Shadows of Heaven

Let's say I went to heaven and came back. You ask me, dude, what was it like? I reply, dude, it was absolutely eurphasic. You're like, what? Yeah, everything was eurphasic. You say, uh, I dunno wut dat iz... can you at least tell me what it looked like? I say well, everything was made of a composite of talleet and glub-glub. You're like, the heck? I say fine. Everything was, like, gold. You say, ohhhh! Gold! That I can understand.

The point is I'm trying to describe to you something you don't know, heaven. If I describe it in terms that you also don't know, what's the use in that? Cities made of pure gold with gates of pearl may be the closest thing we can come to in terms of understanding the grandeur, glory, and majesty of what we'll see in heaven. C.S. Lewis makes the point that we ought not to think, well, gold, what use have we for gold in heaven? Gold is simply the closest approximation we have; it's a limit of our descriptive capabilities. Having never been to heaven, heavenly things must be described in earthly terms, since we have only experienced earthly things.

Now, imagine this. Suppose you and I are standing together, and I ask you hey, have you ever seen Thomas? You reply, no, I haven't. I say, actually, he's standing around that corner! You can see his shadow. From his shadow you can distinguish his figure, something about his height, his posture. But as you try to imagine what Thomas actually looks like, the best you can do is extrapolate. When you see Thomas, you might say, when I saw the shadow I did see a vague form of what he was like, but now that I see the real Thomas, I see him with depth, color, fullness. Though I had hints of what his shape was, now I see clearly.

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

What we see here on earth are simply shadows of what are to come. That's quite comforting to know that the best things we experience here on Earth... peace and quiet after a long day of work... side-splitting hilarity in the midst of friends... the satisfaction that comes from a job well done... these are just hints of the things in store for us in heaven. Jesus told us that he's prepared a room for each of his followers in his father's house. I enjoy life, and I think I cling rather too tightly to the things I do have here, but it is quite nice to know that when it all ends, I'll finally be at home.

Write Mo

Looking back at my college days I wish I had read more of the assigned reading. I don't know if that would have been feasible given all that was on my plate, though I certainly could have read more. For the most part, it's the stuff I wrote essays about that I remember and understand the best. Even now, I realize that a lot of my best thoughts are the ones I've taken the time to articulate, sometimes on this blog.

I decided that if I want to continue to think well, I have to keep writing. So, I'm going to use this blog as my medium. I plan to write a solid post at least once a week. Enjoy =)

Modern Inconsistency

I listened to Ravi Zacharias quote this today. So good.

But the new rebel is a Sceptic, and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyalty; therefore he can never be really a revolutionist. And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind; and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it. Thus he writes one book complaining that imperial oppression insults the purity of women, and then he writes another book (about the sex problem) in which he insults it himself. He curses the Sultan because Christian girls lose their virginity, and then curses Mrs. Grundy because they keep it. As a politician, he will cry out that war is a waste of life, and then, as a philosopher, that all life is waste of time. A Russian pessimist will denounce a policeman for killing a peasant, and then prove by the highest philosophical principles that the peasant ought to have killed himself. A man denounces marriage as a lie, and then denounces aristocratic profligates for treating it as a lie. He calls a flag a bauble, and then blames the oppressors of Poland or Ireland because they take away that bauble. The man of this school goes first to a political meeting, where he complains that savages are treated as if they were beasts; then he takes his hat and umbrella and goes on to a scientific meeting, where he proves that they practically are beasts. In short, the modern revolutionist, being an infinite sceptic, is always engaged in undermining his own mines. In his book on politics he attacks men for trampling on morality; in his book on ethics he attacks morality for trampling on men. Therefore the modern man in revolt has become practically useless for all purposes of revolt. By rebelling against everything he has lost his right to rebel against anything.
Excerpt from "Orthodoxy," by G.K. Chesterton

Guilt and Blessing

Well, first of all, thanks to God for providing for me in many ways recently. Especially in regards to certain uncertain situations; God granted me favor. Second, thanks to God for guilt, for that internal pain and pull that leads to repentance. Thank you, God.

CHICKEN POT PIE [ramble]

I got stuff going on in my life, and I can tell people about it if they ask me. You know, a progress report on work, church, life in general. But must I give my weekly summaries to everyone who asks "how's it going?" On the other hand, "yeah, it's going good," is so lacking in detail that it's pretty much uninformative anyway. I greatly prefer deeper, more philosophical reflections on the happenings of life, but, sometimes I tire of making complete sentences.

That's why sometimes when someone asks me how's it going, I give a non-answer, such as, CHICKEN POT PIE. In terms of substance, it's just as informative as "pretty good"; arguably, even more so. Actually, definitely more so. "Pretty good" is a vague, often-used term, so if I say "pretty good" you'd just think "oh not much haps iz good it's not bads," though maybe not in those words. If I say CHICKEN POT PIE though, there's a picture of rich buttery goodness that far more powerfully expresses goodness.

In a online conversation yesterday I think I annoyed my friend by constantly making random comments. Haha, I should be more considerate of others, because sometimes people don't understand crazy. Anyway, here is my new conversation theory: Oscar Wilde says "quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit," and I'd like to add that caps-lock is a serviceable substitute for diction. Youtube comments are definitive proof of this. What, you don't think that's legitimate evidence? SILENCE, INFIDEL.

