What a crazy weekend this has been! Not only do I have two midterms next week, but I've also had TWO birthday celebrations...my sister's 22nd birthday dinner in Columbia, and Mikey's youngest bro Luke's birthday party with the whole family the next day! Both were so fun...I am so blessed with great family! Then today, I headed to ATL with my parents to attend the last braves game of the season. Sadly, Mikey couldn't come because of the whole music minister thing mixed with the whole sunday morning services thing. But we updated him and definitely missed him being there with us. Altogether, it was a very fun, very wonderful, and VERY busy weekend. Here are some pics:
On the car ride home from GA, I had a really good conversation with my parents. I am extremely lucky to have two very smart, very loving parents, and we have a lot of great discussions about life and faith and everything really. One of the main things I got out of our conversation tonight was the importance of opposing opinions. Springing out of discussion on humanity, religion, and culture, I realized how vital it is to a healthy intellectual and faithful life to engage in conversation with people who have views different from my own. It is so easy to surround ourselves with people who think and act and value things just like we do. But that is unhealthy and unhelpful. Because our thoughts and reasonings stem from our personal experiences, our history, and our culture, none of us knows everything perfectly, and sometimes what we really need to discover the truth is to simply open our ears to what other people have to say. Of course, all that we hear should be taken with a grain of salt and not accepted unquestioningly. We should also pray and see what the Bible has to say, but we should also keep an open mind to advice from other people we respect, acknowledging their character and integrity. As human beings, we tend to want to do things our own way, so we also tend to ask questions of people we think will give us the answer we want to hear. But how much better must it be to learn and grow as a result of discussion and questioning! I truly believe that having a counsel of people with similar and opposing views is the best way to find the truth. We all have so much we could learn from one another! So let's stop shying away from healthy debate and discussion...if you have a question, shoot. Go ahead, make my day!
On the car ride home from GA, I had a really good conversation with my parents. I am extremely lucky to have two very smart, very loving parents, and we have a lot of great discussions about life and faith and everything really. One of the main things I got out of our conversation tonight was the importance of opposing opinions. Springing out of discussion on humanity, religion, and culture, I realized how vital it is to a healthy intellectual and faithful life to engage in conversation with people who have views different from my own. It is so easy to surround ourselves with people who think and act and value things just like we do. But that is unhealthy and unhelpful. Because our thoughts and reasonings stem from our personal experiences, our history, and our culture, none of us knows everything perfectly, and sometimes what we really need to discover the truth is to simply open our ears to what other people have to say. Of course, all that we hear should be taken with a grain of salt and not accepted unquestioningly. We should also pray and see what the Bible has to say, but we should also keep an open mind to advice from other people we respect, acknowledging their character and integrity. As human beings, we tend to want to do things our own way, so we also tend to ask questions of people we think will give us the answer we want to hear. But how much better must it be to learn and grow as a result of discussion and questioning! I truly believe that having a counsel of people with similar and opposing views is the best way to find the truth. We all have so much we could learn from one another! So let's stop shying away from healthy debate and discussion...if you have a question, shoot. Go ahead, make my day!
2 comments:
That really is true! I am all for healthy discussion (just don't fight with me, I'm very emotional... but we've talked about that ;D )! But really, I do agree. It does take an open mind to understand people and to get rid of biases. It's so amazing that God is powerful enough to speak differently to different people, yet His message and character never change!
If we know God's voice through time spent with Him, then His truth and His love will shine in the conversations and the questions. He will bless us in our pursuit of Him - just as the early church discussed and read with their Rabbis and their communities, we too need to gather and seek Him! Hi truth cannot be hidden and through our questions we may also bring light to other seekers! You are an awesome young lady - we are proud of you1
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