I've noticed that whenever I seem to have an abundance of something, I diminish it greatly in my mind. Whether this is tangible, like food or money, or intangible, like free time or love.
It's amazing how we take for granted SO much! It's so easy for me to complain about what I don't have, yet when I fix my thoughts on gratitude, and I let God show me what I truly have, I am astounded.
I am so blessed.
And you are too.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Neener-Neener or Listening?
I had a few thoughts rumbling around in my head this morning as I tried to force myself back to sleep... to no avail. So, courtesy of my early morning (and waiting for my tea to steep), here we go:
After watching a good month of The Big Bang Theory (hilarious!!!), I'm seeing a few patterns emerge in the culture around me....things we see on the show, tell ourselves "aren't real," but then go ahead and live like that anyways. Nothing against the show, just a few challenges to the culture:
1. Getting laid will not solve all your problems. Nor will being in a relationship. Nor will being smart. Whether single or married, this can be a real pitfall for many of us. Because the ways that people form trust, commitments, happiness, purpose, etc, rarely come about in the way the shows tells us! Yes, it's funny to watch, but I think it's just sad when we have a culture of grown-ups (20-30 somethings especially) who are justifying immaturity, selfishness, arrogance, and even loose living, because it's portrayed as the way to be connected....cool....in control...happy...at peace. When, in fact, the very opposite often happens by living in such a way.
2. Science is an amazing tool for discovery of facts, but it is not a religion. In fact, it is actually a lot more subjective than we realize, as it's still people making observations about what they/the majority/the minority experience. Science has been wrong and incomplete in the past, which is totally fine when seeking knowledge, but rather unhelpful when seeking Purpose.
Science is not our end-all. It cannot be where we find purpose. It is great for learning and asking questions, but lousy for putting faith into it (and if you think we don't put faith into science, think again. Start paying attention to the type of language used when the hot-topic conversation of Religion v. Science comes up - both sides use language that show they're putting faith/hope/purpose into it...but more on that another time).
We can learn a great deal from the scientific field, as long as we remember that it's about answering the 'how's' and not the 'why's' of life, right? If you are looking to Science to answer question of purpose, peace, meaning, encouragement, absolutes, Truth, etc, you will be disappointed...After all, how can data (non-Life) provide meaning to humans (Life) when we are the ones above it? Can the food on the table, or the computer at work, or the bills I pay, or the dust I clean, meet my heart at all? No, only Life can beget Life. Now, can the data be used to perhaps better the quality of a person's life? Sure! But, remember that that is a Supplemental, not Higher, role of the information to a person.
Therefore, let's spend more time asking questions about which religion is closer to Life, as opposed to all our time bashing the supposed 'non-intellectual' as being lazy and stupid.
3. And, finally, I think it's very sad that the questions of religion, faith, science, meaning, etc. are all lumped into a great big non-thinking mess, and we just resolve ourselves to bash the other side with our arrogant attitudes. I would much rather have a conversation with a Scientist about her findings (and why they impact herself/others), then to read all about how ignorant/stupid people-not-in-my-group are by the same person.
Seriously, how is that helpful when anyone bashes someone? (words, clothes, attitudes, online, whatever)
Just because Science can quantify data on a piece of paper does not make it any more solid of a reason to exclude, name-call, disrespect, or ignore a person who is not in 100% agreement with you (unless you're taking an extreme view on natural selection, in which case, let's have an in-person conversation, ok?). Culturally, we lump the entire field of Science into one big, all-powerful, clearly-right, entity, yet when one pokes around in any specific field, one finds, shocker: disagreements. Variance readings of the data. Changes in the facts. Again, this is completely fine when pursuing knowledge, but a horrible place to put your heart, find Truth, and to take a stand against others.
Are there non-thinking people in every social group? Of course! Does that give the thinking people a right to 'neener-neener' (lol, Sheldon!) the others with the Truth/Wisdom they've found? Of course not! But, for those who can rise above the name-calling, the bashing, the degrading, and the non-listening, to those I wish to encourage to press on to this higher path. Whether you are in the fields of Science, Faith, Humanities, or all of the above, let's cut out the cutting remarks, eh? It's not going to help anything anyways - Not in challenging people to Live Well. Not the pursuit of Science. Not the growing of our Faith. Not the building of Relationships. Not the discovery of Reality. Not the seeking of Truth.
