Liberty University Commencement Address

I attended the commencement address at Liberty University. I thought Newt did a great job speaking. Something about this speech was pointed out to me but that will be a topic of another post.

Here is the address found at

http://newt.org/backpage.asp?art=4447

Jerry Falwell, Jr., Jonathan Falwell, Dr. Godwin, Provost Rist, members of the Board, faculty, administrators, distinguished guests, and, most of all, the Graduating Class of 2007. As I look out upon you I am deeply grateful to Dr. Falwell for inviting me to come and bear witness to our need to rediscover God in America. It is in response to his call that I ask you to hear this witness.

We gather on a day like no other in the history of Liberty University. We gather to honor the Class of 2007. Congratulations, one and all! You have worked for years to arrive at this day, and you and your parents can take justifiable pride in all of your achievements. But as we celebrate, we are all mindful of the seat of honor that is empty this beautiful Spring morning.

Dr. Jerry Falwell, our dear friend, has been called home to be with the Lord.

With heavy heart, I offer my condolences to Macel, his wife of 49 years; to his three children, Jerry Jr., Jonathan, and Jeannie; to his eight grandchildren; to his many, many friends, including the students and graduates assembled here; and to this institution, which he founded, nurtured, and guided for nearly four decades.

When we consider Dr. Falwell’s many achievements, we can confidently say, as was written two thousand years ago by Matthew: Well done, good and faithful servant, well done. And as friends and family gather this week to bid Jerry farewell, let us trust in the Lord that, some glorious day, we shall see him once more, and as Revelation reminds us, God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes

"My heart," Jerry once said, "was burning to serve Christ ... I knew nothing would ever be the same again."

He was never the same again—and neither were we.

The image of a heart, enflamed with a desire to serve God, calls to mind the words of our Lord at the Sermon on the Mount: "Do not light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, that it may give light to the whole house".

Jerry Falwell was a man of courage. A servant leader of God, he lived his faith without hesitation or fear. Not once did he consider lighting a lamp, and hiding it under a bushel. No: he placed his lamp upon a stand, where it gave light to the whole house.

One of Dr. Falwell’s favorite scripture verses was from the second chapter of Habakkuk: “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

And what a vision it was …and remains for Liberty. A Christian institution of education providing preschool, kindergarten, elementary, high school, liberal arts university, graduate schools, seminary, law school, engineering school, and medical school.

The engineering school starts this fall and the medical school in five years.

And today, Liberty graduates its first fifty students of law.

The vision of Dr. Falwell was more than he could accomplish in his lifetime. We know that he had much more planned for Liberty, but like him we can be confident in the scriptures’ promise that though the vision is for His appointed time, it will surely come.

All his life, Dr. Jerry Falwell bore witness to the Truth, secure in the promise that the Truth will make us free.

A man of deep wisdom, he understood something quite profound, something that too many people today would rather not acknowledge. What he understood was the deep resonance between the demands of his faith and the demands of his nation. He saw that as the Bible requires Christians to bear witness to the Truth, so too does the Declaration of Independence require Americans to bear witness to certain self-evident truths.

To be sure, the Truth of the Bible is not identical with the truths of the Declaration. But the two orders of truth do overlap, and where they overlap, they powerfully reinforce each other. Indeed, the Declaration assumes many of the central teachings of the Bible.

When our Declaration of Independence asserts “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”, it makes some key assumptions.

It assumes that God is sovereign over the universe.

It assumes that God created man.

And it assumes that man must obey an order of justice which God Himself has instituted.

That order of justice requires all men to honor each other's natural rights, because these rights are the unalienable endowment of the Almighty. When someone violates the rights of another they are not merely breaking the law. They are violating God’s grant of protection. These are the truths of the Declaration of Independence, and they reflect the Truth of the Bible.

They are truths to which we must bear witness. They are the lamps which we must keep alight before our neighbors and before the world. These are the lamps which must be kept upon their stands.

We have relied upon these truths in our times of crisis; they have been the lights that guided us through our darkest hours.

