Depth

I had an epiphany yesterday while listening to a lecture from my leadership class on Coursera. He was talking about seeing things from other people's point of view and it hit me.

You know how your eyes work? You see one picture with one eye and another with the other eye and your brain puts them together as one and gives us depth. It similar with different people's point of view. Everyone has their own point of view, how they see the world, and it is influenced by the way they were raised, their education, their culture, etc. Each person's view is completely valid and real to them. They each have something to add.

So I have my point of view and if I reach out and validate another persons point of view, my brain combines the two into one picture and I have a depth of understanding in this world. The more people you connect with and reach out to understand, the deeper your understanding goes.

Just like your eyes, even people who live and operate very close to you have a slightly different take on things that, if you connect with them, can change your depth perception of reality.

If more people could come to the realization that everyone has their own story to tell and that everyone has their very own point of view that is completely real, valid, and influences their decisions, there would be a lot more peace in this world.

More from "On Liberty"

I got this quote this morning. It's one that brings me comfort, knowing that the struggles we have today are essentially no different than those humans have been working over for thousands of years.

"...in the United States - the feeling of the majority, to whom any appearance of a more showy or costly style of living than they can hope to rival is disagreeable, operates as a tolerably effectual sumptuary law, and that in many parts of the Union it is really difficult for a person possessing a very large income to find any mode of spending it which will not incur popular disapprobation."

"It is know that the bad workman who form the majority of the operatives in many branches of industry, are decidedly of opinion that bad workmen ought to receive the same wages as good, and that no one ought to be allowed, through piecework or otherwise, to earn by superior skill or industry more than others can without it."

Jude

"But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed." 1:10

Instincts are not always positive. We were given reason for a purpose. I believe it, our free will, is what makes us "in the image of God".

"Zorba the Greek" by Nikos Kazantzakis

I had to get the book after he last time I watched the movie. It's one of our favorite movies and I've seen it several times. There are scenes that I don't understand though. It's like there is information missing, like maybe the director thought it would be understood and just skipped it. So I thought the book would shed some light on those scenes. It didn't. Maybe I'm just not understanding the culture that they are in.

It was still a great book though. I think I may have liked the book more because of the movie. How's that? Usually you read a book and then see the movie and think, "WHAT?!" but to me, the movie was just like book. I'm not sure if it's because I saw the movie first or what. There were no big scenes or themes left out of the movie. There were some omissions, but they didn't change the story. I liked the way the movie ended better than the book. The book goes on after they part ways in Crete and it made me sad.

I didn't understand the story teller's obsession with Buddha. I thought he was a Christian, but he writes a lot about getting through what Buddha wants from him. I loved Zorba's lust for life and wondered if he were entirely sane. The book gives reasons why he comes off that way at times.

There were little lines that I loved, like this one, "God changes his appearance every second. Blessed is the man who can recognize him in all his disguises." and "You understand! and that's why you'll never have any peace. If you didn't understand, you'd be happy! What d'you lack? You're young, you have money, health, you're a good fellow, you lack nothing. Nothing, by thunder! Except just one thing - folly! And when that's missing, boss, well..."

I think I like this...

I'm really enjoying this book, "On Liberty". Usually I wait to post about the whole book at once when I finish it, but these little gems keep coming up and I think it would take too long to write one big post, so I'm posting as they come up.

Here's one from today.

"But independence of action, and disregard of custom, are not solely deserving of encouragement for the chance they afford that better modes action, and customs more worthy of general adoption, may be struck out; nor is it only persons of decided mental superiority who have a just claim to carry on their lives in their own way. "

Everyone deserves to live and make choices as they see fit, regardless of their position in society. I'm not sure Mill really believed that though, but maybe he did when he wrote this and changed his mind later in life. I'm going to take it as it is here though.

I grow weary sometimes of people who believe some people can home school but some should not. I'd rather encourage everyone to educate themselves and their own children, regardless of where they stand right now. Some people should be able to choose where they live and what to eat, but some just don't have the capacity to make the "right" choices. There are no right choices.

"The spirit of improvement is not always a spirit of liberty, for it may aim at forcing improvements on an unwilling people; and the spirit of liberty, in so far as it resists such attempts, may ally itself locally and temporarily with the opponents of improvement; but the only unfailing and permanent source of improvement is liberty, since by it there are as many possible independent centers of improvement as there are individuals."

