Life's Eisegesis

I’ve noticed some major trends appearing as I talk to more and more people about being a Christian. Here is one:

Recently I had a friend tell me that he would not call himself a [insert church name or denomination here] because he did not want people to stereotype him. -note: his church is also my church- His reasoning was centered upon a desire to have unity among all Christians and more importantly he thought he could be more effective as a Christian because he isn’t weighted down by a modern day name and meaning. So, his goal in doing this is to help redefine to people today what exactly a Christian is and not lean upon some name that might have all kinds of connotation tied to it. Some of the more current books deal with this like Blue Like Jazz.

What do you think? What do you call yourself to other Christians and what do you call yourself to unbelievers/non-Christians?

More often than not we lose focus of exactly how big things are around us. In other words we focus so much time on ourselves that we forget to be humble and to stand in awe of God’s creation. In the most simplistic terms, much of the poetic writing in the Old Testament and the writing of the prophets is a reminder to remember that God is the biggest. We are far removed from the days when a shepherd could only incline his head while watching his flock during the night and be reminded of the vastness of existence and the vastness of God. Today you are blessed if you live in a place where you can still see our own Milky Way Galaxy.

What I love most about Science Fiction writers is that they often put mankind’s perspective of the universe back into perspective; that we are very tiny in a very large place. I have imagined myself in environments formed by the skillful minds of the most revered Science Fiction writers that scale earth to about the relative size of an atom to a human. Although these “stories” come from some of the most eccentric and atheistic minds I wonder if they serve a purpose for people like myself. When I read these tales of man’s eventual conquering of the stars I am always reminded of our relative size to God. Perhaps this is why I read so much Science Fiction. For in some ways a good Science Fiction writer, one that takes me to the outer reaches of infinity and back, is a modern day prophet. He is telling me of things that might come and reminding me that surely we cannot be alone - without God.

“Nietzsche’s words, ‘He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.’”

“Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp.”

“We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by doing a deed; (2) by experiencing a value; and (3) by suffering.”

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

“I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love”

Viktor Frankl had a lot of good insights during his almost three years spent in concentration camps.  As a psychoanalyst he used his gifts of perception to understand what happens to men when everything has been taken away from them and the fear of being killed never leaves their thoughts.

From the information I’ve read and from the tone in his book, I would not call Frankl a religious man.  He was scientific and caring man with a desire to help people.  His talk of spirituality does not directly pertain to what I would call spirituality.  Nevertheless, his ideas are clear and many Followers have read this book in search of the Meaning.

Eisegesis (from the Greek εἰσηγεῖσθαι; ‘to lead in’) is the process of interpretation of an existing text in such a way as to introduce one’s own ideas.

Most of us would say that we try to interpret our lives. That we sift through our thoughts and memories trying to understand what is going on. Isn’t that one purpose of a blog?

We attempt to clarify and explain our emotions, our experiences, our existence. Isn’t life filled with meanings behind meanings for most, entwined with morality, ethics, and judgment? Isn’t interpretation often too strict a word for how we think about life? Where then does interpretation itself end and one’s allegorical interpretation of life begin?

Life is subjective, therefore what any one individual thinks about their life is strictly their own idea. If everyone’s life were a different book, wouldn’t everyone read everyone else’s book through their own interpretation?

So, eisegesis seemed more fitting.