Repost: Asking Questions

Roughly every other week this blog will feature a reposted work. I had been a contributor on two different sites that have since closed or no longer include blogs. I will be reposting pieces that had originally been featured on one of these two sites.  

This was originally posted October 17, 2011

Many little wisps of ideas have passed through my mind since I posted my last blog but none have settled.  I tend to notice things and make connections and then write as I reflect on that.  Frankly, I’ve been bewildered lately.  There are so many “things” to notice.

I’ve been reading a book called God and the Art of Happiness and participating in a discussion group about it.  Humans are designed to find happiness in knowing and loving God; but how do we do that?  One of the participants, Dave Ward, mentioned that in his philosophy studies an often asked question was, “What is the Good Life, and how do we live it?”.  Though I’ve heard that question before, the question I usually ponder is, “Is it even possible to genuinely be a Christ follower in modern American culture, and if so, how?”.  I’d like to assume that the answer to the first part of my question is  “yes” and then spend time on the second part.  How do we vote?  How do we interact with injustice that is all around us?  How do we occupy Wall Street or any street?  How do we show Christ to people who have less than us?  How do we show Christ to people who have more than us?  
Christopher Yuan came to IWU recently to talk to the Student Leadership about Same Sex Attraction and how the church interacts with that issue.  Why do we tend to attribute a disproportionate degree of “badness” to sins of a sexual nature?  American Christians don't have history of a gracious relationship with the gay community. I believe I should love people who are different than me.  I believe God forgives sins.  I believe I’m just as much of a sinner as anyone else.  I’m also pretty sure my actions don’t always align with my theology.  
Also started reading Our Town about racism in America, specifically in the city where I live [Marion, Indiana].  It’s a hard book to read.  Facing evil this close to home isn’t comfortable.  I believe white privilege exists.  I’m not sure I’ve ever done anything to combat it, but I’m pretty convinced that I should.  
I just finished reading A Girl’s Guide to Homelessness.  The one of the author’s main themes is that the issue of homelessness in America is more complex than most people imagine.  And isn’t that true for just about every issue?

Being so scattered about what to think and write about has made me step back and consider the sheer amount of issues that exist.  
There is much to contemplate.  
There is a lot to think about, and thus a lot to think wrongly about.  
It takes work to think rightly about any one issue, how much more to think rightly about every issue we encounter?

This brought me back to Dave’s question, “what is the good life, and how do we live it?”  Maybe living the good life has a lot to do with figuring out what it is.  Perhaps all this considering and contemplating is part of imaging God.  Maybe all these issues are so complicated that they warrant careful consideration.  Maybe stopping amidst the business of our American culture isn’t just an opportunity to figure out the answers, maybe it’s the first step to actually living the good life, the first step to being a genuine Christ follower. 

Even if I’m wrong about the answer being fulfilled, in part, in the asking, the question is still important enough to ask in order to find the right answer:

What is the Good Life, and how do we live it?  

How do we follow Christ today?