Faith Venture

The last post discussed people of virtue avoiding sin because it was just the way they lived.

Let us take a look at the Stoics. One of the leading Stoic philosophers, Seneca, wrote essays that sounded so much like Paul that later Christian thinkers thought he was Christian. It’s unlikely that he ever heard of Jesus.

That doesn’t mean we can’t learn from them. Ryan Holliday, today’s leading exponent of Stoic philosophy, writes, “Virtue to them was a way of life. It was pivotal, essential, irreplaceable. It wasn’t something you talked about, it was something you did. Aristotle said that we acquire the virtues the same way we acquire any skill—a carpenter builds, a flutist plays, a runner runs.”

Similarly, a follower of Jesus follows. We don’t go around pointing to other people’s faults instructing them with platitudes. We participate in a way of living involving prayer, meditation, study, service. And virtue.

Slow down, you move too fast

You got to make the morning last

Just kicking down the cobblestones

Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy

Paul Simon, 59th Street Bridge Song

I tried getting things done as quickly as possible. I even tried doing two or three things at the same time.

Sitting in meditation during early mornings looking through my study window at the main street through our development, I’m reminded that the 25 miles per hour speed limit isn’t even a target for most drivers. They are in a hurry. 

Surely it isn’t only American culture (actually both urban and rural) where people are always in a hurry.

Let us pause and consider. Do we really need all that hurry? Slow down. Enjoy where you are. One of life’s many paradoxes consists of slowing down a little one task at a time and accomplishing more with less internal stress.

Slow down, you move too fast.

I had one friend during my high school years. We shared interests in tennis, chess, and electronics. He lived across the street from me with his wife and three kids. He was a superb craftsman. He was also a Seventh-Day Adventist. I read some of Ellen G. White’s books. I cannot explain the theology.

One day we were walking home from the tennis courts as he explained heaven to me. “When we are in heaven, everything is perfect. We will play perfect games of tennis.”

I replied, “How boring that would be!”

I’ve studied the Bible for decades. I have no real clue that would tell me facts about the afterlife.

However, I do know that Jesus’ first message was to announce the Kingdom of Heaven was here, surrounding us, infusing us. In this life. Helping us live with-God.

I find debates about some future heaven tedious. Arguing from assumptions is only an intellectual game. I think I’ll just follow Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven right now. I hope I can live up to the expectations of being a follower.

Each of us is exceptional in some way. People amaze me with their unique capabilities and knowledge when I talk with them. 

We live in a society that emphasizes being extraordinary. Parents push their kids (or hope their kids) are gifted. That they will meet society’s definitions of success—wealth, power, position.

Sign in the backyard of a house along the Metra rail line into Chicago—I just want to be ordinary.

I have no idea why they put up that sign. But I thought of people like Thoreau who were exceptional in their being unexceptional.

Do truly gifted people have the best lives? Do the richest people or those at the top echelon of the business hierarchy have the happiest lives?

Be who you are. And be comfortable in your skin.

• Pursue what interests you—whether hobby or profession.
• Serve others generously.
• Devise a lifestyle of health and vigor.
• Pray often.
• Be kind.

Be extraordinary in your ordinaryness.