My difficulty is that I don't quite trust everyone who says they are christian and can explain these things to me. Thats probably a fault of mine, but I think its also my experiences with some christians. I am inclined to try and figure it out on my own with the Bible and a commentary. I don't really know that that is the best way. but that seems to be were I am at.
I would not mind discussing this quote from Francis Schaeffer :
"Before a man is ready to become a christian, he must have proper understanding of truth, whether he has fully analysed his concept of truth or not. All people, whether they realise it or not, function in the framework of some concept of truth. Our concept of truth will radically affect our understanding of what it means to become a Christian. We are concerned at this point, not with the content of truth, so much as with the concept of what truth is."
I am not quite sure what my concept of truth is.
What do you think of what Schaeffer says here?
Hi,
1.) Everyone has the problem of not taking everything that a "Christian" says as correct, because so many of them are wrong about some of the things they say.
2.) Reading Proverbs and the Bible for content, using two tests, one is did God say or have it said, and the second one is to stick to simple items that hopefully you can't get wrong, then, when I did that work years ago, this Shaeffer like item came out. It is like his truth statement.
As much honesty as one can practice and employ, it is not until this is certain in a person as a lifelong commitment, that one is given knowledge of God, on a deep level.
For some reason or another, personal honesty was impotant to me. It has cost me jobs. It has also resulted in my being very valuable, to certain groups in solving their problems that no one else seemed able to solve.
One day, I choose to give up teasing others in all forms. White lies, already I was good at not doing. I also comitted to not telling them ever, but in this instance, that became more pronounced and more firm.
Prior to this, I was probably the most honest always and to everyone, to the point of near perfection. The slips were few, and quickly admitted to, normally within an hour or so.
Wow, was I honest in all ways, and was I pleased with that? Yes. I was not pleased about the occasional slips. Everyone was fairly stunned, how I could talk to anybody about any topic, without saying anything offensive or being offensive, even with topics that normally are illegal at work.
Remember please that I was very pleased with my present state of honesty always, before giving up teasing and white lies in all their forms.
Week one went fine with giving up teasing. I failed often, is all.
Week two was fine also and I was getting better at it.
Before I go on, do not try this without help and coaching, as this created a huge problem for others. Eventually under pressure and counsel, I relented and started again, teasing.
Argh! I hated, didn't like starting again. Even my priest got involved. Finally everyone was pleased again. The gains, having the ability to easily solve more complex problems than before, I did not want to give up. So, I always didn't like caving in to that pressure.
Time passed, and everyone I knew went at me again, asking me to please not do this again, after I told them that I was going to try and do this again. At the time of the telling, I was rapidly approaching being good again at not, "teasing" "which is really, telling a lie to tell an uncomfortable or a secret truth to a person who knows how to retranslate the lie to the truth that was meant in the first place"
The first time, I did this, it took about three weeks before I realized what a tease was. "It is a lie to tell a truth"
So, that first time, in a rather Shaeffer like way, I learned just how many times, This "Highly honest" person actually lied during a day by that measure. It was in the hundreds of times a day, for my rather public life.
I was mortified, My impressions of myself were shattered.
The other and very dangerous problem, money wise, is that in about four weeks time, I could not understand what other people were saying to me easily. At, the three week point, I was still able to translate their teases, fast enough to know what they meant to say. By week five, it was impossible.
Even the News stations were gibberish to me, if they talked at their normal speed. Eventually, this reseacher had enough data, and it is only then that a researcher can discuss his/her findings. If I told people earlier what I was doing, it may have chaged the results.
It seems as soon as I disclosed the experiment that i was running, everyone said to themselves, "Oh! That explains her rather bizarre behaviors" And judging by the outcries, "and you will end this experiment, NOW! It's making you seem to be very bizarre to all of us. Stop!"
I resisted. They eventually won, but I had the results. And, later I was asked by my Boss to do this on purpose. I checked. It was a Formal request. So, I did it expecting lots of things to go wrong again. Nothing did, even after the more than three weeks it took, to become proficient in not teasing, nor telling any white lies ever.
I did, not notice though the new job I was on, that it was the reason for this request. Ten months or so passed, I was given one of my Bosses High Ranking Employes to hang out with one day, I like this guy so we worked together but had fun all day,,,,,teasing also,,,,,. I do take directions from, this person, as though they come from my Boss.
I took that day, as a request from my Boss, to start teasing again. Stumped, as I was never told why I was asked to start again not teasing, nor why I was told to start again, I looked and looked tryimg to figure this all out.
Oh! I was working for ten months with a huge variation of people, in backgrounds, educations, temperments, soicioeconomic conditions and countries of origin, for those ten months. As a result of giving up on teasing, everyone understood me all of the time. And, that was important for them.
Now, getting bach to Schaeffer and his words on thruth, I can tease now occasionally. I still don't like it, but occasionally it is the only communication style that will work with certain individuals. Now, I turn it off, so my understandings of all things is greater, and only turn it on again, when I have to, or am too lazy, or dishonest to say the actual uncoded truth to everyone all of the time.
Schaeffer, may have know what I learned, it is only when a person tells, no kind of lies ever, that they can see the actual truth better, in all things.
LOVE,
...Mary., .... .
