Graduate 63: adagium maxima
A collection of a dozen different things I've been thinking about, some of which have been expressed as short (or relatively short) sayings, along with clarifying commentary. Some of them are expressed hyperbolically. They are germ-ideas for further reflection.
--
(1) One of the marks of true freedom is the ability to receive and derive benefit from even the harshest, the most biting, and unfair criticisms. In an age when personal happiness is the highest conceivable good, freedom from judgment and criticism is essential. But what is that, in truth, except enslavement to the satisfaction of one's ego? The person who does not need to impress or prove himself to anyone--to whom a critique is not a threat but a genuine opportunity for self-examination and growth--, that is a truly free person. Similarly, the mark of true wisdom is not that one never needs to be corrected, but that one learns and grows from every reproof that she receives.
(2) Wisdom is understanding the proper course of action combined with the conviction and ability to carry it out. For who was ever counted wise who, knowing the best thing to do, failed or neglected to carry it out?
(3) God's is never a zero-sum economy. It is human wisdom that says in the same breath, "Blessed are the poor" and "Woe to the rich," as if the one must necessarily imply the other. The beatitudes are no less revolutionary because they do not entail the debasement of their opposite corollaries. First, consider that Jesus only said that those who found comfort in their wealth (not the wealthy as a class) were accursed. Second, consider the peoples that were driven out of the promised land during the conquest under Joshua. Was this necessary in order to make room for the people of Israel? Certainly not. Rather, it was for their disobedience that they were punished and to be expelled from the land. If you doubt this, (besides reading the Scriptures) consider the case of Rahab the prostitute. Yes, the prostitute, who lived in the city of Jericho. But she chose to put her faith in God and, as a result, not only were she and her family saved, but she was included in the human ancestry of Jesus Christ.
(Also) Our's is a God who can send camels through the eye of the needle.
(4) There is nothing laudable about suffering. No one should try to suffer or pursue suffering in life. But in what sense, then, can we sincerely "rejoice in suffering"? Suffering is what naturally comes to those who do not make the pursuit of happiness their goal in life. In a world where personal happiness is the highest good, suffering must be the greatest evil and to be avoided at all costs. But in a world where relationship with God is the greatest good, suffering is not the greatest evil. And in a world opposed to walking in obedience to God, it is natural that those who pursue that goal should be persecuted and suffer as a result. When suffering comes to a life devoted to the pursuit of something truly worthwhile, one can rejoice in the midst of it, because that suffering does not thwart one's aims and goals in life as it would for the person whose greatest goal in life is just the avoidance of such suffering.
Indeed, there is nothing in this life that God desires for us that can be lost to us, nothing which we can lose that is truly worthwhile, nothing that can be taken from us that God intends us to have, no joy that will be withheld which is for our good and the best. This is the truly free person who cannot be victimized by the treachery of wicked men.
(5) Those who doubt or deny genuineness and sincerity in others do so because they cannot comprehend in other people what they utterly lack in themselves. I remember a time when I doubted whether it was even possible to be of one mind and pure in motive. It is quite something to come to that quiet, dawning realization, e.g. "I really care about that person." "You mean you appreciate what they can do for you." "No, I mean I really care about that person." Altruism is another good example. Of course, it is true that we are needful creatures, essentially contingent and dependent. But does that mean that our love is always tainted by the pursuit of personal interests? No, in fact, it is the promise and assurance of unconditional love that makes altruism possible.
(6) Vision comes first. In a fallen world where the reality of God's goodness, love, and reign is obscured and hidden, capturing a vision of what really underlies perceived reality is of paramount importance. Dallas Willard (Renovation of the Heart) outlines a three-step approach to living--Vision, Intention, and Means. Chuck Swindoll (Living Above the Level of Mediocrity) begins puts forward a four-step process--Vision, Determination, Priorities, and Accountability. Notice the similarities. We must begin with a goal, an ideal, toward which we can move and realize, in the course of life.
