I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said something like "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
There are several ways you could unpack that. As it pertains to me, it means you could be getting the same result each time and are looking to get a new one. With this clarification, let me make one thing clear.
I have, apparently, gone insane.
For the third or fourth time now this semester, I have found my way back to doing the exact same thing I have been doing for a while now. I may have strayed from it into a path of anger for a brief period of time, but I eventually come back to wanting the same thing; and thus doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
To be honest, being insane -- by this definition -- is kind of weird, and maybe a little bit fun. For a while I considered that either I was crazy and everyone else normal, or I was the only normal one left and everyone else had lost their minds. Now I know I need to rearrange my mental furniture back to sanity. Hmm. That's fun to think about.
But, what about this thought? Jesus loved and loved and loved over and over and over again. That didn't stop him from going to the Cross. That didn't stop him from rising again. Jesus did the same thing every day, ushering in the Kingdom of God.
I guess you could say "Well, Jesus knew the heart of men, so His expectations each day were different because He knew everything that would happen. So, He wasn't really insane."
True, very true. But I'd like to believe that at the very least, Jesus had hope each day that the Kingdom would be just a little bit closer when the sun went down. And that He faced each day with enthusiasm that the world could be a better place. Maybe that's not complete insanity, but it does seem crazy, at least a little bit.
So for me, what do I do? I don't know. Try to go crazy, I guess. Try to face each day with some kind of enthusiasm that has hope and love for the world that it will be a better place by the time I go to bed at night. What do I do?
I hope. I love.
1st Corinthians 13:13
"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
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4 comments:
i just love how you think sometimes.
Hey brother, I'm not really sure what you're going through this semester but that's okay. I want you to know that I am definitely praying for you and if you ever want/need to talk or just be with someone, you know my number. I want to be able to halp you just as you have helped me so much since I;ve been here.
I absolutely love theology. I love the readings, I love the material, and I love Oldham's teaching, of course. We just have some REALLY close-minded people in that class who make it impossible to have meaningful discussions because they try and argue with Oldham all day, which is sooo not possible.
the book Catch-22 by Joseph Heller spends a lot of time discussing the subject of insanity. he says that if you know you are insane, you cannot be insane (thus the catch 22, get it). so what about this:
if the Lord is all knowing, then He must know the definition of insanity in Ben Franklin's terms. and he also must know that each day, the response to His love will be cold, hardened hearts. so if He knows that each day He will be presented with the same results, and He keeps at the same approach, but He KNOWS that what he is doing is "insane..." then it can't be insanity.
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