Writing Out Loud… As I was thinking that when you have seen one shopping center you have seen a mall, this other thought crept into my cranium. Convictions! A good brother told me recently of how much time we waste in needless chatter. As he so aptly put it, “It’s okay to have rap sessions now and then, but if I want to supply what is most lacking in my own life I am going to have to sit down and think through the situation for myself.” Good advice. How many of us believe what we do because we have dug deeply? If put to the test, few people can even begin to explain their convictions in a way that would have us believe they came to them via thorough study. And this is especially true regarding religious convictions. My thoughts on hell and many other doctrinal matters were more or less settled by others. I believed they knew what the Bible taught on such things, so I took their word for what the Bible taught rather than seeking to find out what the Bible actually taught. Dangerous! Why can’t we convince others that we truly do have well thought out and researched convictions? Frankly I think it is because some of us have done just the opposite. Kids don’t suddenly lose their faith that first semester of college. They may not have had any to begin with . A borrowed family religion that hasn’t undergone serious scrutiny doesn’t hold up well when attacked by some erudite philosophy profess-or who supposes it his inalienable right to undermine the beliefs of his students. Convictions on loan from parents won’t get us through life unscathed. I prefer being scathed on my own terms. Isn’t it illogical to believe in something without really knowing why? What has become of the pursuit of reason? In our conversations, in-stead of playing word games with each other, we should begin challenging each other as to why we are what we are and believe as we do. I’d much prefer having two concepts resolved in my own mind (at least for the present) than to pre-tend a multiplicity of persuasions of which I am not the least inclined nor able to defend. Besides, person-al convictions are a great deal more enjoyable than borrowed ones. We can be religious without being righteous. I see a lot of that these days. People can also have a lot of diversified knowledge without being wise. So why not prove your convictions true and then hold fast to them? Does your train of thought sometimes leave the station without you? Check the manual! I wasted three hours trying to hook up my printer to my PC. Then the old adage came to me, “If at first you don’t succeed, try reading the instructions.” I finally did just that. Guess what? The printer prints. -scg
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 01:22:50 +0000
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