tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post4372484548197975060..comments2023-10-21T03:54:12.029-04:00Comments on A Gift Universe: An unpayable debtSheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-80872158647505706802015-03-04T00:58:08.822-05:002015-03-04T00:58:08.822-05:00:-)
You will be grateful (thank you :-)), and I wi...:-)<br />You will be grateful (thank you :-)), and I will keep on praying!Zagorkanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-27933853574635412672015-03-02T19:05:24.225-05:002015-03-02T19:05:24.225-05:00Well, I don't think you have to FEEL grateful,...Well, I don't think you have to FEEL grateful, if you don't naturally feel that way. Perhaps it would help to trust that God created you because *he* knew it was better for you to exist than not, even if you don't feel that way.<br /><br />And of course you can always be thankful for the smaller things. Thankful that, since you have to exist, you can do it in good health and financial stability, when many others don't. Thankful for every day in which something good happens, even if it's a little thing.<br /><br />I don't have much help, I'm afraid, because I can't fathom not being happy to exist, but that's what I can think of at the moment.<br /><br />:) Maybe you could just leave it to me. *I'll* be thankful you exist. Because you can pray for me, which you couldn't do if you weren't here.Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-60542283055884372822015-03-01T14:04:41.329-05:002015-03-01T14:04:41.329-05:00You see, Sheila, I promised to pray for you having...You see, Sheila, I promised to pray for you having faith, but this topic of gratitude is "the problem of *my* life". I've never really understood, why I have to be thankful for beeing born. Normally I try not to think about it, but in this lent it's coming with a venegeance. Life is not a gift for me, it's a burden. There are nice, beautiful, even great things in it, but it always seems to me, that having nor been born, I wouldn't miss anything, I would be spared all the hassle, the decisions, the everything. And this seems to me to apply for the whole creation....I do not wish death, I wish non-existence. Normally I have struggled with this in seasons of bad health or overall anxiety or so, but this time it's coming to (get) me in a season of health, financial stabilitiy and manageable workload. So I do not have an "excuse". But at the moment I really do not understand why I have to be grateful. I try, but I can only do it as an act of will.Zagorkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16344411778843938468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-53834041519185091542015-02-23T15:03:51.305-05:002015-02-23T15:03:51.305-05:00Funny, I hadn't gotten there yet on my current...Funny, I hadn't gotten there yet on my current readthrough!<br /><br />It was just something I've been thinking of a lot lately, particularly after some discussions with an agnostic friend. I tried looking at the universe from his point of view, and to my surprise I found that even if I felt that way, I would still pray. Because prayer is something that naturally seems appropriate, even if God didn't hear it.<br /><br />In the same way, there have been saints (I think I am specifically thinking of St. John of the Cross) who insisted that they would love God even without the promise of heaven. Because God seems to merit love, regardless of whether or not we are rewarded for loving, just because he has created the universe.<br /><br />If I had my own philosophical school, I think I'd name it gift-ism. Because everything in the way I live my life and the way I see the world around me is based on the idea that all is undeserved gift. This breath I draw right now -- gift. Gift implies a giver, but even if the giver doesn't get my thank-you note, isn't it still fitting for me to write one?<br /><br />"Sighs like dead letters sent<br />To dearest him who lives, alas! away."Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10853868724554947854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2464977109229359349.post-36109116579949988952015-02-23T14:09:41.832-05:002015-02-23T14:09:41.832-05:00+JMJ+
This reminds me of the first meditation in...+JMJ+ <br /><br />This reminds me of the first meditation in <i>Introduction to the Devout Life</i>, which asks "Philothea" to reflect on God's creation of her and how much she owes to God just for that. Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.com