On Being Purged...
I deserve whatever happens to me.
One of the few things that is always true with me...is that I believe....at the core of my being....that we are responsible for the experiences that we have, and the lives that we live. It may seem obvious--but I don't think that everyone shares this idea with me. We are responsible for our own destiny, in nearly every way imaginable...the authors of what happens to us, good, bad, annoying, and otherwise. The Universe[1] delivers the experiences that we demand of it, and nothing more or less. We are not participants on some ride that we have little influence over, but the authors of what happens to us, both good and bad.
Other people do not see things this way. I read the blogs, I hear conversations between people victimizing themselves, somehow inoculating themselves from having to take responsibility for this life. A spouse falls out of love (because the other spouse does such awful things); someone can't get a job (because they didn't get a good chance). Someone is forced to have an abortion (because of George Bush).
This view cheats us all out of the joy of life. Why live...if we're victims, living some type of life that we can't control, explain, or influence? If the outcome is predetermined, then why bother with the fight? Unpredictable, inconvenient things happen all the time to us. The author's original blog, genuinechris was recently suspended after four years of writing, and four years of effort. To be sure, the grounds that this blog was suspended were dubious at best--but that doesn't matter. I do hold out the hope that I can have the journal restored --but that doesn't matter either. If it's not to be, I'm okay with that, too.
While I'm a Christian...and I believe that we live under a gracious God...I also believe...that the things we do are interrelated. Living under Grace...is a powerful concept, and it mostly affects the Afterlife[2]. If we sew seeds of discord, discontent, and vileness, that's what we reap. The universe[1] was teaching me a lesson here. It's much easier to take than...being felled by an idiot.
It wasn't then, that idiot, that felled me. It was my hubris, my pride, my bloviate prose, or even maybe, me being harsh with the lovely areawoman when she didn't deserve it. Or maybe, my focus on attention whoring behavior, and the cessation of the focus on using this journal to share what I know and what works with 100 or so people that read me.
I had begun to bore and irritate even myself, and it was good to have a forced break from this powerful and addictive toy.
I am thankful for everything that happens to me--with few exceptions. A clean sheet of notebook paper is what I've been handed, and I have both the time and the inclination to create something magical and wonderful....and a chance to get rid of the last vestiges of my trollish online personality.
Ah, Universe, I thank you again.
[1] By the universe, the author means that it can be God, Buddha, the FSM...whatever other concepts exist for you. I believe in "God the Watchmaker," a passive God that sets the figures in motion and creates (relatively) just rules for the world. I believe that bad things happen...but each day is a gift, and even suffering can be for the best. I do also believe in Christ, and salvation, but we'll get more into that in a later post. Stick around.
[2] I will soon--in my queue--post a treatise on my faith and its application in life. Suffice it to say that I am truly aghast at the idea that Christianity mostly is concerned with the legality of Gay Marriage, the legality of Abortion, Terry Schiavo's fate, and other peripheral issues. He who is without sin...cast the first stone. I know that I am unworthy to even think about casting a stone.
One of the few things that is always true with me...is that I believe....at the core of my being....that we are responsible for the experiences that we have, and the lives that we live. It may seem obvious--but I don't think that everyone shares this idea with me. We are responsible for our own destiny, in nearly every way imaginable...the authors of what happens to us, good, bad, annoying, and otherwise. The Universe[1] delivers the experiences that we demand of it, and nothing more or less. We are not participants on some ride that we have little influence over, but the authors of what happens to us, both good and bad.
Other people do not see things this way. I read the blogs, I hear conversations between people victimizing themselves, somehow inoculating themselves from having to take responsibility for this life. A spouse falls out of love (because the other spouse does such awful things); someone can't get a job (because they didn't get a good chance). Someone is forced to have an abortion (because of George Bush).
This view cheats us all out of the joy of life. Why live...if we're victims, living some type of life that we can't control, explain, or influence? If the outcome is predetermined, then why bother with the fight? Unpredictable, inconvenient things happen all the time to us. The author's original blog, genuinechris was recently suspended after four years of writing, and four years of effort. To be sure, the grounds that this blog was suspended were dubious at best--but that doesn't matter. I do hold out the hope that I can have the journal restored --but that doesn't matter either. If it's not to be, I'm okay with that, too.
While I'm a Christian...and I believe that we live under a gracious God...I also believe...that the things we do are interrelated. Living under Grace...is a powerful concept, and it mostly affects the Afterlife[2]. If we sew seeds of discord, discontent, and vileness, that's what we reap. The universe[1] was teaching me a lesson here. It's much easier to take than...being felled by an idiot.
It wasn't then, that idiot, that felled me. It was my hubris, my pride, my bloviate prose, or even maybe, me being harsh with the lovely areawoman when she didn't deserve it. Or maybe, my focus on attention whoring behavior, and the cessation of the focus on using this journal to share what I know and what works with 100 or so people that read me.
I had begun to bore and irritate even myself, and it was good to have a forced break from this powerful and addictive toy.
I am thankful for everything that happens to me--with few exceptions. A clean sheet of notebook paper is what I've been handed, and I have both the time and the inclination to create something magical and wonderful....and a chance to get rid of the last vestiges of my trollish online personality.
Ah, Universe, I thank you again.
[1] By the universe, the author means that it can be God, Buddha, the FSM...whatever other concepts exist for you. I believe in "God the Watchmaker," a passive God that sets the figures in motion and creates (relatively) just rules for the world. I believe that bad things happen...but each day is a gift, and even suffering can be for the best. I do also believe in Christ, and salvation, but we'll get more into that in a later post. Stick around.
[2] I will soon--in my queue--post a treatise on my faith and its application in life. Suffice it to say that I am truly aghast at the idea that Christianity mostly is concerned with the legality of Gay Marriage, the legality of Abortion, Terry Schiavo's fate, and other peripheral issues. He who is without sin...cast the first stone. I know that I am unworthy to even think about casting a stone.