i am a believer in signs. and in things happening for a reason. at least the small things. and for the most part i try to listen when it seems like i'm being given a message. so today was interesting in a lot of ways. the most significant being that i had a conversation with a man who made such an amazing point, that it may eventually change the way i think about most everything. and that my friends doesnt happen often. and i LOVE it. i love when someone challenges me to REALLY think.
so the question of the day is how do you define "good"? as in, i believe if i am a "good" person and try to do the "right" things, then that is all GOD wants of me. if i try to be the best that I can be, isnt that "good" enough?
good : ADJ - to be desired or approved of /
NOUN: that which is morally right; righteous
who gets to decide what is good enough? is it me? or you? or ultimately HIM? i have no earthly idea. but just like everything else in life, subjectivity rules the day. whats good for me, may not be good for you and vice versa. this probably makes me sound crazy, but its this kind of question that will keep my brain frazzled for days. i immediately came home and posed the same question to my kids. we ALL know people who have very different definitions of what "good" means. is it dutiful? obedient? or kind? or some kind of combination? just food for thought.
how this came about? just visiting a customer and a very nice gentleman who i see all the time asked me about Thanksgiving. which led to a discussion on family and how fortunate i am that my grandparents are still living. that we have 4 generations worth of advice, antics and adventure all in the same place. which then led to some history and ultimately to religion. because this wonderful gentleman happened to be a pastor. you know that in deni land, that was a sign right? (i hope you are happy, colleen)
he of course invited me to come to services and i said id go. and i will. new churches are like that proverbial box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get. but why not check it out and see. and ironically, an old friend just happens to attend this church. and she absolutely loves it. i havent spoken with her in person really since she moved, but she was a close friend for many years....and someone who i trust to have some sense. and i, again, love the connection. just one more sign pointing me back toward a path i have strayed from.
now my sister, who reads periodically, mentioned that she was surprised at the religion references in the blog. and yet one of my friends thinks there is a decided lack of religion. at the end of the day, the blog is just a reflection of me and all of my messy brain workings. which sometimes include religion....but often do not. i wont say that i have had a crisis of conscience or anything. i dont blame GOD for anything. just like i dont expect HIM to fix anything for me. to me, my faith - or lack thereof - has always just been one more part of the ever-searching ME. sometimes things make more sense than others. and sometimes a light bulb goes off that sends me in another direction.
St. Thomas Aquinas – “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
its really a shame that i got a horrible grade on my first philosophy paper in college....i think i might have been really good at it, eventually :). sometimes i wish i could just stop THINKING. but then that just wouldnt be ME!
i'll tell you what really ran thru my mind when i started to think about the whole "good" thing......on a scale of "good" ranging from lets say an axe murderer to mother theresa, i'm HOPEFULLY on the mother theresa side of the scale....but probably just barely!! how freakin scary is that??? so maybe my "just trying to be a good person" philosophy of life needs a facelift. maybe not. but its definitely time for some more research. and possibly another trip to church.
No comments:
Post a Comment