"Everyone's telling you what to do and what's good for you. They don't want you to find your own answers. They want you to believe theirs." To find yourself, think for yourself. Socrates
Presently, I believe life is basically all about three things: (1) making choices, (2) building relationships, and (3) preparing for eternity. So, I was curious as to what Jordan might have to say about these topics and therefore searched YouTube this morning for video clips on making choices. I found two in which he basically said the following... When you are trying to make an important decision, do not merely weigh the costs vs the benefits of doing this as opposed to doing that. Consider also the pros vs the cons of opting to do nothing at all, given that the consequence(s) of this option might be far worse than either of your other two (or more) choices, such that it frees you up (makes you far more willing) to risk possibly making the wrong decision—since even that would be better than doing nothing at all! However, by making decisions that are on the side of truth vs decisions that are on the side of lies, you decide whether you are going to tilt the world a little bit more toward heaven or a little bit more toward hell. When you choose to move toward truth, everything comes together. But, you have to make the choice. You cannot shy away from the challenge.
If you're into such stuff, then that bucket on the head of yours, does not represent you in a fair way, since one day, theres a high possibility that it will be changed, - by a crown. Back to J.P. Man is back. Back from chaos. Woah, literally. & with the treasure.
Peterson states that it's responsibility—not happiness—that provides the meaning that sustains one through the vicissitudes of life. And while I agree with this, I think that such a view has a missing element…which is to say…hope. For when one has hope, one has yet another source or resource that can often enable one to endure even the worse of circumstances. For example, the Message Bible states that God will never let you down—never walk off and leave you. Or as the Amplified Bible puts it, God will never, under any circumstances, desert you, nor give you up or leave you without support, nor will He in any degree leave you helpless, assuredly not! The thought from Psalm 23:4, again in the Message Bible, is that even when I find myself in the valley of death, I'm not afraid because God is with me, walking by my side—the One who, by means of his Spirit working deeply and gently within me, can do far more than I could even imagine or guess or request in my wildest dreams, as paraphrased from the Message Bible. So, if one lives life not only with responsibility, with the knowledge that s/he is God's workmanship, created in the Son for the good works that God prepared before the foundation of the earth for that individual to fulfill; but also lives life in hope, knowing that God has plans for us, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future," then one has TWO powerful meaning-making insights to bolster and strengthen his or her spirits in those times when it is needed the most.
During this last Sunday's sermon, Pastor Bayless Conley of Cottonwood Church brought another verse of Scripture to my attention related to the above thought in the form of 1 Peter 4:19 from The Passion Translation Bible: "So then, those who suffer for following God's will should enfold their lives into the Creator, who will never fail them, and continue to always do what is right."
And here too....he calls the resurrection a myth, yet says he is starting to believe it, yet finds it terrifying to take that step. I truly hope and pray he comes to fully embracing Christ, because in taking that step, God takes away fear, because there is "there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus" Romans 8:1
Finally, the "old" Jordan Peterson is back. There are a few thoughts expressed in this video that I will want unpack (if I can) when I have the time.