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Name: matthew
Country: United States
State: Louisiana
Metro: New Orleans
Birthday: 4/24/1980
Gender: Male
Interests: let the list begin with Jesus and my wife, and conclude with this assortment: philosophy, sociology, theology, education, spiritual formation, literature, poetry, coffee, running, emerging culture, social-justice, community development...
Expertise: i am an expert at thinking too highly of myself, and forgetting simple tasks
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
MSN: mattdegier@hotmail.com
Member Since:
1/4/2005
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| Yes or No<climbing slightly worn soap-box>
ahem...
Attention all American young adults: It's ok to say 'no' to an invitation, even when you think you 'should' act in the positive.
I have to admit that I am sometimes guilty to the maybe syndrome of this generation, but I do believe I've come a little way toward decisiveness: letting my 'yes' be yes, and 'no' no, as Jesus would say.
As one who often is inviting students to 'good' events, I get maybes all the time. Of course, I've learned to accept the fact that 'maybe' basically means no, but that does not erase the annoyance such answers cause. Of course, even worse is the 'yes' that is just a scared no...grr...
We live in a world full to overflowing with opportunities, and many of them are worthwhile, and some are even great. We have to know how to navigate these invitations to use our time and attentions. We need to learn who we are, what's important to us, and from there make real decisions that we believe in, and will follow through on.
So, if you're a friend of mine, and I ask you to do something that you really can't, or even don't want to do, please have the courtesy to tell me 'no'. If I've never heard that from you before, I might be taken aback at first, but, I promise, I will thank you for it, eventually. If you really aren't sure yet, be honest, but then do follow-up with a decision.
Decisions are beautiful! We can learn from bad ones, and enjoy good ones. Non-decisions are lame, annoying, and void of learning.
Make a decision, today, and bring a smile to someone's day.
:)
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| pray, pleaseMy sister, Farrah, is in the hospital in Columbia, MO. She contracted a nasty infection in her lymphnodes while at Basic Training for the Army National Guard at Fort Leonard Wood.
She, and I, appreciate your prayers.
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| teenage females are screwed up in the headI'm at the St. Louis Bread Co. in good ole' Blue's Town, doing some work, and playing with the free wireless internet.
Two high school girls just sat down at the table next to mine, and they're having a conversation I overhear far too often:
"She's such a &*%@...
"She's doesn't even have anying to be conceited about."
"If she lost weight..."
"I used to be nice to her, but she did ____, so now I just blow her off."
"Why would she even think I wanted to talk to her/be her friend..."
Why do they do this? Why can't they talk about something positive happening in their lives? Why can't they talk about the weather or world events? Why do their lives revolve around how everyone else is such a <insert your own deragatory term here>?
It's not even talk about how good they are, but just talk about how no one else is as good as they think they are, or as good as somebody else thinks somebody might be. It's all tearing down the other; the only boasting is boasting about how they should've acted even witchier toward their nemeses than they did, and "aren't I good to not have been as bad as I felt justified to be?"
I'm so disgusted by this.
Lord, have mercy.
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| ReflexivityI've been doing a lot of thinking (and praying) about humility lately, and had a brief dialogue with a fellow xangan about reflexivity lately, so I thought I would prattle on about it for a few minutes.
Hold on to your proverbial bootstraps! and I don't mean Bill.
Reflexive: Directed back on itself.
www.dictionary.com
Reflexive thought looks back on itself with the same standards of critique and/or appraisal as those applied to other's thoughts or ideas. A reflexively made statement is not a point and shoot statement, but a critically analyzed statement--analyzed from as many points of view as possible.
Say, I state that the Detroit Pistons are the best team in the NBA (a statement I would have made a week ago). For this statement to be reflexive, it cannot come purely from my perspective as a fan, but must reflect back upon itself: what standard makes Detroit the best team, and how do other teams rank according to that standard; what weaknesses do the Pistons possess, and how does my appraisal account for them?
Reflexive thought is humble thought. Personally, I'm not very patriotic. However, if I am to speak circumspectly (a Biblical word for reflexively - see Exodus 23:13) about the USA, I can't just spout off rants against weaknesses or faults apparent to me, but must assess those weaknesses and faults from multiple perspectives. If America is faulty, I can be free to propose a better appraisal of the nation. However, if the weaknesses are not so gross as I assumed when assessed reflexively, then my statements must carry those assessments.
Of course, this could make reflexive statements into mere political correctness, but, that would be an overstatement. Reflexive statements can be very assertive, and quite opposed to the status quo, or the politically correct. These statements simply take into account multiple ways of assessing their own truth value, and are made in appropriate ways. So, I could say that I believe the Pistons are the best, yet their age and lack of a strong inside game may work against them. Or, I could say that Americans often overestimate the greatness of their nation, yet it's greatness is real at points, and from there discuss the weaknesses and faults that need to be addressed.
This explanation may be a little soft. Let me know if you need further elucidation.
Pardon my vocabulary, but I've recently fallen in love with words again.
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| Real Sex Review is Onlineclick on Reviews above
PS: Chi Alpha New Orleans has copies available for $12.00. email xa@nolaxa.com if you are interested.
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