It is my observation that many people don't even realize the absurdity by which they live. I realize this is not a new discovery, however, it is quite applicable to understanding the misunderstanding. It's kind of like what Eric said in his comment about my last post. Though nihilism and Christianity don't exactly work together there is a certain aspect of Christianity that would seem, to the outsider, to be nihilistic. To the person who does not see there being anything after this life could look at Christians and say "What is up with you? Don't you even care about all the stuff that is going on around you? You better start movin' or you're going to be left with nothing." I mean, that's kind of what it looks like. Here the rest of the world is going around, every one doing what they think best to be in the best position possible for themselves. I know some people might say that there are those out there who, without any Christian influence, are totally focused on helping others. To that I would say they find it easier to live with themselves. It's a conscience pleaser. It's what they do to get themselves off their backs.
But then people like that look at Christians and what do they see. "That can't be very fun. Why not just put that down for a little while and come have some fun. You only live once, you know." It looks like we don't even care very much about anything.
The reality of the matter is not that we don't care about life, rather we don't look at the same aspects of life as being important. Cars, cash, and power just don't seem that appealing.
The funny thing is that while others may see me as being apathetic to life I feel as though my life couldn't be any more grand or exciting without going over board. I don't mean to say that I have a low tolerance for movement in life. Just that God knows my limits and he is keeping within my operating zone. And it's a BIG zone.
Sometimes I wonder if maybe the zone He has me filling is a bit big for me. "How am I supposed to be all the way over there one second and then all the way at the other end the next second? I mean really!" The only thing that helps my sanity is knowing that I'm not the one that is supposed to fill the zone. I suppose you could say "God is in the zone." I just work here. He works through me. I don't have to be big at all. That's His job.
I don't remember what this post was about. It kind of rabbit trailed all over the place. But that's ok. If that's the way my thoughts are working then that's what I'm going to write and how I'm going to write it. Ummmm...... Laters.
4 comments:
And we will live again...
kin no matter how big your "zone" is, God'll stretch you. even if its a lot. Oh and dont worry about tearing, he does the best patchwork.
I'll admit that I do worry sometimes, but I'm not really worried about it at all. It's scary, but it's bound to be.
I've been trying to come up with something to say to this for a couple of days... not that I couldn't have when I initially saw it, but I don't want to sound too angry or annoying or anything else of the sort. Suffice it to say that I am greatly offended by your harsh and, in my mind, horribly unjustified and groundless assertion that non-Christians are incapable of dedicating themselves to helping others; I don't believe that Christianity has a monopoly on benevolence, and I might in turn assert that its presence often has the opposite effect. Easy as it may be to dehumanize those of a different faith, you must ask yourself if Christians are truly any different in their motivation. I believe I've mentioned to you before the idea that every human action is motivated by selfishness; to serve God cannot be a reason in itself, but only a means to serve the reason of the benefit of self. Why do people serve God? Is it to get into heaven (and I should certainly hope not...)? It is for fear of Hell or perhaps more corporeal retributions? Is it to fulfill the desire to serve He that has created all and by whose mercy alone we continue to exist? In any case it can be traced back to the self... I don't think it at all fair to ascribe selfishness only to those outside of your religion in an attempt to make them less than men. I may be a wicked, Godless heathen, and I may be an outsider, but I'd like to think I could still lay claim to my humanity.
Do you really think that non-Christians only care about cars, cash, and power? Is anyone of a different faith nothing but a blind, selfish materialist incapable of empathy or higher thought? I'd certainly hope you'd quickly answer "no" to such questions... but man, sometimes it's really hard to tell. If otherwise, I'll say nothing more than that you couldn't be more wrong.
And, on a much lighter note, I don't see why you're trying so hard to repudiate the similarity of certain aspects of Christianity and total nihilism... I mentioned before that this is based on the Christian disregard for worldly things, which seems quite agreeable to your current perspective. I'd never assert that Christianity is synonymous with nihilism, since Christians obviously believe in and care about something, but in worldly effect, you must admit the two are quite similar. Just leave out nihilism's negative connotations and it should make good sense.
Eric, though I may not have gotten everything you were saying there--It's hard to keep up with such a lengthy comment--I'm pretty sure I do agree with you. What I wrote in this post is something of a discription of how Christians are supposed to look. I'll be one of the first to say that there are a lot of non-christians out there who, through their acts of selflesness, make some christians look like the scum of the earth in their selfish ways. I know very well that even the best of christians isn't perfect. No one is. What I have written about here is how Christians are SUPPOSED to look. We don't get it right all the time. There are those who don't get it right most of the time. But sometimes you will see those who stand up for their faith and truly live what they believe.
On further reflection I'm pretty sure I wrote from the two perspectives of the way I--four or five years ago--would have thought of myself now, and the way I actually think now. Sometimes I think about my attitude now and how it used to be. That is what I was comparing. So it's not so much an attack on non-christians--I myself was a christian and imature in my christianity for a long time--but rather a look at perspectives.
Don't take this post too personally. It is mostly an observation of myself. You should, however, think about it. That's one of the reasons I right my thoughts; to incite others to think. (Gosh, this should be an entire post)
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