I have been involved in a number of conversations lately and I have realised
how differently each of us sees the world.
Depending on our beliefs, teachings and experiences we all interpret our
world and what is going on around us slightly differently. I can often believe something very
passionately and then I will have an experience that alters, deepens or erases
that belief. I can say one thing and
then do the complete opposite, it is very confusing.
Last night I saw the end of a documentary about Paul the Apostle and it
discussed how his writings in the New Testament have influenced society more
than most of us would recognise. He said
some beautiful, empowering and inspiring things that revolutionized how people
thought about and treated each other. We
have one of his quotes hanging in our kitchen “Love is patient, love is kind, love
is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own
way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice in wrong doing, but
rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes in all things, hopes all
things, endures all things. Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). He also said “There is neither Jew nor
Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28.
However, Paul is also quoted as saying
some much less loving and inclusive things, like “A woman
should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume
authority over a man;
she must be quiet” (1 Timothy 2:11-12).
The documentary highlighted the
contradictions in Paul’s writings and it made me think of all the
contradictions in my own life. For
example I find thinking and talking about money offensive and dull however I
love spending money; I hate paying taxes but I love that we have high quality
public hospitals and public schools; I feel as if love and relationship is the
most important thing and earthly possessions are meaningless but I am very
attached to our home and where we live; I believe every human being has been
perfectly created yet I think and say some very unkind things about these
perfectly created human beings, myself included. The list goes on. It is like I have this
ideal in my head that I strive for but sometimes the reality for me is quite
different, creating a world and life full of contradictions.
William Blake, English poet and painter who
died in 1827 said “Do what you will, this world’s a fiction and is made up of contradiction.” I tend to agree. Look at Saint Paul he made three long
missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire, planting churches, preaching the
gospel, and giving strength and encouragement to early Christians. Of the 27
books in the New Testament, Paul is credited as the author of 13 of them. Paul
was martyred for his faith in Christ by the Romans, about 64 or 65 A.D. Paul
towers as one of the all-time giants of Christianity yet still he was
surrounded by many contradictions, so what hope do the rest of us have?
Do you think it is possible to live without
contradictions? Do your own
contradictions bother you or do you just embrace them as part of your unique,
curious and magnificent personality?