Most important

One can speak of pursuing only that which is most important.  But it is never that simple. Every decision that we make in life will, inevitably, lead toward that which is most important, or away from it.  But like a road through the mountains, that path is seldom straight. When we say “x” is most important, this does not mean that “y” and “z” are NOT important, but that other things are simply less important.  Also, this does not mean that “y” and “z” can simply be ignored, at any expense.

Within Eastern Orthodoxy, they say that there is only one path to eternal life, not two, as some suggest, when considering either the married path or the monastic path.  These are one path with different emphases. When one chooses the married path, one is automatically taking on the responsibilities of things “not-spiritual” (which really is a misnomer, for God uses all things for our spiritual growth, we just need to learn to see that).  

So ultimately, yes, the one most important thing is our sanctification, but the path of sanctification is typically not what we may think it is.  To use a metaphor, one does not become a good runner by studying it, but by practicing it, often, and it often is very uncomfortable or even painful.  To the same end, our sanctification will be uncomfortable, confusing and even painful, but when we learn to trust God for leading us down that path, at least we won’t fall into despondency.

I, of all people, need to hear this truth  more than anyone.

Thrill of the kill

How is it considered normal or healthy to enjoy killing anything?  i.e., hunting for sport. I can understand someone hunting out of necessity.  This was probably far more common in the past, at least in the United States. Someone lived out in the deep woods and had to grow, hunt down or prepare their food. If you failed to gather or kill enough, you simply went hungry or even died of hunger. Or worse yet, you watched your family die of hunger. But that really is not the case any longer. No one "needs" to hunt in order to survive.  
And it cannot be argued that hunting is less expensive than buying groceries. I suppose that someone could argue that literal "wildlife" hunting/poaching is less expensive, if one is not picky about what one eats. But typically, the hunting that takes place is the "take one week of work off, pack up all the hunting/camping/hiking gear, buy a hunting license and ammunition" type of hunting. Which is not an inexpensive endeavor.
But to enjoy killing? Simply for the thrill of the kill? "Hey, look at that beautiful animal!  Let's kill it and hang its head on our wall."  Personally, that sort of mentality seems antithetical to the Christian faith. Man didn't eat meat until after the Great Flood. The animal sacrifice that took place in Old Testament, during the Old Covenant, was a direct result of and temporary covering for, sin.
I don't understand the enjoyment of taking the life of something else.

Deciding

When one deeply examines the world of philosophical debate, it simply comes down to faith.  Yes, one can argue about a myriad of philosophical details, but beneath all of one’s philosophy is faith. Eventually, digging down deep enough and asking the right questions, we believe something or some things that we do not prove nor do we seek a proof, we simply believe them.  Some things (probably many things) are embraced at the presuppositional level and thus, not questioned.

What do we do with this?  The first thought, for me anyway, in response to this, is to recognize the futility of debate and argumentation.  If someone holds to view contrary to our own and they are someone who has worked through the many philosophical questions that plague certain people, then arguing those philosophical beliefs will lead to nowhere, as there are presuppositions underlying those beliefs, that need to be addressed first.

My second thought has to do with learning to think presuppositionally.  We must learn to think down deep. In other words, we have to learn to ask the questions that lie beneath and behind the philosophical argumentation that so often takes place.  We need to learn to identify and find the rationale for those questions, so that, when interacting with others, we can construct and direct conversation to a fruitful conclusion.  

In short, we must decide to believe.  The questions that lie at the bottom of who we are, do not have answers constructed from fine, logical argumentation.  We decide to believe. This is where prayer comes in. We can argue all we want (but shouldn’t) about philosophy. But it won’t go anywhere.  We must, instead, lead to the deep questions, with no answers, and then pray that God would reveal himself and the futility of life without God, to those with whom we interact.  

Only prayer can change a man’s heart.

Preparation

Most people follow some sort of general cyclical pattern in their lives.  I'm thinking of a yearly pattern. We have our basic holidays and summer vacations.  We have birthdays, weekends and schooling schedule.  And without fail, we plan for these things.  Most people do not simply "wing it", when they go on vacation.  They make not necessarily make a list of specific plans, down to the miniscule details, but they do plan.  Airplane tickets, hotel reservations, car rental, possibly some key places to visit.
But what about eternity?  We plan our schooling, we plan our vocations, we plan our retirements, but practically speaking, this is really only about about a 50 year period.  What about eternity?  What planning are we doing to be prepared for eternity?  Does sitting in a pew, once a week constitute preparation?  Does our thoughts about eternity or even simply things spiritual take place only on Sunday morning, for about 45 minutes?  And even at that, how often do we sit though a feel good sermon that we typically don't even "hear" anyways?
We plan an exercise regimen.  We plan a vacation.  We plan a retirement financial approach?  But do we plan for eternity?
Do we even have any idea what it means to prepare ourselves for eternity?  We have a basic understanding of what it means to be in shape, to exercise, to have a healthy heart, but do we have any idea what it means to have a healthy soul?  Do we do ANYTHING to feed/care for/ prepare our souls?
Or are we simply focused on the here and now?