...and now, to my tea...
After watching a good month of The Big Bang Theory (hilarious!!!), I'm seeing a few patterns emerge in the culture around me....things we see on the show, tell ourselves "aren't real," but then go ahead and live like that anyways. Nothing against the show, just a few challenges to the culture:
1. Getting laid will not solve all your problems. Nor will being in a relationship. Nor will being smart. Whether single or married, this can be a real pitfall for many of us. Because the ways that people form trust, commitments, happiness, purpose, etc, rarely come about in the way the shows tells us! Yes, it's funny to watch, but I think it's just sad when we have a culture of grown-ups (20-30 somethings especially) who are justifying immaturity, selfishness, arrogance, and even loose living, because it's portrayed as the way to be connected....cool....in control...happy...at peace. When, in fact, the very opposite often happens by living in such a way.
2. Science is an amazing tool for discovery of facts, but it is not a religion. In fact, it is actually a lot more subjective than we realize, as it's still people making observations about what they/the majority/the minority experience. Science has been wrong and incomplete in the past, which is totally fine when seeking knowledge, but rather unhelpful when seeking Purpose.
Science is not our end-all. It cannot be where we find purpose. It is great for learning and asking questions, but lousy for putting faith into it (and if you think we don't put faith into science, think again. Start paying attention to the type of language used when the hot-topic conversation of Religion v. Science comes up - both sides use language that show they're putting faith/hope/purpose into it...but more on that another time).
We can learn a great deal from the scientific field, as long as we remember that it's about answering the 'how's' and not the 'why's' of life, right? If you are looking to Science to answer question of purpose, peace, meaning, encouragement, absolutes, Truth, etc, you will be disappointed...After all, how can data (non-Life) provide meaning to humans (Life) when we are the ones above it? Can the food on the table, or the computer at work, or the bills I pay, or the dust I clean, meet my heart at all? No, only Life can beget Life. Now, can the data be used to perhaps better the quality of a person's life? Sure! But, remember that that is a Supplemental, not Higher, role of the information to a person.
Therefore, let's spend more time asking questions about which religion is closer to Life, as opposed to all our time bashing the supposed 'non-intellectual' as being lazy and stupid.
3. And, finally, I think it's very sad that the questions of religion, faith, science, meaning, etc. are all lumped into a great big non-thinking mess, and we just resolve ourselves to bash the other side with our arrogant attitudes. I would much rather have a conversation with a Scientist about her findings (and why they impact herself/others), then to read all about how ignorant/stupid people-not-in-my-group are by the same person.
Seriously, how is that helpful when anyone bashes someone? (words, clothes, attitudes, online, whatever)
Just because Science can quantify data on a piece of paper does not make it any more solid of a reason to exclude, name-call, disrespect, or ignore a person who is not in 100% agreement with you (unless you're taking an extreme view on natural selection, in which case, let's have an in-person conversation, ok?). Culturally, we lump the entire field of Science into one big, all-powerful, clearly-right, entity, yet when one pokes around in any specific field, one finds, shocker: disagreements. Variance readings of the data. Changes in the facts. Again, this is completely fine when pursuing knowledge, but a horrible place to put your heart, find Truth, and to take a stand against others.
Are there non-thinking people in every social group? Of course! Does that give the thinking people a right to 'neener-neener' (lol, Sheldon!) the others with the Truth/Wisdom they've found? Of course not! But, for those who can rise above the name-calling, the bashing, the degrading, and the non-listening, to those I wish to encourage to press on to this higher path. Whether you are in the fields of Science, Faith, Humanities, or all of the above, let's cut out the cutting remarks, eh? It's not going to help anything anyways - Not in challenging people to Live Well. Not the pursuit of Science. Not the growing of our Faith. Not the building of Relationships. Not the discovery of Reality. Not the seeking of Truth.
...and now, to my tea...
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