In one of the America’s most difficult periods, as the nation plunged headlong towards civil war, Abraham Lincoln recalled the basic assertion of the Declaration, that "nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows."

82 years later, while the flames of war spread across Europe and the Pacific, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote that "Our modern democratic way of life has its deepest roots in our great common religious tradition, which for ages past has taught to civilized mankind the dignity of the human being, his equality before God, and his responsibility in the making of a better and fairer world."

FDR, the greatest Democratic President of the 20th century, believed in good and evil and believed his generation faced a war between Christianity and paganism.

President Roosevelt understood how hard it can be to defeat evil. On D-Day, the 6th of June, 1944 as hundreds of thousands of young Americans risked their lives to defeat evil, FDR went on national radio to lead the nation in prayer.

He said these words in prayer and I take the time to recite them in their entirety today and invite all to listen in prayerful reflection as we consider our own young Americans – our sons and daughters, our neighbors in harm’s way around the world. Listen how FDR spoke of the Greatest Generation as it launched its mightiest battle:

“My Fellow Americans:

“Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

“And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

“Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

“Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

“They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

“They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

“For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

“Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

“And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

“Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

“Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

“And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

“And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

“With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

“Thy will be done, Almighty God.

“Amen.

[PAUSE]

Since our schools so often fail to teach the full nature of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, it would be in the spirit of Dr. Falwell’s lifetime work to ask that every radio station on June 6, D-Day, to play the full national radio prayer of FDR and remind Americans that we can be united in the face of evil, we can seek God’s guidance for America, we can support our young men and women in uniform who risk their lives, and we can be determined to defeat evil.

That project would be a living extension of Jerry Falwell’s commitment to ensure that all Americans understood that we are a nation founded and sustained by our Creator.

FDR knew this truth, as did Lincoln and Washington before him.

In our hours of desperation, both as individuals and as a country we return to our founding truths, time and again.

Even today, these truths continue to sustain and guide us. In this age we face the irreconcilable wing of Islam, an enemy who does not believe that God created all men equal by right. According to their evil ideology, the Islamist believes that justice is only owed to fellow Islamists—while the rest of humanity (even fellow Muslims) has no rights.

The American believes that all men and women —all—have equal rights, because that is the will of the Almighty and it is God that endows them. Indeed, we believe that no person stamped in the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, degraded, and imbruted by its fellows.

Just as with the Nazis and the Communists, darkness is again falling across the earth, and it is again the calling of America to light her moral lamps, and place them out, for all the nations to see.

Today, however, we face an additional difficulty. We are accustomed to having the truths of the Declaration challenged from without.

But what is new, is that for the first time in our history, those truths are now being challenged from within. A growing culture of radical secularism declares that the nation cannot publicly profess the truths on which it was founded. We are told that our public schools cannot invoke the Creator, nor proclaim the natural law, nor profess the God-given equality of human rights.

In hostility to American history, the radical secularist insists that religious belief is inherently divisive, and that public debate can only proceed on secular terms when religious belief is excluded.

In this contorted logic, the public square becomes more welcoming to the extent that it strips away and banishes all religious symbols and language.

Unfortunately, these false principles of secular absolutism have deeply penetrated the legal establishment. It is called upon to justify all sorts of judicial destruction. In New Jersey, school officials prevented a student from reading to the class his favorite story, because it came from the Bible. In Pennsylvania, a teacher's assistant was suspended because she wore a necklace with a cross. And in California, the nation's most persistent secularist has renewed his crusade to strike the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.

To his great credit, Rev. Falwell decided to step forward publicly and counter the outrageous intolerance of the secular absolutists. This was a difficult decision. Early in his ministry, Rev. Falwell was reluctant to be involved with politics. But he changed his mind. He later explained that “I never thought the government would go so far afield…I misjudged the quality of government we have.”

Jerry Falwell’s heart "was burning to serve Christ” in this way. And because of his courage, America is not the same.

When Ronald Reagan spoke of a shining city on a hill, we know it was the servant leaders of God, and God’s people whom they served, who were among the brightest beacons, not only here on Liberty mountain but across the land.

Look around you and you know that they shine brightly today.

