Aristotle & Me

I've been thinking about Aristotle lately. Perhaps a neuron woke up in the good old college days & the challenge of philosophy classes. 

I was first thinking about taking "Ethics" & Aristotle's idea that the way to walk life would be down the golden mean - neither too far to the right nor too far to the left. I like this a lot & have been moderate in my life, sometimes. I have had moments of great passion too --- so it hasn't been the golden mean the whole way for me. But, for the most part, I think it is good advice.

But then I was thinking about Aristotelian Logic vs Modern Logic --- took the logic class too. I had an epiphany this week. Our crazy world operates primarily under the good old Aristotle way and has not adopted Modern Logic.

In Modern Logic you have to prove your premise before you continue.

In Aristotelian Logic, you state a premise that seems reasonable to you, add proofs & conclusions based on your premise, but you never have to prove your premise. The classic example might be one of his ideas about women. Premise: women have fewer teeth than men. Proof: women are smaller than men, women are weaker than men, women eat less than men, etc. therefore, women have fewer teeth than men. Not needing to prove the premise, no one ever counted the actual teeth in the heads of men & women.

Now this may seem ridiculous ---- but just how many things are decided this way in this day & age? Look at government. Look at the news. Look at education. See what I mean?

Perhaps our "leaders" need a refresher course in Modern Logic.

I Hear You

Sometimes I think I feel my loved ones cry out to me. Those who are far away are not far from my heart and love. There is a bond that connects us at some level that may be unknown, but is nonetheless real to me.

I feel the bittersweet double edge of love. My heart yearns for my grandchildren. Do I imagine they too yearn for me? Will I ever know?

I was thinking of Gibran's thought that our children are not our children, they come through us but not from us, etc. Sometimes I look in amazement that they came through me and have gone so far away. But they still live in the cradle of my heart, no matter what.

We all face challenges in our lives. We lose our heart's desire, we stumble & fall & pick ourselves up, we gain some, we learn a great deal if we're paying any attention at all & we develop our souls here on this little blue planet.

Lord, guide me please. Help me to keep loving without reserve. Help me to not be controlled by circumstances. Help me to be true to Your admonition to love without condition,  AGAPE.

Turning a Corner

As I enter the second year after the trauma, I find the grief has almost dissipated. It was almost as if a switch was turned. For most of a year, I awoke each morning with tears running down my cheeks. Then there were no more tears in the mornings. There are pangs during the day from time to time, but they are not so strong that I cannot bear them as they once were.

I want to share the prayer I wrote for church for tomorrow, based on the Epistle quote from Paul that is part of the scripture for tomorrow. It is completely relevant to my journey & hopefully to yours.

St. Paul tells us that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

God, the truth of these words has been shown to me over and over again during the course of my life. Even the darkest valleys, with 20/20 hindsight, have shown their high purpose. So many times You have told me through inspired writings and life experiences that You never abandon me. You are always with me. You lead me through the valleys of the shadow of death. You strengthen my soul. You teach me to understand through life experiences. Everything in my life has been curriculum that leads to You.

Even so, I sometimes complain and delay getting the teaching. Help me to return to the understanding that whatever “this” is right now, it is part of the working together for good. Your requirement for me, in order for this to be so, is that I love You and answer Your call. Lord, I do love You and I am listening.

Help us as a church community to remember that all that has been our experience as a church works together for good, because we love You and we are listening to Your call.

What a celebration is going on in my very depths. It is as if something within has been set free. The truth of these words has quickened within me a remembering. The puzzle pieces are coming together in my mind.

With joy, I say, thank You, Father for all that has been my life and shall be my life. Thank You for leading me always. I release this all and ask that Your will be done today and everyday. I seal this with the ancient seal of faith as I say, Amen, Amen & Amen

Life's Gauntlet

This is a difficult week for me. One year ago a deep and painful situation arose in our family. I have been beyond perplexed by it. Fortunately my husband's ocular occlusion caused by the spike in blood pressure brought on by the upset has healed. My physical reaction is healing.

 

A friend who is a priest and a psychologist suggested to look at it generationally. This inspired me to begin a new book. I don't know if it will be a private exercise or something I will publish, but I am already seeing tentacles of such behavior going back generations, at least to my maternal grandmother and perhaps grandfather. I hope to have the time to work more on it later in the week and see where it goes.

The working title is "God Trusts Me Too Much" based on the old idea that those who have a lot heaped upon them have God's trust to handle it or they wouldn't have such experiences. I know everyone has challenges to face and opportunities to grow, not always as painful as some of mine and sometimes more painful. Maybe my life could be helpful to others going through the gauntlet of life. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.

What a Life!

In the shower this morning I was musing about my life. You know, I only can recall a tiny fraction of it. I lived all 71 years of it, but most of it is either a blur or deeply buried in my subconscious.

Sure I recall snippets and traumas and high points. I can tell you what I wore to my middle school graduation and dance and the same for high school, but I can't name most of my teachers or classmates. I can tell you about my swing, tether-ball and scooter, but I can't name all the kids on the street. I can name only some of the college classes I took and even fewer professors. And the traumas - I can remember the date rape, the abuse, the terrors, the desperate climb out of it all. I remember graduations, awards, weddings, births of my children, & other highlights. So much has faded though. Much of my life is gone, shrouded by the fog of the past. For some of it, that is good, for it was too painful. For some of it, it is rather a shame for it was lovely.

I suppose all the moments of my life weave into making me who I am today, even though I cannot distinguish all of the individual threads.

To all the threads that have faded away from my memory, thank you for being in my life and contributing to my growth and understanding. I suppose I am a faded thread in the tapestry of your life too. To the traumatic threads of flaming orange and reds, thank you too for you have taught me.

Lord help me to walk with courage and joy as I weave the final threads in the tapestry of my life. However much I have left to weave, lead me to do so as You would have me do.

Stepping Into A New Day

Every day is a new opportunity. It has never been lived before. It is unwritten. It is only hindered by the past if we let it. It can be lived at new heights or new lows. So much of how we live it relies on our own choices.

Sure, I cannot choose the events whirling around me. I cannot choose how others are going to act. I cannot choose the economy for our nation. I can choose my responses to whatever comes, and sometimes I can choose what comes to me personally by how I live my life.

I can resign from any traces of being a victim that may linger in my consciousness. I can choose to turn to God for guidance. I can take charge of myself. I can be held in the center of the storms of life in the arms of Christ. 

So much is up to each one of us as to how we live this life. And one day, I KNOW we will be asked about how we lived it. 

Lord, guide me to rise up today to live a triumphant day in conjunction with You and Your guidance.

Father's Day Thoughts

Today is the day we honor our fathers. I put a note on this on Facebook re: my father -- On Father's Day: My daddy went to his next life at the age of 93. He taught me some important things. One thing he used to say, "You can do anything you set your mind to." He was a quiet man & used to say "Still waters run deep." He blessed me in many ways. I still miss him. He left in Nov. of 1999 & dearly wanted to make it to the millennium. I wonder what he thought would happen. He never said. God bless you, Allen Roy Eakin.

Every person has some sort of memory of their father or even their lack of the presence of a father. In some ways, we are all changed by our father experience. A gentle father, a harsh father, an absent father - all ranges of father behavior - all teach us something. We learn how to behave or how not to behave. We learn how to please an authority figure & create our own ways to live our lives. In some cases we have to re-learn how to live later as we mature.

Whatever our fathers taught or didn't teach, we can thank them for they participated in shaping who we are today.

God, thank You for my father. In Your wisdom You chose for me the father most suited to what I needed to learn. Help me appreciate more fully the gifts he brought to my life.  Bless him wherever he is.