FREEDOM GAINED THROUGH OBEDIENCE

A good example of the freedom gained through obedience is found in family life. Children need attention, money has to be gotten, my wife must be listened to even when I feel my resources drained. Obedience to these limits within the discipline of family life brings with it a certain freedom which is found in love. Love as a father and as a husband is deeper than an I have ever known, and I know that this has been made possible through the countless acts of obedience to familial limits that i have made over the years: doing this or that because I know that I have to as a father and as a husband. Love without obedience to these limits and rules is a shallow love, unable to really give except when it feels good to do so…. I have found that through the limits of obedience I grow beyond the confines of the self with its desires and traps.

(Brain Taylor, Spirituality for Everyday Living)

LIVE JOURNALING

VANITY AND NARCISSISM

Leo Tolstoy wrote,

“If one has no vanity in this life of ours, there is not sufficient reason for living.”

Hm, I am confused by this conviction. Does vanity not produce a sort of narcissism? Am I reading this wrong or is there something to this that I cannot yet see?

CAPITALISM BREEDS GREED?

I tripped upon this blog entry from a man that worked me pretty good last year with his book The Myth of a Christian Nation

He continues to throw me in the corner and pummel me.

Again, read a snippet of the entry and click on the link at the bottom if you want to read more.

“It’s hard to deny that capitalism is the best economic system around. It creates wealth far better than feudalism, communism, socialism or any other system one could name. But for all its advantages, capitalism has one major drawback that Kingdom people need to be concerned about: it needs

So it’s not surprising that people raised on capitalism tend to be greedy. We of course don’t think of ourselves as greedy, for it’s hard for fish to notice the water inside their own aquarium. But the evidence is all around us. people to stay perpetually hungry for more. If Americans as a whole ever followed Paul’s instruction to be content with basic food and clothing and not pursue wealth (1 Tim. 6:6-11), the system would come to a grinding halt. The undeniable truth is that capitalism runs on greed.” read more