely so heartbreaking. For a good portion of my life I thought it would be impossible to open the eyes of someone who cant see but recently my best friend whom ive always had faith in and whom has suffered for years is finally awakening to the true beauty that lie within and without himself. It really is worth it, to sacrifice a part of yourself so that another may see, because why would i want eternal life if my closest people are eternally dead. Amen.
BANGER. thanks Randy good work, love the last line. These are thoughts I've had for a while regarding casual sex: "it kills you" and then the materialistic rationalist (hedonist) "no I'm still breathing your wrong". It's spiritual death, its Rejection of Christ, it's what Thoreau (or maybe Whitman) is talking about death before death breathing but not living. Great stuff. Still working on that painting by the way, I'll be in the studio next week
Another hot one from the egg reportist.
I think you are bang-on about reluctance into be hurt and avoidance of it leading to a death-in-life state.
Randy, the anecdote you lead with is disturbing, because you lay out that you are giving up on someone you care about because you don't think you can do him any good, and spend the rest of the blog trying to justify that decision. Please don't do that. At the very least keep him in your prayers.
That is not what I intended to convey. My point in the middle portion is supposed to be about why giving up is wrong
just trying to be honest about how it felt in the moment
The amount of care you have to offer the world is finite. There is only so much of a duty that you can feasibly extend in this sort of dynamic- you could devote your whole life to them, and your whole life would be wasted because they're the way they are because they want to be. Christ sent forth his apostles to cities, and if the cities did not receive them, they were commanded to shake the dust off their feet in a testimony of effort and move on to where their efforts would actually be received and acted upon. Should the apostles have prayed for these cities? Maybe. But every night for the rest of their lives? Perhaps we are not asked to do that.
Forgive me, I misunderstood Randy's conclusion, so I didn't come across right. There have been too many times where I stopped caring for someone because I put my own judgement first. To pray is to be attentive to God. If it is profitable for our souls, He will give us discernment. The point being, it's not about how much effort to expend before giving up, but looking beyond "what feels right to me" and to higher judgement.
Wonderful
On projecting fears about the future as misguided, as what we fear in the future is often already the case emotionally. I am also reminded of the ancient quote that goes something along the lines of the things we fear the most never come to pass.
Helping those in need from a safe distance is easier than helping one's actual neighbor who may betray or hurt you. Doing random acts of kindness/charity without acknowledging or drawing attention to it appears more fulfilling in some ways than specifically attempting to help someone one-on-one; especially when you don't receive the thanks you deserve.
You argue that for most people, their minds are filled with repetition rather than generative or original thoughts.
- Life is generative, growing, expanding, and accelerating.
- Repetition of slogans is repetitive and stagnant.
∴ Therefore, repetition of slogans is not life.
I agree with this argument, and as you say people are dead if their inner lives are repetitive and their thoughts come from somewhere other than themselves. Very few people can discern philosophical and spiritual truths for themselves anymore.
Basically I say selective about who you invite inside. While it's good to be welcoming to others, overextending yourself could risk your own well-being. Carefully discern who seems genuinely interested in friendship rather than just taking what they can get. As for those in your inner circle, tough love is sometimes more helpful than endless patience.
"Someone once told me that the souls in heaven delight in the justice of God, when they see the souls in hell. "
Can't be as this is the diametric opposite of Christianity and it's teachings .
Anyone who thinks like this isn't a Christian no matter how well they parrot scripture .
-Nate
I would guess the "someone" might be a reference to Dante, as this is a prominent theme in his Inferno.
I dunno, I was quoting the article .
I've not read Dante's Inferno since 1965 and I don't remember any of it .
-Nate
Yes, i always wondered about people that are too stupid ,too ignorant to ever see the bigger picture, to gather enough thouht and conscience to see the rights and wrongs, are they doomed to be the victims of their surroundings and the time they live in or does the burden of their salvation fall to others. Brilliant essey as always Randy.
Banger final paragraphs, but last sentence should be “treading” not “threading”
Seeing the people i love dead is one of the most painful things i must experience. Its my lifes mission to help those in need but when they cant hear what i speak to them its genuinely so heartbreaking. For a good portion of my life I thought it would be impossible to open the eyes of someone who cant see but recently my best friend whom ive always had faith in and whom has suffered for years is finally awakening to the true beauty that lie within and without himself. It really is worth it, to sacrifice a part of yourself so that another may see, because why would i want eternal life if my closest people are eternally dead. Amen.