Some believe that if we only had this style of government or another, then everything would be good, everyone would have what they need. That just isn't true. People who believe that the most liberty is best, don't believe that if we each had maximum liberty then we would be living Nirvana. We believe that if we have the highest individual liberty possible, then we each have a higher chance of making the right choices for our own person at the right time for us. No one knows me and my needs better than I do. And no one is more responsible for my decisions than I am.

3 John

Another very short one! Here's something I found interesting, "I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say." 1:9

Funny to think of the early church arguing among themselves about what they should or should not do.

2 John

I found a nice commentary here.

This is one of those short books that I wonder about. Why was this letter so important to have in the canon? Who was it to and why?

From the commentary linked above I found this, "family imagery also underscores that it was not by the children's initiative that this family came into existence."

How's that for an image? Many of the parenting principles that I've used with my children are based on that very idea. These children did not ask to be here. They were brought into this world by us and we are charged with caring for them and helping them be what they want to be until they are capable of striking out on their own.

In a similar way, we did not ask to become God's children. He created us and is there to support, guide, and love us on our path. I love that image of God. He could have created beings that would automatically worship Him and do everything He told them to do. We can't create children like that, although current parenting philosophy tends to treat children as if we can. God created us "in His image" and I believe that our free will is what makes us like Him.

I'm just loving the analogy and having a hard time putting what I'm feeling and thinking into words best to describe it to others.

More from "On Liberty"

"It is not by wearing down into uniformity all that is individual in themselves, but by cultivating it, and calling it forth, within the limits imposed by the rights and interests of others, that human beings become a noble and beautiful object of contemplations; and as the works partake the character of those who do them, by the same process human life also becomes rich, diversified, and animating, furnishing more abundant aliment to high thoughts and elevating feelings, and strengthening the tie which binds every individual to the race, by making the race infinitely better worth belonging to."

I'm really enjoying reading this book. My only problem with it is that the author ultimately believes these ideas belong to certain classes of people; women, children, and barbarians excluded. I just can't see how you can believe that allowing people to strengthen themselves through liberty will bring those at a lower level up by association, but that it doesn't apply across some boundaries. Won't anyone who associates with liberty be brought closer to that ideal?

The quote above is another that stuck home with me regarding education (my favorite subject). It's what I believe the system of education we use in the United States public schools does to people, "wearing down into uniformity". It isn't the way humans develop.

1 John

This is one that has some nice quotes in it!


"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 2:15


The "love of the Father is not IN him." Not that the Father does not love him. He still loves you, it's just that you haven't grasped the full idea of worshiping the creator, not the created. Something I think some National Park people need to think about.


"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 4:10-11

That's why we are supposed to love one another. God forgave our sins, and nothing we can do to each other is worse that what we do to God. We can forgive others who sin against us.

"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from Him." 5:14-15

He's listening. He wants to help. Have faith.

1 Samuel

The stories of Samuel, Saul, and David.

I love in Chapter 2, Hannah prays for a child and promises him to God if she gets one...and then she does give him to serve God in the Temple. For this she was blessed with many more children. Don't make false promises when praying for God's help.

Chapter 8:10-22 Israel demands to have a king over them, as if the Lord in the midst is just not enough. Samuel warns them what a king will do. Sigh.

And my favorite in Chapter 10, Samuel tells them that God is not happy about this king idea but will give them what they want because they are stubborn...they rejoice over their new king. Kind of like when you tell your child asks you for something you know is bad for them, they've had before, and you warn them how sick they will be, or pull the old "I'll give it to you, but I'm so disappointed you won't take no for an answer." face, and they skip off with the request happy as can be, oblivious to your dissatisfaction.

"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as a man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord Looks at the heart.'" 16:7

Yep.

"Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him." 16:14

What? God uses evil spirits? I'm not sure what the reason was or why it had to happen this way. To show that David was determined to follow God?

Thoughts on "Equal Protection"

We need to stop and think about "Do unto others as you would have them do to you."

One person sues a business because they won't print their shirts for a gay pride parade. The business says they believe that homosexuality is against their religion and they do not want to support that act.

