Meaning

In a world where it is increasingly difficult to find forms of media (T.V. shows, films, books, etc.) that have any depth or transcendent meaning, know that everything has a meaning. Some things have a good and/or virtuous meaning and others have no other meaning to display other than life is meaningless.

Largely the meaning behind a certain book or film is hidden and as such it goes unnoticed. We still ascribe to whatever meaning a film or book might portray but we are unwilling or unable to engage these forms of media beyond merely witnessing them. What I mean is we simply read a book to participate in a "mindless" activity, or we just want to "turn our brains off" and watch T.V. But my challenge to those all of us, especially those who wish to find depth and meaning is not to "turn off your brains" while doing "mindless" activities. If you are nothing else in your daily life be thoughtful. Thinking about everything we hear and see is one of the most important things we can fill our day with. The bible speaks about praying without ceasing, yet in order to be prayerful all the time you must be engaged in what is happening around you, which requires a sound analysis of life (e.i. thought). And if you are a believer you will begin to see the fingerprints of God all around you and you might even discover that films and books and such, that aren't overt in their theology are fraught with symbols and imagery that point to Christ.

If you are an unbeliever, one who is not a Christian, I believe that if and when you begin to engage the world around you thoughtfully you begin to see that life is not a random accident but there is order to the way things work and there are principles of living that make life more full and bring greater meaning to life. However if you refuse to think about your world then life will simply be a series of random accidents and then you die. But I believe we all know that there is a purpose to life here on earth, yet without thinking deeply throughout one's day that purpose will remain elusive.

The God who created us in his image created us to think as rational beings. Do not let anyone take away your right to think freely. If we are constantly "turning off our brains" we are handing over our right to think freely. And every time we do we lose a little bit more of our ability to think well. Thinking is a skill and as with any other skill it must be practiced and honed and there is a progression to becoming a "good" thinker. The beginning of that progression and my only concern here is that we actually begin to think constantly. Now what the conclusion of our thinking is is not necessarily the measure of a bad or good thinker, but it is the process of thinking, and the level of skill at which you operate that will make you a bad or good thinker. What I mean is if you truly think something through with honesty and well reasoned arguments your conclusion will be difficult to dispute. However if you barely think through something or use poor reasoning or base it merely off of what you have heard, then even if you come to the right conclusion it does not mean you are a good thinker, you have simply learned to repeat someone else's opinions.

So when it comes to politics, think. And when it comes to philosophy, think. And when comes to watching The Office or American Idol, be thinking.

Welcome To Sparks Fly

My name is Clayton and blogging is very new to me. I tend to early on jump on the latest trend like blogging and then find I keep up with it very inconsistently. But as this semester I will be reading much and thinking much I thought that a blog would be a great way of accomplishing two dilemmas I have faced every semester since attending the Criswell College: 1) blogging affords me the opportunity to share with a wide range of people what I have been thinking about and learning while enabling me to have a normal social life, and 2) it will help me to think more clearly about what I am learning due to you being able to respond to my posts and me having a place to pour out my thoughts and clear up some room in my head.

I very much look forward to those of you who will frequent my blog responding to and interacting with me. Please be honest and let me know if you have any opinions about anything on the blog.

Now to point out some of the features of Sparks Fly. I will be weekly posting a new poll question, some of which will be fun and some of which will be purposefully engaging. I also will have listed books that I will be reading so you can see where I getting my inspiration from and also for those of you who will be interested,so you can join me in my reading. Keep an eye out for any new features.
At the bottom of the page you will find a link to the Goats Go 2 Hell Podcast. This is a podcast that my friend Mr. Chris and I started a while back. As of now it as fallen into disrepair but it will, Lord willing, be "resurrected" soon. But listed now are the 4 episodes we have done, however listen at your own risk.

As for now I hope this finds you well and again I look forward to what the future holds for my blogging career.

Clayton