Questions

 

Let’s get real.  I’m probably not going to deal with the question, “Is there a God?” That one is self-evident.

Ain’t no way that all of this is an accident. Yes, the grammar is purposely butchered for effect.

This whole something from nothing thing just really isn’t a thing. You want to believe in the Big Bang theory but can’t answer the question of who set off the big bang.

I don’t expect to spend much time on that. We might talk about intelligent design because the word God doesn’t fit comfortably into our modern lexicon, but really, most people understand at a core level, that creation—a word that presupposes a creator—didn’t just happen one day.

So what then?

How about what does God expect from me? That’s something that I expect to encounter more frequently.

Why do I exist? Do I have a purpose? Why am I different from others? Why am I like others?

What is life all about?

If you are asking these questions, guess what? You are seeking God. He made you with purpose.

Mark Twain once said that the two most important days in your life are the day that you were born and the day you find out why. That’s not biblical but it’s not in conflict with the Bible. It expounds upon a simple truth.

God made you with purpose. There is some exploration to be done there. Don’t be afraid to explore.

What do explorers have in common. They leave what is familiar for what is not. They leave their comfort zones in search of something new or unknown to this point. They seek.

So, what might I encounter in my home visits?

What about the heaven and hell question? That will surely come up.  I expect many challenges along those lines.

Why?

Those of us who made neither heaven nor hell seem to have a lot of personal principles that should apply to either or both.

Neither is of our making, but we want to influence the design and the rules and the outcomes to fit—here it comes—our comfort zones.

How much of what we believe do we believe because we are comfortable with it? That’s a life-long question.

These follow:

Are we willing to learn?

Are we teachable?

Is it possible that someone knows more than I do? I hope so or life is really boring if we know everything from the start. Even teenagers realize at some point that they don’t know everything.

Here is a big one. When we learn something new and it doesn't fit with what we already believe, can we be changed?

Why is that one a big one? We wrestle with it all of our lives. Sometimes, we know that we need to change something, but we don’t. We just don’t. We stay the same.

We remain unchanged when the evidence tells us that change is required to get better. Better what?

Results.

Better jobs.

Better cars or houses.

Better education for our children.

Better golf scores.

Better thinking.

Better control over our emotions.

More peace.

More joy.

More opportunities.

More challenges.

More hope.

More money.

More stuff.

Or, sometimes, it’s less money, less stuff, and less stress.

Here is a word that I hope everyone comes to embrace. The word is efficacy.

It means the power to effect (achieve) desired changes or results. It’s the power to put into practice the things that we know to do or not to do.

They say—that’s a popular group to quote—they say that knowledge is power. There’s an inkling of truth there, but true power lies in the application of that knowledge.

I know what to do to hit a 100 mph fastball but I doubt that I will put in the effort to play in the majors.

It’s cliché time. One definition of insanity is to do the same things over and over and expect to get different results.

Here’s one a bit more refined. That is, it takes some thinking. Every system produces exactly what it is designed to produce. That’s an Edwards Demming quote, but it hits the target.

If your system produces three wheeled shopping carts, that’s what it is designed to do. The fact that you needed four wheeled shopping carts is important to you but not the system in place. The system produces what it’s designed to produce.

If you want different results, you must change the system.

How about this one? Does practice make perfect?

No!

Perfect practice makes perfect. Once upon a time I enjoyed playing golf. I was decent. I had a 12 handicap. That’s better than bogey golf but nothing to brag about.

I wanted to get better, so I practiced. I did my range time, but I kept practicing the same imperfect swing.

I perfected an imperfect swing. The PGA tour still hasn’t called me to play in the Masters.

So what’s the point of all of this exploring if we don’t put what we learn into practice?

It’s about the same as binge watching something on Netflix or Prime. It consumed our time, might have entertained us for a while, but in the end, we are no better for it.

More questions?

How about right and wrong?  There is no right and wrong without some moral authority. Let’s go ahead and say God.

For there to be moral authority that is derived from a cosmic accident is absurd.  Right and wrong accidentally came into existence?

I’m going to use a highly theological phrase here. That dog don’t hunt! Put whatever crazy meme face that you want on that but that’s just absurd.

Do you know what else it is crazy. That is exactly the moral authority that the world craves. For where it is derived from absurdity, it can be altered at will.

The world cries out for whatever people are doing that they want to keep doing to be the moral or right thing to do. It doesn’t make sense but that’s the point.

Here’s the logic. If the premise is false, you can prove anything that follows to be true. It won’t be true, but with a false premise, you can make it look true. We can make an argument so convincing that it even fools ourselves and we know it to be false.

There’s a quote, often memed, that goes like this.

Courage is knowing that this is going to hurt and doing it anyway.

Stupidity is the same. That’s why life is tough.

Knowing the truth doesn’t make life any easier but it does make our decisions easier. Do the right thing.

It’s the pay me now or pay me later thing.

Courage and comfort are often, perhaps always, in conflict.

So, start thinking about your life, the lives of your children, why you are here, and what is ahead of you.

Get ready to explore. Start getting your questions together, then invite me over.

We will explore without judgment from me.

We will apply sound thinking skills.

We will explore our current models or paradigms.

We will see what God has to say on the matter.

We will have more questions than answers when we finish.

We may want to continue this with another visit.

We may want to include others in the discussion.

We may have things to think about, pray about, try out, or eliminate from our lives.

We will be enriched by the discussion.

Get in touch and we will set a date.

Tomspence0302@gmail.com