“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.”
~ Reinhold Niebuhr

I came across a bookmark with this prayer on it and loved it so much I decided to post it on my blog. I have seen a shortened version with just the first sentence several times, but the rest of it is just as good. A couple comments on why it resonates with me so much:

1. It acknowledges the tension between personal development and contentment. I am very interested in conscious growth spiritually, physically, mentally, and socially. However, I also realize the benefit of accepting myself the way the Father made me. But, did the Father make me with or intend me to live with the physical or motivational flaws I have, or should I seek to change these aspects of my physique and personality?
2. It exalts the concept of living in the moment. When I was in my teens, I had many idealized dreams about my future. Sometimes this was because I did not like myself and so liked imagining a time when I would be a world-class performer, speak to thousands of people, and write books that would change the world. Unfortunately, this idealized future focus caused me to apply myself less in the present. I now try to view each week, each day, and even each moment as special and be grateful for every breath.
3. It recognizes the role of suffering as the precursor for greater peace and joy. Philosophically, peace and joy do not make a whole lot of sense without suffering. If we did not have painful experiences to compare them with, we would not look at peace or joy as something special, but just as our ordinary experience.
4. It implies that fighting the world is not our calling, but rather surrendering to His will. Christians are called to follow the Christ’s commandments. Principally, this involves loving YHVH with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself. Judging others is usually a reactive attitude, whereas loving others is a proactive behavior
5. It recognizes that the ultimate goal in life is to find personal fulfillment or happiness. This is true of the here and now and also of eternity. I, too, want to be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Halleluyah!

This prayer really encapsulates my existence right now. Perhaps you would be blessed by thinking about it and making it your prayer as well.

Trying radical concepts out for short periods of time is, I believe, integral for ongoing personal development. Starting tomorrow, I am embarking on my first monthly challenge: no sitting on chairs or benches.

Here are some reasons why I am doing this:

1. Sitting on chairs or benches even for short periods of time causes me to have back pain.
2. It is harder for me to focus on correct posture when sitting on a chair or bench.
3. I want to develop other rest positions, such as squatting and hero pose, and use them comfortably.

The ground rules are pretty simple. I will not sit on any chair or bench for the next month. This includes couches, piano benches, pews, and stools, as well as ordinary chairs.

The only major exception I am making is car seats. I thought of removing my car seat, but I am not totally sure it is legal. Also, I would have to undo the electrical wiring for the seat which I would rather leave alone. I also cannot think of any healthy and comfortable way to drive a car longer distances other than sitting. My plan then is to not drive for more than 1 hour at a time without taking a 10-minute break.

Other than this, I may make a few minor exceptions to avoid social awkwardness, but I will try to work this out beforehand. Playing the piano is a bit of a challenge, but totally doable.

If you think of other monthly challenges I might be interested in, please let me know. I will give an update on how things went after the month is over.

I want to live consistently. What does this mean? I believe this means a person has one central paradigm to which everything he does and thinks in life conforms.

I believe there are two fundamental paradigms that one must choose to operate out of, at least for starters.

1. Mental Reasoning. This would be where the beliefs we hold and the choices we make in life are based upon logical deduction and evidential induction. I believe this is principally encapsulated through three principles of knowledge. First, the law of noncontradiction, which states that A cannot be A and non-A in the same sense and at the same time. Second, the basic reliability of the senses. That is, what we taste, touch, hear, feel, and smell can be relied upon as being true to reality for the most part. Third, the analogical use of language, meaning that language has the capability of communicating meaningful ideas that others can understand and process. This paradigm is what much of modern science and medicine is based upon in the west.
2. Gut Instinct. This is a paradigm that is irrational in the sense that it is not based upon rules of logic or evidence. Saying it is irrational does not mean it is inferior or wrong; it just means it does not use these rules as its basis for thought and action. Rather, it is an outworking of feelings, beliefs, ideas, and desires. It does not attempt to give reasons for pursuing a course of action. This paradigm is most prominently seen in Eastern religions and philosophies. It is also noticeable in many Christian groups.

How should one choose which of these paradigms to operate out of? There can be no answer to this question. If someone were to use logic to show why living by mental reasoning was better, this would be committing a logical fallacy called circular reasoning. For by using logic, the person has already chosen to operate out of the first choice and his conclusion is therefore found already to be one of his premises. Someone would also not be able to argue that the second paradigm choice is better, because by doing so the person would be presupposing the first paradigm, and thus not really living in the second at all.

