Libraries could be filled with books that speak of the "why people do what they do" and doing so probably would not accomplish much. But I would like to focus on the "what" we do. What are we doing?
When you break down your day and look at how you spend your minutes, what do you see? From a strictly practical position, we spend our time making money and trying to be comfortable. And that really bothers me. It bothers me that I profess to be an Orthodox Christian, yet the majority of my time is spent earning money to buy things (necessary and not) and care for my earthly needs.
Comparatively speaking, way, way more time is spent on creature needs and comforts than on things spiritual. And if we really believe what the Bible and the church tells us about life and eternity, our behavior makes no sense.
The way we are acting makes about as much sense as counting all the peas on your plate before you eat your dinner. Why do we spend so much time on the things of this very short time on earth, when we have, literally, eternity to spend after our 100 years here? How does it make any sense to focus on money and comfort for this tiny bit of time and, by default, basically ignore those things that will prepare us for eternity?
One answer to this, and it is a very practical one, is that we are extremely short sighted. We can only see the "right here/right now". This is not wrong per se. It really is just what we are. Tiny humans with very limited sight. But what we do have is faith. We have faith in what God has told us, or at least we should. But yet, somehow, we only focus on what makes us comfortable.
We have grown into a nation that ignores eternity, strives after comfort and love our individual selves. The focus in America has been wrong from the beginning. But this is not a rant against the USA. Most nations have this issue, but in different forms. It has become so "normal", that we can see nothing else.
What do we have to do to reverse this worldview? How can we turn it around so that we focus on our spiritual health and only deal with the physical when we absolutely must?
When you break down your day and look at how you spend your minutes, what do you see? From a strictly practical position, we spend our time making money and trying to be comfortable. And that really bothers me. It bothers me that I profess to be an Orthodox Christian, yet the majority of my time is spent earning money to buy things (necessary and not) and care for my earthly needs.
Comparatively speaking, way, way more time is spent on creature needs and comforts than on things spiritual. And if we really believe what the Bible and the church tells us about life and eternity, our behavior makes no sense.
The way we are acting makes about as much sense as counting all the peas on your plate before you eat your dinner. Why do we spend so much time on the things of this very short time on earth, when we have, literally, eternity to spend after our 100 years here? How does it make any sense to focus on money and comfort for this tiny bit of time and, by default, basically ignore those things that will prepare us for eternity?
One answer to this, and it is a very practical one, is that we are extremely short sighted. We can only see the "right here/right now". This is not wrong per se. It really is just what we are. Tiny humans with very limited sight. But what we do have is faith. We have faith in what God has told us, or at least we should. But yet, somehow, we only focus on what makes us comfortable.
We have grown into a nation that ignores eternity, strives after comfort and love our individual selves. The focus in America has been wrong from the beginning. But this is not a rant against the USA. Most nations have this issue, but in different forms. It has become so "normal", that we can see nothing else.
What do we have to do to reverse this worldview? How can we turn it around so that we focus on our spiritual health and only deal with the physical when we absolutely must?
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