Thursday, March 25, 2004
Who do we turn to for justice?
Hello friends! My web site is back in business after a few days off. BEfore you start reading, I want to assure you that the next paragraph is not an indication of how the whole post is going to be. There is some bad news in it, but I get away from that soon enough. I just don;t want my website to be negative! (:
In the days since I posted last, I was notified that I was not accepted to Creighton University. This means I will not be in pharmacy school for another year. This was very disappointing, and makes me very sad. It is more than rejection; it is a total smashing of my spirit. I feel like I cannot handle any more disappointment in my life. But I also know that I will be a great pharmacist someday; I am just not sure how or when I will ever find acceptance into school. I am 29 years old now, and do not want my life to slip away as I continue to fail. I also do not want to give up! It is a bad time to be Carl Smith right now.
But instead of dwelling on negativity, I want to use it to bring up a topic interesting to me. When something horrible like this happens the first thing you want to do is appeal to someone of authority for justice. When I found out, I immediately wished I knew someone within the college to call. I would hope that this imaginary person would make an appeal for me, and set everything right.
In everyday life, we often long for this sort of justice. When my car is running poorly, my first instinct is to call my father. When I am in financial trouble, I also think of my dad. When my neighbors are being disrespectful and loud at 3 AM, I want to call the apartment manager. When someone almost runs into me while driving, I want to tell the cops.
All of us feel frailty within our souls. We often feel powerless to confront the chaotic and unfair events life throws at us. Within our cultures, we have set up systems of authority to help meet this need for arbitration. We appoint judges, police, chiefs, governors, presidents, and so on.
This human need to appeal to someone who empathizes with us, yet owns a greater influence and power than us, seems to be universal. It could be that this human trait has led us to establish gods. God represents the ultimate symbol of empathetic justice. Does man crave God because he created us to long for him, or does man say God exists because our brains are coincidentally hardwired to seek a greater meaning, purpose, and justice?
In the coming weeks I want to address the notion of God, and explore the possible reasons mankind seems to long for religion. I don’t want to solve the question of God, but I want to offer a thoughtful look into the possibility that man and God are two concepts that are currently inseparable. (I’ll explain what I mean by “currently” in future posts).
Have a nice day. Thanks in advance for your empathy about my denial to pharmacy school, and I promise I will try not to bring my sadness into my correspondence or web site. Until next time, enjoy spring! Tomorrow I am going to write about my two favorite animals on the entire planet. Can you guess what they are?
In the days since I posted last, I was notified that I was not accepted to Creighton University. This means I will not be in pharmacy school for another year. This was very disappointing, and makes me very sad. It is more than rejection; it is a total smashing of my spirit. I feel like I cannot handle any more disappointment in my life. But I also know that I will be a great pharmacist someday; I am just not sure how or when I will ever find acceptance into school. I am 29 years old now, and do not want my life to slip away as I continue to fail. I also do not want to give up! It is a bad time to be Carl Smith right now.
But instead of dwelling on negativity, I want to use it to bring up a topic interesting to me. When something horrible like this happens the first thing you want to do is appeal to someone of authority for justice. When I found out, I immediately wished I knew someone within the college to call. I would hope that this imaginary person would make an appeal for me, and set everything right.
In everyday life, we often long for this sort of justice. When my car is running poorly, my first instinct is to call my father. When I am in financial trouble, I also think of my dad. When my neighbors are being disrespectful and loud at 3 AM, I want to call the apartment manager. When someone almost runs into me while driving, I want to tell the cops.
All of us feel frailty within our souls. We often feel powerless to confront the chaotic and unfair events life throws at us. Within our cultures, we have set up systems of authority to help meet this need for arbitration. We appoint judges, police, chiefs, governors, presidents, and so on.
This human need to appeal to someone who empathizes with us, yet owns a greater influence and power than us, seems to be universal. It could be that this human trait has led us to establish gods. God represents the ultimate symbol of empathetic justice. Does man crave God because he created us to long for him, or does man say God exists because our brains are coincidentally hardwired to seek a greater meaning, purpose, and justice?
In the coming weeks I want to address the notion of God, and explore the possible reasons mankind seems to long for religion. I don’t want to solve the question of God, but I want to offer a thoughtful look into the possibility that man and God are two concepts that are currently inseparable. (I’ll explain what I mean by “currently” in future posts).
Have a nice day. Thanks in advance for your empathy about my denial to pharmacy school, and I promise I will try not to bring my sadness into my correspondence or web site. Until next time, enjoy spring! Tomorrow I am going to write about my two favorite animals on the entire planet. Can you guess what they are?
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