well I have 20 minutes and alot of stuff going through my head. I wanted to post stuff earlier but I felt I needed a little time. Been getting overwhelmed as of late, but lets give this a shot.

In the last few posts I’ve gone toward affections, emotions and relationships. Today I’ll gear towards that, however this time being more mindful of the opposite side of the situation. I had made mention of pinnacle life moments and of repulsiveness and hope, these things, although not highlighted, deserve some time because they are evident and play large roles in reality. 

Reality dictates that although God is supreme ruler, we live in a fallen world. Because we live in a fallen world,  pain (emotional, physical, and spiritual) will occur with the garuntee of occuring. It is really such a reality that bears no “if” but only “when.” Some may occur in rapid progression, others are more spread out. I met a lady recently whos father and uncle passed away within 2 days of each other. that to me would seem rather rapid and who knows how long it will last (considering spirituality of the situation and if inherentince fueds arise). My own parents have had cancer, although still living, the two struggles were spread out over many years and the diagnoses with almost 10 years different. Life sometimes happen.

 Hope, as stated before is our “greatest strength and greatest weakness” and considered a dillusion beyond reason. Being a dislusion means that it could possibly be hiding a fact. Whether the fact is pleasant or not is irelevant, in the context im speaking towards, hurt can be a result. great joy and gladness can also be a result, consequence or envitability however life can jade us toward what little good happens to be in this world. When I say little good, im obviously not applying that to God for He is love and love in His expressed essence could not be described as anything but pleasent. 

I’ve come to realize religiously, politically, and on a relational level im very different from those who would consider themselves conservative and liberal. I’m obviously very conservative and by some liberals, a right wing fanatic. However I’ve found true right wing fanatics that are even more conservative then my own dealings. Something that I have noticed in these sectors, is the more you get deeper into the core of it all, regardless of what it really is, “jadedness.” Jaded according to Dictionary.com,

To wear out, as by overuse or overindulgence. See Synonyms attire¹. 
v.   intr. 
To become weary or spiritless. 
n.  

1. A broken-down or useless horse; a nag.

 

Weary, is another keyword I would like to bring up since it can affect what we consider our strength in this context, Hope. Weariness can weigh us down like water drenched clothing, we can hope and have strength but each step is heavier. This being the case, the more we belief in something, the more weary and jaded to external events, circumstances, people, personalities, events, or schools of thought that may oppose the original belief, can have a negative impact and even hurt us. What we must come to realize is that there is a difference between having tuff skin and having a jaded heart. Think of it this way, if a moderate conservative was told he was a luney freak of nature and that fiscal conservatism is inherently rediculous, then he will either have tuff skin and understand where the other person is coming from or he will write the other man off as just another dumb liberal hes spent his life fighting in washington d.c. Now this situation can be vice versa with ease but thats not really the point.  The point through elaboration of examples and circumstances is that as humans we can get hurt. Evident in reality, it occurs. We think that becoming weary, untrusting, and unhappy is just a fact of life and write it off as nothing. 

I believe the aforementioned statement of being, mindset and/or lifestyle to be folly. To become jaded and weary is to set yourself for contentment in the worst way, not allowing yourself to be able to enjoy Gods funnest gifts. Truth be told, from my own opinion, it can be absolutely hilarious to watch as someone gets all riled up over a simple political statement, or watch the neighbors dog harrass the mailman, or the predictability of some blond talking on the phone and not paying attention while driving, or the obnoxious luaghter coming from the other side of a restauarant. Sure they might be serious issues but those are only serious if you take life too seriously and become weighed down by the rain of life’s seasons. 

I would like to take a minute to also talk about relational issues, hurts and hopes. I think I can save us a paragraph or twenty when I state that we have all hoped for something relationally and our hopes were dashed when something didt work out just the way we wanted it to or with the person we wanted to get to know better. The obviousness of this statement is in the obviousness and predictability of life itself. We become affectionate toward others and it grows but then dwindles as we realize (and sometimes occassionally realize incorrectly) that there was nothing ever there to begin with. Whatever chemistry we thought existed, shared personal values, thoughts of perfection of the other party, future goals, etc, can all be potentially rubish because of a dilusion we allowed and even encouraged ourselves to believe in. A dilusion called Hope. Now this may sound horribly jaded mind you, however it is a fact of reality. For the record, I would, will and continually choose to believe in “Hope” because of the things it promises and allow myself to be open to hurt. I choose this because theres no other fulfilling way to live life. If I lived without hope and vulnerability, then my Christian faith and walk is completely meaningless. Christ gives us hope because of the hope of a life better spent with Him. Remember this as well, 1st John 4:19,  ”We love because he first loved us.” Jesus took the first step and ultimate step to extending His hand toward us in HOPE that we would say yes. We are the essence of repulsive because of our sin and God loves us all the same and wants to build that relationship with us.

As for pinnacle moments, I implore you to spend a life full of expectancy with Jesus, taking those steps, talking to those people you are called to at the bus stop, grocery store, at the coffee shop, after class, the guy who wants his red stapler, EVERYONE. That is one example of living in pinnacle moments and moving on them. If you want to view this relationally with a member of the opposite sex, well then stop dawdling. We could all be dead tomorrow and you’ll miss out. Although if we’re all dead we get to be with Jesus, but I think God allowed us to be here to enjoy life and his creation, especially the beautiful ones.