Albert Camus
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Written: |
7/19/00 |
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Published: |
3/28/09 |
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Bibliography: |
The Call, by Os Guinness |
“Albert Camus said, ‘Man’s first faculty is forgetting.’ Ingratitude and forgetfulness are ultimately moral rather than mental; they are the direct expression of sin. No culture has nourished such tendencies as consistently as ours. We pride ourselves on autonomous, self-created, and freestanding. A modern world with no need of God produces a modern people with no sense of gratitude.”
I agree with the first and last thoughts, although I must say I never thought I’d have such heart agreement with a French Existentialist like Camus. I think the popular notion (here, expressed by the eminent Os Guinness) that our present day culture is somehow ‘worse’ than previous generations, or that we are tending to more and more distance from God is slightly off-center—when I read Isaiah, for example, I do not see any less of a tendency in Hebrew culture from 3000 years ago to forget God than I do in modern Australian or American culture.
Trust God and do the next thing
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Written: |
3/27/09 |
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Published: |
3/27/09 |
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Bibliography: |
Biography of Oswald Chambers |
When Oswald Chambers and his wife were asked how they carry on their work in the Kingdom, they replied, ‘well, we just trust God, and do the next thing in front of us.’
A profound truth for me, now.
As a leader and a manager, I pray for our projects and people, but don’t just ask God for the next step—I ask for the whole plan. I want the plan, not just the next step…because I want certainty.
I am learning that certainty is something the Lord is not willing to give—and that this, while a significant challenge for me, is a gift.
Trust God, and do the next thing.
