Lion King, Christians and Philosophy?

     "You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become." 

     Not sure if anyone else picked up this vibe, but I was having Mufasa's ghost's lines running through my head as Lady Philosophy spoke to Boethius. I believe Mufasa and Lady Philosophy both saw their struggling sons, lost and lonely, grieving and a prisoner of their minds. Both came to free there sons (even if Boethius is a figurative son) from their self-made prisons.  Although things might not turn out so well for Boethius in the end...Hey Simba became king! (Looks like even philosophical ideas can be found in Disney movies!)
     But what does this have to do with Christians? Well, honestly, think about it. In class, as I was reading I started drawing multiple connections between a lost Christian and a lost Philosopher. In a way, Boethius was both.  He had 'pledged' himself to fortune. Which, in my opinion is the same as pledging himself to worldly comforts.  He had forgotten that every true philosopher (and Christian) is a gadfly, and gadflies always get swatted.  Sooner or later the world they are trying to bring change to will turn on them, and strip them of everything physically comforting and good.  This is the same for a Christian.  Christ says in Matthew 6:24 " “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."   The true treasures in life are spiritual virtues, knowledge, wisdom, eternal life in Christ.  "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal."-Matthew 6:20. 
 As Christians we sometimes stray away. Life as a Christian is never to always be easy, and when we trust in comfort, we've stopped fully trusting in Him. We begin also to imprison our hearts and mind to worldly things. We become exiled from Christ, by our own doings. Christ, like Lady Liberty in the case, calls us back to our first love, Him.  "Remember who you are". 

P.S. commented on Tinsley's post.

Lord thou Pluck me out.

I still love Augustine, so I'm going to blog about him.

Fun fact about me, I read Augustine's Confessions when I was 14 and I consider reading that to be my conversion. Reading it again, I found the page I had underlined when I knew I wanted to be a Christian, and that before I hadn't truly understood Christianity.
This is what was underlined when I was 14-

"I want to be this way. I resist these seductions of the eyes, for fear that my feet with which I walk upon Your way will become ensnared, and I lift up my invisible eyes to You that You would "pluck my feet out of the net." (ps. 25:15). You do now and always pluck them out, for they are ensnared. You do not cease to pluck them out, while I often entangle myself in snares on all sides, because You who "keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." (ps 121:4)

Interesting that one of my favorite poems (which I read my first semester of honors) ends with "Lord thou pluckest me out." and I JUST THIS WEEK realized what it was alluding to.

Honors man, it brings everything full circle.

Brainblast!!!

Thank you Jimmy Neutron. Now on to more pressing matters! The human brain is one of the most interesting creations by God. It must have been fashioned in the image of its maker, since our Maker tells us that we were made in His image. This is clearly seen through the personifications of God in the Old Testament. We experience emotion just as God is Love and Joy. Jesus wept, so I would assume that mourning is understandable in some circumstances. He even retains the right to exercise a perfect and just Wrath upon the earth (as described in Revelation.) God is also Wisdom, and from His wisdom comes knowledge and understanding (Hello to you philosophical Proverb!) My point is that (seeing how we have been made in the image of our Maker) logic, reason, and philosophical thought derived from God; therefore, it is completely natural that we tend to think that way. In the New Testament, Jesus told countless parables that forced people to think and meditate on the words He spoke, while Paul used a type of circular reasoning to convince people that the Word of God was the ultimate truth. This is perfect execution of philosophical thought, since it leaves no reason for denying Christ. This is a great segway into Augustine's stream of philosophical thought! Although it appears as a jumbled mess of...(well I don't know what you'd call it)...the truth is that is not completely true. Augustine and Boethius are simply trying to understand everything about God that is humanly possible. Shouldn't we all strive to do just that?? It's a different form of seeking God and "getting a handle on life." As long as you do not become consumed by the knowledge that you obtain, honoring God with the mind that He gave you is an essential part of life!

I commented on Cody's "Babies are Evil, Despicable Creatures"

Temporal vs. Eternal

Today in class Dr. Brekke said that we should not invest in something unless we are prepared to lose it. All too often we put our time into something such as money, relationships, cars, etc. for temporary happiness. We treasure these things because they have value to us. Unfortunately, many times we waste so much time and effort because these things are only temporal and they will not do anything for us in an eternal sense. These things can distract us and mislead us just as they did with Boethius.

