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titissimo
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Name: Titus
Metro:
Birthday: 8/15/1984
Gender: Male
Interests: drums, drums, and more drums. chess. coloring. making music. guitar. listenin to tunes. boggle. ramen. dream theater. dr pepper. playing piano. drivin my van
Occupation: Student
Industry: Textiles
Message: message meEmail: email me
MSN: titissimo_@hotmail.com
Member Since:
2/1/2005
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| Quick update before I run off to Amistad Cristiana (Sioux Center's spanish speaking church)
Summer school is nearly over! Math is done, Philosophy finishes this week.
I will be at Jesus People, USA in Chicago for three weeks (25th til the 16th of August)
I will be helping the homeless, the poor, the elderly, the hungry, the unloved.
Hopefully I'll come back a true hippie.
The Address:
ATTN: Male Volunteer Coordinator
Volunteer - Titus Landegent
920 W Wilson Ave.
Chicago, IL 60640-5707
My cell will be the best way to get ahold of me:
712-441-3926
I know its not much, and it usually isn't my C.S. Lewis sermon. Sorry Dustin :)
Be praying for me, I don't know what I'm really getting into... but I know the place from serving there a few years ago with a team from Northwestern. We were there a week. Now I'm there longer and its just me :) ... which is beautiful.
Blessings to all of ya,
Titus | | |
| From Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis
Excerpts from the "Forgiveness" Chapter:
__________________________________
These ideas of his may or may not rock your idea of what forgiveness actually is. At times he seems idealistic and doesn't understand the depth of some people's struggle to forgive... but nonetheless, its powerful stuff.
"Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war [this was written after WWII]. And then, to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger. It is not that people think it is too high and difficult a virtue: is is that they think it hateful and contemptible. 'That sort of talk [meaning, forgiveness] makes them sick,' they say. And half of you already want to ask me, 'I wonder how you'd feel about forgiving the Gestapo if you were a Pole or a Jew?'
So do I. I wonder very much. Just as when Christianity tells me that I must not deny my religion even to save myself from death by torture, I wonder very much what I should do when it came to the point. I am not trying to tellyou in this book what I could do-I can do precious little-I am telling you what Christianity is. I did not invent it.
And there, right in the middle of it, I find 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us.' There is no slightest suggestion that we are offered forgiveness on any other terms. It is made perfectly clera that if we do not forgive we shall not be forgiven. There are no two ways about it."
WOW!... talk about (in a way) redefining what forgiveness really is. It is NOT a thing we devised... and it is at the center of Christianity. So why is it so hard for us to suck it up and simply forgive? Is the bible not clear about those who do not forgive? I think it most definately IS clear. What's stuck in the way is our pride... pride of self... full of so much pride that we wouldn't want to lower ourselves to the level of those we trampled. OR lower ourselves to the level of those who trampled US. Chew on the quote a bit more... let me know what you think. For now... I press on....
"I admit that this means loving [and forgiving] people who have nothing lovable about them. But then, has oneself anything lovable about it? You love it simply because it is yourself. God intends us to love all selves in the same way and for the same reason: but He has given us the sum ready worked out in our own case to show us how it works. Perhaps it makes it easier if we remember that that is how He loves us. Not for any nice, attractive qualities we think we have, but just because we are the things called selves.
For really there is nothing else in us to love: creatures like us who actually find hatred such a pleasure that to give it up is like giving up beer or tobacco..."
WOW!... yet again. When I think about myself... for what other reason am I lovable? Isn't it simply because I exist?
The love God gives does not depend on our achievments, awards, status, our tithing, or_________ (fill in the blank with a good deed or correct thinking about ____________). We are loved simply because we exist. Is this not the noblest reason to love others? Our creator loves us simply because we ARE. Then, we are to love others simply because they ARE.
I think love can be redirected toward forgiveness... Our creator forgives/saves us for no other reason than because he loves us. SO, we are to forgive for no other reason than because we love others... and we are to love others because they simply exist as people.
The last part of the 2nd quote hits me hard and hits home. I actually find hatred a pleasure. In a sick way, I have a "you had it coming" attitude toward the partiers/drunks/those who sleep around, when they hit a brick wall of consequences. I hold to that so closely that it blocks me from being free myself. In light of Lewis' closing words, I find the "you had it coming" attitude more pleasurable than praying for them. And when those people infringe on my life in some way... that attitude is even more prevalent. I would rather see them come to ruin than forgive them of the hurt/discomfort they put on me.
And this, I think is at the root of Lewis' comment "creatures like us who actually find hatred such a pleasure that to give is up is like giving up beer or tobacco."
In hindsight, it makes me all the more eager to rebuke this attitude when I feel it coming. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing. It frees us from chains of pride and selfishness. It gives us a beautiful long gaze into the eyes of Jesus who loves without conditions.
Please comment. I love to hear feedback...
