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The Importance of Friendship

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Photo by Marcus Wallis on Unsplash I heard on the radio today the idea that we as a society have downplayed the importance as well as the role of friendship. The commentator went on to argue that what we have done is relegate all intimacy to only one kind of relationship, namely a romantic one. Having done so we have cut ourselves off from a major aspect of life and one that is of critical importance to our health and our development; physically, mentally, and spiritually. I’ve had some time to reflect on this and I cannot help but agree. We as people have slowly grown further and further apart or at least it seems to be that way. Nearly everyone I’ve talked to agrees that these days it would be practically unthinkable to strike up a conversation with a stranger in the checkout line or in a park or on a bus. We have been trained to not ‘bother’ anyone else and that any intrusion into our day by someone we do not already know is unwanted, disrespectful, and weird.
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Out of Control

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We don't like to be out of control. Generally speaking, humans are very control oriented creatures and when things begin to slip out of our grasp we quickly become irritated, uncomfortable, and concerned. This is easily proven by examining nearly any random individual you care to look at deal with many of the minor inconveniences that assail us on any given day. Imagine, for example, that you are driving down a two lane road that does not allow for passing and you find yourself behind someone who -for whatever reason- has decided to drive five or ten miles below the posted speed limit. If you are anything like myself you will last perhaps five minutes before your opinion of the person in the car ahead has dropped drastically and in another few minutes you'll be devising all manner of creative nicknames for them. We don't like to be out of control, we don't like things simply happening -to- us, we don't like not being in charge; and I can't
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The Border Line

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Photo by Zoltan Kovacs on Unsplash I've seen quite a few posts on social media lately insinuating that any Christian who has anything to say against illegal immigration is being hypocritical. They point out that the Bible tells us to care for the homeless and those in need and so we are guilty of ignoring what we claim to believe. Some even go so far as to claim that this behavior is a telltale sign of our inherent racism and selfishness, that all of our so called righteousness is nothing more than a now crumbling facade. While I don't doubt that there are plenty of people to whom this rightfully does apply, allow me a brief defense of my own position on this particular topic if you don't mind. I would say that the issue of immigration, illegal or otherwise, as well as the whole refugee issue comes down to two distinct levels of responsibility; the individual and the national. Let's talk about the personal responsibility first. As an indivi
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For the Cause

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Photo by Heather Mount on Unsplash Do you have a life's purpose? Is there something beyond or above yourself that influences your choices? I ask because it would seem that the current of modern culture is moving more and more toward the idea that the ultimate ethic is my own freedom and choice, with the only overarching ethic being that we should support the rights of other people to also follow their own desires. While this doesn't seem too terrible an idea at the start it does lead us down a rather unfortunate rabbit hole. Modern man is more and more losing the ability to live for anything beyond himself and what he finds comfortable, enjoyable, or agreeable. Really, this is just the natural outworking of pluralism and the post-modern mentality. We've taken away any idea of a meta-narrative, of an overarching truth that explains and pertains to every aspect of life. There is no objective truth in the philosophy of modern man and thus there is onl
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Inspiration vs. Dedication

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Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash I used to think that everyone else was lucky. They all had passions, they all had dreams. In others I saw consuming desires that propelled them into their futures. Some wanted to be doctors others engineers, others soldiers, while I sat to the side and didn't know what I wanted to be. I used to think I was broken, that some crucial part of me was damaged or simply missing or that I'd failed to pick it up along the way. Now that I'm a bit older I've begun to wonder, was I just hoping for something to make the decision for me? Is there any inherent merit in a passion that you did not choose and a life that merely carried you along? I can't help but think that maybe what I saw as a self-propelled desire was really the outworking of a personal decision to pursue a goal. Was I longing for something that nobody actually possessed? I like to write, I love it even. I genuinely enjoy sitting down and putting tho
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The Undeniable

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Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash The world often seems to be in a constant state of turmoil and distress. Opposing factions struggle for power in every corner of the world and our various world-views and ideologies combat for supremacy from the water cooler to the world wide web. People everywhere seem to be either searching for real truth or loudly proclaiming that it doesn't exist. Many have simply given up on a life that is meaningful; some of them cutting it short. Where can we go for any sense of reality, any solid foundation of real truth? We can argue back and forth about science and philosophy, we can debate theology and atheism, we can discuss anarchy vs. order, but let me propose that there is one thing at least that no can effectively deny. Humanity is flawed. It doesn't take much observation to prove this simple truth, you don't even have to look outside of yourself. You and I can look inside of ourselves and see selfishness, greed, li
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In His Image - Part Two

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Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash This is part two of a two part series, please read part one before you read today's post! I apologize that this a week late, I was super busy last week and the post just slipped through the cracks! Continuing where we left off last, it is important -even crucial- to understand that though we share some of the qualities of God we do not possess these qualities in the same way or to the same degree that God does. Just as a mirror that reflects our face is merely a flat image and not a whole other person so too are we representative of God but lacking in the depth and fullness of what He is like. We can be intelligent but not like God is intelligent, we can be creative but not like He is, we can love but not nearly as much as He does, we can be strong but our strength is as nothing against His. To take this a step further, the fact that God made us male and female doesn't have any reflective meaning on the nature of God
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