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The Greatest of All Things
By Billy | August 28, 2008
When I was a Freshman in high school, I wore a chain necklace around my neck. The chain held three rings on it; each with some sentimental value to me of some kind. People would joke with me, “Oh, it’s like the lord of the rings.” The chain was given to me by a friend in 8th grade. One of the rings I had personally cut from a brass pipe. Another was one of those 5$ rings you get at target that starts to cut into your fingers after a week, by which time it’s thoroughly rusted. He neither wore it nor knew I had it. The third ring was one of the key rings people use to hold their keys together. I wore a gift around my neck, holding something I had made, something I had shamefully stolen, and something I had found on the ground.
“No,” I would reply, “these stand for the only things I am ever sure of in my life: Faith, hope, and love.” Clearly, this is a fairly Christian sentiment to say the least. (Ha Ha Ha; “All You Need Is Love” just came on my itunes…)
I would like to boastfully point out that I did, in fact, come to the realization on my own that all things may be merely an illusion and that everything we do have, assuming they are real, can be ripped from our clutches at any moment. I think one metaphysical step below revering these ideals is the sentiment held in one of my favoritest quotes of all time (and I like a lot of quotes, so that’s saying something!) It’s spoken by the Magician, Merlyn, in T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone. You can find the full quote with relevant points HERE, but it is summed up in the first words: “The best thing for being sad is to learn.” As Descartes points out, we only know for sure what we think. Hold on to what you know for sure.
If we can only be sure about what we think and feel (not physically feel, btw) then let’s make sure we think and feel the right things. That’s where faith, hope, and love come in. Why not? What scares you so much about believing in things you can’t see? (Holy crap! itunes can seriously read my mind. This one is perfect for how I’m feeling right now). Even if there were scientific fallacy in faith, why are you letting science twist your arm, so? Faith are quite in sync, the way I see it. These things build off of and compliment eachother. From love they grow, and love is what they reinforce. Hooray for positive feedback loops.
So why is this on my mind right now? Well besides my positively inspiring new friends, I just watched a quite touching movie last night. (With, I should add, one of those inspiring friends 😀 ) If you have never seen Into the Wild, go buy some tea, find a comfy blanket, and go watch it. A companion would be nice as well. I don’t want to give a review so much as just leave you with a clip of the film that captured my heart. As it turns out, the actor in the film is the real deal, not just portraying a character.
You really believe in love, then.
So. Extremely disorganized post coming to an end.. Adella, if you happen to come across this for some reason (extreme boredom doesn’t seem likely this early in the year, but just in case…) I’m makin’ a shout out to you. Thanks for the inspiration, the movie, and showing me a new fun way to enjoy green tea.
As for everyone else reading this, your homework is to go do something to make someones day a little brighter. Then do it again to the next person you see.
Take care guys. I promise to try and be more focused and purposeful next time, I think.
😀
Topics: Utterly Random | 4 Comments »
August 29th, 2008 at 12:09 am
So, you pretty much just like picking things up from the ground and keeping them, huh?
jk, I do very much like my new Whale-Tail pick, hhaha. And I already did my homework. It involved a book instead of people, but yeah. I did it.
😀
August 29th, 2008 at 12:26 am
I absolutely love finding things. It’s live recycling, kinda. I thought the whale tail pick was pretty darn sweet, and I’m glad you agree. Woooo. I’m glad you came for a visit! Hooray for homework!
Wait.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Hi Billy,
Question: Does your website/blog have a subscribe feature that would let me know via e-mail or some other means that you have updated your wonderful site.
I am also a person that enjoys tremendously enjoys quotes. I agree, the quote that you reference is very good and is beautifully written. That’s right, learning never ends, it is a life-long journey and no person can take away your reasoning abilities. (Issues surrounding Being Brainwashed is for another time)
We should hold onto what we think and feel. I suppose the problem is what do we do when we don’t know what we think or we are unsure about what we are feeling? Sometimes our feelings are complex and complicated. Perhaps, our soul is already telling us what we are thinking and feeling. Maybe, we are just not wanting to trust our thinking and go with what we are feeling. But yes, we should definitely hold onto those thoughts and feelings that we are sure about. Good Job. Be Well.
September 1st, 2008 at 8:25 am
Brannon, I do believe what you are looking for involves the words RSS feed. I know my friend Nick gets notified whenever I make an update, but I don’t know what exactly to do.
😀
Thanks for your comments; you are always quite thought provoking. You be well, as well.