Imagination is a truly a wonderful gift from God. Contrary to the beliefs of a realist, fictional literature is quite useful. The point of fantasy is not only entertainment, but also the training of your mind for situations—learning lessons through the lives of people who do not exist. Naturally we cannot write anything that does not contain some amount of truth, no matter how twisted; therefore, even fiction is based largely on the truth of what actually exists.
For the reason above the Church “approved” and promoted fictional writing, in the past and even now, as an effective tool of discipleship because of the positive role models that could come ex nihilio (out of nothing) to help us live more like Christ. It is the abuse of this gift that causes Christians to look down upon fictional books, and this abuse quite possibly led to the belief that fiction is just another way to lie.
In response to the attitude that can be represented, “Anything fictional, being not entirely factual, is unprofitable,” I say: “You truly do not understand many things about reality because you refuse to experience the unreal.” The benefit depends greatly on the content of the work; but if the author has not abused his ability, and has done a moral and up-standing job, the possibilities are endless. Why? Because all things are possible with God: to comprehend the “impossible” is to have imagination. God is an unrealistic and incomprehensible reality. He’s supernatural; don’t put him in a box labeled “natural reality”.
-Jonathan-<><
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Perspective
Perspective matters. How you look at things determines your perception of them. It's like star gazing: if you focus on only one star, you miss the constellation that it's a part of; and if you focus exclusively on one constellation, you miss how all of them fit together properly.
In life, our perspective affects our decisions to a very great extent. Say two men wish to buy the same car; one has a yearly salary of $20K and a mortgage on his house, and the other has $70K a year and absolutely no debt. The former would take the purchase much seriously than the latter because of their very different means, their very different perspectives. It is that way in every other aspect of life as well: different people have varying perspectives, and they choose different alternatives as a result.
It is no different in the Spiritual realm. Spiritually there are two categories you can focus on: the materials of this life or the eternals of the next. Materials will rust, rot, or otherwise decompose, even if they don't before you die, they cannot go with you: they become someone else's until they perish either before or at the end of time. Eternals will last forever, you can never loose them, but you may not be able to posses them in the short time that we are here. The Word Himself and our souls, the souls of mankind (in essence us), are the only things that last forever. Jesus said to store up treasures in heaven for an eternity of bliss; though we might struggle here, we are promised peace. What these "treasures" are is a great mystery, but we do know how to obtain them. It is an action-reward system, not involving salvation but rather rewards for a job well done. The "last" on earth shall be "first" in heaven, and vice versa. Obedience is the key that unlocks the eternal treasure chest.
A particular perspective is known as a paradigm. If you've been making bad decisions and want to change, but you're not sure how to, change your paradigm from the material to the eternal. It's difficult, but it is definitely worth it.
-Jonathan-<><
Comment question: "What paradigm changes have you experienced?"
Write them in the comments of this post.
In life, our perspective affects our decisions to a very great extent. Say two men wish to buy the same car; one has a yearly salary of $20K and a mortgage on his house, and the other has $70K a year and absolutely no debt. The former would take the purchase much seriously than the latter because of their very different means, their very different perspectives. It is that way in every other aspect of life as well: different people have varying perspectives, and they choose different alternatives as a result.
It is no different in the Spiritual realm. Spiritually there are two categories you can focus on: the materials of this life or the eternals of the next. Materials will rust, rot, or otherwise decompose, even if they don't before you die, they cannot go with you: they become someone else's until they perish either before or at the end of time. Eternals will last forever, you can never loose them, but you may not be able to posses them in the short time that we are here. The Word Himself and our souls, the souls of mankind (in essence us), are the only things that last forever. Jesus said to store up treasures in heaven for an eternity of bliss; though we might struggle here, we are promised peace. What these "treasures" are is a great mystery, but we do know how to obtain them. It is an action-reward system, not involving salvation but rather rewards for a job well done. The "last" on earth shall be "first" in heaven, and vice versa. Obedience is the key that unlocks the eternal treasure chest.
A particular perspective is known as a paradigm. If you've been making bad decisions and want to change, but you're not sure how to, change your paradigm from the material to the eternal. It's difficult, but it is definitely worth it.
-Jonathan-<><
Comment question: "What paradigm changes have you experienced?"
Write them in the comments of this post.
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