Blessings to all,
Titus | | |
| This morning at 6, a group from my church meets and discusses that week's reading assignment from C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. this morning was the discussion about his chapter on "Christian Marriage"
present at this discussion (it was a small crowd today) were:
my dad (married... for 24 years, 2 kids... im one of them)
david (married for 2 years, no kids)
me (used to date somebody, now... I have no strong perspectives nor intentions of jumping into marriage)
It was an interesting mix of opinions, experiences, inexperiences (me)... all to say that it was an amazing hour of discussion.
In general, we came to the conclusion that we've as Americans, or as humans (I feel that its more americans tho) have lost sight of what it means to make a promise. With the promises in marriage and the extravagent emphasis on wedding vows... have we lost sight of the weight of what a promise is? David mentioned the cowboy/old west sherrif who says "Mam, I promise that I will:
find your child/
kill that *#&@# who did that to you/
restore peace to this town
... you get my drift. Sorry if this is confusing. BUT... even though this is stylized and isn't always reality... why is it no longer admired as something that we can do as well. "Hey, I can keep promises too! I value a promise as much as Mr. cowboy does!" we've lost this. marriage vows are extravagent, but in the event of a divorce/adultery/unfaithfulness, the response to breaking the vow is, "ah... you can't keep all promises." or "i didn't know what I was getting into then... times have changed." these responses make me sick, because somebody's word doesn't carry the weight that it used to or as it ought to.
Here's one of Lewis' remarks:
"They all [churches] regard divorce as something like cutting up a living body, as a kind of surgical operation. Some of them think the operation so violent that it cannot be done at all; others admit it as a desperate remedy in extreme cases. They are all agreed that it is more like having both your legs cut off than it is like dissolving a business partnership or even deserting a regiment.
What they all disagree with is the modern view that it [marriage] is a simple readjustment of partners, to be made whenever people feel they are no longer in love with one another, or when either of them falls in love with someone else."
I will let his words speak for themselves, because they are that profound to me - except with this comment: We need to see the weight of divorce as slicing a living body in two... NOT as "dissolving a business partnership"." Enough said.
Soak on this other quote of his. Its not very traditional, but at least something to think about:
"If people do not believe in permanent marriage, it is perhaps better that they should live together unmarried than that they should make vows they do not mean to keep. It is true tha by living together without marriage they will be guilty (in Christian eyes) of fornication. But one fault is not mended by adding another: unchastity is not improved by adding perjury."
That last line sticks to me like glue. Enough said. (Again)
I end with this last quote of his. It follows immediately behind the above quote in his book:
"The idea that 'being in love' is the only reason for remaining married really leaves no room for marriage as a contract or promise at all. If love is the whole thing, then the promise can add nothing; and if it adds nothing, then it should not be made."
Lewis says this and clarifies later the difference between "being in love" and "long-lasting love" - a kind of love that endures and is present even when you may have fallen out of the bliss of love... this love sustains. The love a husband may have for his wife that after a fight, he would not retreat to his drinking buddies or retreat to the attractive co-worker of his to find sympathy... this husband loves his wife even if the bliss and 'in love' experience is not present. Wow. THAT, my friends, is committment and a man dedicated ot keep his promise/vow.
I could go on and on... but I will stop here. A 5 page entry is too much for me, let alone any of you to grapple with :)
PLEASE comment, offer your insights, the things you disagree with, the things that hit you hard, the things that you feel God is challenging you with. I know a discussion on the internet cannot be the same as it was for me this morning... but thats no reason to not try, eh?
Blessings to you. To my married friends, endure and continue to love... greater treasure awaits. To my fellow single friends, do not defy God by taking the sacrament (to some) of marriage lightly. Do not marry because you are 'in love'... marry because you love and vow to love for your entire life. Be in prayer for that special someone God will present you with some day. Be praying for your future spouse.
To my dating/engaged friends - you know what you're up against... Bring honor to God with your possible futures.
Again, blessings...
Titus | | |
| Lots of things I've been listening to that have been putting me into a constant state of pondering...
In regards to prayer:
"We can come to God just as we are -not as we ought to and not as we wish we were."
"If prayer is key, then Jesus is the door."
These two statements floored me. They are part of a sermon tape series on James by Rev. David Johnson from Church of the Open Door in Minneapolis. It destroys our notions that we have to approach prayer in such a manner that we must be at a certain level of "goodness" or "readyness". When talking to a friend, do we ever consider, "well, I've been pretty lazy today or not very faithful to this friend lately, so I'm not going to talk to them at all." NEVER! We instead cherish reconnecting with that friend. In the same way, God cherishes time with us... as friends talking, not as one person being so worried about "readyness" or "goodness" or choosing the right words to say... screw all that... we talk to friends with unrestrained love, and we are allowed to do the same with God. David Johnson points out that when we think about all these things we get tricked into, we recognize their silliness... but deep down, many of us believe these and are timid and restrain ourselves from conversations with God.
WIth this in mind, it takes a whole new meaning when James states, in James 5:13:
"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise."
We can come to God as we are, not as we ought to be or as we wish we were.
