Friday's Thoughts

What we are called upon to be is realistic in our approach to life. We have to realize that some things are the way they are and there's not much we can do about them. We have to accept things as they are. Plato had to accept the fact that his teacher Socrates was put on trial and was put to death because he, supposedly, was corrupting young people. All he was doing was making them think. It was a bogus charge.
Jesus had to live with the fact that one of the disciples he had chosen had betrayed him. That's the way it was. That's the way life is sometimes and you have to understand that.

Idealism that has no basis in realism is shallow. While it is important to know how it is it is also important to know how it ought to be. There comes a time when you look at reality and begin to imagine how things could be different. Jesus told his listeners, "You be perfect as God in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48).
Plato suggested that in every human mind there is something that reminds us of the "one true thing". It informs what we understand about justice and beauty. It is contact with the absolute. It reminds us of the way things can be.

Finally, as we work through the way things are to the way things could be we begin to sense the imperative placed upon us and the question, "What are you going to do about it?"

In the sermon I intend to work through realism, idealism, and ethical imperative.

It's what life comes down to; it seems to me.

Do you have some thoughts on this? Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have other people read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles Schuster