Scripture is dark and pessimistic over humanity. Throughout life I have been both blessed and burned by people whom I deeply love.
I believe that:
1. Those I most look up to, if truly known, will at some point deeply let me down.
2. Those who look up to me, if they get to know me, will at some point be deeply let down.
Negatively, this makes relationships risky.
Positively, understanding it helps me be realistic in my expectations and pre-emptive in my empathy.
I can give others the benefit of doubt, yet assume that there are unknown things about them that are disappointing, and simply decide beforehand to love them anyway.
Humanity was a deep disappointment to God. I have been a huge disappointment to God. Yet he loves me. And delights in me. Deeply.
This is a heads-up for those using Ember Data. As of 1.0.0-beta.7, it doesn’t seem to conform to the following prescription of JSON API for creation of records:
“Its root key MUST be the same as the root key provided in the server’s response to GET request for the collection.” (jsonapi.org)
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The New Testament never gives the Christian movement an official organizational name. Instead, the movement was called “the Way” (Acts 9:2), and in Antioch the disciples are mockingly called “Christians” (Acts 11:26).
“Infants are the drill sergeants of parenting bootcamp. They give you four basic tasks – diapers, burping, feeding, and napping – and then scream at you when you do them wrong. There’s no encouragement, no smiles, just crying and quiet. And they give you tasks at any time, day or night. Just finished changing my diaper? Change it again. Good job, now change that one. After a few months of breaking you down, they build you back up again. They smile at you. They sleep through the night. They hold their head up, so you don’t have to. And after It’s over, the tasks you learned – swaddling, diapering, bottle prepping – are tasks you will likely never use again. But the skills you’ve gained – patience without sleep, calm in the face of screams, moving your hand into the [poop] instead of recoiling – are skills that will serve you the rest of your life.” (Comment on Reddit)
“After Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,’ God said they had ‘become as one of us,’ suggesting that a process of approaching godliness was already underway.” (https://www.lds.org/topics/becoming-like-god?lang=eng)
This deserves our most exasperated incredulity. Genesis 3:22 comes after Adam and Eve hid from God, and shamefully blamed others for their crime. The serpent was cursed, the woman’s childbearing pains were multiplied, Adam’s job of tending to the ground was now fraught with pain, and Adam and Eve were denied access to the Tree of Life and given over to the sting of death.
Then after Genesis 3:22, God expels them from the garden, guards it with a “cherubim and a flaming sword” to reinforce the curse.
The more simple interpretation of Genesis 3:22 is that Adam and Eve now more clearly understood the difference between good and evil like God and the surrounding beings of heaven did. Instead of trusting God for such knowledge on his timing, and his methods, and his prerogative, they trusted the serpent’s lies about God’s intentions and seized a pleasure and wisdom for themselves.
Genesis goes on to reinforce the story of this bad move: Cain kills Abel, and humanity plunges itself into more sin. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) God shows his continued commitment to creation by saving Noah’s family from the flood, and by calling Abraham to himself and making him a gracious promise. But this was in spite of humanity’s wickedness.
“Suggesting that a process of approaching godliness was already underway” doesn’t fit the narrative.
Ironically, part of human carnality is our general unwillingness to give others the personal benefit of doubt. We are called to be optimistic about others in our relationships, and avoid undue cynicism and conspiracy theories, etc.
But another part of human carnality is our undue optimism over the goodness in our own hearts. More caution is needed. Our hearts need to be carefully guarded. We are so bad that we need to be forgiven and born again. We are needy for a Savior and Counselor.
2. Translating it into your own words requires a basic understanding of what they said.
3. “If it can’t be translated, it probably doesn’t mean anything.”[a] Attempting to translate it into your own words can identify meaninglessness.
4. Hearing their own position translated helps them understand their own position. I don’t merely want you to understand my position. I also want you to understand your own position.
5. It slows things down. You haven’t shot back or merely reacted. This reduces tension. Makes for a sustainable conversational rhythm.
6. Your translation of their argument or position can strip it of needless rhetorical flourish.
7. Positions or arguments can sound ridiculous when they are clearly summarized. Simply restating someone’s position can remove the need to refute it.
8. It earns you credibility from which to state your own position.
9. It can help you identify common ground upon which to build.
10. You might make a friend.
“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” (Proverbs 18:2)
[a] Something I once heard Bill McKeever essentially say.
Added:
11. It dignifies and honors their words as meaningful.
12. It dignifies the very act of communication, of dialectic and dialog.
13. It combats cynicism that all such communication can be reduced to sophistry, stimulus, or grandstanding.
14. It honors another as a thinking soul — a royal, rational, reflective, introspective human being made in the image of God. Not just one of Pavlov’s dogs.
15. We would want others to do the same to us. This fulfills neighbor-love. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31)
16. It provides an opportunity to overlook or redirect poor communication. This graciously seasons conversation with salt.
17. It may provide another with a better way to restate their own position elsewhere. In this case it is the gift of even clearer articulation. More grace.
Likely, his momma. As a Jewish boy, he was likely home-schooled. The inventor of quantum physics had to learn the Aramaic and Greek ABC’s. Jesus quoted largely from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament — which was put together by scholars. His daddy (or other relative) likely taught him carpentry skills. He learned about the world around him by observation.
“Jesus became wiser and stronger. He also became more and more pleasing to God and to people.” (Luke 2:52)
By twelve-years-old he was amazing to listen to at the temple. By why assume this came only by a mystic connection with the Father? Or by simply reading the Old Testament? It “took a village” for Jesus to become the man he became. By God’s design. The end result was evidence of Jesus’ special relationship with the Father (and even his divine identity), but that relationship didn’t happen in a vacuum.
I Am Aaron Shafovaloff 