Dichotomous Thoughts

Arranged for James Corley by Danny Wasielewski
5.15.2003

"What was God doing in the infinite time preceding the creation? He was preparing Hell for people who ask questions like that."
-Saint Augustine

Learn dichotomous thinking. Pretty much every situation can be reduced to a simple, black and white, better and worse, choice. Look carefully for these simple choices everywhere; many times the choice lies outside of the actual situation or conversation. To give a common example, suppose you and a friend are arguing over the issue of predestination and free will. Well, regardless of the truth or falsity of fatalism, no one knows what his lot in life will be. Thus, one might choose to quench the argument by pointing out that either way, one ought to live his life the same way as if the opposite viewpoint were true. Other choices are more apparent; you will read examples of these in the pages that follow.

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
-Colossians 3:14

Think abut the people in your class. They are the only classmates you have. You have two choices concerning how you relate to them: you can love them and be unified, or you can fight with them and move separately. You are all running the same race; why not run it together? Once again, it coes to a simple choice: do you want to enjoy your time with them or hate it? Learn to love your class, spend time with them, enjoy them, and cherish them.

"The biggest problem with people today is that they are unwilling to take responsibility for their own actions."
-Steven Cooksey

How much more self-explanatory can that quote be? You are accountable for what you say and what you do. When you choose to take action, be willing to stand behind it. Do only the things you will be proud to say you have done, because the stupid things you do will fall back on you too. Further, hold others responsible for their actions and be ready to defend your choice to do so, for today personal responsibility is often downplayed.

"Vision [the key ingredient in optimism] is the ability to see God's presence, to perceive God's power, to focus on God's plan, in spite of the obstacles."
-Chuck Swindoll

Hope spawns vision, vision optimism, and optimism contentment. We have hope because we know that even when we find ourselves living out of the prosaic details of our lives. God has a plan too wonderful for comprehension. Optimism will lead you to a greater appreciation of everything around you. Pessimision will incile grumbling and complaining, which we are commanded not to do in order that we become "blameless and pure, children of God...in a crooked and depraved generation." (Phil. 2:15) It may be easier to be pessimistic, but the real question is this: do you want to enjoy life or hate it?

"If you're not enough without it, you won't be enough with it."
-Cool Runnings

If you are not content with where God has placed you and with what God has given you, a change in the circumstances will not make you any more content. What do you want more than anything else? The best answer, I think, is contentment. There will always be things we don't have. But if we could achieve true contentment, we would lack nothing even if we did not have everything. An essential part of a fulfilled life is the choice to appreciate everything we have and to love the simple things. As you learn to do these two things, you will learn to live in bliss.

"A boat can float in water, but it can also sink in it."
-Ancient Chinese proverb

Once we have given up our selfish quests for happiness and have found out that true contentment is found only in serving God, He is more than ready to our out his blessings upon us. However, one must be careful to not reverse cause and effect. We are blessed as a result of serving God; we do not serve to be blessed. Further, if the blessings we have take our time and attention away from God, we begin to drown in luxury and cease to serve God, which in turn diminishes the very blessings which have taken His place. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

"God puts certain people in your life at certain times for certain reasons."
-Rachel Jarrett

Consider an old friend, perhaps someone who used to attend your school but no longer does. Friends are pictured side by side, implying that their unity is the result of their seekin a common goal or a common ground. But what if your common ground is stripped away from you (i.e. your friend graduates)? Are you to simply drop that friendship on a whim? To continue to associate seems to imply a reversal of cause and effect; you are now seeking a common goal (sustenance of a friendship) as a result of the unity that you once had. But it also seems counterintuitive to cut off a fully blossomed friendship. I spent many nights of contemplation on this question, unable to reduce it to a dichotomous choice. Finally I understood that the reason we meet these people when we do is that if we were to meet them now, we would not have the same relationship. God gives us a common ground now that friendships may endure when the common ground is gone.

"A refuge from the pain and tears, each one has its own,
But each is only a little glimpse of what is soon to come."
-Katherine Elizabeth Ruganis

Many things in life are out of our control. To love life, love the things that are given to you, love the people who are around you, and love the places where you are located. Even try to love the difficulties you face. It's been said that every cloud has silver lining, but in reality every overcast day is a day spend under a blanket of purest silver. When times are disagreeable, wake up each morning and say "Thank God for another day in which to excel!" Write Psalm 126 on your hand to remind you of the great things God has done for you in the past. Then move forward and love life. Breathe the air, taste the water, feel the solid earth. Now is your time to live, to run free, to burn this world up; what a shame to spend this time in misery! Appreciate every single thing that you can. Appreciate music, appreciate art, appreciate food, and appreciate people. Show the world just how much someone can love life.
And remember that the best is yet to come!

I hope these bits of advice help you throughout high school and all of life. I will always be here, willing to help whenever I can.

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2003(c)Retarded Farris

I do not claim to have written this little book and collaborated it for myself. That is why I said that DANNY collaborated it for ME. Good gollies! You people are WEIRD!