The Unexamined Life

2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? "

Hola from Mazatlan, Mexico,
While leaving Puerto Vallarte yesterday, I was walking on the open deck at sunset and came to the very front tip of this massive ship. The noise of my busy life left and as I looked out ahead, the Ocean was smooth with only a slight ripple, the light warm breeze blow straight into my face, a silvery cloud cover was broken over the water and the bit of Mexico coast that remained, and that sun cast a soft and calming glow across everything. How beautiful God's creation is! I stand there leaning on the rail and taking in this wonderful view and prayed. The Lord is so obvious in the hands of His work. How can we help but praise Him?

I'm reading a book by Blaise Pascal, who lived in the 1600's. He had an encounter with the Lord that immediately filled him with certitude and lead the remainder of his life in apologetics for Jesus Christ to others. Sadly, he died at the age of 38. I hope that you get a chance to read his writings - The Pensees. Pascal explains the reasoning that combines with the heart that inflames the Christian inside (heart, mind, emotion and soul) towards Jesus. Explaining the nature, heart and thinking of men & women with & without the moral compass of God's Word, Will and Way in their life. Here is just a taste from the Introduction from Mind on Fire.

The present life is momentary, but the state of death is eternal. How terribly important it is, then, to live in the light of the eternal, since it ultimately affects all that we do or think! Since nothing is more obvious than this observation, how absurd it is to behave differently.

Seen from this angle, how absurd it is for the people to go through life without regard for their final destiny. Instead, that are led as they feel inclined and as they indulge themselves, unreflected and careless, as though they could wipe out eternity and enjoy some passing happiness merely by repressing their thoughts. Yet death is real, for it threatens us at every moment of time, while eternity is also real, and is in fact a threat of ultimate destruction and misery.

This creates the prospect of terrible consequences; indeed, it is the prospect of eternal damnation. Yet people do not even bother to find out if eternity is merely an old wives' tale. Though this stares them in the face, they do not even trouble to find out if the arguments for it are valid. They have no idea whether they should or should not refuse to face up to this question.

It was Socrates who said: "The unexamined life is not worth living". To not would be absurd!
Hasta La Vista,
In Christ, Brian