Now, I don’t believe most people operate strictly out of one central paradigm. To put it more plainly, I believe most people live inconsistently. This is not to say that they are wrong or inferior for doing so. It simply means that they do not have one overarching paradigm in which they operate. Some of the things they do and believe are based ultimately on mental reasoning and some of the things they do and believe are based ultimately on gut instinct.

If a person is content to live inconsistently, then this blog post will be of no profit to them. However, most of the people I talk with want to live consistently. They don’t like to feel that they might be living inconsistently. I believe these people need to make a definite choice on which of these two fundamental paradigms they are going to operate out of. This way, even if they are wrong, they will at least have the consolation that they were consistent in what they believed and how they lived their lives.

To use a classic Christian example, most Christians believe the Bible is true. However, they want to base this belief on gut instinct only, but also say that it is rational by claiming scientific and archaeological evidence to support it. But this is inconsistent. I can believe the Bible is true because scientific and archaeological evidence support it. However, if I put it on this plane, I must also be willing to admit it is not true if the evidence later does not support it. Conversely, I can believe the Bible is true just because I feel it is or I want it to be. However, in doing so I must also acknowledge that my belief is irrational, meaning that it is not based on logic and evidence, but simply on personal (or spiritual/supernatural) feelings. I can do either of these, but I cannot do both and be consistent.

Most of the people to whom I mention that I practice yoga are either very receptive to it or else somewhat skeptical of it.

Much of the skepticism comes from Christians who are aware that yoga originated as a Hindu worship rite. The physical exercises, postures, diaphragmatic breathing, and meditation popularly associated with yoga are more accurately a specific branch called Hatha yoga. Legend has it that Lord Shiva propounded this particular discipline.

A couple thoughts I would like to give about this:

1. Just because something originated as part of a pagan worship ceremony does not mean it is wrong. This would lead to absurdity. For example, let’s suppose that stretching originated as an act of worship to the lord Stretchu. Would this mean that stretching is wrong? This of course would be ridiculous. There are many innocent customs inbred in our culture that originated as ancient pagan worship rites. Also, there are probably many others that we don’t even know about and we are unwittingly sinning if the pagan origin of these customs makes them wrong to practice.
2. What actually needs to be avoided is immoral actions and worship of other deities. Christmas and Easter also originated with pagan worship rites. Please look this up for yourself online if this is new to you; there are many articles addressing this topic. Does this mean that giving gifts is sinful? No. What made these holidays sinful? First, the immoral actions practiced during them, such as fornication, child sacrifice, and drunken carousel. Second, the deities worshiped during them, such as Mithra and Ishtar. If the immoral actions and false worship are avoided, there is nothing inherently wrong with engaging in all of the customs associated with these holidays. In fact, there can be much good that results.

Yes, yoga originated as a Hindu worship discipline. Yes, Lord Shiva propounded Hatha yoga, a version of which is what is commonly practiced in the West. And if you do yoga as part of a Hindu worship rite or focus on Lord Shiva in your meditation, then definitely this would be unscriptural and wrong from a Christian perspective. However, if you do it to improve health, awareness, peace, and connection with YHVH, I see nothing wrong with it.

Yoga connects posture, balance, stretching, and breath. As such, it is the most fulfilling exercise routine I practice. The spiritual and breath connections are a major part of its appeal to me. In I Corinthians 8, Paul states that eating meat offered to idols even in the idol’s temple is not wrong, but he also states that he will not do so if it makes a weaker brother violate his conscience. I will take the same approach. If I was mentoring someone in their Christian walk and they had qualms about yoga, I would probably abstain from practicing it.

In a future post, I will delve more into the concept of meditation. For now, I will leave you with Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am Elohim.”

Recently, the place I was staying at lost hot water. Thus, I was compelled to take a cold shower. Horrors! From this experience I learned several fascinating things:

1. It was difficult. I almost decided to just take a spritz bath at the sink after turning the water on and testing the temperature with my hand.
2. I wasted much less time in the shower. Indeed, I don’t think I have ever been as productive in this regard
3. I felt so much more motivated and ready to take on the day. Usually, right after I get out of the shower, I don’t feel like moving that fast and am not quite ready to focus my mind on the start of the day’s activities.
4. I like the rewards that come from doing hard things. There is an awesome psychological energy that comes when we face our fears, even of small things, and break our comfort zone.

After this experience, I decided to look up online to see if anyone purposefully took cold showers. What I found is that there is even some purported health benefits to this activity. Check out this article for some more info on this.

So, I’ve decided to take cold showers regularly. I still take hot ones here and there, but most of the time I turn the water to cold or at best lukewarm-cold.

If you feel inspired to try this out for yourself, please share your sensations. I would love to hear from you.