First of all, why would you (the person wanting the shirts printed) want to give your money to a business that thinks you are morally wrong. You think they are wrong. Why do you want to force them to take your money?


When this is turned around, will you want to be forced to serve someone? Will a black shop owner want to print the flyers for a "white pride" event? Will a gay baker want to make a cake for the church event that helps young men suppress their homosexual tendencies?

If we have equal protection in this country, doesn't it stand to reason that these cases will turn out the same way?

Equal protection "under the law" applies to the state, not individuals. I believe I have the right to serve or not serve whom I please, regardless of my reasons, but the state cannot make laws that treat one group of people different than another.

So the court ruling the religious baker bake the cake for the gay wedding has to rule that the gay baker bake the cake for the religious meeting, right? But in my opinion, they shouldn't be ruling on this at all.

From "On Liberty" by J.S. Mill

Usually I wait until I'm done reading a book before I comment on it, but this one has so much, I'm afraid I'll forget or it will lose impact if I put them all together in one book.

Here's my favorite quote from this today.

"I believe this view of the subject is mostly confined to the sort of persons who think that new truths may have been desirable once, but that we have had enough of them now."

Every idea was new at one point. Jesus and His ministry was totally new. People had to stop, read, discuss, and accept this new premise of who God really loved. If we believe He is the Son of God and the way to heaven, we need to be able to hear new ideas about God and compare them to our current beliefs and make the personal choice of what we believe.

2 Peter

Reading chapter 2, I believe that excess of sensuality was a recurring problem.

"For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved." 2:18-19

When I was thinking about getting married (in the forever sense, not the temporary sense many of my young friends thought of it), I had one friend who was disappointed in me. She thought that committing to one person for the rest of my life was enslavement and that I should not tie my sexuality down like that.

Strange to see words like the ones I read today and think of that. She begged and harassed me about not getting married. She was outwardly hostile to me because women should not think they have to get married to be whole, women should be free, women shouldn't think they need one man to take care of her.

We aren't friends any more. We weren't really then either. She was enslaved to those ideas. She couldn't see that "getting married" didn't make me whole, committing myself to the love of my life and keeping it that way made me happy. I was free to choose this man, to become a partnership. It's sad for me to think that someone could think like that, find someone they truly loved and felt drawn to, and then walk away from that person because they were enslaved to the idea that they didn't need that to be whole.

1 Peter

"like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation," 2:2

I know it's a fragment, but just this phrase is what interested me this time around. New born babies don't need to taught to want mother's milk, they have an instinct that longs for it and reaches for it when it is presented to them. When presented with a pacifier they don't take to it instantly, they need to be coaxed and taught, then they finally give up looking for the nourishment and pacify themselves.

I think we have that same longing for a relationship with God. Over time, we're given other things that we don't take to automatically but end up pacifying ourselves with. Or instincts lead us toward Him and that is what we need to follow.

Although I'm not satisfied with my reading of 2:13-20, I do like this one, "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God." 2:16.

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." 5:6-7

This reminds me of something I noted in "Zorba the Greek". The author says he was taught about the proper amount of time to take when he was a child. He found a chrysalis with a butterfly just emerging and he was to anxious to wait to watch, so he helped the bug and blew its wings dry only to watch the poor thing struggle and die. We too, need to wait for the proper time. Sometimes the struggle that God has given us is what prepares us to take flight in the next stage of our lives.

A thought on "Separation of Church and State"

From my Constitution class on Coursera.

This weeks lectures were on the First Amendment. I had many thoughts about the whole week, but I wanted to bring one up here.

They were talking about removing prayer from public schools in the 60's (which were only added in the late 40's and 50's) and people's reaction to it. "the Catholic cardinal of New York blasted the justices for crippling the 'very heart of the godly tradition in which America's children have so long been raised.' " I have a problem with that. In the past, parent's raised children, not schools. If you want to raise your children in a godly tradition (as I have chosen to do myself), then don't send them to public schools. Find a private school that teaches in your religion, or teach them yourself as people have done for thousands of years.

The problem is that secular state/government has taken over the role of parent. They've brainwashed everyone into thinking you need a professional trained by the state to educate children. It's just not true. If you can read, write, and do basic math, then you are perfectly capable of passing that along to another human being. With the internet and public libraries, there is no excuse for anyone not to that wants to. If you want your children raised a specific way, then raise them yourself. Don't send them off to a publicly funded institution and expect them to do things your way.