Drawing strength from this institution and others like it, and most especially from the life model of Dr. Jerry Falwell and other servant leaders, they will shine still brighter tomorrow.

Jerry Falwell understood that the relentless efforts to drive God from public life would inevitably affect our respect for life itself. It would pressure believers to hide their lamps beneath a bushel. Jerry refused. He would not be passive. He would not be ashamed. He would not be cowed. Instead, he would bear witness. And he would act on those convictions.

And he was absolutely correct to do so. For three reasons.

First of all, because basic fairness demands that religious believers deserve a chance to be heard. This is a democracy. We are supposed to invite all persons and all parties to the public debate. It is wrong to single out those who believe in God for discrimination. Yet today it is impossible to miss the discrimination against religious believers.

We often hear the need to celebrate free secular and artistic expression—but rarely for religious expression.

Too often, the courts have been biased against religious believers. This anti-religious bias must end.

Second, we would all benefit from reflecting on the wisdom of the Founding Fathers. The Founders considered religion a great benefit to society. They had a very straightforward belief that the purpose of government was the protection of liberty, and that the maintenance of liberty inevitably required virtue among its citizens. The “pursuit of Happiness” was actually a Scottish enlightenment phrase meaning virtue and wisdom.

And if virtue was to survive in the American experiment, it would require “true religion”, which was that religion which cultivates the virtues necessary to the protection of liberty.

Implicit within this vision of the Founding Fathers is a pluralistic sensibility. Any true religion would be therefore deserving of the respect of the government, which would include the freedom to express in public the moral principles of such a true religion.

Constitutional self-government requires personal self-government; the more the government can rely on its citizens, the less it will need to govern them because they will govern themselves.

This belief that religion was an indispensable support of republican government was to be found throughout the founding generation.

Its strongest and best statement is to be found in George Washington's "Farewell Address". He said:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens."

Washington's words are as true today as they were 210 years ago.

We must recognize that the benefits of these indispensable supports cited by Washington accrue to Americans not just of one particular faith, but of all faiths, and all people of goodwill, religious or not. Washington and the other Founding Fathers feared that the weakening of these religious supports would undermine the very republican institutions under which all Americans find their liberties.

It is in this tradition that I wrote Rediscovering God in America to outline the truth of Washington’s words as evidenced in the monuments and buildings of Washington.

Finally, speaking personally, as a Christian to fellow Christians, we must bear witness to these truths because we have been commanded to do so. We possess a treasure of great worth, one which we have been instructed to share with the world. We cannot hide our lamps, because we have been instructed by God not to hide our lamps. Let us firmly resolve to put them upon a stand, and let them burn brightly, a gift from God for all the world to see.

Dr. Falwell knew this truth in his bones. Just two weeks ago, he preached: "God is sovereign. Feelings of powerlessness can lead to despair. But, remember that an all-powerful God loves you and will never forsake you. Give your problems to Him, over and over again, and gain His peace over the situations that trouble your soul."

Dr. Falwell refused to put his lamp beneath a bushel, and because of that, he was often unfairly caricatured. Though he faced tribulation, he remained of good cheer. His students often heard him say: “You do not determine a man’s greatness by his talent or wealth, as the world does, but rather by what it takes to discourage him.”

Through it all, Jerry Falwell put his trust in the Lord. Despite all obstacles, he persevered and was not discouraged.

If you seek a monument to that perseverance, look around you. Look around this stadium, across this campus, and in this city. Look at the thousands of people gathered here beside you, look at this magnificent institution of learning, look at the churches filled with worshippers. They are a living testimony and a lasting legacy to the perseverance and courage of a single man, whose heart was burning to serve Christ. And this nation will not be the same.

We gather here, today, the beneficiaries of this man of God. We go forth from here, guardians of a great truth: that great accomplishments are possible with God’s help. Class of 2007: this is your charge. Be worthy of the institution from which you have graduated. Advance the work that has been so well begun. Lead by serving. Be not afraid. Both the life of faith and the life of citizenship require courage, perseverance, and good cheer. But above all, they require action.

