Yet without believing in something, without committing to a direction, we cannot act in any meaningful way, or at least any way I can think of. Those beliefs can shift and change in time, but they provide us with at least some idea of where we are going.
In other words, there are some core ideals that I feel are necessary to having some personal sense of ethics and action. These are some of mine, as best as I can understand. They represent my best effort at the age of twenty-six to put together the most self-honest, genuine collection of things I believe. You can substitute I for "you" or "we" if you feel it appropriate.
1) I am selfish, and it is inherently destructive in nature.
2) No system can change this fact, or turn my selfishness into a positive thing for the world (To disagree with one Gordon Gekko, greed is not, in fact, good)
3) Until I am aware of this fact and have owned it, I will be absolutely bound to it.
4) I need help (i.e. I have to get humble about it)
5) There is a way out of the cycle of selfishness and destruction. There may be others, but I always end up back at Jesus. Not Christianity, not religion, but the guy Himself. Whether you believe in God or the Divine or not, there is something about Jesus that just "feels" true. He had a way, and it started with the total transformation of our minds away from the thinking of our respective cultures or countries and toward something better.
6) I can make an active choice to turn away from myself and become a disciple of this "way." This involves trust, humility, and the willingness to lay down my right to be right. But to me, it is freedom.
7) This choice changes everything. It changes the definition of success, the means that are at my disposal, everything.
8)The means of Jesus' way are incompatible with nationalism and sectarianism. I think people have a problem with that, but I can't get around it. When I read the text, I see it everywhere. And it's a constant source of conflict, one that has been personally painful and costly for many people.
9)Hopefulness is absolutely crucial. In my own life I come off as a cynic constantly. But I'm learning to see hope, and it looking for and celebrating this hope feels more productive than hating the world. Jesus was so good at riding the line between sharp and necessary criticism and attention to hope in the world. I know I toot the guys horn a lot, but give the guy credit, cause finding that balance is not easy.
10) The greatest opportunity and challenge I face is to love people. I can support all the causes I want, think all the right things, vote a certain way, but in the end, the best thing I can do is work on sharing love with the people I encounter every day. It sounds stupid and cliche, but I believe this with my whole heart. We deride the "love everyone" thing all the time, but I think this is a defensive act. Loving people is hard. Being sarcastic about it is easy. I'm slowly learning this.
11) The way I find to love people and grow as a human being may not be your way. And that is okay. The only reason I think we ever try to push our ways onto others is to make ourselves feel more secure about what we think. I am offering the best findings I've come across thus far. Do what you will with them, take them apart, or ignore them.
This has probably been one of the less substantive posts so far, but it is a milestone. A check-in to see where my mind is at. Thanks for indulging.
No need for substantive or grand statements, this is well done. I think this brings a very happy medium to our conversation, and pretty much says what we were both trying to say. Thanks for posting!
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