5 questions.
5 questions everyone should ask themselves before its too late:
1) Is there a God?
2) Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
3) Is getting married and/or having kids something I really believe is right for me, or even truly want to do? In other words, am I doing it just because I’m ’supposed’ to?
4) What brings me joy, comes naturally to me (is easy), and I would do for people whether or not they paid me?
5) Do my actions show that I am truly concerned about anyone other than myself?
Ready. Go.
1) Yes. And in some cases, gods, however, I am doing my best to eliminate the gods in my life that tend to block out the one that matters.
2) Yes. And is helping me rise from mine…
3) Yes and no. I’m married, and think it’s amazing, and I would be soooooooo frigging locked up somewhere if it weren’t for my husband and the way he balances me, teaches me…kids…feeling the pressure…but not giving in
Although I don’t mind trying.
4) Writing. Interacting with people.
5) Usually no. But I’m trying…see #3. That will help you learn faster than anything just how selfish you truly are.
Comment by Anne Jackson — July 31, 2007 @ 4:05 pm
1. i’m not sure. and i’m mistrustful of people who are sure on both sides of the answer. but it’s a question to keep asking. it’s probably THE question to keep asking.
2. i don’t know. but if he didn’t, what does it change for you?
3. yes.
4. for some reason this one’s the hardest to answer.
5. more today than a year ago. hopefully more next year than today.
Comment by bwan — August 1, 2007 @ 8:01 am
Well, Mr. Wan,
1) definitely the key question to keep asking. you can start with also asking, “is there an absolute right and wrong in the universe?” your answer to that will lead to other questions that must be answered.
2) if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then Christianity is just any other religion, with a really popular teacher. but if he did rise from the dead, and is who he says he is, then, well, that changes everything. at the time, it was convincing enough to give quite a few dudes who were his friends a reason enough to die horrible deaths themselves, because the claim that he is who he said he is, and that he rose from the dead, was more than enough to get you killed. they said they interacted with him after he was crucified, and put in a tomb. and that his rising from the dead was because he is the son of God. and they were willing to sacrifice their own lives to take that stand. sounds crazy, right? the crazier it sounds, the better. the world was once flat, you know.
3) awesome!
4) and as far as our time spent on this oceanic planet is concerned, this one is pretty important. this, along with question 5, have a lot to do with the “what would people say at my funeral?” kind of thing. or at least, making people, including oneself, happier.
Comment by Andy — August 2, 2007 @ 9:30 am
1. i don’t know about that logic game…i’m not so sure there can’t be absolute right and wrong that humans arrive at within their societies. in practice, it’s the same as coming from god.
2. i know that side of the argument, but i was asking what it would change for you? would it change the lessons he taught? would it change the example he set? would it change how you lived your life? if it all turns out to be a story made up by people embellishing upon embellishments does that make it any less true? i often wonder if the church doesn’t spend far too much time thinking about heaven and far too little time thinking about earth.
Comment by bwan — August 2, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
1. i don’t know about that logic game…i’m not so sure there can’t be absolute right and wrong that humans arrive at within their societies. in practice, it’s the same as coming from god.
–there can be, and there is an absolute right and wrong that each human society and religion can and do come up with. the question is: is there one beyond that?
2. i know that side of the argument, but i was asking what it would change for you?
–unfortunately, not enough. i’m afraid that my life, and much of the church, doesn’t exemplify exactly how radical in nature the line Jesus drew in the sand is. He wasn’t just teaching for the sake of people living a more pleasant life. Whatever the case, there is a faith element that comes in to play, and question 1 must be answered in the affirmative for any of it to matter. Plus there is an inherent tinge of lunacy to the whole thing. I think Doug and I gotta come back up to SF, so we can figure it out together. With some wine.
Until then, I think Warrant said it best:
“Heaven isn’t too far away,
Closer to it every day.
No matter what your friends might say…”
Comment by Andy — August 2, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
wine in SF sounds like a good idea. i have a cabinet full of quality vino i’ve been saving…you’re welcome anytime.
but my quick response is that cs lewis arguments aside, i think it’s possible to say that jesus lived his life as an example of the way to be a man, to be fully a man. and that is what we should each strive for. everything else is argument, conjecture, or what people raised in the church would call ‘faith.’
Comment by bwan — August 3, 2007 @ 11:59 am
you’re quite right, on every account, except the striving part will meet a dead end without grace. so, is the question for you really, “why would anyone willingly have faith, when what they have faith in has just as much of a chance of being false as it does true?”
Comment by Andy — August 3, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
doesn’t it meet a dead end with or without grace? falling short is a fact of life, and dealing with falling short another part of being a man.
and you’re right, that is the question. and my answer is “i have no idea.” that’s the whole problem.
so for me, i would say i don’t have faith i have hope. i get tripped up a lot by the church vocab, because i didn’t grow up with it. and i feel like it leads to circular discussions and circular logic. but my understanding of the word “faith” is something i can’t say i have. but i’d hope that some of this whole god business is true…
Comment by bwan — August 3, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
“doesn’t it meet a dead end with or without grace? falling short is a fact of life, and dealing with falling short another part of being a man.”
sure, sure. without God in the picture first, the grace thing doesn’t matter much.
“but i’d hope that some of this whole god business is true…”
well, it’s a coin flip after all. 50/50 chance. not great gambling odds, but statistically gives God a better chance of existing than my marriage succeeding (i’m sure you’re getting sick of my churchy trite-isms, but i can’t resist, their too much fun). i grew up in the church, and (believe it or not) found it to be painfully irritating. so as soon as i could get out of the sight of my parents, i flipped the coin to the no God side. looked into lots of other stuff. at a certain point, i decided to flip it back. it seemed to me that finding out in the end that God actually did exist, and yet i chose to live and believe as if he didn’t was less interesting than living and believing like he did, and finding out, well, i guess the other option is just not finding out, right? i’ve placed my bets accordingly, you know, ’cause for me, if there’s even a slim chance of God existing, i’ll take it. which is maybe all it boils down to.
Comment by Andy — August 3, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes. not for everyone.
4. See above
5. Not as much as I should
Great questions
Comment by Joel — August 19, 2007 @ 12:29 am
1) Is there a God?
Yes.
2) Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
I believe he did.
3) Is getting married and/or having kids something I really believe is right for me, or even truly want to do? In other words, am I doing it just because I’m ’supposed’ to?
Yeah. It was the right thing. We waited a looong time to have kids because we wanted to be sure we were ready. Of course, you can never be FULLY ready for kids, but you know you can be do a little planning beforehand.
4) What brings me joy, comes naturally to me (is easy), and I would do for people whether or not they paid me?
Playing guitar, singing, hanging out and talking with people, reading, screwing around with computers and technology. Worship.
5) Do my actions show that I am truly concerned about anyone other than myself?
I think on good days they do. I’m certain that on those days I’m playing Playstation while I should be doing the dishes the answer would be “no”. But my boy was playing too…
Comment by steven wesley — October 1, 2007 @ 6:50 am