Today I drank orange juice with a straw, it was awesome. I felt like a kid again.

Viridian City

Life update: On the road to Viridian City, I'm on my way I'm on the road, I'm on my way I'm on the road. On the road to Viridian City, I'm on the road. We've built a team and we've been training all day long, long. We're on the road and getting' strong (getting strong). Now here's the plan: We're gonna' head down to the forest. Time to collect some Pokemon, gotta catch them all, gotta catch them all. We keep on tryin' tryin', and then we try some more, to stay together and find a place worth fighting for. I'm on the road to Viridian City, meet my friends along the way (I'm on the road). We're on the road to Viridian City!

Poke-please! Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about!

by the way, Yoo gets 3/8th of my kingdom.

Saving, Investing, Giving

Sup! Well, my second money post in a row. Having money is a new thing for me, and it's been kind of exciting recently figuring out how I should be stewarding it... especially since in Economics I learned all these different theories about finance and the markets, and in church I learned all these different principles, I finally have a real chance to apply what I've been taught. I remember the first time I paid my credit card bill this summer; I thought, gee whiz, I'm an adult! Haha, paying off debt, my coming of age moment =p

Anyway, here are some of my thoughts on saving, investing, and giving. Being new to this whole money thing, I'm definitely not saying this in a prescriptive way; rather, these are my thoughts on these issues, and the principles that I believe should guide me in money matters.

The Case for Saving
Proverbs 6

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

We're taught to imitate the ant, to work hard and to save in times of abundance for more difficult times. I once read someone who said that saving was a sign that you're putting your trust in money rather than God. I definitely agree that there is a real danger that we will begin to trust what we have saved up for ourselves rather than trusting in God, but misfortune happens even to those who earnestly trust in God. And when that misfortune happens, who will pay for the medical bills and repair fees? Stories come to mind of God miraculously providing for individuals in these kinds of situations, but in most cases it just seems irresponsible to ask others to cover every unexpected bill. Though the amount that we save is up for debate and probably dependent on the circumstances (Joseph recommended a high degree of savings when he knew the seven years of famine was forthcoming), preparing for nearly inevitable future needs seems ant-like and Biblical.

The Case for Investing
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the talents. A man entrusts his servants with his money and goes off on his journey. The first two servants double the amount given to them, and the man is very pleased with them and blesses them. The third servant does nothing with the money, claiming in his defense that he was afraid of his master and didn't want to lose the money. The man points out that if it was really the case that he was that afraid of losing the money, he still should have put it on deposit with the bankers so that he would receive it back with interest. The fact that he didn't shows that even if it was true that the servant was extremely loss-averse and had poor investing abilities, the primary cause of his not doing anything with the money was that he is wicked and lazy.

The standard application for this passage is to say "Christians should be good stewards of their talents," talents now referring to both resources and abilities. The way the parable works is to tell a story, and to say that the same judgment we make in earthly affairs is also true in heavenly affairs. How it plays out in this parable is to say "just like the first two servants were good stewards of their master's money and earned their master's approval, so we should be good stewards of God's resources and earn God's approval." And how were the first two servants good stewards of their master's money? They invested it well, doubling what God gave them. Likewise, we ought to invest well everything God gives us; everything meaning more than just money, but it certainly does include money.

The Case for Giving
In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of a manager who's about to be fired by his boss. The manager knows that everything he's in charge of will soon be useless to him anyway, so he goes to each of his master's debtors and reduces the amount owed. He does this so that when he loses his job, he will have friends who will welcome him into their homes. The boss commends the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly.

Though the manager's behavior is dishonest, he's shrewd because he recognizes that his resources have a very short expiration date on them, and uses these very temporary things for a more lasting investment that will serve him in the long run. Jesus says that we should be shrewd, too; just like the manager was shrewd in using temporary things to invest in his future, so we should be shrewd in using temporary things (every worldly resource) to invest in eternity.

Purchasing shares in a 5-star mutual fund may be a sound investment decision because even though I'm not able to use that money for immediate benefit, that money will grow over the long haul and provide for me in the future. But, mutual funds fail, and future provisions for myself are of limited value. Relatively, what is the value of donating to an organization like Compassion International? If I donate to Compassion, I care for the physical and spiritual well-being of impoverished children, and Jesus said "whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). Giving money, whether to a friend in need or an impoverished child, is a sound investment decision.

Conclusion
The difficult part is knowing how much to save, invest, give, and spend. I originally had a fourth section entitled "The Case for Spending," but I'm still trying to figure out some guiding principles as to how much is appropriate for spending. When is it ever justified to spend for myself? For example, seems like it'd be okay to buy ice cream for myself once a month, but why? I remember one scene from Schindler's list when Schindler is looking at a long line of Jews that he was not able to save. He takes a gold pin off his jacket, and, sobbing, says for this price of this worthless pin he could have saved at least another life. So, I'm still trying to figure that out.

The last thing I keep in mind before making a financial decision is to ask myself, if I die tomorrow, would I be okay with how much money I've saved, or how much money I've spent? Will I be okay with where it was spent? Or will I regret not giving more? I detect in myself a desire to hoard, to be protective of the little treasures I have on Earth, and to justify it by saying that I'm hoarding out of prudence, so this is definitely something to keep asking.

In summary, with money, as with all things, I'll try to keep a clear conscience before God. After all, he "will give to everyone according to what he has done" (Revelations 22:12).