Skip to main content

Starting A New Life



There are events in life that happen which totally change how we see the world, how we live, and how we love others. When these things happen, it can feel like we are starting life over again. For example, I sometimes think back to high school and I feel like that was a totally different life. Who I am now is so different, and yet the same. It is a wonderful example of life's paradoxical nature. This was on my mind in the last week because my Grandpa had a heart attack last Thursday. He has been in the hospital and is making a slow recovery, but he has heart failure which means that his heart is no longer functioning the way that it should be. Because of this, he has to follow a very strict diet, weigh himself every morning, sleep in certain positions, and many more things. This is going to be a total change in his life. At 76 years old, it is like he is starting a new life. It is hard to imagine that our lives can continue to change and totally turn us around.

I think a lot about the idea of pre-determination, where God has already planned out everything in our lives. In some ways, this seems at odds with free will. If God already has a plan for me, do I have any choice in what happens to me? There are so many things that are out of our control, we fight to hang on to whatever control we might have. But maybe the old saying rings true: let go, and let God. It can be hard to admit that there are so many things that are out of our control. I cannot determine what someone else does with their life, as much as I might want to tell them how to do things. This is a different way of thinking about things for many people. For me, thinking about life this way was like starting a new life. It does bring a lot of relief, once you adjust to the idea of it.

What have been some moments in your life that have really changed how you see things? Take some time to share them with your family. Sometime it can be really nice to talk openly about how crazy life can be. And, you might learn something new about a family member.

Take care of yourselves and your bodies. This is the only one we have.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creation, Revelation, Redemption

Someone I have come to admire quite a bit is a man named Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. He is an excellent scholar and author. His website releases weekly articles called Covenant and Conversation. In one of theme, it states, " Creation is God’s relationship to the world. Revelation is God’s relationship with us. When we apply revelation to creation, the result is redemption : the world in which God’s will and ours coincide". Our theme over the past months has been "Care for Creation" and we have looked at the majesty of the created world. I enjoy the triad of this relationship by which the created world, humanity, and God come together. Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God in the gospels, and we say in all the time in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven".  Again here, we see this link between the kingdom and the will of God. How do we know what God's will is? Take a moment to pray on this. What is God...
Post a Comment
Read more

Development of Morality

*Fair warning, this post is different than our normal short articles. It is a paper that I wrote for my undergraduate degree. I hope you enjoy and perhaps think about some things that you would not have thought about otherwise* Development of Morality: Childhood and Faith Development It is not often that one hears or sees something that truly changes their outlook on life or their feelings about their purpose.   I once heard someone explain that there are resume virtues and eulogy virtues.   That is to say, that there are characteristics that people think are important in the moment, or in life, and then there are things that people will actually remember about you.   Your resume virtues are things like being organized or always being on time, but eulogy virtues are things like making people smile and helping out friends.   So how does one learn what these things are? How does one become virtuous, moral or build their conscience?   It is in childhoo...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Good Place To Start

Welcome to the Dublin Youth Blog! I have never thought of myself as a "blogger" so to speak, but here I am writing my first blog post for all of you. This is exciting for me because this will be able to be a central place where both youth and parents can come for thoughts, reflections, prayers, and updates from me. I hope that you will be able to take something from this and that it will be fruitful for us all. There are many things that I hope to be able to share with you through this blog. In my ideal world, both youth and parents would read this (maybe even together!) as a spiritual exercise each week. I know that we all have busy lives, and it seems like sometimes there isn't a place or space for God. As an exercise in being vulnerable, I will share with you that even the thought of being accountable for writing a blog each week is making me question when I will find the time to do this. I stand firm in saying that you have time for what you make time for. I u...
Post a Comment
Read more