In book one at the end of poem two, I read “This man used to explore and reveal Nature’s secret causes. Now he lies here, bound down by heavy chains, the light of his mind gone out; his head is bowed down and he is forced to stare at the dull earth.”

 With this being said, I believe that the reason that Boethius had become this way is because he had become distracted by temporal things of this world that had no true meaning and he became oblivious to what really mattered. This state of mental misery was caused by himself and him alone. As humans, we do this sort of thing. We don’t always have our priorities in order. When we lose sight of true joy and true happiness, such as Jesus, we become burdened, lost, and trapped in our fleshly desires.  

I commented on Brian Burkhardt's "Philosophy Leads To Happiness"

Philosophy Leads to Happiness

Philosophy Leads to Happiness

I have always veiwed philosophy as something to learn, something to study. I have never thought of it as a comfort much..just another subject to discuss with peers. After reading Boethius however, I have realized that Philosophy also acts as a comfort, and can aid in the goal to become happy. I mean,what human has no desire to be happy? All of us, have some degree of desire to become happy. I know for me personally, this rings true. In book 3,Prose 1,Philosophy promises to lead Boethius to true happiness. The question arises of what is true happiness,but we will save that for a later date.
"When her song was finished, its sweetness left me wondering and alert,eager to hear more. After a while I said, 'You are the perfect comforter for weak spirits. I feel greatly refreshed by the strenght of your ideas and the sweetness of your music;in fact, I think I may now be equal to the attacks of Fortune...."

Boethius states that he is just as satisfied with Philosophy as he is Fortune. He sought after fortune to gain happiness, but was left in the dust, ill and depressed. We seek to gain happiness through fortune conistently, but perhaps we've been going after happiness in the wrong sense. Boethius continues to seek and look forward to Philosophy,seeking to be happy. To each his own,as they say.

-Brian Burkhardt

We must become gods...

The Boethius reading was very interesting to me, but I must say initially it was very frustrating simply because the main points that were highlighted are now illegible in my copy. As a result, man important quotes are blacked out. Even still, there was much I could say I followed and agreed with, as well as much I had issues with.
One of the biggest problems to me comes up in book three where Philosophy says "...as men become just by acquiring integrity, and wise by acquiring wisdom, so they must in a similar way become gods by acquiring divinity. Thus everyone who is happy is a god and, although it is true that God is one by nature, still there may be many gods by participation."
What does it even mean to be a 'god by participation'? In a sense, it does corollate with the Christian belief that one must receive the Holy Spirit to be at peace with God--but that does not mean that we become god through any act. We cannot attain the Holy Spirit. God must come to us. But in Boethius' writings, it seems as if there is some sort of realization or spirit state mankind much reach to achieve this divinity. That is all that can give him complete happiness, which is according to Boethius his end.
I do not agree that happiness is our end in this sense. I think our purpose is not based on us, but in our relationship with God. Philosophy seems to be so close to understanding God as essential, but instead of going to Him we are expected to become divine.

(commented on kaylie's from last week)

Above the stars

I'm excited for class tomorrow and the discussion on Boethius. If you didn't read... DO IT. It's a fairly easy read and it's so interesting because the question of the work (so far) is where and how in the world to find true happiness. Man's main desire being the pursuit of happiness has not changed much since this was written! One of my favorite parts in the first half is on page 56:

But when it comes to the location of the good which they desire, they are blind and ignorant. They dig the earth in search of the good which soars above star-filled heavens. What can I say to show what fools they are? Let them pursue their riches and honors and, when they have painfully accumulated their false gods, then they may come to recognize the true.

We see this all over the place in our culture today... and the sad truth is that for many it takes a long time and journey through avarice and pride before they are broken and realize that Good is above. Good is only in God and apart from Him there is no good thing. I'm seeing this more and more in my own life- how temporary pleasures always fail but only He is true forever. However, learning such things also imparts the responsibility to return to the cave and lead others out. We must help them look up at the Creator of the billions of sparkling stars instead of their fruitless searching in the dark through the dirt for a spec of glitter that will never fully satisfy.
Commented on Danielle's "We must become gods.."