INTELECTUAL CURIOSITY

 

INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY

No one can call himself truly educated without some acquaintance with the Bible which has had, and still has, such a profound impact on world thought. However, just here we might meet an objection. We might meet someone who says he doesn’t believe in God so why bother. Why should he be interested in what it says, telling us he lives his life without acknowledging any god whatever. We really can’t convince him to pick up the good book if he says he doesn’t believe in God. But perhaps we can persuade him to read it out of intellectual curiosity, after all he reads the daily newspaper and doesn’t believe everything written on it. And one thing more. Our unbelieving friend claims he doesn’t believe in any god. The statement might be intellectually sincere but practically arguable. The weight of human experience over centuries of history is against this claim. It all depends on what you mean by God. Multitudes of people all down the ages have decided with the Philosopher Nietsche that “God is dead” and decided to banish from their minds all belief in the One True God. But honestly, they have to pay a price for this intellectual conviction, for thereafter, they have found it practically impossible to live either intellectually or emotionally in a completely godless world. Deliberately or subconsciously they have filled the vacuum left by the dismissal of the One True God with all kinds of substitute gods. Over the course of history people had made gods and goddesses and even made “chance” or “fate” as a god. The ancient Greeks did it.

So to this unbelieving friend, he will certainly not commit intellectual suicide if he picks up the Bible and begin to read  the greatest book of all time. If he reads abstruse poetry or absurdist plays, why not the Bible? I did, and it turned around my life.

THE LABYRINTH

 

THE LABYRINTH

An ancient maze-like pattern called the labyrinth has been used for centuries by Christians and non-Christians alike as a meditational devise. The most well known labyrinth is found at Chartres Cathedral in France. It is a series of curved pathways; you begin on the outside and walk to the center, then walk back out. As you walk the labyrinth you pray and meditate. Many people have reported that as they have walked the labyrinth they have had visions or received answers to their problems. It is a very interesting practice.

There are many Christian churches that use the labyrinth as a meditational devise. There are evangelical groups that have developed a procedure of walking a labyrinth that is specifically Christ Centered. Some believers are concerned that this practice is syncretistic- that Christians should not use this because of its pagan connections. It is a religious tradition that predates Christianity, and there is the potential for those who practice it to place more emphasis on the walk than on the One to whom they are praying. Whatever you believe about this tradition, one thing that makes  walking a labyrinth so powerful is that it is a strong metaphor for the reality of life as a journey.

Life is not a series of non-sequitors, not a bunch of unrelated happenings.  Once you realize that you are on a journey, life begins to take on new meaning. When you begin to accept that all things have purpose, and that experiences come and go in our lives for a reason, you can learn how to say, “ This too will pass”.

I have learned to ask myself, “What can I learn from this experience?”

I have become more patient with others, knowing that since I am on a journey others must be on journeys as well. Since I am not the author of my journey or the journey of anyone else, I cannot be judgmental about where others are on their journey. Maybe we are on similar journeys but at different points along our way, so instead of being judgmental, maybe I ought to encourage others along the way. Recognizing life as a journey helps me to avoid getting stuck in any particular moment of life. I can enjoy the moment, but I shouldn’t get stuck in the moment. I can hate the moment but I should not let the moment define me forever.

-ALYN E. WALLER

To everything there is a season….

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also he has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end…