Some good ones from "On Liberty" by John Stuart Mill

From Chapter 2, Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion

"If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."

On silencing opinions, "If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of trough, produced by its collision with error."

How about those quotes? It's something I've been working on myself. When I see an article that I disagree with, I should read it and try to see their point of view. It may be wrong or right, but I need to really know it to decide.

"Judgement is given to men that they may use it. Because it may be used erroneously, are men to be told that they ought not to use it at all?"

This one made me think of the way we are raising our kids. I think we need to help our kids use their judgement, not judge for them. The only way to become better at making choices is to exercise your judgement. I know most people raise their kids making almost all choices for them until they are adults because they may make bad judgements. Don't you think that is dangerous? Wouldn't it be better for people to let kids make choices when they are younger, when they have the safety net and advice of a trusted adult? 

"James"

James has those lines that have bothered me because they go on about "works" along with faith, instead of faith alone. But, in light of the other recent book I read, I think I can put it into context.

Works alone cannot get you in God's graces. He needs your faith to tell you what works you should be doing. Sometimes all we need is faith and other times we need to add some works to show others our faith and bring them closer to God. And sometimes the works are just the fruit of our faith. It's not one or the other.

There are also some quotes that I find the hardest to obey or use in my life, like this one, "But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." 1:19-20

And this one, "For judgement will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement." 2:13

"And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." 3:18

Are you catching the theme here? These are just one of my weaknesses. I pray daily for help here.

"The Bible Tells Me So..." by Peter Enns

I heard an interview with the author on The Tom Woods show and HAD to have the book! I'm so glad I did. It was an eye opener. There were some chapters that, even though I had plenty more time to read, I just had to put it down and let it roll around inside my head for awhile.

Only one tiny criticism though. There was one part about Israel and a lack of physical evidence to back up some of the stories. In my opinion, a lack of evidence is inconclusive. It doesn't mean those things could not have happened. It just means there is no evidence. I'm more likely to get behind evidence to the contrary to a biblical story, than a lack. Besides, just because I have no pictures of the birthday party, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

I'm not going to go into details about this book, but I will give a few of my favorite general quotes. For one, "The Bible - from back to front - is the story of God told from the limited point of view of real people living at a certain place and time." Don't get him wrong. He isn't saying the Bible is a myth or fiction. We cannot ignore what is written there. We cannot pretend that some parts don't exist. And we cannot ignore what we know about history and science.

"But God seems to be in the habit of working through normal channels, and the Gospel writers were normal storytellers of that time and of any time - they offered their perspective. Maybe this isn't a problem to be solved or avoided, but just more evidence of how God rolls."

"Cramming the stories of Israel into a modern mold of history writing not only make the Bible look like utter nonsense; it also obscures what the Bible models for us about our own spiritual journey."

"Some call that unhistorical clothing myth, and that's a perfectly fine word - as long as we remember "myth" doesn't mean "silly things we made up while on acid. Myths were stories that were part of ancient ways of describing ultimate reality,..."

"I want to align my expectations with the Bible as an ancient text and accept the challenge of faith: letting go of how I think things should be and submitting to God. There's an irony: the passionate defense of the Bible as a "history book" among the more conservative wings of Christianity, despite intentions, isn't really an act of submission to God; it is making God submit to us."

Oh gosh, there is so much more and it's so much deeper than these quotes. I'll tell a personal story. When I was in elementary school we had "released time education". It was an hour each week for those that had permission from their parents to go to a trailer off school property and learn about God. You could choose Catholic or Protestant. I went to the Protestant one. It was they only church service I knew when I was a kid. They told bible stories, gave us a little bible, sang songs. To be totally honest about it, I went because it got me out of math lessons once a week.

But as I grew up, those stories didn't cut it anymore. I wanted more. I wanted the deeper meaning behind those stories and there was no one to give me answers, or even point me in the direction of discovery. Church going people that I asked only told me that the stories were history and to be believed without questioning. As a thinking and growing human being, that just wasn't enough. I ended up walking away from God for much of my young life. But then I met my husband and his wonderful mother. I saw their kindness, patience, and love. I saw their relationship with God and wanted to know more about it. I thank God for that every day.

