Where is my neighbor?

[jeremiah1five]

2 hours ago, other one said:

My neighbor's and my family are both die hard, born again Christians.

BTW, Worthy people like a little humor now and then too.

Knock, Knock.

[Sower]

41 minutes ago, jeremiah1five said:

A person is qualified to hear an answer to a question if they ask a question and desire to hear an answer. That is a given. But sometimes the answer comes with strings attached:

        "But sometimes the answer comes with strings attached"

            Sorry dude, I can't handle all your strings.
                        I ask a yes/No question.
                    I get a sermon and a lecture.

                            Have a great day.

[jeremiah1five]

6 hours ago, Sower said:

I know a little scripture though am no theologian as you appear for sure.

If I may...

The English word "theologian" and its cognates is compound and it derives from two Greek words:

"Theos" which means "God,"

and "Logos" which means "word" or "thought."

Put together it means "Word of God."

So, if you read and mostly study the Bible or the Word of God then this means you, too, are a "theologian."

So make the best of it.

Edited December 24, 2023 by jeremiah1five

[jeremiah1five]

34 minutes ago, Sower said:

        "But sometimes the answer comes with strings attached"

            Sorry dude, I can't handle all your strings.
                        I ask a yes/No question.
                    I get a sermon and a lecture.

                            Have a great day.

From "brother" to "dude."

What happen to you.

[Sower]

30 minutes ago, jeremiah1five said:

From "brother" to "dude."

What happen to you.

A slang word I use with my friends. I forgot who I was talking to. SO,

    "Sorry brother, I can't handle all your strings".............

                            Have a great day..

[other one]

1 hour ago, jeremiah1five said:

Knock, Knock.

Who's there?

[Yes, and]

OK, time to begin to respond, as likely this will take a few installments. But before that, I have to say I think I better understand what it means to "hijack a thread." I very much appreciate your contributions, @Sower, but could you and @jeremiah1five please get a room somewhere else? Please, though, stick around on this thread if you'd like to continue with the thrust of my initial post and questions! :-)

On 12/19/2023 at 6:22 AM, Neighbor said:

I really  don't get his writing, is it a lament?

Sure, I think that is an accurate label for this essay, and yes, I too believe what Esolen describes is accurate in general, and I lament it. Sure, I recognize like others here that there are always hidden pockets of genuine neighborliness, true community, and yes, even kids playing outside, but these are in our day exceptions. My outside-playing childhood was during the late 60s until the end of the 70s, just before that "transitional" decade in which @AnOrangeCat was born. I have felt the loss of this way of life keenly, but perhaps from two internal motivators, I have never been able to resign myself to this loss.

The first motivator, whether from nature or training (my day job is architectural design), is having a critical eye or mind. I don't at all mean by this what most folks would take that to mean, being harshly critical and curmudgeonly, with no intention of going beyond the critique (my two sons would dispute the curmudgeon part). Rather, I mean by this seeing the problems and articulating what they are for the purpose of correction to something better. Problem-solving resides in the heart of architectural design.

The second motivator, I believe, is the Holy Spirit. If he shows me something is amiss, then he also asks me, "What are you going to do about it?," just as I believe He does with all of the Father's children. The question is always, do we have the ears to hear? To resign oneself to "the way things are" reflects an unwillingness to change, to turn, to rethink.

I honestly can not say that I am willing. This is not the same thing as saying I am not willing. It is simply saying that when it comes down to it, when I hear what God is telling me to do beyond a shadow of a doubt, I wonder whether I will do that thing. Perhaps this is because I simply do not know what to do differently, or God has not yet said anything. Or, it may be that my initiating this dialogue is the thing I'm supposed to do on the way to whatever change may be in front of me (really us, to include my wife, at the very least).

~~~

Continuing on, I will give a few anecdotes of my own to paint a further picture of the problem(s) Esolen writes about. I'll start with just one in this post.

I meet with a group of men which was formed (not by me) as an attempt to bring guys together to be "real" with each other in our walks with God. The organizers take great pains to say, "This isn't a Bible study" (though the Word is often discussed) and "This isn't church" (though I believe it is just as much an "assembly" of believers gathering in Jesus' name as anything else one might want to label church (please, no rabbit trail on this point!)) The guys who meet come from varied backgrounds and churches. One particular regular attender is the head pastor of a church. He's a fourth-generation pastor, and I think second-generation pastor of his particular church. The reason he started meeting with us was because his wife strongly encouraged him to do so. Why? Because, as he said, he found no true community of friendship within his own church, and his wife knew he needed this! Now I have no doubt he and others there help one another out in crises (the basis of which you, @Neighbor, seem to define your neighborhood). This is all well and good (and it clearly occurs in across cultures and countries when disasters strike), but what about actual friendship? I have a book on my shelf written in 1983: The Friendless American Male by David W. Smith. This problem is of course nothing new, as others here have rightly pointed out. There are countless articles and essays and books about alienation and atomization; the lack of friendship and true community extant in our culture. I know this. You know this. But how do we respond to this as those who desire to hear what the Spirit says to the churches?

[Michael37]

17 minutes ago, other one said:

Who's there?

I Am Who I Am.

[Sower]

27 minutes ago, Yes, and said:

OK, time to begin to respond, as likely this will take a few installments. But before that, I have to say I think I better understand what it means to "hijack a thread." I very much appreciate your contributions, @Sower, but could you and @jeremiah1five please get a room somewhere else?

Done. I made my lengthy researched reply some time way back up stream but you seemed to have just disappeared. I checked and saw you online here but not responding to this OP at all. HUH.
I generally have no problem sticking to the OP. You will have less people wandering around creating other conversations had you responded just a little more timely. I offer my  apology non the less. Will not disturb you now in my room somewhere else as at your request. And have a great day....

[Michael37]

1 hour ago, jeremiah1five said:

So, if you read and mostly study the Bible or the Word of God then this means you, too, are a "theologian."

Look what verse popped into my mind:

Joh 5:39  “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.