{"id":1600,"date":"2021-05-04T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1600"},"modified":"2021-05-03T20:40:09","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T01:40:09","slug":"the-long-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1600","title":{"rendered":"The Long View"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12 N<\/em>IV<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Begin with the end in mind. It’s common advice for crafting a story and even better advice for crafting a life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how do you know where the paths you choose eventually lead, farther down the road? Around the bend beyond which you cannot see? And how do you know what unintended consequences await because of choices that seem so small\u2014so inconsequential!<\/em>\u2014at the time you make them. I have seen entire careers stopped dead in their tracks because of the fallout from a choice that, at the time, seemed to be made comfortably within the boundaries of the acceptable status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our actions, our words, even our thoughts, are judged in the court of opinion. But opinions\u2014everyone’s<\/em> opinions, anyone\u2019s<\/em> opinions\u2014are shifting things. They are unreliable indicators of what is right and what is wrong. Or, more to the point, of what is good and what is not. To use a couple of small examples from current events, I have felt shamed for not wearing a mask, and I have felt shamed for wearing one. I have felt shamed for not getting a Covid-19 vaccination, and when I did get it, shamed for submitting to it. It just depended on the opinions of whomever I was with at the time. The old saw is true: Opinions are like noses; everybody has one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If recent events have taught us anything, they have schooled us\u2014quite rigorously, I might add\u2014in the sudden violence with which changing opinions can jerk us around. But I submit to you that most dogmas about what is right and what is wrong are human constructs, and therefore, are unreliable at their core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really like the series The Chosen<\/em>, and Episode 1 of Season 2 is, in my opinion, particularly wonderful\u2014well written and emotionally moving. That episode imagines why John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, might have opened his eyewitness account as he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1-5 NKJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greek term John used for \u201cWord\u201d in these passages is Logos<\/em>, and it has a connotation of being the basis for the way things work. God created everything by using His own Word\u2014the realms we see and those we don\u2019t are His design. Then He demonstrated how His design works in the person of Jesus\u2014His instruction manual. \u201cFollow me,\u201d Jesus said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I heard a preacher put it this way: Saying one plus one is three is not morally wrong, it just does not work. There isn\u2019t any need to get indignant or angry about it or take a stand against it. Life is like that errant equation. We Christians get all worked up about the wrongness of the things people say and do, instead of reasonably and rationally explaining why some beliefs and behaviors simply do not work. And our explanations ought to be insightful and not lame. \u201cBecause God said so,\u201d and \u201cGod\u2019s ways are mysterious,\u201d don\u2019t cut it. Our words ought to resonate. But that\u2019s another topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day, we choose how and what we think, what we say, what we do. In a thousand little things, we can decide to follow that moral compass we call a conscience, or we can decide to doggedly press forward in a direction we know, deep down, has no good end. The choice is always ours, and so are the consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John wrote that there is life in that Logos<\/em>, Who was with God in the beginning and understands how everything works. Jesus said, \u201cI came to give life, a rich and satisfying life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sounds pretty good to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12 NIV Begin with the end in mind. It’s common advice for crafting a story and even better advice for crafting a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Mo02-pO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":772,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=772","url_meta":{"origin":1600,"position":0},"title":"Unnecessary Wear and Tear","author":"lsimonds","date":"February 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"To me, it\u2019s all about perceptions, perceptions about life or human nature or the way something looks or the way something sounds. Two or three of them on a page in a notebook, that\u2019s what it\u2019s really all about. Getting enough of them to enliven every page of a novel,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2017"","block_context":{"text":"2017","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":829,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=829","url_meta":{"origin":1600,"position":1},"title":"Love The One You’re With","author":"lsimonds","date":"March 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Tribe. n.\u00a0a group of persons having a common character, occupation, or interest \"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.\" Romans 12:18 ESV I recently enjoyed the company of a three year old for\u00a0a few days\u2014the daughter of good friends. She lives in another town,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2017"","block_context":{"text":"2017","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1083,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1083","url_meta":{"origin":1600,"position":2},"title":"The Waves and Wind Still Know His Name","author":"lsimonds","date":"October 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and\u00a0dignified in every way. This is good, and\u00a0it is pleasing in the sight of\u00a0God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2018"","block_context":{"text":"2018","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":566,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=566","url_meta":{"origin":1600,"position":3},"title":"An Intercession","author":"lsimonds","date":"September 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cFor You formed my inward parts. You covered me in my mother\u2019s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully\u00a0and\u00a0wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and\u00a0that\u00a0my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016"","block_context":{"text":"2016","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1168,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1168","url_meta":{"origin":1600,"position":4},"title":"An Intercession","author":"lsimonds","date":"January 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The essay below was originally published in September 2016. \u201cFor You formed my inward parts. You covered me in my mother\u2019s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully\u00a0and\u00a0wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and\u00a0that\u00a0my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2019"","block_context":{"text":"2019","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1621,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1621","url_meta":{"origin":1600,"position":5},"title":"Whose Side Are You On?","author":"lsimonds","date":"September 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth...\" Acts 17:26 NKJV College football started this Labor Day weekend, and I watched the Arkansas Razorbacks battle the Rice Owls. 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