(7) Words always fall short of the reality. Sometimes, I find myself trying unsuccessfully to believe the words that I say and the truths I profess. I say that I believe in God Almighty who loves and protects--but I still struggle with anxiety and guilt and doubt. (I just don't blog about them much.) I want to find the perfect words that will bring peace, confidence, and encouragement to my friends. I want the words that will persuade them to pursue what is good and right and holy and just and virtuous. But those words continue to elude me. That is because the words cannot actually capture the full reality of that to which they refer. It is one thing to talk about wisdom and love and God. It is quite another thing to be wise and loving, and to know God. Does that mean words are useless? Certainly not, but we must be careful that we not lose sight of the reality (as Ignorance did in Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress) and substitute mere speculation for the reality.
(8) We live from our hearts. The contents of our minds (knowledge, information, ideas) inform our actions, but they are not themselves our actions. The heart is what wills, chooses, makes decisions. It is also the seat of emotions, feelings, and the habitual affective tendencies that we regularly associate with the content of our mind and actions. For those who are strongly intellectual, it is especially important that they not neglect the care of the heart. A hardened heart can cloud one's ability to think clearly, carefully, and critically. The heart can refuse to believe what it does not want to believe, even when there is enough intellectual evidence. A well-nurtured heart is a trustworthy guide, even in those areas that are dark to reason.
(9) It is God, and God alone, who makes us able to stand in His presence. Once set in the presence of the almighty, terrifying, and holy God, what can we do but fall on our faces as Isaiah, Daniel, John, Peter, James, and every other person, so confronted, has done? Then it is He who lifts us up, gives us strength and grace to stand before Him. And isn't that appropriate--since it is only by the grace of God that we draw each breath, that we wake each morning, that we have strength at all. And the appropriate response: to stand. But beware, lest we mistakenly begin to think that we can stand on our own merits and strength.
(10) First he says, "Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support." Then he says "But now, let him who has a purse take it along, likewise also a bag, and let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one." The first is to teach them to rely on Him for all their needs. The second to teach them to use effectively the gifts he has given. If only the second, they might rely on the gifts rather than on the source of the gifts. If only the first, then they might never grow to maturity in the use and rule of the things God has created and given.
(11) The person who cannot recognize the real diversity that exists in a group of white, upper-middle class men of similar upbringing, social situation, and religious background is not suited or fitted to appreciate what really counts, in terms of diversity, in an ethnically, economically, socially, culturally, and religiously mixed community.
(12) Walking with God begins and ends with worshipping God.
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
--
(1) One of the marks of true freedom is the ability to receive and derive benefit from even the harshest, the most biting, and unfair criticisms. In an age when personal happiness is the highest conceivable good, freedom from judgment and criticism is essential. But what is that, in truth, except enslavement to the satisfaction of one's ego? The person who does not need to impress or prove himself to anyone--to whom a critique is not a threat but a genuine opportunity for self-examination and growth--, that is a truly free person. Similarly, the mark of true wisdom is not that one never needs to be corrected, but that one learns and grows from every reproof that she receives.
(2) Wisdom is understanding the proper course of action combined with the conviction and ability to carry it out. For who was ever counted wise who, knowing the best thing to do, failed or neglected to carry it out?
(3) God's is never a zero-sum economy. It is human wisdom that says in the same breath, "Blessed are the poor" and "Woe to the rich," as if the one must necessarily imply the other. The beatitudes are no less revolutionary because they do not entail the debasement of their opposite corollaries. First, consider that Jesus only said that those who found comfort in their wealth (not the wealthy as a class) were accursed. Second, consider the peoples that were driven out of the promised land during the conquest under Joshua. Was this necessary in order to make room for the people of Israel? Certainly not. Rather, it was for their disobedience that they were punished and to be expelled from the land. If you doubt this, (besides reading the Scriptures) consider the case of Rahab the prostitute. Yes, the prostitute, who lived in the city of Jericho. But she chose to put her faith in God and, as a result, not only were she and her family saved, but she was included in the human ancestry of Jesus Christ.
(Also) Our's is a God who can send camels through the eye of the needle.
(4) There is nothing laudable about suffering. No one should try to suffer or pursue suffering in life. But in what sense, then, can we sincerely "rejoice in suffering"? Suffering is what naturally comes to those who do not make the pursuit of happiness their goal in life. In a world where personal happiness is the highest good, suffering must be the greatest evil and to be avoided at all costs. But in a world where relationship with God is the greatest good, suffering is not the greatest evil. And in a world opposed to walking in obedience to God, it is natural that those who pursue that goal should be persecuted and suffer as a result. When suffering comes to a life devoted to the pursuit of something truly worthwhile, one can rejoice in the midst of it, because that suffering does not thwart one's aims and goals in life as it would for the person whose greatest goal in life is just the avoidance of such suffering.
