A Good Reminder for a Philosopher

"As to why God doesn't make it demonstratively clear: are we sure that He is even interested in the kind of Theism which would be a compelled logical assent to a conclusive argument? Are we interested in it in personal matters? I demand from my friend a trust in my good faith which is certain without demonstrative proof. It wouldn't be confidence at all if he waited for rigorous proof. Hang it all, the very fairy-tales embody the truth. Othello believed in Desdemona's innocence when it was proved: but that was too late. Lear believed in Cordelia's love when it was proved: but that was too late. 'His praise is lost who stays till all commend.' The magnanimity, the generosity which will trust on a reasonable probability, is required of us."

-C.S. Lewis, in one of his letters to Sheldon Vanauken, documented in A Severe Mercy

Deciding for Eternity

Belief... sometimes it seems too hard to pin down beliefs. How do you define them? How do you describe them? How often they change from year to year, conversation to conversation, even moment to moment.

As a Philosophy major I feel a lot of pressure to know what I believe and how to defend it. Yet, with one conversation I begin to doubt and lean a new direction. A second conversation makes me sway back to where I started. Stating "I believe that the sky is blue, that the sun will rise tomorrow..." can seem so concrete. But stop and think about what that means. Beliefs are not cards you swap when you prefer hearts over diamonds. They can't be deposited and protected at a bank. If you don't have the words you can't just say, "See!"

Accepting a new belief can happen so quickly and easily. There are no papers to sign, no loans to pay back on it. They are so easy to accept or deny, a part of our everyday lives, yet the metaphysical concept can still seem so airy and foreign.

You cannot physically flash your beliefs, they are established or crushed in seconds, yet, they still determine your entire eternal destiny.

Though we seem to have an obsession with what we can see and test, the most impalpable is still the most binding.

"God is not changed one iota by who man says He is. Man's entire future, however, resides squarely upon it's shoulders." -Beth Moore, "Believing God"

Are the Downs Worth the Ups?

He had been wont to despise emotions: girls were emotional, girls were weak, emotions- tears- were weakness. But this morning he was thinking that being a great brain in a tower, nothing but a brain, wouldn't be much fun. No excitement, no dog to love, no joy in the blue sky- no feelings at all. But feelings- feelings are emotions! He was suddenly overwhelmed by the revelation that what makes life worth living is, precisely, the emotions... But if the best of life is, in fact, emotional, then one wanted the highest, purest emotions: and that meant joy. Joy was the highest... But in the books again, great joy through love seemed always to go hand in hand with frightful pain. Still, he thought, looking out across the meadow, still, the joy would be worth the pain- if, indeed, they went together. If there were a choice- and he suspected there was- a choice between, on the one hand, the heights and depths and, on the other hand, some sort of safe, cautious middle way, he, for one, here and now chose the heights and the depths.

-Sheldon Vanauken
"A Severe Mercy"

With Everything!

Open our eyes
To see the things that make Your heart cry
To be the church that You would desire
Your light to be seen

VERSE 2:

Break down our pride
And all the walls we’ve built up inside
Our earthly crowns and all our desires
We lay at Your feet

PRE CHORUS:

Let hope rise
And darkness tremble
In Your holy light
That every eye will see
Jesus our God
Great and mighty to be praised

VERSE 3:

God of all days
Glorious in all of Your ways
Oh the majesty the wonder and grace
In the light of Your Name

CHORUS:

With everything
With everything
We will shout for Your glory
With everything
With everything
We will shout forth Your praise

CHORUS 2:

Our hearts they cry
Be glorified
Be lifted high above all names
For You our King
With everything
We will shout forth Your praise

-Hillsong

This is one of my favorite worship songs. You should just hear it when hundreds of students at Biola sing it together. It's funny, but my favorite part is actually the part without words. At one point in the song the words are used up and everyone simply sings "Oh, oh, oh" all together. I love it as we are no longer singing about one specific thing, but with all our breath and all we are, we just sing to God.

Can you imagine what life would be like if we gave everything to God? I know I can't... I'm always wondering practically how to give everything, so I can't imagine what a life wholly dedicated would look like. Of course we have great examples of dedicated Christians. But what would our thought life be like? Would we be praying unceasingly? Would we always be praising or contemplating God? How would we deal with issues differently? Would we have a new motivation for virtue and using our time wisely to serve God? How different would we be from the culture, our friends and family? Would it be insanely easy once we gave everything, or the hardest thing ever?

Everything... it sounds too idealistic. Yet, as Christians, we look forward to this. I can't wait for the day when we stand in front of the throne of God and can do nothing else but worship! No more distractions. No more temptations. It'll be me and my Abba!

Revelation 4

¹After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." ²At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. ³And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. ⁴Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. ⁵From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, ⁶and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: ⁷ the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. ⁸And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!"

⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
¹¹"Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created."

One last song that I've been thinking about lately. This one is "The Motions" by Matthew West.

This might hurt
It’s not safe
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care
If I break
At least I’ll be feeling something
‘Cause just ok
Is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions

No regrets
Not this time
I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love
Make me whole
I think I’m finally feeling something

Take me all the way

Miss Teacher!

Sunday night I spent a couple hours playing with sticky foam, singing "Oh Happy Day," and making elephant noises. I finally started volunteering at my church and I'm so happy to be working with the 4 year olds class. I never realized that hearing a 4 year old call me teacher and all the girls asking if they could sit by me and hold my hand could make me so happy. All that I can think is why did I not do this before?

The lesson for that night was the story of Noah and the ark. I instantly thought, "Wow, going back to the basics...who hasn't heard this story before?" But honestly, some of these kids might have been hearing about Noah for the first time. After the story, the main teacher led all of the kids in a short prayer. The sweet, innocent voices all chimed in together saying, "I love you Jesus. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you that I can trust you. Amen!" You can't help but be moved when you hear these kids all praying. The innocence and simplicity of their prayers is precious. So many people talk about child-like faith and encourage interaction with young believers, and I'm going to chime in and agree. Studying theology and philosophy at Biola, I can get lost in the complexities of the Christian faith. Daily I have to remind myself that God is a person who wants to interact with me, not just a topic to be dissected and understood. While I am praying, "God what is predestination and how does it not contradict freewill," this child can pray, "Thank you that I can trust you." Such different prayers are heard by the same God, and I better not forget to stop and still, simply, be thankful.

The juxtaposition of incredible depth and perfect simplicity is what continues to intrigue me about the Christian faith. So even though I'm hearing the story of Noah's Ark for nth time, I can still be learning vital lessons.