Everyone’s faith looks beautiful before it has been tried
But at some point, each must prove whether it is actually useful
Thus, all faiths must be strained, and many of them broken,
To find beauty that can also hold true
Faith Tried
Unrealized Potential
Unspent things have no value
Dollars, thoughts, effort
They are only potential until they are given away
Life itself is only idleness
Until it is offered for something greater
It finds it value in being sacrificed
Moral Growth and Decline
If we think that people hundreds of years ago had morally despicable views, and that now we have a better view of the truth, we ought to consider why. What beliefs and values did our forefathers foster that led them to become more moral, leading to where we are now?
And if we are now prying those beliefs and values from the public square, if we are rejecting the faith of the very people who made the world a better place, what do we expect to happen to our morality in the next hundred years?
Laws of the Heart
The laws of the land may be important
But the laws of the heart even more so
Changing Behavior
Changing behavior
Without changing the heart
Is building new structure
On a crumbling foundation
Choose Your Conviction
People, as a general rule, don’t choose their beliefs
They give their core conviction to a single, ultimate Being
Or Philosophy
Or Cause
And then their beliefs are given to them by that source
So, choose your core conviction wisely
The Greatness of the Task
Sometimes, it isn’t the greatness of the task that you do
It’s the greatness of the opposition you overcame to do it
A Lust for Savagery
Everyone claims that they long for peace
But then see how they crave contention with the “other side”
And even cheer for acts of violence against them.
They are not open about their lust for savagery
They are restrained only by the need to maintain appearances.
But one day, they will not feel that restraint any longer
And then the true terrors will begin.
Relationship with the Ideal
All people fail us. At one point or another, each person betrays the bond that they have made with us. This is not an excuse to cut off our relationships, though. It is still right and prudent to invest in people and relationships. But to protect our soul against heartbreak, we must also develop even stronger bonds to the ideal and the transcendent, which will never fail us. Just as we have a relationship with people, we can, and must, have a relationship with each of the virtues. And then we remain committed to the relationship, not just for the person, but for the ideal’s sake.
So,
Become married to the ideal of marriage
Begin a romance with romance
Be a friend of friendship
Fall in love with love
And be loyal to loyalty
Stop Trying to Change the World
Stop trying to change the world. When people use that term today, all they mean is finding fault elsewhere and making others change.
Which doesn’t work, because they are doing the same thing, finding fault in you, and trying to make you change.
And in this cycle no one actually changes. They only become more entrenched.
So, stop trying to change the world.
Just change yourself.
Spiritual Wanderings 