Carry out Dr. Falwell’s dream of creating a better America and a better world and remember always that while you live in the world, you are not of the world.

Therefore, members of the Class of 2007, as you step forward to receive your degrees, I ask you to resolve yourself to give, and never count the cost; to fight, and never heed the wounds; to labor, and never seek reward. Trust that your strength shall be renewed; that you shall be lifted as with eagles’ wings; that you shall run, and not grow weary. And together with the thousands here assembled and the millions across the country touched by this University and its founder, let us resolve to follow the charge of the Gospels and the example of Dr. Jerry Falwell, to light our lamps, and place them upon a stand, that all the world may see.

Thank You.

Its just got a little more exciting...

Thanks PRW AKA my philosophy teacher for your comments.

I think you have asked some great questions and I hope I will surprise you with my comments back to you. They certainly wont be the "mainstream" responses.

Thanks for the Example, Al

A received an email the other day with a link to a news article.

Gore sees 'spiritual crisis' in warming

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA050607.01B.gore.35aecd4.html

What a perfect example of the dialectic at work. The scientifically "proven" fact of man-made global warming grows a spiritual "religious" appendage. So much for Science vs Religion in this case because it now attacks from both fronts. The debate is "over" according to the scientists so now is the time to join mother Gaia is battling the evil corporations from destroying the earth to the end that we can attain salvation from our spiritual crisis of our own self-definition.

While we are at it, Go Captain Planet!!! Rid the world of poverty through a huge, massive, inefficient, corrupt wealth transfer mechanisms like the Kyoto protocol that, by 'their' own admission, CANNOT stop global warming.

Mr. Gore demonstrates Hegel's philosophy by taking the "good" parts of many battling ideas to form this new emerging idea to replace all ideas.... for now.

Its Been a While ...

My last post was a while ago but much has happened since then. On the surface me and my wife have moved out of our apartment and into a house. We are still renting but we are finally away from the pack'um and stack'um environment. I didn't realize how quite it is at night in our new house without other people on the other side of the wall. The next ventures are to get our house set up, finish the school semester, and figure out what to do about summer school. Even though I have not been writing, my mind has been busy.

We have covered much in Philosophy including Augustine's good vs evil, Descartes' "I think therefore I am", Hume's craziness, Kant's Transcendental Deduction, and recently Hegel and his infamous dialectic.

I definitely do not subscribe to Hegel's worldview. This ever changing "Devine Mind" producing new ideas for humans to discover seems to be a distorted view. How can God change? Time cannot change Him so how can this "IDEA-lism" change Him. How can two diametrically opposed ideas compromise? You would have to change each idea so much that they would no longer be what they were before. It would be a brand new idea if you took what you thought was best from these opposite ideas and combined them.

Take western capitalism and eastern communism for instance. They are pretty much opposites. Under the synthesizing power of the dialectic you get this socialism that is emerging. There was some tension between capitalism and communism and it was called the Cold War. That tension "collapsed" and it seemed that capitalism won the battle. In reality a socialism is taking its place. If you look at socialism it is not capitalism or communism. It is a new idea that was made from some of the ideas of capitalism and communism. True capitalism is opposed to socialism too. New ideas emerge from older ideas but it does not necessarily mean all opposing ideas will collapse and synthesize.

Generally better ideas prevail against worse ones and some ideas can be and need adjustment as time moves on in the light of new data. I don't think that is what Hegel is talking about. I think he has a worldview with some kind of over arching change of ideas that a God like being is constantly creating and molding as time goes on. What is the need for truth if it changes all the time? It wouldn't be truth because is constantly changes. It is a shame that Hegel's ideas have such a strong influence on modern society. Just look around and see what kind of crop has been harvested from this man's work. I think you will be surprised at what you see.

Hard Work Pays Off

I received my paper back from my teacher today. I was not expecting what I got. Right on the front was the word "EXCELLENT" and an A+ 105!!!!!

I guess hard work does pay off. I was pretty well spent after writing that paper. I think I had three or four outlines all going at the same time as I was trying to bring in a common thread between the three groups. I had my wife read over it as well as my brother. I got feedback from them several times. I would say I went over the 6 hour estimated time by a few hours. It was a good thing spring break was right after the deadline because thinking after that was not going to be easy.

