That was then...this is now

Occasionally someone will make note how popular ideas reflect the philosophies of the ancients. People today probably think little about Antisthenes, Epicurus or Zeno. Many moderns have probably never even heard of these guys. Yet, their ideas seem alive and well in the Cynics, Epicureans and Stoics of our time... Here are some commonalities I've noticed. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The first thing to note here is that the ancients tended to believe that we live our lives through ideas. Those who had the time and the means were compelled to pick a philosophy and live by it. There were competing "schools of thought." So adherents were advised to look at the world around them, choose a philosophical path and live life accordingly.

Our age is similar. When people talk about themselves, they speak in highly personal and intellectual ways. They might reference their identity, their beliefs, the meaning in their lives. They will talk about goals or political affiliation and can occasionally offer a rational argument to explain their pursuits. If asked about God, they will instinctively tell you about their beliefs, perhaps referencing a few guiding principles or an overarching philosophy of life. Moderns tend to assume that life is a smorgasbord of ideas and explanations. As a mentor of mine used to put it, you pay your money and make your choice...

And we see it, don't we? Modern-day cynics, skeptics, epicureans, stoics or hedonists selecting the ideological paths that seem most accurate or fitting or expedient.

Like us, the ancients knew a changing world. It was a world of good times and bad, joy and suffering, peace and war. Not surprisingly, the ideas and philosophical paths waxed and waned accordingly. One philosopher would follow the next, often reacting specifically to some weakness that was demonstrated by the turning of the globe.

So can the Portico offer anything to such a world? Do we have anything better than a salad bar of ideological options? Does the Church merely watch and judge the citizens of the world as they pass by on those streets of change?

I am a citizen of the modern world. I like ideas too. But I also have come to see their limitations. There's more to life than pay your money and take your choice.

What the Church has to offer is Christ. But offering Christ is not offering just another idea. It is an invitation to connectivity, to living life not as an individual making decisions but as a community sojourning through life together. We still live in the same world, with the same ups and downs, the same war and peace, the same joys and disappointments. But we've come to understand that this is not something that we do alone.

We sojourn with God and with one another. Of course, we still share ideas. We have our cynics and our skeptics and our hedonists but they are part of our family. In the family, we not only help each other see and accommodate the weaknesses in our respective philosophies, we teach one another to understand that our souls do not rise and fall on whether or not we have chosen the right one. http://www.8notes.com/show_video.asp?video_id=23880