Are you happy today? Then go to God in happiness. Are you in trouble? Are you lost? Are you angry? Are you confused? Then go to God in prayer just as you are.
I pray this is as encouraging to you as it was to me.
The other thing I have been pondering are the lyrics to this song. Again, they floor me, and when I listen to this song, I get goosebumps-not lying. It testifies to how grand our God is. Yes, God is found in a whisper... just as Elijah experienced.
BUT...
I think we limit God to small, delicate things all too often. These lyrics based on Psalm 29 give testimony to God's excellence and mighty power. But enough of my words:
**Hurricane**
by Ben Pasley
You might be my Peace on the Waters
But I know You are a Holy Raging Flood
You might be my Gentle Breeze
But I know You are a Hurricane of Love
The God of glory thunders... Like an angry wind
He shakes the earth with a whisper
The God of Holy wonders... Like a lightning flash,
Moutains bow and tremble
Oh, Great God, You're more than just enough
You're much too much for me
Let these words and the Psalm soak into your hearts in the coming days.
I pray that God will reveal himself, the Holy Raging Flood and the Hurricane of Love that he is. I pray he would reveal that part of his nature to you.
Blessings,
Titus
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| I know I haven't posted in forever, but here it is... revamped. No longer about my life, but about what I'm learning and chosing to share.
This doesn't need explanation, other than that it makes me think... a lot. I hope the same for you.
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. Book 2, Chapter 3, "Social Morality"
"There is one bit of advice given to us by the ancient heathen Greeks, and by the Jews in the Old Testament, and by the great Christian teachers of the middle ages, which the modern economic system has completely disobeyed. All these people told us not to lend money at interest, and lending money at interest--what we call investment--is the basis of our whole system. Now it may not absolutely follow that we are wrong. Some people say that when Moses and Aristotle and the Christians agreed in forbidding interest (or 'usury' as they called it), they could not forsee the joint stock company, and were only thinking of the private money-lender, and that, therefore, we need not bother about what they said. That is a question I cannot decide on. I am not an economist and I simply do not know whether the investment system is responsible for the state we are in or not. This is where we want the Christian economist. But I should not have been honest if I had not told you that three great civilisations had agreed (or so it seems at first sight) in condemning the very thing on which we have based our whole life."
Mere Christianity, Book 2, Chapter 1, "The Three Parts of Morality"
"There is a story about a schoolboy who was asked what he thought God was like. He replied that, as far as he could make out, God was the 'sort of person who is always snooping around to see if anyone is enjoying himself and then trying to stop it'. And I am afraid that is the sort of idea that the word Morality raises in a good many people's minds: something that interferes, something that stops you having a good time. In reality, moral rules are directions for running the human machine. Every moral rule is there to prevent a breakdown, or a strain, or a friction, in the running of that machine. That is why these rules at first seem to be constantly interfering with our natural inclinations. When you are being taught how to use any machine, the instructor keeps on saying, 'No, don't do it like that,' because, of course, there are all sorts of things that look alright and seem to you the natural way of treating the machine, but do not really work.
Some people prefer to talk about moral 'ideals' rather than moral rules and about moral 'idealism' rather than moral obedience. Now it is, of course, quite true that moral perfection is an 'deal' in the sense that we cannot achieve it. In that sense every kind of perfection is, for us humans, an ideal; we cannot succeed in being perfect car drivers or perfect tennis players or in drawing perfectly straight lines. But there is another sense in which it is very misleading to call moral perfection an ideal. When a man says that a certain woman, or house, or ship, or garden is 'his ideal' he does not mean (unless he is a fool) that everyone else ought to have the same ideal. In such matters we are entitled to have different tastes and, therefore, different ideals. But it is dangerous to describe a man who tries very hard to keep the moral law as a 'man of high ideals', because this might lead you to think that moral perfection was a private taste of his own and that the rest of us were not called on to share it. This would be a disastrous mistake. Perfect behaviour may be as unattainable as perfect gear-changing when we drive; but it is a necessary ideal perscribed for all men by the very nature of the human machine just as perfect gear-changing is an ideal perscribed for all drivers by the very nature of cars. And it would be even more dangerous to think of oneself as a person 'of high ideals' because one is trying to tell no lies at all (instead of only a few lies) or never to commit adultery (instead of committing it only seldom) or not to be a bully (instead of being only a moderate bully). It might lead you to become a perig and to think you were rather a special person who deserved to be congratulated on his 'idealism'. In reality you might just as well expect to be congratulated because, whenever you do a sum, you try to get it quite right. To be sure, perfect arithmetic is 'an ideal'; you will certainly make some mistakes in some calculations. but there is nothing very fine about trying to be quite accurate at each step in each sum. It would be idiotic not to try; for every mistake is going to cause you trouble later on. In the same way every moral failure is goign to cause trouble, probably to others and certainly to yourself. By talking about rules and obedience instead of 'ideals' and 'idealism' we help to remind ourselves of these facts."
Enuf said... post away with your reactions, i'd love to hear em.
With much love,
Titus | | |
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