As Concordia's school year comes to a close, the honors students are posting their final blogs on their interpretations of the assigned readings and how the readings relates to the larger concepts of Christianity as well as their life. Horace Bushnell is a pastor from Connecticut who describes his opinion on how God's Spirit is involved in history and nature. He shares his thoughts in a writing style that captures the reader's attention and for some reason repeatedly uses the word "girding". Horace believes that every human being has one exact purpose that each person works for in their life If that person accomplishes this purpose she or she are believed to have accomplished a great achievement. In order to prove his thesis Bushnell references the scriptures using David and Nehemiah as examples of God caring for each individual and knowing the right path for everyone to demonstrate their talents. Bushnell also steps away from the scriptures to bring in evidence from nature. Nature demonstrates his idea that all parts of life have to eventually lead to the overall purpose of living. The author believes that in nature even the smallest star or grain of sand was created to serve a purpose in the grand scheme of life. The author expands on this to say that since life was created in a perfect balance and with a life plan for all humans, no man or woman has the right to complain or be depressed about the life they are given. To give a practical sense to his argument, Bushnell gives advice to help people come to terms with what God has planned for their life.
To identify a life-long struggle in America today, the Sanneh Foundation is a non-profit organization that reaches out to urban youth who do not have financial stability at home. This organization works with kids who grow up in various circumstances that don't have a clear view of what their future will look like. Bushnell offers the comforting idea to these youth that God has already created a plan for their life and this plan can only be what is best because God is without fault. A youth that is uncertain about his or her future is going to be open to this idea because of the security that it offers for a successful life. This is comparable to how people with less material things are more acceptable to the salvation that God offers then the people who are tied to this world by the material objects and dreams that they want to have. This interpretation allows the reader to form connections with the purpose of a Christian and the concept of salvation as a gift from God.
My initial reaction to Horace Bushnell's concepts was to connect the balance that he uses to describe nature with the complexity that biologists find in every organism and cell. A series of perfect events, mutations, and adaptations have to happen every day just for the body to function properly. With this concept I related my life to that of a piece of a plan that is necessary for the ultimate outcome. Through discussion in class and re-reading some of the text I realized that although life may be planned out, have a set purpose, and is going to end the same no matter what I do, I still do not know what the outcome is. If Bushnell is right that every human has a single purpose that he or she will accomplish, the only way this affects my everyday life is to extract anxiety from it. I no longer have to worry about the outcome of tomorrow because I know that it has already been planned by a being who knows far more than I do about the future.
To identify a life-long struggle in America today, the Sanneh Foundation is a non-profit organization that reaches out to urban youth who do not have financial stability at home. This organization works with kids who grow up in various circumstances that don't have a clear view of what their future will look like. Bushnell offers the comforting idea to these youth that God has already created a plan for their life and this plan can only be what is best because God is without fault. A youth that is uncertain about his or her future is going to be open to this idea because of the security that it offers for a successful life. This is comparable to how people with less material things are more acceptable to the salvation that God offers then the people who are tied to this world by the material objects and dreams that they want to have. This interpretation allows the reader to form connections with the purpose of a Christian and the concept of salvation as a gift from God.
My initial reaction to Horace Bushnell's concepts was to connect the balance that he uses to describe nature with the complexity that biologists find in every organism and cell. A series of perfect events, mutations, and adaptations have to happen every day just for the body to function properly. With this concept I related my life to that of a piece of a plan that is necessary for the ultimate outcome. Through discussion in class and re-reading some of the text I realized that although life may be planned out, have a set purpose, and is going to end the same no matter what I do, I still do not know what the outcome is. If Bushnell is right that every human has a single purpose that he or she will accomplish, the only way this affects my everyday life is to extract anxiety from it. I no longer have to worry about the outcome of tomorrow because I know that it has already been planned by a being who knows far more than I do about the future.
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