The Baffling of Brett
So here we are at the dawn of a new millenium. We live in a world that seems to be "growing out" of Christianity. Of course we still see the effects left by it here in America, but this is far from God-centered, gospel-saved culture. Why are we here? That's what I want to know. Unfortunately, it seems like very few other people want to know. That part just baffled me. It just BAFFLED me. We make all sorts of day-to-decisions (some of them big ones) without a GOAL in mind. Some might say that the goal is just to be happy but I wonder if they've thought this through (if that is our sole purpose then what do you believe about GOD?!!!)
If we've given up on God, given up on "the prize" that Paul talks about, why then do we go on? This life is hard. Full of ailments, loss, and suffering. Of course there are good moments also, but for many, especially in America, we go through life continually disappointed by the goals that we meet that we thought would make us happy. Suicide rates are going up, but to me, it seems that they are still very low given that people have lost their purpose in life and are living in the "death-denial that Kierkegaard talks about. One of my good non-believing friends recently told me that if you're not really enjoying life that it makes sense to commit suicide. Apart from the pure and unbridled selfishness of the act, I can ACTUALLY SEE WHY HE BELIEVED THAT.
Yuck.
The Answer
What then is the explanation? What keeps us in limbo between annhilation and asking the most important question (WHY AM I HERE?) and seeking our purpose with every ounce of our being?
And then it came to me. I understood.
I understood it by watching my friends and roommates. From observing my Christian AND non-Christian friends. I got it from observing myself- when I was most comfortable and when I was least comfortable.
Distraction.
Diversion.
Whatever you want to call it, there it was. The reason people don't think about why the hell they're here is because they don't have to. It is much easier and much more comfortable to turn on the TV rather then sit, think, read, and pray. It's why most people who see this article that I've written will not read it through to the end.
It's much more fun to go out with friends than to stay in and read a book. Instead of staying in and attempting to probe our experience, inspecting and introspecting, we go to the new movie and pay our 8 bucks and call it a night. We float around, deterministically consigned to our immediate volitions, moving towards an end but never questioning the "why" of that end.
I guess "I" didn't think of it
While I was thinking about this, I ran into a book called Pensées, written by a guy named Blaise Pascal, a genius of the first order.
This is what he was talking about! More than anything he wished to describe the state of affairs that we are in- to describe the world and man's place in it.
He writes:
"being unable to cure death, wretchedness, and ignorance," and being not too fond of the medicine of Christ "men have decided, in order to be happy, not to think about such things."
"That is why men are so fond of hustle and bustle," Pascal says. "That is why prison is such a fearful punishment; that is why the pleasures of solitude are so incomprehensible."
It turns out that few words were as important to Pascal as "divertissement", which is translated into diversion or distraction. One of the most brilliant men of all time wrote about this very thing as it was the key to understanding human nature.
It baffles me that Pascal wrote centuries before the invention of TV, radio, even electricity! How much more does this apply today in our entertainment-centered culture?
It seems to me that anything (even very good things) can serve as a distraction. Things like relationships, facebook, movies, food, sex, getting drunk, jobs- all of these are laid out in front of us and all of them are much more fun and stimulating than questioning and seeking.
Breaking out of the rut
My encouragement (to whoever reads this) is to question the next big decision in their life- and to keep asking the question "WHY?"
e.g.
Why am I doing this internship this summer? Because I want to make some money and I like to do this kind of stuff.
Why do you want money? Why do you want to do what you like? Because it'll be fun this summer and the money will allow me to have fun next year.
Why do you want to have fun? C'mon, I just want to be happy and have a good life!
So your personal happiness is your chief aim. That's all we're here for?
Do you think God fits into that at all? Well, I'm a Christian, ya know?
Of course, if you're a "Christian" that's a far cry from what we're here for. Man, God-centeredness and giving up all those things to follow Christ doesn't sound good at all. Do people really try that stuff? Frankly, it sounds like it sucks. Do I really believe in all that crazy stuff, maybe it'd be better if I didn't? What if it is true though? Maybe I should look into it before I make any more big decisions...
This is simply the sort of questioning that got me on the path I'm on today. Questioning yourself and your ultimate purpose/goal eventually leads to what you believe. It's what started this blog and got the ball rolling on my insatiable seeking of truth.
Right now I do have a purpose- to bring glory to God by doing my best to be holy, love Him with all my heart, strength, and mind, to serve others (I'm terrible at this one), and of course share the gospel so that others might enter into the truth. The beauty of Christianity is the power of a transforming relationship with the Lord. For me this has been more than anything I ever could have read about or studied. I'm still baffled by 99.9% of God and Jesus, but the shred that I have experienced is worth much more than anything that TV guide could have told me about.
Perhaps finding God is as easy as turning off the TV and going into a quiet room with a pencil and a notebook. Perhaps this whole thing may be a challenge. BUT maybe this challenge is what we are here for, what we are called to do. One may ignore it, but the tragedy that we avoid is that just because we ignore something does not mean it's not there. Ignorance, in this case, fails to free us of the consequences of ignoring God.
It makes me sad to think about. Well... I'm going to go put in a movie- I'll find a happy one.
