Be Good

     This semester has been filled with lesson after lesson after lesson. I think that the lesson about compassion that I shared earlier has had the greatest impact on me, but it was backed up by another lesson that I was (and still am) learning at the time. In the class that I have been writing about, we read Plato's Gorgias, which is a Socratic dialogue about the purpose of an orator and of persuasion in general. As Socrates tends to do, the conversation became an ethical argument. (Now I'm all for searching for the truth, but Socrates is really annoying about the manner in which he goes about it. That being said, I agree with him, with reservations.)
     The argument that Socrates eventually centers on is what power means. He insists that to be good is the only power. Socrates then argues that doing wrong is worse than suffering wrong. I agree with Socrates that doing wrong is worse than suffering wrong, but my argument diverges from his in that I don't merely see the effects of both as pain versus painlessness or pleasure. There are bigger things at stake here.
     However, looking at Socrates' argument and coupling it with Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, I learned that virtue is the only way to happiness on the earth. (I don't think that it is possible to be entirely virtuous until we have reached heaven, and I think that the happiness we get from virtue finds its source in being godly.) Aristotle's argument is a sort of corollary to Plato/ Socrates' argument regarding power. Aristotle insists that virtue is the only way to happiness, and Plato insists that goodness is the only (or at least the greatest) power. Plato, also through Socrates, argues in Phaedo that the purpose of rhetoric is to lead men into the Good. Coupling this with his argument in Gorgias, we must assume that Socrates thought that rhetoric is intended to make men powerful. Socrates' idea that good is the highests power is backed up in the Bible. Proverbs 3:27 says "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,when it is in your power to do it." Other passages mention being in someone's power, which means they have the authority to do good or evil to you. That being said, Socrates' argument about doing wrong or suffering wrong is an argument about power. God has given us all some extent of power (2 Peter 1:3), and the more power we have the more good we can do, but when we have power we can also do evil. This is where Plato's argument and Aristotle's argument couple with the Word of God. If we have the power to do evil, but doing wrong is worse than suffering it, and virtue is the only way to reach happiness, then we need to be able to do good and to be virtuous in order to be happy.
      This is where Romans 7 comes in. In Romans 7, Paul is discussing his inability to do what he knows is right. He doesn't have the power to do it; even though he knows what is good and virtuous, he can't. Socrates would tell us that he didn't really know, but I disagree with Socrates' definition of knowledge in this case.
      I'm going to backtrack here. People want to be happy. And in our culture, "a virtuous person" is not on the top of many peoples' lists of "what I want to be when I grow up." They want to be happy, but they seek happiness outside of virtue; that's a surefire way to avoid happiness according to Aristotle. The Bible says, "Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’" Even when we were told directly by God that the way to peace and happiness is His Way, humankind rejected Him.
     If we want to be happy we have to follow God, but as Paul says in Romans "For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want." We can't do the good it requires to be happy. That's where grace comes in. At the end of this semester, I went to a friend's musical performance. She wrote of grace, and in order to help the audience understand her point, she had a theology professor explain some things about grace. He spoke about the practical implications of grace and what it meant to us once we are saved. We cannot be good without God's grace. We are slaves to our sin. However, once we have been set free from our sin, we are able to be good, virtuous people and to show the compassion I spoke of in my last post. It takes God's transformation of us to make us into good people. It takes God to make us happy. And though we will not be perfect on the earth, we are charged with being "perfect as [He] is perfect," "holy, for [He is] holy," pure "as He is pure," and "merciful [as He] is merciful." We will not reach it here, but our work on earth will bring glory to God and will last into eternity. We should think about what we do with eternity on our minds. Since virtue is the only way to happiness, it shouldn't be a chore, but rather a joy to do these things; besides, we have God's grace giving us the power to do all of this. Also, since it's Mother's Day, I thought I'd leave you with the admonition with which my mom sends me into the world: "Be good!"

