I am not an optimist about the future. I am full of hope. They are not the same.
An optimist tends to look at the overall picture and feel like everything is going to come out roses. If it doesn’t come out roses, it will at least come out carnations. If it doesn’t come out carnations it will come out daisies, and if not daisies at least the dandelions will bloom. An optimist ignores the big picture and the little details, but believes in his heart that his fellow citizens are good decent people and ultimately we do the right thing.
Hope is different. I am perfectly aware of human nature. I know what my fellow citizens are like and what they want. I acknowledge that ever increasing number of people are just in it for themselves. I am a pessimist when I consider the world at large. The reason I live in hope is because my focus is not on society, my hope is in God.
Let me give you an example involving the fickle nature of automobiles. I do not expect to go through life with no flat tires or mechanical failures. They happen. What I have noticed is that God seems to hold them off until the best possible moment . Now what is the best possible moment to have a ball joint collapse and your car become immobile? Mine happened in a wide city street with good visibility behind me and being able to scrape over to the curb. The car was going nowhere, but I probably wasn’t going to get rear ended. I also didn’t spin out of control going 60 miles an hour and hit someone else head on. I had been driving on roads like that just the day before, up and down hills with low visibility, real curves, very little shoulder and pushing the speed limit. My car fell apart in the neighborhood.
Will God always make it happen that way? I have no guarantee, but I do have a hope. Is my hope in the results of an election? Do I believe that people elected will actually carry through on what they promised? The odds are against it, but God is quite capable of allowing that little ball on the roulette wheel to stop on the house.
homo unius libri
Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship
Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship
This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.
Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.
This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.
Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.
Opus 2026-495: Defining Attitudes
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