Robert posted a blog last week about greed. He made some points about how greed can work to the detriment of people. He posted this situation as an example of where greed made someone lose $½ million by making a bad choice.
I maintain that she didn’t lose out on $1 million but actually won $5,000. She could have won more if her decisions had been different, but they weren’t. Having won $5k should she spend her time lamenting the loss of $1m or make the most of what she has? It is better to learn from mistakes that to feel shame about them. It is better to move forward than to dwell in the past.
Still in doubt? Take a look at this clip. It’s a tribute to Christopher Reeve and many, many others that they work so hard seeking a cure for spinal cord paralysis. Then ask yourself whether it is better to make the very best of your situation and move forward in life or allow your past to overwhelm you.
The first clip showed someone taking a risk and failing. That happens sometimes when you take a risk, the bigger the risk the more likely you are to fail. Failure is good though because it lets us learn what we can do and what we can deal with. We shouldn’t be afraid of failure because we need to fail sometimes in order to succeed later.
The only way to lose in life would be not to live it. If you go through life thinking about might-haves and maybes then you’ll always be disappointed about something. It’s more positive to enjoy what you do have and work to improve that than to lament lost opportunities. The wonderful, moving clip with Christopher Reeve and Hilary Clinton in shows how one man’s tragedy can be used to great, positive effect. Even his death could be said to inspire people.
The difference between lamenting a misfortune and making the very best of it is simply attitude. This might be a willingness to move on and adjust to new circumstances. It might be a positive outlook on life that simply allows a person to see the good in a situation where others see only bad. My daughter, Caitlin, would call it “intelligent emotion” and I think the phrase is appropriate. We can use out intellects to change the course of our emotions so that they work for our happiness rather than against it.
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Jason | 3 Comments »
Is it ever OK to judge someone? I listened to a sermon on judging this week, and the speaker made what I thought was a really good distinction between what he called “judging” and “testing.”
The Bible typically has two definitions for the word “judge.” The first is the one we think of when we think of judgemental people. Judge not lest ye be judged. But the second had more to do with “testing,” or being careful what you accept.
We all agree, I’m sure, that judging in the judgemental sense is wrong. But “testing,” or using good judgement, is quite alright. Take, for example, John Belushi’s Animal House character. You don’t know him, so you can’t judge him as a person. On the other hand, if you found out your daughter was dating him, you would be well within your rights to “test” whether or not he is someone you want your daughter spending time with. Or at least I am sure you would want her to test whether or not he was going to be worth her while!
So where do you draw the line between “judging” and “testing?” According to the speaker, it has to do with what he calls your “realm of responsibility.” You shouldn’t judge him because he’s not within your realm of responsibility. But if he wants to date your daughter, she’s within your realm of responsibility so testing his character is almost required of you as a parent.
Christians can be a judgemental lot. But many times, I think, we’re accused of being judgemental when really we’re just using our own best judgement. There is nothing wrong with testing, and rejecting, ideas. Christians and atheists alike do it all the time. But when it devolves into judging the people with those ideas, that’s when we’ve gone too far.
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Mike O | 7 Comments »Six weeks ago I wrote about false assumptions and how Christians suffered in the past because of them just as atheists suffer today. Atheism doesn’t have a philosophy or principles to counter these false assumptions any more than it has a philosophy or principles to deserve them. Secular humanism does put forward a set of positive traits and promotes a world view. These are:
This life – A concern for this life and a commitment to making it meaningful through better understanding of ourselves, our history, our intellectual and artistic achievements, and the outlooks of those who differ from us.
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