A Little Bit Rambly And Preachy
I have been trying to start another blog to address questions and issues we all think about, but haven't gotten down to it yet. Argh...
Started today in a bad mood because I was very indisciplined last night. Even while talking to a friend about the seven sins mentioned in Proverbs I realise that I have them all and especially I am so lazy! Yesterday I don't know what came over me and I got out two DVDs from the library and watched them all in one go! Chocolat and Romeo + Juliet. Both were really good but it was an overdose of indulgence really. As a result I felt horrible and hungover and headachy this morning.
Chocolat was interesting. It was about indulging yourself rather than denying yourself pleasure. A staid, traditional Catholic village is turned upside down when a pretty atheist woman turns up selling almost magically delicious chocolates. Little by little the villagers learn to give in to their own desires and do what's good for them rather than what the mayor says. In the end, the mayor also succumbs to the chocolate and becomes a better and humbler and more human man.
It was funny watching it because I liked it and understood and appreciated it, from the worldly point of view, but I could also see things from a Christian point of view. To everyone else it seems strange to deny yourself and to do what isn't natural to do; and it seems so restrictive and altogether frigid and unaccepting and humourless and narrow. I think, though, that it is the better way.
To let go always means making room for something better. I think that there's always a perfect and correct plan for each of us. Following your natural desires makes you a slave to them at times. Of course I'm not saying that we should not eat or that we should cut ourselves with knives. However freedom isn't just doing what you want, and freedom isn't being enslaved and consumed by what you want. Freedom is unrestriction in perfection, and the perfection can only come about by knowing God's plan.
Alot of people may think that the Christian God just pounces on things we don't want to do and says, "Do that. Sacrifice your son Isaac. Give up your life. Deny yourself, leave your loved ones, and follow me." It is true, He does ask us to sacrifice and there is a cost involved in following Him. But this is the better way, because to know Him is the greatest purpose and the greatest thing we can ever be called to do or fulfill.
I guess we just have to correct our views on God. He wants all the best for us and we have to believe that. We're all looking for fulfillment in life. But however free you think you are, you aren't free if -
"What I do not want to do I do, but what I hate I do... For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing."
Yet God has a better way for us. Life abundant is available and free. Sorry, I didn't mean to preach, so I will write about it in the other blog and you can read it if you want and if you're interested.
I hope for freedom in my own life, too, greater freedom from things I possess and want, til in the end there is only one thing that compels me, one thing that enslaves me - love.
If I am out of my mind, it is for the sake of God; if I am in my right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels me, because I am convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
Started today in a bad mood because I was very indisciplined last night. Even while talking to a friend about the seven sins mentioned in Proverbs I realise that I have them all and especially I am so lazy! Yesterday I don't know what came over me and I got out two DVDs from the library and watched them all in one go! Chocolat and Romeo + Juliet. Both were really good but it was an overdose of indulgence really. As a result I felt horrible and hungover and headachy this morning.
Chocolat was interesting. It was about indulging yourself rather than denying yourself pleasure. A staid, traditional Catholic village is turned upside down when a pretty atheist woman turns up selling almost magically delicious chocolates. Little by little the villagers learn to give in to their own desires and do what's good for them rather than what the mayor says. In the end, the mayor also succumbs to the chocolate and becomes a better and humbler and more human man.
It was funny watching it because I liked it and understood and appreciated it, from the worldly point of view, but I could also see things from a Christian point of view. To everyone else it seems strange to deny yourself and to do what isn't natural to do; and it seems so restrictive and altogether frigid and unaccepting and humourless and narrow. I think, though, that it is the better way.
To let go always means making room for something better. I think that there's always a perfect and correct plan for each of us. Following your natural desires makes you a slave to them at times. Of course I'm not saying that we should not eat or that we should cut ourselves with knives. However freedom isn't just doing what you want, and freedom isn't being enslaved and consumed by what you want. Freedom is unrestriction in perfection, and the perfection can only come about by knowing God's plan.
Alot of people may think that the Christian God just pounces on things we don't want to do and says, "Do that. Sacrifice your son Isaac. Give up your life. Deny yourself, leave your loved ones, and follow me." It is true, He does ask us to sacrifice and there is a cost involved in following Him. But this is the better way, because to know Him is the greatest purpose and the greatest thing we can ever be called to do or fulfill.
I guess we just have to correct our views on God. He wants all the best for us and we have to believe that. We're all looking for fulfillment in life. But however free you think you are, you aren't free if -
"What I do not want to do I do, but what I hate I do... For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing."
Yet God has a better way for us. Life abundant is available and free. Sorry, I didn't mean to preach, so I will write about it in the other blog and you can read it if you want and if you're interested.
I hope for freedom in my own life, too, greater freedom from things I possess and want, til in the end there is only one thing that compels me, one thing that enslaves me - love.
If I am out of my mind, it is for the sake of God; if I am in my right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels me, because I am convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
1 Comments:
There is a phrase, "Freedom isn't Free". In order to truly have it, there are costs, sacrifices, etc..
We all breach all the deadly sins, I think we always have. The fact that they are listed as so severe is because they are so common and damaging. Giving in to one's desires always has consequences, frequently bad.
As you say often, the objective must be to just live as decently as you can manage. You shouldn't worry about the occasional pleasure, if you really violate your moral code you will feel it truly.
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Orbling, at 3:42 am
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