Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Boredom

I've been bored lately. I've had my own philosophy of boredom in the past, but I haven't thought about it in a while.

Basically, people don't like being bored, and this causes us to seek to not be bored. People do this in various ways; some by playing silly games, like solitaire, others by reading and increasing the knowledge they have in order to use it for the good of mankind. So why do we not want to be bored? What is so bad about sitting and doing absolutely nothing? I mean, in my own experience, having absolutely nothing to do is torturous. If our goal in life was simply to exist, to survive, this wouldn't be such a horrible experience; however we have this incredible desire to entertain ourselves, or be entertained. Or maybe we simply want time to go faster, so we don't have to spend as much time doing nothing. But ultimately, this is so we will reach a time where we'll have something to do, something enjoyable.. entertainment.

Although entertainment is what we seem to seek; it can't possibly be our main goal, since in and of itself it serves no purpose other than to cause us pleasure. So, there must be something else we seek, something that must also cause us pleasure, but also serves some higher purpose. If you're a Christian, then you believe that man's purpose is to know and love God and to live in eternal bliss worshipping Him in heaven. This seems to fit with what we're looking for, because it serves a higher purpose, serving the Almighty. And it causes us, or should cause us, immense pleasure.

So there we go, but it's more complicated isn't it.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Choices

Happiness is something we all want. It's something that all of us should want for those around us. However, that doesn't always happen. Due to the damaged condition of our hearts, we sometimes choose to be selfish at the expense of others. In the decisions we make there are usually only two choices; the choice to love, and the choice, well, to not love. Happiness is good and should be sought, but never at the expense of holiness. We should seek God always even when it makes us unhappy, and this includes being charitable to others. In other words, we should seek to make others happy, unless it interferes with their becoming holy, which in turn makes us holy, even though it may very well make us unhappy. Once we get this down, the formula becomes simplified; love everyone always.

So why did this topic come up? Well, basically, because things have been running very smoothly for me in a certain area. I am astounded by the amount of love and trust that I find in others. So far I haven't really messed up, and neither has anyone else from what I can tell. Basically, things go well when people do what they're supposed to do. It's a remarkable concept.