Which leads me to my final quote from the book. "An unsettled faith is a maturing faith. Christians often get the signal from others that if they doubt or struggle in some way with the Bible, their faith is weak." And I think that is where many people walk away. Our free-will and questioning nature, our longing to understand and connect, I believe, is what makes us "in God's image."

"God may be pushing us to experience him more fully, with us kicking and screaming all the way if need be. Feeling unsettled may be God telling us lovingly, but still in his typical attention-getting manner, it's time to grow."

If you're on the fence about God. If you feel something lacking in your relationship. If you don't feel a connection with the Bible or God, read this book. God might be calling you out to play!

Finished "Ruth"

I have no quotes from this story, but I have always loved it. It's short and sweet and so hopeful. Ruth loved her Mother-in-Law so much she went with her when she went back to her native land. It was an ancient land and people did not look kindly on foreigners. It was a huge risk.

She believed that Naomi's God would do good for her and her actions brought her respect from kinsmen and a new husband.

It's just a beautiful story.

Thoughts from my Constitution Class Reading

"Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties." - John Milton

And from my text book Chapter 6, "These cases, however, gradually introduced a new perspective on the value of free speech in a democracy, namely, the belief that truth is best reached by the free trade of ideas." (emphasis mine)

Free speech. The First Amendment to the Constitution. I didn't realize how much the idea of what free speech is has changed over the last 200 years. And dramatically over the last 80 years. One of my thoughts as I read the last line quoted above was, "Of course truth is best reached by the free trade of ideas!" I guess it is a matter of how you view government.

If you believe government is created to guide and protect the people, to control and move the people in better directions, then the free trade of ideas would be very bad. People may sway other people to follow them, or change the way they feel about something the government (in its infinite wisdom) is doing.

If you believe government is created to serve the people, then the free trade of ideas is very good. The people themselves need to bat around new ideas to see if they stand up to criticism. They may be better than what we have now and make us stronger. We could try on some new ideas for a while but find them unhelpful and discard them. But it is up to the people themselves.

And as for John Milton's quote, well, I think people generally don't want this anymore. They may want to know truth, but they don't want to work towards it. They want it handed to them by someone else. It doesn't work that way. Truth and enlightenment should be one of our first goals in life, not something we try to get to if we have time after the dishes, the tv show, or baseball game. Is that just me?

Finished "Hebrews"

This must be one of my favorite books because there is a lot of writing on these pages! Here are a couple of my favorite verses this time around.

"For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near." 10:1 (emphasis mine)

This is the second time in the past couple weeks that I'm reminded of Plato's Cave. I think of the Law and the Bible itself, even this world, as a shadow on the wall of the cave and we're sitting there making up stories about what we think is going on in those shadows. Jesus is the man that goes outside the cave and comes back to tell us what reality is. We think he is insane and ostracize him or we misinterpret the words that he uses and miss the point entirely, or only vaguely understand that we can't see the real picture. I can't wait to see what the reality is with my own two eyes!

"Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" 10:28-29

Here's my interpretation. The Law of Moses was for Israel. The had the law, the kept the temple, they performed the sacrifice, they dealt out the judgement. But Christians are different. God is the law, the people are the church, Jesus/God performed the sacrifice, and THEY deal out the judgement. It is not for us to judge or condemn others for their choices. It is between God and them. Ours to show the love of Christ through our actions. Love them ask Christ loves us, whether they deserve it or not.

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." 13:2

I remember reading about the Greeks doing this all time, like in the Illiad. You just never know if those men that knock on your door or ask for change at the grocery store parking lot may be angels waiting to tell you something very important.

"Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited." 13:9

This I read just this morning and it was so important for me to hear. I'm currently reading another book called "The Bible Tells Me So" by Peter Enns. I'm enjoying it very much and it is helping shed some light on scripture for sure, but sometimes I get wrapped up in things I read and take them as truth to build on before I search them out thoroughly. This verse reminded me to rely on my faith in God, not on man's words. I believe that goes for the Bible as well. God has done well to lead me to Him before I had ever really read the Bible. My Bible has helped me journey closer to Him and strengthen my understanding of Him, but my FAITH in Him is what builds the relationship. Every time I read, I pray that the words will bring me closer to understanding. The words are "food" I should not be consumed by.