Don’t be Duped!
I was reminded recently of an insightful statement I had heard once before by the French philosopher and Jesuit Catholic priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955).
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chardin was “known for his theory that man is evolving, mentally and socially, toward a final spiritual unity.” He blended science and Christianity and devised theories which brought objection from within the Roman Catholic Church. So in citing Chardin I am not endorsing his theories.
But… Here’s what he said,
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Despite many possible misgivings about his ideas, I do find this particular statement profound and encapsulating.
We are for the most part a society, a race, a humanity severely duped! The devil has so insidiously deceived us over the centuries that today we generally believe ourselves to be physical entities only, or perhaps physical entities presently but reaching for some spiritual goal.
But the truth is this. We are each, in essence, primarily spiritual beings. “You do not have a soul, you are a soul and have a body.” – disputably stated by C.S. Lewis, but possibly by Scottish author and minister George MacDonald, or Walter M. Miller Jr. In A Canticle for Leibowitz.
Nonetheless it too pinpoints a dynamic reality: This life is but a breath, our real life has yet to begin. Preparing for it must be our primary responsibility.
little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
This past Sunday Elder Don Longworth called us to task through the words of Haggai: “Give careful thought to your ways,” warned Haggai (Hag. 1:5). “Give careful thought to your ways,” he urges a second time (Hag. 1:7).
We need these reminders because we are so easily distracted… duped again to delay this critical inventory. Centuries ago another philosopher, Blaise Pascal, noted:
“Thus so wretched is man that he would weary even without any cause for weariness… and so frivolous is he that, though full of a thousand reasons for weariness, the least thing, such as playing billiards or hitting a ball, is sufficient enough to amuse him.”
Blaise Pascal, French philosopher (1623 – 1662)
Don’t be duped! “Give careful thought to your ways.” Today!
Press on…
To hear Elder Don Longworth’s Sunday message, go to the Facebook page of Lincoln Baptist Church, or link to the livestream from the church website.
Also!!!!!!!! Check out Don’s blog site. Many excellent original blogs and classic video links!
thebrokenrunner 
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