high school re-union thoughts--how high schoolers excel adults
They are having my high school reunion this week in Chicago; here is what I've been thinking. There is something to be said for the "religion" of the high schooler, in comparison to the "religion" of the adult. The high schooler's "religion", judging from my experience of myself and of others (which may not be representative of high schoolers in general) is focused on seeing what is good or at least not blameworthy in other people, focused on hopes regarding what other people will become, as opposed to condemnation, regarding what they have been in the past, focused on seeing the divine in nature. But then, it seems, they become "adults", and their "religion" becomes increasingly based on church doctrines, and on mis-interpretable scriptures, with the result that they increasingly become judgemental, scornful, individuals who find fault with others, and, consequently, become hyper-focused on finding faults with themselves.
The nature of scripture, the style of scriptural writing, is such that one scripture taken in isolation contradicts another, sort of like two flashlights side by side, producing rays of light that angle slightly in the direction of the other flashlight, creating an intersection of the two rays of light. One can see the wisdom of this kind of approach on the part of the scripture writers; you can see how this kind of teaching approach, which leaves the balancing of the two "contradictory" scriptures up to the individual mind of the person reading or hearing the scriptures, could produce, especially if it is realized that most of God's thoughts are not put into scriptures, a flexible reasonable tolerant civilized type of person with a real living inner spiritual mind, as opposed to an unreasonable, rigid, intolerant, uncivilized, hyper-dogmatic scripture-programmed robot. Yet many adult "religious" persons, although they plunge into the detailed nuance of all kinds of scripture, fail to recognize the style of teaching used in scripture, fail to realize that most of God's thoughts are not in scripture and this exacerbates the degenerating influences that lead to them becoming worse not better as they "mature" into adults.
"Mere" high-schoolers it seems, tend to excel what they become as adults, in the manner in which they, since they refrain from plunging into critical judgements ,are able to see dvinity or at least something respectable in the living and sometimes non-living things around them; such could be derided as "pantheism", but monotheistic scriptures support this so called "pantheist" point of view. Monotheist scriptures advocate the loving of even enemies, forgiveness, the refraining from judgement; they remind us that even evil men have the form of God; they remind us that a spark of God is in all of us and is what keeps us alive; they teach us to sweep away distractions such as judgement and anger for others, so that we can see the hand of God, the master artist, in the objects that are in nature; they remind us of God's love for an evil world and the sinners therein; they describe how "love" is hopeful, not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs (committed by another person); they extol "heartiness" and "natural affection", attributes which when found in a person produce "heart" and "affection" for even the ethically defective; they talk of the deep feelings of love inspired prophets have had for even "lost" sinners; they advise that the mind should generally be focused on what in other persons is praiseworthy as opposed to condemned; though it is hard to "rejoice" when the mind is focused on someone's faults, such scripture teaches us to rejoice "always".
@2005 David Virgil Hobbs
The nature of scripture, the style of scriptural writing, is such that one scripture taken in isolation contradicts another, sort of like two flashlights side by side, producing rays of light that angle slightly in the direction of the other flashlight, creating an intersection of the two rays of light. One can see the wisdom of this kind of approach on the part of the scripture writers; you can see how this kind of teaching approach, which leaves the balancing of the two "contradictory" scriptures up to the individual mind of the person reading or hearing the scriptures, could produce, especially if it is realized that most of God's thoughts are not put into scriptures, a flexible reasonable tolerant civilized type of person with a real living inner spiritual mind, as opposed to an unreasonable, rigid, intolerant, uncivilized, hyper-dogmatic scripture-programmed robot. Yet many adult "religious" persons, although they plunge into the detailed nuance of all kinds of scripture, fail to recognize the style of teaching used in scripture, fail to realize that most of God's thoughts are not in scripture and this exacerbates the degenerating influences that lead to them becoming worse not better as they "mature" into adults.
"Mere" high-schoolers it seems, tend to excel what they become as adults, in the manner in which they, since they refrain from plunging into critical judgements ,are able to see dvinity or at least something respectable in the living and sometimes non-living things around them; such could be derided as "pantheism", but monotheistic scriptures support this so called "pantheist" point of view. Monotheist scriptures advocate the loving of even enemies, forgiveness, the refraining from judgement; they remind us that even evil men have the form of God; they remind us that a spark of God is in all of us and is what keeps us alive; they teach us to sweep away distractions such as judgement and anger for others, so that we can see the hand of God, the master artist, in the objects that are in nature; they remind us of God's love for an evil world and the sinners therein; they describe how "love" is hopeful, not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs (committed by another person); they extol "heartiness" and "natural affection", attributes which when found in a person produce "heart" and "affection" for even the ethically defective; they talk of the deep feelings of love inspired prophets have had for even "lost" sinners; they advise that the mind should generally be focused on what in other persons is praiseworthy as opposed to condemned; though it is hard to "rejoice" when the mind is focused on someone's faults, such scripture teaches us to rejoice "always".
@2005 David Virgil Hobbs
posted by David Virgil at 2:43 PM
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