Heart of the Matter Thoughts

This was technically supposed to be posted on Sunday, but I had to wait until Firebird made an introduction.... Oh well. The first week will be a little rough since we're still figuring it all out.

But anyways, we Purple Minds have been doing a devotional book called "Heart of the Matter" for over two months now, and we've tried to write down our thoughts on a discussion document. So we've decided to pick our favorite day's discussion and post it here.




This week's was from May 24th, which was about the scripture passage Genesis 2:4-5, and it talked about what our created purpose is.

May 24

“You and I were created for more than filling up our schedules with the self-satisfying pursuits of personal pleasure.” I’m so prone to filling up my calendar with commitments because I can’t say no and then being crazy busy all the time. I like being busy, but sometimes, I need to slow down and re-focus on who’s glory I’m really working for. (Firebird)

I like this idea. The concept that I’ve been given a purpose that’s huge. It’s like when you read stories about princesses/princes, or people randomly given huge tasks or who are born into amazing things. Part of you goes “oh no! I want to make my OWN destiny.” But part of you thinks it’d be amazing to have that and not have to worry about losing it. But we actually do have that. We’ve been born into a privileged position, and we can’t lose it. And the position is so amazing, so incredible that we’ll never truly not want it. (Evanescent Pebble)

So this is an excerpt from John Green's commencement address, "I hope that listening will help inoculate you from the seductive lies of our time — the lie that strength and toughness are always assets, that selfishness is not just necessary but desirable, that the whole world benefits most when you act in your own narrow self-interest."

....Anyway, it actually matched up really well with the devotion. The thing is though, John Green doesn't believe in absolute truth. (well, he sort of does but he's more like a religion is good for me, be a good person thing, lessen worldsuck) So his solution to that gasping void we all have? To help other people and be self-sacrificial. And even though that's a lot closer to the truth than most people get, it's still a million miles away. Because the truth is that it doesn't matter what we do, without God we will always be hollow.

We aren't hollow. We are called to be part of something greater than ourselves, to transcend this finite existence and expand into the infinite beyond. We are called to serve and fight for the truth and to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

Once we have that we can work on defeating the worldsuck and healing the inner and outward brokenness of humanity. But only after we have the unlimited, glorious Abba with us. Only then will the gasping void be filled. (Chiaroscuro Sun)