Carpe diem! It is an oft-repeated phrase which is commonly translated "seize the day." Usually it is heard in movies right before one character or another does something he or she was afraid to do before. Or perhaps more accurately, a character does something for which he or she lacked the courage to do before. It wouldn't require courage or a pep talk if some fear didn't still reside in the confines of his soul even as he faced his fear-whether it be to bare his heart to the woman he loves or stand up to the arch-villain that has vanquished him before.
It bears mention that the phrase is part of the longer Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – "seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow," which was written by the poet Horace. The longer phrase carries a much stronger meaning as it transcends the concept of simply "seizing the day" for it it's own sake but rather, because tomorrow makes no promises. Interestingly enough, Wikipedia contains this snippet and references Isaiah 22:13 ( But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink," you say, "for tomorrow we die!"), Corinthians 15:32 (If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.) and Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 ( 7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.) All three verses contain similar thoughts. We cannot know tomorrow so we are to live today.
In the light of the verses above, it is understandable that the phrase Carpe Diem is often labelled as "wordly" and at times, even "self-serving." In my opinion, that view is a simple one that fails to take into account the complexity of life. Listen to some Christians' interpretations and you might get the impression that we are drop everything and wait on God until we are clear that we are to do something. Or perhaps we shouldn't have any fun today because that is what people may do who don't have a hope for tomorrow. Perhaps we miss Solomon's words elsewhere in Ecclesiastes where he writes in chapter 2, " 24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." As I interpret that, we can only find satisfaction in our work if God gives it to us. The Puritanical/Ascetic view of life belongs in Scripture perhaps as much as the "prosperity gospel,' but I digress...
Don't mistake what I am saying here; I am not saying that we should live our lives seeking pleasure and fulfillment in carnal things and I am definitely not saying that there is no place to wait and discern God's will for out lives. We have no excuse in Scripture if our lives feel stuck or we feel that we are waiting without hope or purpose and there is not justification for gluttony.
What am I actually saying? I have been writing for awhile now and am in danger of missing my original point. Simply put, I believe that we are called to seize the say as Christians, but not for ourselves and for our own fulfillment but rather out of the hope for tomorrow that only can be realized in Him.
Of course that is all well and good to say but Satan has a lot to lose if Christians are living their lives to the fullest. He utilizes a barrage of techniques to divert us off course; passivity, the fear of failure or of rejection, busyness, selfishness, etc. many of us fail to move forward in our faith and in our lives because we are too passive.
A lot of Christians are taking the passive role and waiting for God to make it clear what they are to do in a neat and clean fashion. Perhaps they want Him to bring their spouse into their lives, find them someone to disciple or mentor or someone to disciple them, maybe even help them know the 'right' person to pray for and perhaps lead to Christ. Perhaps God has called them to wait, but I think that for many, the waiting has become their life rather than the joy in the day that the Lord has made. And perhaps many of us lack wisdom because we do not ask Him for it, or worse, we ask with the wrong motives. (james 4:3) God gladly gives wisdom to those who ask so perhaps we should own up to our responsibility if we are waiting for God to make the way to clear to us but we are not seeking Him. If we are waiting, we need to be "actively waiting;" doing God's will to the best of our ability no matter the relative importance or unimportance of the task at hand.
Fear is a powerful tool-both for motivating and destroying motivation. While the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7), those of us who are waiting in the wings because we fear making a mistake are not living the reality that God has not given us a spirit of fear (timidity), but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7). It is pretty late so I will have to continue this at a later time...
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Ramblings on love...
While I am not sure that Valentine's Day is as much about love as it is about commercialism and discrimination against flowers other than roses... In any case, I started this entry several weeks ago but I figured it was about time to release it to the world. (Or at least the few people who may actually read it-few of whom will probably have any idea what I am saying...)
