(no subject)
So, I'm reading a book called Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality.
Yes, I'm actually going to finish it this time. It's actually really good. It's almost like I wrote this book. Don Miller is coming from the same place as me, and he's having the same realizations that I'm having. God was always a tricky subject for me because I never really knew any Shepards, and I wanted God to have better qualities than my own father (yet, I still love and admire my father). I don't want God to be magic, because magic is usually just tricks/illusions/a man behind a curtain. I'm only 30 pages into this book, and it has already addressed all of these things.
Here are some great quotes:
"I started to sin about the time I turned ten, although it could have been earlier, but ten is about the age a boys starts to sin, so I am sure it was in there somewhere. Girls begin to sin when they are twenty-three or something, but they do life much softer by their very nature and so need less of a run at things."
"I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man's mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God."
"...we could change our buying habits, elect socially conscious representatives and that sort of thing, but I honestly don't believe we will be solving the greater human conflict with our efforts. The problem is not a certain type of legislation or even a certain politician; the problem is the same that it has always been. I am the problem." He goes on to say that we should still be socially conscious, but we can't expect to change anything if we aren't changing ourselves. If you want government to change its spending habits and buying habits, you must first stop caring about yourself. A lot of "socially conscious" people are that way because they want to be seen that way. They actually care, yes, but really, most people care. A lot of people just don't do anything about it. It's hard to realize, but this is true in a lot of cases
"Do I want social justice for the oppressed, or do I just want to be known as socially active person? I spend 95 percent of my time thinking about myself anyway. I don't have to watch the evening news to see that the world is bad, I only have to look at myself. I am not browbeating myself here; I am only saying that true change...would have to start with the individual. I was the very problem I was protesting. I wanted to make a sign that read, 'I AM THE PROBLEM!'"
Yes, I'm actually going to finish it this time. It's actually really good. It's almost like I wrote this book. Don Miller is coming from the same place as me, and he's having the same realizations that I'm having. God was always a tricky subject for me because I never really knew any Shepards, and I wanted God to have better qualities than my own father (yet, I still love and admire my father). I don't want God to be magic, because magic is usually just tricks/illusions/a man behind a curtain. I'm only 30 pages into this book, and it has already addressed all of these things.
Here are some great quotes:
"I started to sin about the time I turned ten, although it could have been earlier, but ten is about the age a boys starts to sin, so I am sure it was in there somewhere. Girls begin to sin when they are twenty-three or something, but they do life much softer by their very nature and so need less of a run at things."
"I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man's mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God."
"...we could change our buying habits, elect socially conscious representatives and that sort of thing, but I honestly don't believe we will be solving the greater human conflict with our efforts. The problem is not a certain type of legislation or even a certain politician; the problem is the same that it has always been. I am the problem." He goes on to say that we should still be socially conscious, but we can't expect to change anything if we aren't changing ourselves. If you want government to change its spending habits and buying habits, you must first stop caring about yourself. A lot of "socially conscious" people are that way because they want to be seen that way. They actually care, yes, but really, most people care. A lot of people just don't do anything about it. It's hard to realize, but this is true in a lot of cases
"Do I want social justice for the oppressed, or do I just want to be known as socially active person? I spend 95 percent of my time thinking about myself anyway. I don't have to watch the evening news to see that the world is bad, I only have to look at myself. I am not browbeating myself here; I am only saying that true change...would have to start with the individual. I was the very problem I was protesting. I wanted to make a sign that read, 'I AM THE PROBLEM!'"