A Divisive Taboo

A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? – Acts 17: 18-19

Today’s Reading: Psalms 4-6; Acts 17:16-34

I really find this interesting. Paul is in Athens, preaching about Jesus in the marketplace and some Greek Philosophers stumble across him. They start off by saying “What is this babbler trying to say” but then transition to “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?”

I love this.

I honestly think that this is the ideal way to approach life. Why can’t we share our beliefs as well as our ideas?

Growing up I always heard that there were two things that we are not supposed to talk about at work: Religion and Politics. Call me crazy but these are the things that I enjoy talking about the most. I have found that when I have these conversations with people I build stronger bonds rather than bigger barriers between us. I enjoy hearing other people’s ideas and beliefs and sharing my own.

For the longest time I wondered why those topics were off limits and then I realized why. It is hard for us to separate faith from knowledge.

Here’s what I mean.

Most of the stuff that we think we know we actually believe. It is an important distinction to make. To be clear, just because we believe something but don’t know it for sure doesn’t mean that our beliefs are wrong. Maybe they are right. But when we understand that many of the fundamental things that we all believe cannot be proven as fact then it gives these conversations a different tone.

I once had a boss that was very conservative. I am liberal. One of the things that I enjoyed most about working for him were our political conversations. Every time we discussed a hot topic we gave each other the space to speak. We listened. We challenged each others ideas, not to destroy them, but to better understand. The purpose of the conversations was to learn, share our knowledge and beliefs, but not to judge each other.

What I learned from him is something that I have learned from many such discussions about values: we all want the same things in life. We all want security and prosperity. No one wants to wonder how we will get our next meal. No one wants to worry about shelter. We all try to live by a code that will provide for that security, that safety, that comfort. We all want to spend time with those that we love. We want to do work that makes us happy. We want the freedom to pursue that happiness.

He and I differed in some of the ways we thought best to obtain that happiness, that that was ok. We were able to learn from each other, and hopefully, both of us grew from the experience.

Yes I know that talking about these issues is a very delicate proposition, one not without risk. But if we challenge ourselves to share more of what matters to us, I think we will find that we have more in common than we thought. Without this understanding we will remain stuck in our destructive factions, blind to the fact that we all share a common human experience.

Communication is the first step toward understanding, and understand leads to peace. Ultimately peace is what we are all after anyway right?

Can't Truss It

When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. Acts 9:26-27

Today’s Reading: Job 14-16; Acts 9:22-43

Ohhhh Buddy.

You couldn’t have paid me to accept Paul into the fam if I was one of the original disciples.

No sir.

He was a major enemy of The Way. He was the main cat going after them, trying to persecute them into abandoning the faith. And now this Johnny come lately is all of the sudden trying to be on their team? Is he a spy? What are his motivations?

This man is not to be trusted.

It makes me wonder... What in the heck did he say to Barnabas to sell him on the fact that he was trustworthy? I imagine that he had to put in substantial work to get in his good graces. He’d have had to sweep the floors, do some heavy lifting, clean the kitchen…

Man, he’d have had to really humble himself for a cool minute.

Of course he was doing what he was supposed to do so God made a way for him to enter the fam; but oh buddy would my intellect have gotten in the way of accepting him.

It’s a good thing that we don’t just experience life through the prism of the mind. We have our physical senses, our emotions, and most importantly our spirits.

Our intellect tries to interpret the world based upon knowledge… and knowledge, by virtue of the fact that it focuses on the past, is dead. Is there anything that we “know” that still “is”?

Things like love, trust, courage, and hope may be supported by our intellect and knowledge but when you think about it, knowledge is not the foundation of these things.

Faith is.

The most important things in life are not known, they are lived. And to truly live is to believe.

It is through faith that we can activate the core of who we are and engage in the now. Without this faculty we are limited to experiencing life through the view of the past. We are limited to viewing life through what we think we know, rather than what actually is.

Living in the present is a tall task. After all, there is more comfort in the predictability of the past.

But once we realize that this predictability, this sense of control, is an illusion; we can be free to open our hearts and spirits to the present and all of the magic that it contains.

Even if in that present we are challenged to accept a person or thing that doesn’t seem worthy of our acceptance…