I do have to say that it feels great getting an "A" and even better getting some bonus points.

First Mid-Term Paper

I finished my mid-term paper but now I just feel drained. My teacher said to plan on taking 6 hours to write this paper. I spent much more then that writing my paper. I am not even sure I wrote a good paper. I hope my analysis was good enough. I tried to find a linking thread and join it together the best I could at that time.

The paper was to show the contributions to thought, science, society, psychology, and human behavior or the pre-Socratic philosophers, Sophists, and Athenians. I thought the odd ball in that group was psychology. In my mind it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the group. In the paper I linked it together with thought for the most part.

I think I just need a little recovery time so I can jump back into thinking about the next set of philosophers that we are going to cover.

Marketing of Cool

My Philosophy teacher has been showing a documentary called "The Marketing of Cool". It has shown in graphic detail (In some places too graphic) how corporations like Viacom have manipulated the teen culture as to sell to teens what they are offering. In this process, they change the thoughts and motivations of the masses of young people. It looks like they are trying to stay just enough in front of the culture as to steer it in their desired direction. That direction demoralizes this generation into sex crazed stupid idiots.

From the corporations stand point, this seems like a self destructive path. How much lower can they lead everyone? Do all the clothes have to come off? Do these acts have to lead to certain death? Obviously Viacom needs living people to advertise to. I guess the question would be how long can this culture remain as it is? How long will this "cool" remain cool. I don't want to imagine what is coming next. It may take some serious events to take place to change this culture. What if you take the billions away from the kids? Then you take away the advertising. Take away the advertising and you have a chance to change the culture for good. For true change to take place it must start in the hearts of the people.

Meeting Old Friends

I ran into an old friend after church today. We got to talking and ended up doing something we used to always do, work on cars. Even though we have not been in close contact for several years, it was like we didn't miss a beat. I shared with him some of the things going on with me and he opened up some of his areas of life as well.

It was fitting that today's message was about being authentic. We need to be open enough to be vulnerable with each other. None of us are perfect so why do we act as if we are. What value are relationships that are an inch deep? Are friends like those around at your side when you have landed face first in the dirt? A true friend should be able to smack the stupid idea from your mind before you get yourself killed. They should be there to tell you to your face to stop dating that girl and you listen because you know they are looking out for your best interest.

I enjoyed being authentic with my old friend today. We opened up to each other just like as we had done before. I asked him what was really going on and he told me. What a great day it was today. What is a better way to pass the time fixing the brakes on the car then with an old real friend.

Out of the Cave and into the Light

I had an interesting experience today as I was talking to my brother. It was like a fog lifted on my mind and I could see clearer. It felt like I was above the confusion of emotion and could see light. I only felt this for a little while, like I had paused in place to take in the view before using it to engage with my brother.

We were talking about words. My brother was telling me what he had learned. We were working on a paper I needed help with. He told me, words put things in categories. Our thoughts are in categories. We express those thoughts in written form by putting those thoughts into words. There are levels of abstraction that we can apply to the concepts we are talking about. Right now I am talking at a high level of abstraction because I am generalizing so I can fit everything I need to into my words. To take it down some levels, what do you think of when I say "Cat". Do you think of a small pet? What if I meant a panther or mountain lion? Don't both of those fit in the category of a cat? The word I used restricted what I was trying to say.

I used to think if I had the right words that is all I needed. I realize now that words are just tools. I went beyond words in my thinking and reached higher as I began to analyze what I was writing. I saw where I went wrong in my writing. I saw how I could go up or down the abstraction scale to accomplish my goal. In my case I was trying to describe in a letter what I do for a living to someone who has no experience in the area. What I was writing was vague and did not show that I knew anything but how to throw a few buzz words out every once and a while. What I needed to do was to show this person that I knew what I was talking about. In this case I needed to come down out of the high level of abstraction and write about a real world example of the steps I went through.