Indeed, there is nothing in this life that God desires for us that can be lost to us, nothing which we can lose that is truly worthwhile, nothing that can be taken from us that God intends us to have, no joy that will be withheld which is for our good and the best. This is the truly free person who cannot be victimized by the treachery of wicked men.
(5) Those who doubt or deny genuineness and sincerity in others do so because they cannot comprehend in other people what they utterly lack in themselves. I remember a time when I doubted whether it was even possible to be of one mind and pure in motive. It is quite something to come to that quiet, dawning realization, e.g. "I really care about that person." "You mean you appreciate what they can do for you." "No, I mean I really care about that person." Altruism is another good example. Of course, it is true that we are needful creatures, essentially contingent and dependent. But does that mean that our love is always tainted by the pursuit of personal interests? No, in fact, it is the promise and assurance of unconditional love that makes altruism possible.
(6) Vision comes first. In a fallen world where the reality of God's goodness, love, and reign is obscured and hidden, capturing a vision of what really underlies perceived reality is of paramount importance. Dallas Willard (Renovation of the Heart) outlines a three-step approach to living--Vision, Intention, and Means. Chuck Swindoll (Living Above the Level of Mediocrity) begins puts forward a four-step process--Vision, Determination, Priorities, and Accountability. Notice the similarities. We must begin with a goal, an ideal, toward which we can move and realize, in the course of life.
(7) Words always fall short of the reality. Sometimes, I find myself trying unsuccessfully to believe the words that I say and the truths I profess. I say that I believe in God Almighty who loves and protects--but I still struggle with anxiety and guilt and doubt. (I just don't blog about them much.) I want to find the perfect words that will bring peace, confidence, and encouragement to my friends. I want the words that will persuade them to pursue what is good and right and holy and just and virtuous. But those words continue to elude me. That is because the words cannot actually capture the full reality of that to which they refer. It is one thing to talk about wisdom and love and God. It is quite another thing to be wise and loving, and to know God. Does that mean words are useless? Certainly not, but we must be careful that we not lose sight of the reality (as Ignorance did in Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress) and substitute mere speculation for the reality.
(8) We live from our hearts. The contents of our minds (knowledge, information, ideas) inform our actions, but they are not themselves our actions. The heart is what wills, chooses, makes decisions. It is also the seat of emotions, feelings, and the habitual affective tendencies that we regularly associate with the content of our mind and actions. For those who are strongly intellectual, it is especially important that they not neglect the care of the heart. A hardened heart can cloud one's ability to think clearly, carefully, and critically. The heart can refuse to believe what it does not want to believe, even when there is enough intellectual evidence. A well-nurtured heart is a trustworthy guide, even in those areas that are dark to reason.
(9) It is God, and God alone, who makes us able to stand in His presence. Once set in the presence of the almighty, terrifying, and holy God, what can we do but fall on our faces as Isaiah, Daniel, John, Peter, James, and every other person, so confronted, has done? Then it is He who lifts us up, gives us strength and grace to stand before Him. And isn't that appropriate--since it is only by the grace of God that we draw each breath, that we wake each morning, that we have strength at all. And the appropriate response: to stand. But beware, lest we mistakenly begin to think that we can stand on our own merits and strength.
(10) First he says, "Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support." Then he says "But now, let him who has a purse take it along, likewise also a bag, and let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one." The first is to teach them to rely on Him for all their needs. The second to teach them to use effectively the gifts he has given. If only the second, they might rely on the gifts rather than on the source of the gifts. If only the first, then they might never grow to maturity in the use and rule of the things God has created and given.
(11) The person who cannot recognize the real diversity that exists in a group of white, upper-middle class men of similar upbringing, social situation, and religious background is not suited or fitted to appreciate what really counts, in terms of diversity, in an ethnically, economically, socially, culturally, and religiously mixed community.
(12) Walking with God begins and ends with worshipping God.
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
posted by Metaphysician_delta | 4:39 PM
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