Here are a couple of the quotes I referenced from Donald Miller's
Blue Like Jazz:
"Living in community made me realize one of my faults: I was addicted to myself. All I thought about was myself. The only think I really cared about was myself. I had very little concept of love, altruism, or sacrifice. I discovered that my mind is like a radio that picks up only one station, the one that plays me: K-DON, all Don, all the time."
*****"It's like in that movie About a Boy where Nick Horby's chief character, played by Hugh Grant, believes that life is a play about himself, that all other characters are only acting minor roles in a story that centers around him. My life felt like that. Life was a story about me because I was in every scene. In fact, I was the only one in every scene. I was everywhere I went. If somebody walked into my scene, it would frustrate me because they were disrupting the general theme of the play, namely my comfort or glory. Other people were flat characters in my movie, lifeless characters. Sometimes I would have scenes with them, dialogue, and they would speak their lines, and I would speak mine. But the movie, the grand movie stretching from Adam to the Antichrist, was about me. I wouldn't have told you that at the time, but that is the way I lived."
*****"The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me."
*****"No rut in the mid is so deep as the one that says I am the world, the world belongs to me, all people are characters in my play. There is no addiction so powerful as self-addiction."
Here are a couple of the quotes I referenced from Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz:
Posts
Hi John, thanks for posting this. I'm not normally one to follow blogs but I do think there could be some good discussion on here.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that even though we think we're not living for ourselves, we are deluding ourselves. There are times when I think I"m not, but if I'm honest then I know that as soon as I look at my calendar I notice how few times I'm actually helping others outside of my work arena.
Mark
To be comfortable with where we're at, and the way that affects our day to day living, is a major problem of the middle class north american church, don't you agree?
Hey Mark,
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts & great question.
I do think that we need to be constantly challenged (& accountable) to how we invest or don't invest our time. Of course, there is no magically number of hours one can log, etc. But as someone has said, we'd much rather give money than our time. But Jesus gave up both to enter our lives.
As to your question: I do think that the cultural atmosphere we inhabit as North Americans pushes us to build our own little kingdoms, to always upgrade, and to basic live for own personal comfort & affluence. The Kingdom of Christ calls us to live the comfort & affluence of others as we proclaim the Gospel & tangibly seek to bless others.
Good thoughts, Mark.