Worth Noting
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8 NASB
Dwell– Paul is quite interested in what really matters. He uses the Greek verb logízomai to emphasize reasoned deliberation about life’s important concepts and actions. With that in mind, it’s worth considering some of the important developments that have influenced our ways of understanding faith in this world.
Will Durant:
“Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the Church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual . . . Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result. From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity . . . and the mystic theology that made Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and obscured the Christian creed . . . Christianity was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world.”[1]
Brené Brown:
“The simple and honest process of letting people know that discomfort is normal, it’s going to happen, why it happens, and why it’s important, reduces anxiety, fear and shame. . . . we need to cultivate the courage to be uncomfortable and to teach the people around us how to accept discomfort as a part of growth.”[2]
Abraham Heschel:
“What distinguished the righteous from the wicked? The wicked are trapped by material things that bring them pleasure; the righteous are enchanted by the mystery of the Divine inherent in things. Their wonder sustains their lives.”[3]
Terrance Fretheim:
“God works creatively with already existing realities to bring about newness. This understanding also entails that idea that the present (and future) is not wholly determined by the past; God does bring the ‘new’ into existence. Beyond God’s work as sole Creator, certainly the central reality in thinking about Creation, God also creates in and through creaturely activity.”[4]
Paul Tournier:
“We become fully conscious only of what we are able to express to someone else.”[5]
Today, just thinking.
Topical Index: dwell, logízomai, Philippians 4:8
[1]Will Durant, The Story of Civilization, Vol. 3: Caesar and Christ, p. 595, 599.
[2]Brené Brown, Daring Greatly, p. 199.
[3]Abraham Heschel, A Passion for Truth, p. 25.
[4] Terrence Fretheim, God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation, p. 5
Skip, there seems to be a disconnect after the first paragraph between the quotation from Han Jonas and the referent 1. which lists Will Durant, The Story of Civilization.
Yeah, sorry. It was Will Durant. I need to fix that.
Excellent things to dwell on!
To ponder the wonder of the Creator and the wonder
He allows to those who continue to create, is a pure
and lovely realization.
In effect, His creative work continues in vast and unlimited
ways . . . and certainly it is clearly evident by the minds, hearts
and hands of those He has gifted with their push into the creative
reaches of this life.
We can only imagine how He uses man’s creative ingenuity
to reach into others’ hearts, and thus fulfill His wondrous will.
It is my observation that the kingdom of YeHoVaH and the kingdom of this world’s system are simultaneously coexisting yet mutually exclusive. Heschel underlines the requisite inclination of the heart that illuminates the difference. The path to life, true life, is narrow and few are they that find it.
I like Terrance Fretheim’s quote about the present and future not being wholly determined by the past. We in the West, in particular, seem stuck on the notion that (observable) cause and effect are tightly linked; so tightly that we could call it a law (and do). Without this assertion, evolution loses it’s essential foundation, but so does everything else the flesh builds itself upon. The Bible talks about this notion (because it has been around for thousands of years, of course): Ecclesiastes and 2Peter 3:4 speak from the world’ point of view when they assert that things “continue as they have been”. The world also uses this flesh observation, as Peter points out, to ask ‘where is the sign of his coming?”.
I think we use this notion every day when doctors pronounce future death upon certain diseases and stock market players attempt to control economies. We really hope it is so, Joe! Otherwise, the sand the world builds upon: the sand of prognostication, of future-telling (which is how the world interacts with reality as its substitute for faith); falls on its face. But what were we forbidden to do? Go to the future-tellers. Why? Because the future is open-ended; that’s why! How can it be open-ended? Because we were created in the image of our Creator to co-create with Him.
The future is not told in the crystal ball of seeing “what has been”, but in the choices of faith of the obedient. Man looks to his own past and the past of the world around him to ‘see’ the future, but we are commanded to look to YHVH’s past (big dif, y’all!) to establish the faith required of us to determine that future. I pray we learn the difference!
My thought for the day is I’m tired of fake people.
Amen! My journey truly began when I became tired of me and began looking into the face of the Authentic One.
Nothing is more important to me than my relationship with the Authentic One as you say. But how that gets reflected back to me is how I treat others in the faith community and sorry but how they treat me. It seems poisonous to me when people try to pretend otherwise. I’m sorry but it is about us sometimes. Because we are human beings. We get hurt in the process of trying to love others. I’m tired of pretending that other people’s choices don’t affect me. Because they do!
Define “fake people.”
Sometimes when we visit my in-laws, their home is crowded with people. There are often many extra place settings at the table. After dinner if we sit together and talk, more likely than not there is not enough space on the sofa. So I like to sit on the floor, right next to my wife so that I feel her feet and legs. It is comforting. It says, “I love you and don’t want to be away from your presence, even if it means a less comfortable spot.” It’s nice to feel so close to her.
Pretenders or hypocrites.
Skip, I tried to change my e-mail and it bounced. What do I need to do?
If the email associated with this comment is the correct one, then I can change it. Is this what you want?