Actually, this posting isn't really about Valentine's Day. It is about Love. Since the subject often leaves me confused, and frequently leaves me speechless I figured I would blog on it to see if I can make sense of anything. (though I realize that some of you may not believe that bit about my being speechless about something!). So that we start on the same page, I should note/admit that I have never been in love. I am not writing that because I am feeling sorry for myself (though that does happen at times) but rather because it serves as a sort of disclaimer. Admittedly, not having been in love myself should throw some doubt on what I am about to write on the subject. There is seldom any substitute for experience. Moving on, I have been re-reading The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis and the message at church a few weeks ago was a challenge to the Church of Ephesus who had lost their first love, so I have been thinking along these lines. Of course, in my typical way, my thoughts have wandered in various directions as well.
I am not saying that I have never loved anyone or felt love. Lest you think I am a more of a selfish wretch than I am, I do love my family and feel their love and I most assuredly have had, and do have, friends I love dearly and who love me. I do also love God, though given how little time I put into the relationship at times, it is very possible to question my devotion to Him as well. Although I believe that until I feel and experience God's Love, I can't truly love anyone else, I didn't really plan to try to address that in this entry.(That may be fodder for another blog entry at a later time.)
But more about love: I should make it clear that in my definition of love, I am not referring to crushes, including the butterflies that typically accompany interactions with women of interest, especially those I have had the pleasure of getting to know and in some cases, had the opportunity of building friendships. Beyond that, and based on my own experience, there is also a feeling that is more grounded in reality than the infatuation that typically accompanies a crush, but is not yet "being in love," -at least not as I would define it.
But back to my initial statement: "I have never been in love." Since I have written what I think it is not, it stands to reason that I should actually attempt to explain what I think it means to "be in love." Of course my definition of being in love may have very little grounding in reality. For someone who hasn't been in love to try to explain the feeling is kind of like someone who has never left their rural backwater hometown attempting to describe Times Square or Hong Kong. That said, I didn't grow up in a rural backwater and I have seen Times Square...in other words, I have seen some examples of Godly love in the lives and marriages of friends and family and that may give me some limited insight.
In trying to define what I believe love is, at least between a man and woman who are more than friends, I need to draw from my experiences that most closely approached love. While I have to admit that many of my interests over the years were more based on infatuation and did not, at least initially include the depth of respect and knowledge of the other person that is required for friendship, let alone the greater depth necessary for love, I think that some of the feelings I felt mirrored Love, if imperfectly and incompletely. There is a bit of love in the feeling that says, "You won't let me love you but I hope that you meet someone who is right for you and loves you like you deserve"-and means it. There is a bit of love in the feeling that allows you to see a woman at her worst yet gives grace anyway. There is a bit of love in the feeling that says "I want what is best for you-even if it means I won't ever see you again" and says the difficult things because they need to be said. There is a bit of love in the feeling that says, "you are beautiful, even if you can't see it and won't hear it from me." I have felt those things, as well as other feelings that I hesitate to put into words as I am not sure words would do them justice. Of course, in all but a few cases, it wasn't until I came clean with my feelings and the awkwardness passed that the relationships could mature into God-honoring friendships-some which lasted for several years and provided amazing opportunities to build up and encourage amazing women. I am grateful for the feelings anyway-regardless of the complications they caused at times.
Anyway, as I was saying, I believe that being in love is the overwhelming desire to spend your life with someone who you know and who knows you intimately (and I am not referring to knowing sexually here though sexual attraction will play a role) and who feels the same about you. But Love is far more than "being in love." Love that is based on a feeling will not last-it is like building a house on a foundation of ice. Ice is pretty strong but when things heat up, the house cannot stand. For love to be authentic, each person has to have seen the other in unlovable moments and there must be a solid friendship undergirding the entire thing. Of course, this is a very simple definition and I have left a lot out. Since love is more about action than it is about words, I think that is appropriate for now. His Love makes itself known tangibly in our lives if we have eyes to see it and I believe that love that is real does not confine or limit itself to words-even words written by poets!
