"Many today want to talk about “God’s plan for their life.” They put themselves at the center. God will make me special. God will make my life special. He has a plan just for me. I hate to break it to you. God does not have a special plan for your life. You are not at the center of things. It is not about you. It is about God. In fact, most of the time, being in line with God’s saving action will mean setting aside your plan for your life. It will mean sacrificing what you want."
This is a powerful quote. Quite common to hear something along the lines of "God loves me and forgives my ___ behavior..." from both Christians and non believers alike. I've never understood how to respond to this line but sort of intuited it was off the mark. I once met a monk living in the middle of nowhere who told me he longed to live at Mt. Athos after spending some time there, but an Archimandrite had told him his station in life was where he was at. He totally accepted that his own desires, however noble, were just not part of the deal.
Somehow you seem to amplify the whispers in my mind and give me something meaningful to consider. Thank you. I greatly appreciate it.
On a different note:
- Do you prefer people comment on the written or verbal post? I often see people embed the podcast into the written post.
- Since everything is behind a paywall (which I'm 100% ok with) I'm still trying to figure out how to share your content with my loved ones. For example, I want to text my wife and say, "Listen to this, I think you'll really like it."
Bravo!
Thanks!
"Many today want to talk about “God’s plan for their life.” They put themselves at the center. God will make me special. God will make my life special. He has a plan just for me. I hate to break it to you. God does not have a special plan for your life. You are not at the center of things. It is not about you. It is about God. In fact, most of the time, being in line with God’s saving action will mean setting aside your plan for your life. It will mean sacrificing what you want."
This is a powerful quote. Quite common to hear something along the lines of "God loves me and forgives my ___ behavior..." from both Christians and non believers alike. I've never understood how to respond to this line but sort of intuited it was off the mark. I once met a monk living in the middle of nowhere who told me he longed to live at Mt. Athos after spending some time there, but an Archimandrite had told him his station in life was where he was at. He totally accepted that his own desires, however noble, were just not part of the deal.
Yes, that monk has the right of it. Glad that helped clarify that for you. Even when we say it, it’s a hard thing to practice.
Somehow you seem to amplify the whispers in my mind and give me something meaningful to consider. Thank you. I greatly appreciate it.
On a different note:
- Do you prefer people comment on the written or verbal post? I often see people embed the podcast into the written post.
- Since everything is behind a paywall (which I'm 100% ok with) I'm still trying to figure out how to share your content with my loved ones. For example, I want to text my wife and say, "Listen to this, I think you'll really like it."
And I am really glad that I make you think. That is the best reward of all (although the subscription is appreciated!).
Comment on either, as I see both. Whichever one suits you.
I do think that you should be able to send your wife the link for the RSS feed that subscribers get so she could use it on her phone to listen.