During one of my first classes with the 7th - 12th graders this year we were discussing the ways in which it was possible to know there was a God. I suggested to them it may all be a huge joke and therefore we had no reason to be spending our Sunday mornings together learning about the Catholic faith.
As I led them through the different ways to know God we came to the question of what life would be like if there was no God. One of my brightest little gals, a 7th grader, looked up and said, "What would be the reason for living". Indeed!!
9 comments:
Are you familiar with Blaise Pascal's proposition commonly referred to as 'Pascal's Wager'? I think your older students could figure it out.
It is the first post on my blog at
nahnahnahnahnahnah.blogspot.com/2007_09_16_archive.html
Take a look and see if you can use it.
Uncle Jim,
Liked your entry. Me thinks you and I tend to think alike.
Pascal's Wager usually comes up as part of the discussion. One of my favorite sites is Peter Kreeft. I'm sure you have already been to his site as you seem pretty darn smart. This is where he has all the stuff re: is there a God?
http://www.peterkreeft.com/featured-writing.htm
And the lady front row, left reminds me of my Mom. It startles me every time I open you blog. Who is she?
The lady front left is my mom ... er, make that my children's mom. That is Aunt Rozann, my wife.
Okay, here we go ... ID time
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Front row from left to right as viewed:
Aunt Rozann, my wife
Hannah, my daughter in law [married to son Mike]
Monica, daughter [married to Chad] - holding Lauren, their daughter
Chad - my son in law [married to daughter Monica] - holding their son Landon
Rear left as viewed:
Izabel Rose, grand-daughter, being held by her mother Jennifer
Jennifer, daughter in law [married to son Nick] - holding their daughter Izabel
Nick - son [married to Jennifer]
MOI
Mike, son [married to Hannah in the front row]
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It might be time for me to do the same on the blog - or not.
read me tomorrow, Sunday ... I'm going to tell a little more of my story
Such a heady topic for a Catholic convert/mental lightweight like me with a whole lot to learn (my blogging name is a clue), but I'll give it a shot. This is the age-old "Why are we here" question. There's lots of reasons for living, but to turn it around, if there were no God, what would be the point? We're here, not because He needs more glory (as Fr Hines said; "He has closets full of it"), but to love and worship Him and to do His will, because He knows, and we should know as well, that He is much smarter than we are. And speaking of smarter, there's minds better than mine out there who will be weighing in here in short order, so it's departure time.
Welcome one bead,
I can see you fall in the catagory of people that are way too smart for me! Only kidding!
You converts are always way better Catholics than us "cradles".
Since I am a revert I fall into the middle ground.
Love your name - it says bunches.
Take some time and visit Uncle Jim (see link on front page).
Last spring I realized that, apart from Jesus Christ, life has no meaning.
That still hits me. Last night, I laid awake thinking about it. Life has no meaning apart from God.
Profound.
I can say with confidance that my only reason for living is Jesus Christ...because no other reason holds any logic or motivation at all.
Adoro,
I pray more and more of get to where you are. Such faith! Such keen awareness. Years in the darkness surely makes the light brighter it seems. God Bless You. You are in inspiration. And just think, you've probably got another 60 years in you...WOW!
Being able to ask the question "What if God were not?" is a very Catholic thing. Historically, it was Catholic thinkers who first thought that thought. No one had ever thought that thought before. No culture, no philosophy, had ever imagined a world without God or gods.
People who think the Catholics are closed-minded and backwards don't know their history.
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