Ponderization

Defining terms:

I have  had many people contact me over time, and almost the first words they say to me is< ” I am also a puritan at heart”  I was reading in a book by Leonard J Coppes,  “The Ten points of Calvinism, Is five points enough?”  how we all need to understand and use terms the same way as those we are talking to, or while we say and mean one thing, someone else will say exactly verbatim the same words, and they will mean something completely different by it.

so I am after reader participation on this  If you consider yourself to be a puritan at heart also, what basis do you make that assertion and why do you believe that to be true?  There is no right or wrong answer, yet I do have very clear ideas what makes for folk in actual fact being true puritan at hearts and what doesn’t I have known folk who would  have described themself as such, while disagreeing with the puritans on almost everything. That is an oxymoron, and we need to use terms carefully. If we are claiming to be puritans at heart, then we do not want to tarnish the great tetimony they left us and future generations, by actually being anything but, and so misrepresenting them. This is  someting I have felt strongly about for a long time, having seen folk take this name to themself and do the puritan cause much harm and damage by doing so, by their views being anything but puritan like.

So let us define terms, and if  you consider yourself to be a puritan at heart, then please state in the comments why you do so

This song has long resonated with me. As I have always made friends easily, yet, nothing in this world is permanent, and one thing that becomes plainer to me by the day almost, when as ill as I am, and all alone, apart from my two cats, is this world is not my home. I am an alien and a stranger here in more ways than most, and very ltitle to tie me to it. God keeps me here for a purpose that much I know, but very little do I have to make me want to stay here, apart from chronic and severe suffering day in and day out; and the worst of that suffering, even though the illness can be beyond words to describe how bad it can get, is forever the lonliness, and feeling no one I know can understand most things about me, my life, so that I am left feeling like the little alien no one understands.

I love and I laugh, and I love deeply when I do.  Probably one of those folk who loves too much. I think the way my cats thrive with me, especially the oldest one against all reason, shows that. As they get the greatest share of my love day to day.  But at the end of the day, I feel like the little hobo in the song, who makes friends, wherever they go, and always has done,  but, has no real resting place in this world.  Below the lyrics I shall include the video of the song too:

There’s a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road, that’s where I’ll always be.
Every stop I make, I make a new friend,
Can’t stay for long, just turn around and I’m gone again

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

Down this road that never seems to end,
Where new adventure lies just around the bend.
So if you want to drive me for a while,
Just grab your hat, come travel light, that’s hobo style.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, the whole world is my home.

So if you want to join me for a while,
Just grab your hat, come travel light, that’s hobo style

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

There’s a world that’s waiting to unfold,
A brand new tale no-one has ever told.
We’ve journeyed far far and know it wont be long;
We’re almost there, and we’ve paid our fare with our hobo song.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

So if you want to join me for a while,
Just grab your hat, come travel light, that’s hobo style.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll find what I call home, Until tomorrow, you know I’m free

Any of you relate to the genie in the bottle of grief?

You can go on for weeks, months, and barely give the source of the grief a thought; you make a deliberate choice to not dwell on it, not think about it, so that you can just get on with your life to the glory of God, as best as you can. But then, its brought to  mind one way or another, and the wound once re-opened is like the genie in the bottle you can’t stop back up.

I have a bud, who has very clear views on the online world. Most of them I can agree with,  though it probably took me longer to see it the same way, but mostly we do not disagree on this issue.

But, the online world can be strange in various ways. I’m not talking about those obvious sickos out there who prey on children or the otherwise vulnerable. I’m talking about even folks who in regular society would pass for just like you, I, or any old Tom, Dick or harriet.

People who don’t know us, very often, or hardly at all, and certainly  not well, and often live thousands of  miles away, will often make judgements they don’t have the ability to do. Where else except in cyberland would this happen?  But those judgements if they are of a sinful bent, and they decide to go on a hate campaign against anyone can do severe harm to someones reputation. I’ve seen this done over time, not just to myself but to others too, some of whom had a good and even a little public reputation worth defending, and none of the accusations being true.  Spite, malice, jealousy? Probably a little of all those things creep into trying to drag someone down in that way.  Yet where else but cyberland, where the person does not in any way shape or form, most often, have any personal knowledge of the individual they are attacking can that kind of behaviour go on?

Amongst Christians you would think a set of unwritten rules would apply. God’s rules. But its often not the case, at all.   And often when a question would clear up the thing that someone has taken offense over and so goes on a vengeful rampage of hate in the online world,  they choose to be ignorant, cos if they’d  have bothered to get all the info, then they would not have had liberty to do as they did do.

We all make judgements every day of our lives. But when at least we do not have the knowledge to know if some judgement made is true or not,  then lets at least have the decency and common courteousy to  keep our belief or view to ourselves.

I think when very clear sin issues are involved, and it is ongoing with no sign of remission after a very long time, we are entitled to make judgements based on what we see and the persons actions, if they are clearly violating God’s Law, and glory and are indiffierent about it.   If they have shown it to be persistent and non-ending then you can’t believe anyone would only be like this online, that kind of behaviour  must also spread over into actual life too, as they have the same heart whereever they are in life, and so we  may  make a judgement based on there sinful behavour as they have not displayed the fruits of faith over a long, long time.  Faith without works is dead.  Faith requires fruit to be on display.  But to make judgements based on nothing but our instincts, or cos we don’t like someone or some particular thing that may  nto be against God’s Law, but is against our own liking or will, is not just ungodly and uncharitiable, its downright silly when  the judgement is taking place by someone who has no personal knowledge of you and is thousands of miles away.

Sin can seem to be rampant much more in the online world and I think why folks feel they can hide like a coward behind a computer or an anonymous id, then that will continue to be the case.  But,  I also think sin is easier to expose in the online world just becuse of how the written word endures  much longer than the spoken word.   You almost always have evidence of anothers sin, by the very nature of the interent. As if they sin against you online they often want you to know, so do it where they know it will be seen by you. Whereas in actual life, people can sin against us often and us be totally unaware of it in some cases. And certainly have no proof of it.

The online world is weird, its often full of weirdo’s, you only have to turn the news on to see that.  But, it doesn’t have to be a more weird form of communicating and interacting with each other than it needs be, especially by Christians, when God should be steering the boat anyway, whether online or not.   Its only when the course is perverted,  by sinful actions, even in the Christian community, that it becomes impossible to maintain, and in those instances, I find I for one, cut the dead wood off the tree, and leave it behind, as  we can all do without the added strife of those situations, when you figure its coming from someone who probably has no personal knowledge of you, but chooses to spread  false reports through sheer  malicousness, is thousands of miles away,  and is using the interent to propogate there sin   what other option is there but to cut them off and not give them a chance to repeat it forever?

I have made some very good friends online. Some of them are years old now.  But theres always the one or two, who will not like anything good anyone else has, whether that’s friendships, respect, a good name, or a dozen other things.  So they will throw there toys out of the pram in an effort to destroy the thing the one person has, they don’t, but wish they did, and in doing so, the internet can become the devils playground.