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True or False: In the end, we always do just what we want to do
By Gary | May 17, 2008
I've been thinking a lot today about things philosophical. I had a buddy waaaaaayyy back in my high school days (proud graduate of the Class of '65 -- and if you have to ask WHICH '65, I don't like you anymore) who's father was a philosophy teacher. The son would walk up to me or a group of his friends, put an arm around my shoulder (their shoulders) and say, "Let's talk. Let's talk about the important things -- things like life, death, and IMMORTALITY!" He always called out IMMORTALITY in a loud voice with a fake British accent. Then we'd all chuckle and fall on the ground laughing.
Seriously, though, life and death, even immortality, are the serious issues we all face -- but I'm not really interested in delving that deeply into life right now. Instead, I just want to focus on something this kid once said to me. When he said it, I thought he was being incredibly cynical. I was very high-minded as a teen, very convinced that 1) all the world needed to be saved, and, 2) I knew the Savior and absolutely intended to make sure everyone found him. Like it or not, all my friends and family members were going to "get saved" if I had to beat 'em into church with my heavy, big, black Bible.
What he said to me was this: "Well, you know, Gary, in the end, we always do just what we want to do anyway, don't we?"
"Whoa -- not ME, Rick. That's incredibly self-centered. I'm only going to do what GOD wants me to do."
That was my reaction then and for a long time. Then, as years went by and all my friends and family members tolerated my rude behavior regarding religion, I began to mellow somewhat. Then I finally started to see what my friend Rick meant. He wasn't saying we SHOULD always do just what we want to do -- he was merely observing a fact of life. And the older I get, the more I understand that and the more I tend to agree with Rick.
Sometimes we make elaborate rationalizations about our behavior, to justify what we do. Sometimes we quickly blame God -- I mean, attribute our decision to God's will. (And, hopefully, sometimes at least we are right.) Sometimes we don't bother to rationalize or explain our actions, we just do what we want.
In the end, though, we always do what we want to do, and we always believe what we really want to believe.
The trick, I think, is this: Live the best we know how, loving others and trying to help others whenever we can, worship our God in the best way we know how -- and, perhaps, that's the very best way we can take time for living each day of our lives.
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