Weekend Wanderings 4.13.12
Well, its Friday and I actually don't really know what I'm doing this weekend.
Do I go on a short hike tomorrow morning with the dog? Amanda is getting back tonight from a nursing conference and so I'm not sure what she'll be up to doing tomorrow when she has to work that night! But the weather is also supposed to be cooler than it has been, with a chance of rain, so I'm really not sure what to do.
Maybe I'll just stay in and relax, spending some time reflecting and reading.
Saturday afternoon the plan is to get together with some friends just to hang out, but don't know the details of that! I suppose the NASCAR race is Saturday night so somewhere that has that on?
Sunday is likewise unplanned except for church. I do have some work to do on preparing a curriculum, so I may do that Sunday afternoon for awhile.
Thus, in light of a more reflective, slow weekend: a simple question for today's post, yet I'm sure the answer is not so simple.
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Do I go on a short hike tomorrow morning with the dog? Amanda is getting back tonight from a nursing conference and so I'm not sure what she'll be up to doing tomorrow when she has to work that night! But the weather is also supposed to be cooler than it has been, with a chance of rain, so I'm really not sure what to do.Maybe I'll just stay in and relax, spending some time reflecting and reading.
Saturday afternoon the plan is to get together with some friends just to hang out, but don't know the details of that! I suppose the NASCAR race is Saturday night so somewhere that has that on?
Sunday is likewise unplanned except for church. I do have some work to do on preparing a curriculum, so I may do that Sunday afternoon for awhile.
Thus, in light of a more reflective, slow weekend: a simple question for today's post, yet I'm sure the answer is not so simple.
Why do you believe what you believe?
Have you ever sat down and asked yourself this question? I think much can be said in the manner we choose to answer this question.
A helpful exercise on this matter is to play the annoying-kid game of asking "why" to every answer with ourselves, or perhaps with a close friend that you trust. It can illuminate where we really find our core convictions.
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For instance, one thing that I believe in is that people can change, or be changed.
Why?
Because if people cannot change, or be changed, then there is no hope.
Why?
Hope exists because of understanding that we do things selfishly at times (live in a fallen state?), but know that there is another way that is better. For me such hope is found through love, expressed in the redeeming work of God. Hope is needed in order for life to have meaning.
Why?
Life is to be lived, and I can recognize that I'm not perfect. I have things I need changed, and I have hope that these can be changed. Also, that others can change as well in that love. Without this hope of life being able to be lived with meaning, what hope is there for living life? Or, Hope is an outlook on life that we all need. Whether it is the hope of finding a person to love and know, the hope of a future job or career, or hope of feeling accepted in a community of others (or by God!), we all hope. Without change, life loses this meaning. We become truly isolated beings.
Why?
(I could keep going, but honestly I'm working through this on my own as I write this, so I don't want to ramble on the blog!)
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Why?
Life is to be lived, and I can recognize that I'm not perfect. I have things I need changed, and I have hope that these can be changed. Also, that others can change as well in that love. Without this hope of life being able to be lived with meaning, what hope is there for living life? Or, Hope is an outlook on life that we all need. Whether it is the hope of finding a person to love and know, the hope of a future job or career, or hope of feeling accepted in a community of others (or by God!), we all hope. Without change, life loses this meaning. We become truly isolated beings.
Why?
(I could keep going, but honestly I'm working through this on my own as I write this, so I don't want to ramble on the blog!)
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I suppose tomorrow I'll work through some of this in my spare time. Because I find it valuable to reflect, and sometimes fun or interesting. But also because I know that I need it, because I need this journey of life to continue to change, so that the HOPE I have might be realized in the change of my life and with others.
Interesting question. At first I read your section title as a "light" question for the relaxing weekend. Then I read your question and was confused because that is definitely not "light" =)
ReplyDeleteI took one look at that question and filed it away for "sometime" later when I'm "less busy". =)
Yeah - I know a bit tricky! Sometimes its also good to do slowly...like maybe come up with one thing you believe (perhaps triggered by a news story or something you read that grabbed your attention). And ask Why? the first time. Then sit for awhile - maybe even days - thinking and praying on what is underlying the belief.
DeleteI find that this is really an important exercise for my life, to bring all parts of my life into a sort of synthesis. If a topic is viewed in isolation from everything else I believe we are prone to be hypocritical without even really knowing it! (Just look at those people who bomb abortion clinics who are violently pro-life! Such an oxymoron!)