Delivered
by Jordan Peterson, at about the 22:30 mark (paraphrased):
From Matthew 7:7, 8: ask and it
shall be given to you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto
you; for everyone who asks shall receive, everyone who seeks shall find, and
the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
This seems like nothing but a testament
to the magic of prayer; but God is not merely a grantor of wishes. When tempted by the devil himself, even Christ
himself did not call on His Father for favor.
Perhaps it’s not reasonable to ask
God to break the laws of physics every time we fall by the wayside, or make a
serious error; perhaps you could ask instead what you have to do right now to
increase your resolve, buttress your character, and find the strength to go
on. Perhaps you can ask instead to see
the truth.
People suffer because they think
their lives are meaningless. People always
ask for a meaningful life; but perhaps there is a price to be paid for
abandoning meaninglessness.
Imagine asking someone, here are
your options: in a million years who the hell cares how you lived, your life
was dust in the wind, your pains and triumphs had no genuine lasting
significance. Because of that you can do
anything you like, with no responsibility.
Or you take responsibility for what
you do because it actually matters.
Now, if you gave people a choice
about that – meaninglessness but no responsibility or meaning with ultimate
responsibility – which one are they going to pick? And my suspicion is that it is seldom the
second, because the weight of responsibility is too high.
Conclusion
So it’s a funny thing: rather than
ignorance being the justification for a belief in God, it is terror and the
lack of willingness to accept responsibility that justifies disbelief.
"Or you take responsibility for what you do because it actually matters."
ReplyDeleteIn context, it absolutely deals with courage and fortitude to be humble, to do what is right, to judge without bias, and to do to others what you would have them do to you.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
My mother taught me 6 decades ago that morality was doing the right thing even when you could get away with doing wrong. Many wise men over the ages have said it in similar language.
ReplyDeleteSo, if you want to be moral and do the right thing --- you have to do it every time, even when that makes your life much more difficult. (and it has made mine more difficult)
I often think of Rothbard who could have "got along to get along" and been a big time professor with all kinds of awards. But instead, he went where his truth led him. He did the right thing. I am no Rothbard, but his example has been some comfort to me when doing the right thing has led to hard times.
Plus, I think God is worth it. :-)
I think Peterson is wrong on this one. Most people would gladly take the opportunity to have their lives matter. In fact, the way I see it, the current crop of snowflake politically correct millennials turning academia and public debate into a peculiar sort of Hell appear to be driven by a need to be on the side of Rightness, and even reality can't stand in their way - indeed, reality seems to be quite irrelevant to them, to their own detriment as well as others' more often than not.
ReplyDeleteI believe it's a mistake to see them as carelessly self-indulgent, on par with petty criminals; the problem, rather, is that purposeful self-indulgence has been hammered into their heads as being part of a virtuous life ("Be Yourself, Enjoy Life, Don't Hold Back").
If that is true, the pressing problem isn't a lack of willingness to accept responsibility for meaningfulness, but a completely warped perception of what is meaningful. And that can be directly attributed to the suppression of the long-standing Christian reference as to what constitutes a meaningful life (humility, family, industriousness - in short, future-orientedness).
Here's Mr. Peterson about the
ReplyDeleteloss of faith
Brilliant. I can testify to that feeling of meaningless. I was raised by a single mother addicted to crack from my birth to at least 21 years of age. My mothers addiction hurt me severely. I can vividly remember as a 5th grader coming home to a empty house. My mother would leave me for 2-3 days alone during school weeks. It was up to me to feed myself, cloth myself, and walk myself to school and act as if there was nothing wrong. Basically, I had to be normal in the presence of people. The reality was either lose my mother by admitting to teachers or staff that I do not know where she is or keep her close by not letting the pain show. However, one day it all fell down. I was a senior in highschool, and I came home to find my mother under the influence of crack. Everything changes when a person indulges in that drug. I snapped and ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and locked my bedroom door. It was at this very moment I was balancing between life and death. I thought to myself, it was really a question to God "if you exist why do you allow her to treat me this way?". The only way I thought I could anger her and escape this meaningless life was to end mine. This act would also be a big f bomb to the God they say created us. Luckily, I am still standing here today. I now understand it was God that brings light to darkness or life to the dead. I tested him that day and he told me he has been with me my entire life. I now glorify him in every manner. I glorify God as Jesus did. I glorify him in my marriage, my job, my finances, etc. It is through great men like Peterson, Voddie, and R.C Sproul that motivate me to become a believer of God. I am filled with joy thinking of what he has done for me and others near to me.
ReplyDeletePraise God! Thank you for sharing your testimony.
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