P. S. Written from my dining room at home.
P. P. S. Thanks, Mom!

You'll Find Your Way

Andrew Peterson is one of my favorite songwriters. He is so creative with his lyrics, but they are so open and clear that they touch a soft spot in my soul. His newest CD "Light for the Lost Boys" is wonderful. It has all of the AP nuances I've come to love with a few twists along the way. The album, much like others he has released has several themes that run throughout it. In this particular work Peterson focuses on childhood and growing up. I consider this work a sort of musical bildungsroman. In particular the album looks at the idea of a runaway child, much like the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. In the songs "You'll Find Your Way", "The Ballad of Jody Baxter", "Come Back Soon", "The Voice of Jesus", "Day by Day"  and  "The Cornerstone", the story plays out of the young boys (and girls) who run from home looking for adventure and escape and return home to the place where they belong. This idea comes together nicely with the theme of light and darkness on the album art (which can be seen here at this link, where you may also purchase the CD: https://store.rabbitroom.com/product/light-for-the-lost-boy). Light and darkness are explored (from the side of the Light naturally) in songs like "Carry the Fire", "Come Back Soon", and "Shine Your Light On Me". The album also looks at the issue of innocent children being born stained into a world ruined by the fall in which they must grow up. Songs like "Come Back Soon", "Day by Day", a "Light for the Lost Boys" is an album for grown ups who feel like children lost in the woods, for children who feel like they're growing up too fast, and for parents who see their children running away and getting lost. The Gospel preached in Peterson's lyrics is just what the title calls it, a Light for the Lost Boys.

Now that I've finished my review and summation of this album I'll get on with my blog. The reason I decided to review this album was because of his new music video (seen here) which takes part of its lyrics from one of  the verses which gave this blog its name. (Jeremiah 6:16) The music video hit me hard at the moment when the little boy is crying by the tree. I remember getting lost on the main campus of the Bible camp which I grew up going to. I was scheduled to go biking, an activity which I had been looking forward to all week. (Keep in mind that I was around 8 when this happened.) I returned to my dorm room to fetch my helmet, which my mom advised I pack and I gladly agreed, being one who has little taste for pain. However, the rest of the children going to the bike barn simply went there and got the helmets that had been provided. Since I went alone to get my helmet, I had to find my way to the bike barn alone as well. I didn't. I spent the time scheduled for bike riding crying behind a tree because I was lost. (I was right by the main building, I just couldn't find the path that went out into the woods where the bike barn was.)
     Recently I was thinking, or as I like to call it "introverting", and I thought about the feeling I had while hiding behind a tree. I felt afraid because I couldn't find my way, I felt alone because I couldn't find anyone to help me, and I felt cheated because I missed out on a great activity. If I had only followed the path they showed to us I could have been enjoying myself on those rusty old bikes which now serve as parts of a contraption called the "chariot ride" (a long train of seats connected to a tractor). This feeling is the one I get when I don't know what to do next, in life, when I have a problem with a friend of mine, or when I'm just lost. I get a pit in my stomach and I begin to wonder what the point of doing anything is. I feel like sitting behind a tree and crying. But "You'll Find Your Way" provides a hope to which I cling. I have been shown the Old Paths. I know where to go and I can follow the Light to the Way Home. Though I may sit and bemoan my misfortunes I always have the option of returning to the Old Paths and running Home.

Why?

Why did I start a blog?
Why did I name it thus?
Why should you read it?

I don't know.
That's the simplest answer. However, life isn't always as simple as we'd like, and that would make for a short post and a boring blog.

To answer more fully I'll give partial answers and let you (the readers) fill it in.

First: I started a blog because: I'm bored, I have lots of aquaintences and friends with blogs, I want to get something about what I think out, and I've been toying with the idea for a while.

Second: I named my blog "Old Paths and Ancient Boundaries" after two specific Bible passages which have very little to do with each other, namely: Jeremiah 6:16 and Proverbs 23:10-11. I like these verses because they give warnings we don't often think about. In Proverbs it warns us not to move boundaries or to enter the fields of the fatherless, both of these have to do with defrauding, stealing, taking advantage, and taking land. God takes this very seriously, in fact offenders answer directly to Him, and it doesn't sound like they'll have much to say. In Jeremiah it warns to stand by and seek old paths. This one is different in that it promises a blessing for obeying instead of judgement for tresspassing. I guess the reason I wanted to start this blog was to uncover some of those old paths and to brush off the plant growth from the boundary markers. Maybe one of these paths will lead me and you (my readers) closer to God and closer to the rest promised in Jeremiah.

Why should you read it? This question is one I can't answer for you. This is where I'll let you fill in. I don't think many people search for the newest blog, because there are so many floating around that one more is just another... just another blog. This blog may not be something special. I may not be something special. But my God is special and what He has to say through me will probably even suprise me. (I'm not claiming any special revelation, simply general revelation through my eyes and ears.)

-Blessings
 (Proverbs 23:10-11, Jeremiah 6:16)