In my last paragraph I was writing in a high level because I used general terms on purpose. You don't know what exactly I meant. Let me give you an example. If your computer hard drive crashed you would not be too happy. You would probably open up the yellow pages, because you don't have google anymore, and begin searching for a computer shop that can help you. It turns out there are 7 pages of ads in the computer section. What, do you call them all and choose the best one? What if most of the ads you pass say something like "We fix computers, We have good prices, leave it to us because will will help you"? What does that mean? It is abstract and can mean anything. That does not tell you they know what they are doing. It wouldn't be that bad if all you had was a simple problem but reading something like that doesnt create much confidence in them. Your hard drive has your work reports, taxes, digital photos, and all the programs you loaded from your friends. Oh but wait, here is another ad "Computer Repair, We specialize in hard drive data recovery and boast a 97% success rate." You just hit the jackpot and found the place to call. But this place fixes computers, has good prices and will help you too. Why call this place? Call because they told you something about what they did and gave some facts to back it up. This place is the perfect fit for what you need. They gave you the information you needed to make the right decision. Even if it wasn't your hard drive, they said in their ad they they are competent. If they can recover hard drive they must be able to do simpler things. They proved they can do simple things by showing the harder thing has been completed. It was like they hide that information and said it without saying it.

I know I will need to practice in order to keep my thinking on the right track but I am enjoying learning how to think properly. Getting there will be a journey but it will be enjoyable. I should be able to take complex topics and subject and be able to explain them in simple terms. This will show that I understand those complex topics. I need to learn to keep track of where I am on that scale of abstraction and be in the appropriate place when I need to. These things will help me analyze what is in front of me weather it be words ideas. It will also help me to understand my own thoughts. This is what I am trying to accomplish by self-reflection. It seems to be working already.

Waking Up

Waking up early in the morning can be hard to do. This task is especially difficult when you don't get to bed until 2AM. If only I had known my Philosophy teacher was not going to have class today I could have rested longer. I didn't mean to stay up that late but when I only see my wife for a few hours a day, I try to spend as much time with her as I can. As of lately I have not been tired when I go to bed. I lay down but sleep does not come quickly. It must be because I have not been active during the day. Getting to sleep tonight will not be an issue as I am ready for bed right now. Tomorrow bring a new day and a speech to deliver at 7:30AM.

I have wanted to wake up early to get more reading into my life. This has proved to be difficult through the years when I don't have a regular schedule, and in some cases without someone helping me to get up early. I will continue and try to get up early to read.

Today's post is pretty weak but I can't seem to put into words what I have been thinking about. I hope soon I will start to figure out how to evaluate my thoughts effectively.

The Value of being Genuine

If someone is doing something for you, do you care if they actually want to do it? Do you prefer not to know this as long as the face on the other side is smiling? Does it matter if you don't know the person well or at all?

I like to know that the other person I am dealing with in genuine. In most cases I would rather a person do nothing for me then do it begrudgingly. I find that I value this trait over the things I want. If I ask a co-worker for help on a project and his attitude shows he doesn't want to help, I will most likely tell them never mind and try to figure it out myself. On the flip side of that, I love when a co-worker is happy to help me out. I think I can take this too far especially if I need the help and cannot complete the job without the added assistance.

Knowing that strangers are genuine is much less valuable to me then knowing that my friends and family are genuine. I know that a used car salesman can seem extremely genuine but that doesn't mean he is looking out for my best interest. I know that he is going to try to get as much money from me as he can. When it comes to family and friends, I value knowing that they do look out for my best interest. I am not the kind of person that is going to have tons of friendships that are only an inch deep. I insist that my friendships are deep. There is no other way to have friends in my opinion.

Proverbs 18:24 A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

There is something to be said about making an inner choice to do something when you don't want to. If it is against what you want or feel like doing it is much harder to do. Choosing within yourself to do something when you do not feel like doing it can have great value. By simply doing that same action outwardly only with no inner choice is much cheaper. The inner choice requires self-sacrifice where the outer choice requires maybe only a few minutes of time. This inner action makes what you do genuine.

Being genuine can greatly improve relationships. It is only when we drop are masks and start being real with each other will our relationships improve. This is why I value genuine friendships.

