Finding Hope

Well, I'm back. The video was a fair success, and I wasn't up until the last minute fixing it, which was nice. Overall our Christmas program went quite well imo, considering we didn't communicate any of the transitions and whatnot. At any rate, back to reality for me and my regular schedule. This is a nice return to pace as my retinas were nearly bleeding from all the screen viewing last week.

I was on my way into work when I heard a familiar ad on the radio. It is a tag heuer ad wherein Tiger Woods talks about his continual pursuit of excellence. Have you heard it? I have nothing against the ad, but Tiger ends by saying that it is our choices that define us. This has grown to be an issue for me.

If my decisions define me, I don't have much hope. I have a hard time making decisions. Especially when it comes to escalating conflicts or not becoming over committed. Tiger (or at least the ad writers) is an existentialist. He believes that it is only through experience that we can ascertain knowledge, especially about ourselves. Kind of like batman. In bagman begins, he says something along the lines of "It's not who I am, but what I do that defines me". Right. Humans do stupid things all the time.

I don't disagree that our decisions and actions influence us. It is impossible to know truth completely objectively, without recognizing how our baggage influences our eyesight (I am a critical realist). We each have perspectives that are unique to our own context. But to claim that our only knowledge is subjective, relative, perspective lacks hope.

My hope is not in what I do. My hope is in who I am. In who God says I am, and who I believe I am becoming. Not by virtue of my actions, but because of who loves me. He calls me by name, redefines me, refines me, and makes it possible that not all of my decisions will be moronic.

P.S. Speaking of existentialists, Soren Kierkegaard was a great one.