Actually, this posting isn't really about Valentine's Day. It is about Love. Since the subject often leaves me confused, and frequently leaves me speechless I figured I would blog on it to see if I can make sense of anything. (though I realize that some of you may not believe that bit about my being speechless about something!). So that we start on the same page, I should note/admit that I have never been in love. I am not writing that because I am feeling sorry for myself (though that does happen at times) but rather because it serves as a sort of disclaimer. Admittedly, not having been in love myself should throw some doubt on what I am about to write on the subject. There is seldom any substitute for experience. Moving on, I have been re-reading The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis and the message at church a few weeks ago was a challenge to the Church of Ephesus who had lost their first love, so I have been thinking along these lines. Of course, in my typical way, my thoughts have wandered in various directions as well.
I am not saying that I have never loved anyone or felt love. Lest you think I am a more of a selfish wretch than I am, I do love my family and feel their love and I most assuredly have had, and do have, friends I love dearly and who love me. I do also love God, though given how little time I put into the relationship at times, it is very possible to question my devotion to Him as well. Although I believe that until I feel and experience God's Love, I can't truly love anyone else, I didn't really plan to try to address that in this entry.(That may be fodder for another blog entry at a later time.)
But more about love: I should make it clear that in my definition of love, I am not referring to crushes, including the butterflies that typically accompany interactions with women of interest, especially those I have had the pleasure of getting to know and in some cases, had the opportunity of building friendships. Beyond that, and based on my own experience, there is also a feeling that is more grounded in reality than the infatuation that typically accompanies a crush, but is not yet "being in love," -at least not as I would define it.
But back to my initial statement: "I have never been in love." Since I have written what I think it is not, it stands to reason that I should actually attempt to explain what I think it means to "be in love." Of course my definition of being in love may have very little grounding in reality. For someone who hasn't been in love to try to explain the feeling is kind of like someone who has never left their rural backwater hometown attempting to describe Times Square or Hong Kong. That said, I didn't grow up in a rural backwater and I have seen Times Square...in other words, I have seen some examples of Godly love in the lives and marriages of friends and family and that may give me some limited insight.
In trying to define what I believe love is, at least between a man and woman who are more than friends, I need to draw from my experiences that most closely approached love. While I have to admit that many of my interests over the years were more based on infatuation and did not, at least initially include the depth of respect and knowledge of the other person that is required for friendship, let alone the greater depth necessary for love, I think that some of the feelings I felt mirrored Love, if imperfectly and incompletely. There is a bit of love in the feeling that says, "You won't let me love you but I hope that you meet someone who is right for you and loves you like you deserve"-and means it. There is a bit of love in the feeling that allows you to see a woman at her worst yet gives grace anyway. There is a bit of love in the feeling that says "I want what is best for you-even if it means I won't ever see you again" and says the difficult things because they need to be said. There is a bit of love in the feeling that says, "you are beautiful, even if you can't see it and won't hear it from me." I have felt those things, as well as other feelings that I hesitate to put into words as I am not sure words would do them justice. Of course, in all but a few cases, it wasn't until I came clean with my feelings and the awkwardness passed that the relationships could mature into God-honoring friendships-some which lasted for several years and provided amazing opportunities to build up and encourage amazing women. I am grateful for the feelings anyway-regardless of the complications they caused at times.
Anyway, as I was saying, I believe that being in love is the overwhelming desire to spend your life with someone who you know and who knows you intimately (and I am not referring to knowing sexually here though sexual attraction will play a role) and who feels the same about you. But Love is far more than "being in love." Love that is based on a feeling will not last-it is like building a house on a foundation of ice. Ice is pretty strong but when things heat up, the house cannot stand. For love to be authentic, each person has to have seen the other in unlovable moments and there must be a solid friendship undergirding the entire thing. Of course, this is a very simple definition and I have left a lot out. Since love is more about action than it is about words, I think that is appropriate for now. His Love makes itself known tangibly in our lives if we have eyes to see it and I believe that love that is real does not confine or limit itself to words-even words written by poets!
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