Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Do you live in the 15th century

Well, I said I would get back to this situation of what I mean by moving from the 15th to the 16th century. Here is the point:
In the 15th century, the worldview was one of speculation and superstition. The cause of life’s difficulties was unknown and unknowable to the mind of the 15th century commoner. In the 16th century, a core of people caught on to the idea that life can be understood and the causes of life’s difficulties, at least some of them, are knowable and possibly solvable eventually. This leap from life is just difficult to life can be known if we open our eyes and look objectively at it is what I call the leap from the 15th to the 16th century. In practical terms, take any problem: I argue with my wife. Is the cause of this knowable and can I learn with God’s help to manage it. Is there a new and better way to live? Can I continuously improve my life?

Nope: Life just happens and we are powerless.

It is so hard when you have lived in the 16th century to live amongst people who still dwell in the 15th century.

There is a way to be honest and observe our life and solve our problems that works. But convincing people of this is the hardest thing. People must see the reality for themselves and somehow discover how to solve life’s difficulties.

I often say marriage is easy. The point is that if you learn the way to observe and the root causes of conflict and how to do a few simple humility skills, marriage is simple.
So as a leader, how do we teach people that joy and peace are to be normal to the Christian and you have the opportunity to enter a new way when their worldview tells them that life’s problems are only to be solved after death? They are stuck in the 15th century. Powerless and impoverished.

1 comment:

Mojoey said...

hmmm, life is pointless. we are born, we strive, we die. all for what? Some think the journey through life to the "other place" is the reason we are here. Others, like me think we are here because we have no place else to be. What century am I in? it does not really matter. At the moment i'm in the living phase of my life, so I live.

mojoey after a bad day