If there is anything that we can learn from our society consumed with excess passions of lust, greed, and power, we can learn that something is horribly wrong. However, it’s one thing to simply just describe the problems of the world, and it’s quite another to prescribe a solution to the problems. Just yesterday I held a discussion with a dear friend who has live significantly longer than I have, at least fifteen or more years. Somehow our discussion turned from discussion theological grids of truth, to cultural issues directly related to the grids of understanding. I was not necessarily trying to solve the world’s problems as many young arrogant students like myself do, rather I was simply trying to understand why our culture continues to burrow into the soils of destructive passions represented by our lust for money, sex, and control. Things that were discussed were serious problems, mainly having to do with the ideal of the American Dream, yet we seemed unshaken by the difficulties of this reality. We were not so shocked as to panic, yet we both understood the seriousness of the problems we were discussing. After thinking through our discussion I wondered, “How is it that we could sit in his living room, smoking cigars, knowing that our country is on a path of horrible conclusions with a smile on our face?” I think the obvious answer is theological basis of our futures. Humans spend their lives building paradigms, continuums, and similar constructs through which they view reality. The paradigm of thought built by a child of enlightenment epistemology ultimately assembles a paradigm of certainty, a paradigm of observable, verifiable, repeatable knowledge. Having built this paradigm of certainty, this form of knowledge can only be certain that we cannot be certain about our future for the future is outside the body of attainable human knowledge. The paradigm of thought built by the person who is raised in an environment of abuse and neglect is a construct of reality that sees life as something which must be fought for in the midst of an intense struggle where the death of life is ultimately viewed as the final abuse. I have raised this issue of constructs and paradigms to say this: That the vestige of God constructs a paradigm of life which, being based upon the truth of revelation, allows for a sense of security amidst times of upheaval and disorder. The Christian scriptures begin with the creation a perfect world implying the work of a perfect Creator, however that perfect world was defaced by the deception of the Deceiving One. Whether the story be factual historical events or mythical ancient near eastern poetry is beside the point, the point is that the world having been created is now in a state of disruption. Though the perfect creation be defaced, this says nothing of the Perfect Creator who remains the Everlasting God. The scriptures present a torn world, but the fact of the Perfect Creator changes everything, for the vestige it changes the beginning, the middle, and the end, the totality of all being for it promises the redemption of a hope-sick world. We perceive the redeeming acts of God through every day life events of love and healing, yet we know that the “here” is not yet the “then.” This paradigm is why two can discuss the coming destruction of a land and simply walk on.
I was sitting in a coffee shop on Sunday, and a young lady sat next to me on the sofa. The place was packed and that was the only other seat open. She asked if she could sit and I smiled and nodded. I continued my business, trying to give the impression that it was no big deal that this cute girl just sat next to me. It wasn't a big deal, after all it happens every day. Right... Though it appeared to be the case, that was not the case. For about an hour or so I could not focus on what I was doing. I was constantly thinking about what I will say in order to strike up a conversation, find out her "status", and make a decision whether to ask her out or not. So I sat nervously thinking about what to say. It wasn't that hard, because she was feverishly grading what appeared to be homework, as if she was a teacher. So at a natural transition in my business I asked, "Are you a teacher?" That was that. She was kind and responded as if not to be bothered by my questi