Introspection

Definitions of introspection on the Web:

• Self-observation of one's thoughts and feelings.
• The act or process of self-examination; contemplation of one's own thoughts and feelings; a looking inward.
• A process of inward attention or reflection, so as to examine the contents of the mind.
• the contemplation of your own thoughts and desires and conduct
• introspection is the direct observation or rumination of one's own heart, mind and/or soul and its processes, as opposed to extrospection, the observation of things external to one's self.
• Introspection is like the activity described by Plato when he asked, "...why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts, and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are?" (Theaetetus, 155)
  

I thought I would look around to find out how others define self-reflection. These are some of the definitions I found. I like the last one I found on Wikipedia. It is a quote from one of Plato's writings.

As I begin to look at my own thoughts to see how they really appear, I am going to involve my Lord too. He is the one that has raised me up to where I am now and I want to continue to let Him mold me into who He wants me to be. I think this will be a great opportunity to get my thoughts written so I can evaluate them later down the road. I know I am in a time of learning and growth, so when this 6 weeks is all said and done, I think I will be surprised at my ability to evaluate my thoughts.

Topics and Definitions

I was thinking that I would post a few topics that have been on my mind lately. I also wanted to try and define "self-reflection". These two things will help me maintain some kind of structure in my posts. This blog will be a kind of journal for me but I don't want it to be a stream of consciousness type of journal that is hard to follow. I don't believe that stupidity and randomness is a virtue. While I do this I want to work on my writing skills so grammar, spelling and writing structure all apply.

I have had much to think about lately. My wife tells me that I am good at thinking but sometimes I think too much. She may be right but that wont stop me from thinking. I just need to focus in on the important things while at the same time try to stay zoomed out enough to see the bigger picture. So let see, what are some of the trees and then we will look at the forest.

Trees:

• My relationship with Jesus Christ the Lord
  
• My wife and I, approaching our first anniversary, as we grow together
• Our lease in our apartment is almost up
• Her high mileage car and my ready-to-break-down car
• My job's future and where we want to be
• The city life vs the country life
• What direction to go in school
  
• My energy projects

Forest

• All our bills are paid
• We live in a nice place
• I have a steady job
• I have good relationships with my family and friends

I realize that I don't have much to complain about. I live a peaceful life filled with many blessings. I need to remember that more.

Now on to that word, self-reflection. I perceive this to mean looking at yourself like looking in the mirror. When looking in the mirror, you see your own image. You see what others see like your eyes, hair and smile. Things like these seem to be in the metaphysical world your personality, world view, and your soul. Self-reflection as Socrates taught it was thoroughly examining your actions and seeing if they were good.

I believe this to be a start of me looking at what is self-reflection. I also need to know how it applies to me so that I can be sure I have done it properly.
Thanks for reading.

The Challenge

I was challenged by my philosophy teacher this week. She gave a challenge to everyone in class which was to take some time each day and reflect on yourself. She gave this challenge on the day of Lent. I am not Catholic so I was not sure what it was. My teacher explained to the class what lent is and how it is practiced today. She told us that it is the start of a 40 day or six week period before Easter when Jesus died on the cross. Catholics use this time to give up sweets and other indulgences. This is supposed to be a time of self-reflection as they look at their lives. My teacher on the other hand tied the time period into how Socrates always reflected on himself to be sure he was living his life in the right was. He said that the unexamined life is not worth living. My teacher said that even if we were not Catholic, we could use this time to reflect on ourself as well. Her suggestion was not to give something up but to add self-reflection. She provided a bonus to us who would do this. The bonus was if we take these 6 weeks and reflect on ourselves and write an essay on our experience then she would give us extra credit.

This is why this blog exists. I will be using this blog to post my reflections on a daily basis. I may miss a day from time to time as life is quite busy. I will then use this blog to write my essay for extra credit. I don't mind if anyone else reads my posts as they might provoke them to study and think about the things I talk about.

Whoever wants to join me can post replies. If you want to challenge me then that is ok too. I love challenges. A challenge is why I started this blog in the first place. Thanks for reading