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Life: The animate existence of an individual (Webster’s)

Philosophy: A system of principles for guidance in practical affairs. (Webster’s)

Probably everyone’s life is influenced by one or more philosophies and over the years many have been found wanting.

Blacks are inferior to whites!

Women shouldn’t be allowed to vote!

Deaf people are mentally retarded!

Homer Simpson is a great example to follow!

We’re going to take a look at some philosophies that touch on the spiritual and try and determine if they too leave something to be desired.  Here’s the first philosophy.

I don’t go through life thinking about negative things!

What might someone mean who makes that statement?

1.  I won’t dwell excessively on negative things that I have no control over. (Sounds like a good idea)

2.  I want to fill my mind with things that are good, right and pure. (No disagreement on that one)

3.  I’m uncomfortable talking about the spiritual issue of life after death. (Let’s examine this a little more)

Invoking a self-imposed prohibition against negative thoughts can be a tool for ending a conversation about difficult spiritual issues.

Perhaps you’re having lunch with a friend and they bring up the subject of where people spend eternity after they die. It’s not something you want to talk about anytime, let alone at lunch, so you label the subject negative, claim that avoiding those types of issues is healthy for you, and end the discussion. (This happened with my wife during a lunch with one of her closest friends.)

Two questions come to mind however (and you’ve probably guessed we love to ask questions).

Do people really live that way?

Are they better off ignoring these "negative" issues of life?

It seems to us that people actually focus a great deal on the negative and with very positive results. For instance, here’s a list of behaviors that can be stimulated by negative thoughts.

Scanning pill bottles for the correct dosage

Heeding the doctor’s advise

Ceasing to smoke

Placing household chemicals out of the reach of children

Reading warranties for the expiration date

Installing a fence around a playground

Purchasing a pool cover

Strapping a child into a car seat

Making the skater in the family wear a helmet

Walking your children to school

Training family members on gun safety

There’s no need to make another list of the negative possibilities that make these actions smart. We have come to learn that being cautious is both wise and caring. In fact, when some of these behaviors are not performed, the consequences sometimes include criminal charges.

Maybe we’re wrong, but it seems like this life philosophy can be used for avoidance. What do you think?

Now, it’s easy to conclude that a person might be trying to duck an issue by utilizing this philosophy. Believe it or not, we don’t find much fault with that practice. In fact it makes us wonder about a bigger question. Why would someone be reluctant to engage in a conversation about an issue of significant importance with a friend who supposedly cares about them? We’d like to suggest some possible answers.

There’s a painful experience in their past because of a similar discussion with another ‘friend’

The trust level with this friend isn’t strong enough yet to engage in this type of serious talk

"I’m nothing but a target" keeps running through their mind as they consider the attitude of their ‘friend’

They are scared of the topic and the easy way out is the "negative thinking" thing

It’s not perceived as an important question

Can you think of other reasons why people would put off having this kind of discussion? If you can, feel free to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

Perhaps you’ve gone through a similar situation and resorted to the same avoidance philosophy or something like it. Any of the reasons we mentioned are compelling enough to make someone shy away from a discussion like that so we don’t want to sound critical of your choice. However, we do have a suggestion...search for someone you can talk with about what went wrong.

As Jay Carty (About the Author) repeatedly says in his book Playing with Fire, "If the whole deal is real…" (that heaven and hell really exist) understanding the potential downsides to ignoring questions about eternal life should be on our Top Ten list of Things to Do.

We would consider it a privilege to speak with you on this issue and we’d also understand if you didn’t feel comfortable with us.  If you don’t have anyone else you can think of and if you believe that God just might exist, here’s another possibility. 

You could ask him to send someone your way. Just a simple request like, "God, if you care about me, let me meet someone I can trust enough to talk this over with."

Wow…what might a person think if they said a prayer like that and it happened?

Coming Concepts

We’re thinking of adding one or more of the following philosophies to these pages in the future.

Intelligent people won’t believe what the Bible says!

God is a crutch!

People can’t build their life on faith!

Let us know which one you’d like to see tackled next or share your favorite life philosophy with us by sending us an e-mail.

 

Life Philosophies is brought to you by Examplanations, a place at His Grace Creations to examine spiritual issues with your head before considering them with your heart.

For more information about Examplanations, click on the bust of Aristotle.