The Stasis of Faith... and any other thing that matters to you, for that matter

I'm always shocked when people of faith can't show simple expressions of their faith. I'm not talking about anything drastic, but hows for example, on Facebook, just simply stating your religion in your "About Me" Section?

Actions like that can't be in any way be too evoking or confrontational to a person without faith (if this is the reason for doing so).  Of course, the person may not actually claim the religion personally, which in that case, good -- then I definitely understand why he or she may choose to leave the field blank.  Does it really matter, it's just a small section in the "About Me". Yes! It does. Your religion does have an impact on your philosophical formation, whether you agree with it or disdain it. A person who grew up in a faith, or lack thereof, has a fundamental philosophy influenced by being of the faith or not.  Why do we need to know? So we can stereotype the person into a category based on the faith they claim and add biases to them that are well warranted because of generalizations given to the belief system? Uh, rude. NO. Not the case, my friend, not the case.

Let's just say it like this:
Either one censures his or her faith to flee unfair generalizations, or one politely proclaims his or her faith as an opportunity for open-minded, respectful discussion been those of different faiths, camaraderie between those of the same faith.

But speaking from a Roman Catholic view... I'm honestly proud and humbled to share my faith, politely, of course. Catholicism has greatly influenced Western Civilization (and all human civilization for that matter) for the past 2000 years.  The Church offers age-old, tried, tested, and true insight, wisdom, reflection, and guidance, especially to matters of the human heart and the human experience. The Church offers the Truth that is Christ. So yes, my About Me section on Facebook has "Catholic" in it. And everywhere I go, I consider it an honor to share my faith.  And I know every person, Catholic or not, is on their own journey in the faiths, so no one should ever oblige you to be enthusiastic of your faith, but I find it extremely difficult to just stay extremely silent on the Good News, or any news of goodness for that matter.

At the very least, in the most general sense, I think it's good stature of a person to openly state what he or she supports, likes, dislikes... etc., anyways. Social media makes it easy to do so, and any decent person is respectful towards you as a person regardless of what you think/believe/feel (and hopefully, you think/believe/feel rationally, sincerely, and respectfully). Everyone deserves respect because every person is a human person.

So I guess it concludes to this: either people are afraid of expressing their faith, again for fear of generalizations and unfair treatment, or the world just isn't respectful enough for people to be comfortable to do so.  And both realizations are sad.

Read this

"Dear son, don’t let Robin Thicke be a lesson to you" - Matt Walsh Blog

I encourage any decent person to read this article. You probably won't like it if you're still into hedonism. But for the sake of all those who want to open their eyes and hearts to something enlightening, good, and timeless, read it.

Excited

I wonder how much I can actually fit in the next two years of my life...

I'm about to find out :)

The Problem of the Wanderlust-Self

There are moments when I wish I could be someone else, take someone else's problems, and not be me.  Simply to be someone else.  I have these wandering ideas that, if I were someone else, I'd be able to be closer to this other person, or I'd be able to accomplish so much more, and, best of all, I wouldn't have to deal with the problem I have to deal with.

It's a one-sided, naive attempt to dissociate myself with myself; how could I really think another person's problems would be easier than mine, given their own specialized situations and circumstances? But then again, the pain the self is conflicted with causes the self to weakly wonder.

Dissociating thoughts are caused by embarrassment, of course. The self becomes embarrassed of the past mistakes, the present problems, and the future struggles.  It's the polar opposite of the cure to the problem of the wanderlust-self, embracement.

Once the self embraces the past mistakes, the present problems, and the future struggles, then there is no more dissociation. Spurred by the belief that the self experiences itself, and all that it has been confronted with, for good reason, the self will proceed by good reason and wonder no more.

Recuperation

This past weekend I accidentally dropped a large speaker amp on my left foot.  You should have seen how swole it got, NOT a good look! Took a trip to the E.R. and no broken bones, thankfully. Now I've just been staying put at home and resting up.  Wish it healed faster, but I know I'm pretty blessed to have not had anything more serious happen. Just wanted to point out also, I'm not usually that uncoordinated lol.

Action

I'm very much a thorough guy in thought, or at least I try to be, and sometimes it isn't a good thing, I'll admit.  Don't get me wrong, thinking things through is a great asset for me.

But if the the words you read, and the things you see, and the thoughts you think all just reverberate in your mind and stay there, and don't act as an impetus to action at all...

In the moment and in time

Sometimes in a big decision you have two conflicting processes: the feeling of "this is the right decision" (perhaps spurred by being "in the moment") and then actually thinking about and discerning the decision.

The former has the pure emotional reaction, and sure, making your decision purely on emotional grounds probably isn't the wisest thing to do (most of the time?), but simply denying the pure feeling completely... isn't that being dishonest to yourself to some degree?

The latter is purely rational (hopefully) but still, perhaps in the most extreme case, you could quite possibly undermine and even neglect how really felt about the situation. 

But if there is any justice in the world, then at the least this must be true in making a big decision: you need a lot of time and prayer; your true feelings shouldn't be ignored and if they last through the thought/discernment process... then I guess you have your answer. 

Ah, anxiety.

I know the feeling well.

In life, either you let your anxiety run you, or you control your anxiety.