Posted on by Abe Austin

Taking Accountability- Acknowledging Limitations

My Commitment and Influence)

In my last post I explained how I feel that I have given my attention to social media that escalates tension and promotes an “us vs them” mentality. I have been more likely to click on a video because the thumbnail or title promised outrage and blame. And in so doing, I have signaled to the algorithms that I, and people like me, want to engage with this sort of content, want to consume it, and want to be emotionally charged by it. And it’s not hard to see how that drives division, animosity, and eventually violent ideation in the most impressionable of minds.

And so, with yesterday’s post I made a commitment that I was going to stop engaging in this cycle of escalation and tension. I have gone through all of my subscriptions and purged the voices that were most divisive and angry. I am resolving to lessen their reach by at least one viewer, and by that take accountability for my own, little slice of the murder of Charlie Kirk.

Limited Scope)

I think that that conclusion is pragmatic and realistic. Of course, to be honest, it has its limitations. It is not as though that I am equally responsible for the murder of Charlie Kirk as some other people are, or that I have the power within me to change everything wrong that led to his murder. This moment of introspection wasn’t about convincing myself that I’m guilty of his murder or making it my sole responsibility to make sure something like that never happens again. That would not be realistic. This moment was about seeing how I am guilty of some things, and how those parts are in my power to change.

This isn’t about changing everything; it’s about changing me. And that might not seem important from the scope of the world, but it is important from the scope of me. My own world and my own soul will be better for making this change, and right now that’s what I want to focus on.

Also, who knows. I’ve seen in the past where I’ve made changes to myself and then seen parallel shifts happening in the world at large. I actually do believe that our spirits are bigger than we think, and that they pull on more strands than we know, and one person making a change for himself can create unseen ripples in the world around him.

More than anything, though, I think the real importance of making a personal change comes down to this: the world is much bigger than I am and requires much more effort to be moved, so if I won’t find the will to change just myself, then obviously the world won’t either. Or in other words, maybe the world will stay the same even if I change, but how can the world ever change, if I’m still staying the same?

Posted on by Abe Austin

God Reaching for God

God is the standard to strive for, but He is also the activating agent that makes the striving possible. God lives outside of us, but also part of Him lives inside of us. Thus, it is God that reaches for God and God that raises God, and we simply are pulled along by the part of Him that is inside us.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 35:29

29 The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

Over the last three days we read how every common man and woman, and every ruler had the opportunity to combine their various talents and resources to the building of the temple. No one was compelled to, but anyone whose heart was so moved would have a way that they could volunteer for this great work.

I mentioned earlier that God would have had the omniscience to know whether His people would bring forth sufficiently to fulfill His vision, but also, He would have had access to their hearts, being able to whisper into those that were devoted to Him, inspiring them to bring what they had. Thus, even as the people brought what parts that they could, they were doing so with the Lord burning in their bosom.

This is an important theme in the Bible, that God not only sets the standard, but inspires and empowers the fulfillment of it. He calls us to righteousness, then works within our hearts to help us live so, as well as makes atonement for when we fall short. It is not just God reaching from one side and man from the other to meet in the middle, it is God reaching from both sides, and man joining in on one half of that.