Why Think On These Things?

      There are actually two questions here. The first is why I chose "Think On These Things" as the title for the blog. That would be because one of my favorite passages in the Bible is Philippians 4:8 which I quote in the "The Beginning" post. The second question would be why is that one of my favorite passages in the Bible? And, appropriately, there are two answers to that question.

      Since high school I have been fascinated with philosophy and theology. Partly because I have stuttered as long as I can remember talking and being reluctant to talk, I spent a large part of the time observing and thinking rather than talking and being ridiculed. Add to that the fact that my stuttering was not a result of some physical deformity or "tick," but more a result of my unique ability to think about several things at the same time. Which I consider a blessing until I'm required to speak in a group situation and my mouth isn't sure which avenue I want to travel vocally. And I stutter. Then the familiar sweat, humiliation, and tension returns.

      That said only for clarification and explanation, fast forward to college. I joined an acoustic trio called Southern Plains. Joel was attending Scarritt College in Nashville, Tennessee and playing with Bruce and I in Dallas on breaks. During the summer, we came together as a band and songwriters. Joel decided that he would not return to school in the Fall which would be his final semester. Since that was quite obviously not a good decision, but he had it in his head that that was the way he should go, I chose to break from school myself and move to Nashville, sharing the upper floor of an old house with two other students so he would finish and get his degree. It was not a completely altruistic decision on my part. I wanted to play gigs in Nashville. At that time, anything was still possible in Nashville.

      Scarritt College was a Methodist University and Joel was studying to work in a church. Scarritt is now in the hands of the Methodist Woman's organization if I remember correctly. In that last semester he was required to write a term paper. After hours of discussion, it was decided that he would write a paper on the existence of God and I would help him to write it. Besides, I could type faster than he could. Late into the night we would take No-Doz and drink coffee, talking back and forth. I would type a few lines and we would launch into a discussion on what the next lines should be. We came up with a pretty convincing argument that God existed even if only as a concept in our minds. For example, there is no such thing as an atheist because to say "there is no God" would infer that, because you used the term "God" means you have some concept of God and therefore admit God's existence.

       After many nights of the same routine, the deadline came and I went to class with Joel to "defend" the paper and argument. Keep in mind that this was a senior class. These students had spent four years studying religion in all of its facets. When we were concluding our defense of our argument, a moment of silence ensued while everyone pondered our reasoning. One girl in the class looked dumbfounded, looked around at the others in the class for a moment, then turned to the instructor and said, (and I repeat - this is a senior college class in religion) "But who thinks about these things?"

       I will always remember that and have told the story on many occasions. But one of the reasons I found it so striking at the time was that many of the ideas I was coming up with were not quite accepted in Sunday school. At that time, there were certain accepted ideas within the church that you did not question. For years I felt like questioning what I was told in Sunday school and what was the norm was not going to be accepted and attending church, even as much as I enjoyed the fellowship, was not for me. I never gave up my faith, far from it, just church as I knew it from my  experiences.

      Then, after having children and taking them to church to receive the Christian foundation I had grown up with, I realized there were churches that had changed with the times as I had and I was once again enjoying that fellowship. In the midst of all that, I discovered Philippians 4:8. What it says to me is what I wanted to hear during all those years of indecision. As long as my thoughts concern what is true and honorable, where those thoughts travel is simply part of the journey. It's okay to question and test your faith because if it can stand up to the questions and the testing, it is a true faith. Christianity has been questioned and tested for centuries, yet still stands true.

      Peace be with you.

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