|
 Excerpts
from Gary's new book
WHY AM I DOING THIS?
On Looking Out My Office Window:
About an hour later I noticed the man
standing at the other side of our office building. For a moment -- a single
split moment -- I wondered if I was on the wrong side of the glass."
On
Discovering Purpose For Our Lives:
"We all know how it feels to lose our
motivation, become buried in the process of life and suddenly stop and
ask ourselves, 'Why am I doing this?' It's actually rather difficult to
keep ourselves at a high level of enthusiasm. Yet it is essential to our
personal success and well-being."
"There
is a model that is as old as the most ancient writings that provide a
most dramatic and contemporary approach to the age-old questions of 'Why
am I doing this?' I call it the P.R. Principle.
All life
begins from purpose.
If we
are a random selection of nature, and there is no outside accountability,
and there are no consequences after death, then life becomes less valuable
and less important. Because the focus is on me, then my right to choose
becomes the most important function in the universe.
On
Passion:
In our struggle for survival, we identify
our need for passion and begin to look for it in any number of ways. A
new relationship, a new spouse, a new and more exciting social life are
only a few of the unsuccessful ways we try to rekindle passion in our
lives. We may even attend a motivational seminar and wonder why the excitement
evaporates after a few days.
Passion
is the direct result of Purpose.
On
Religion:
In fact, "religion" can be one of
the most stressful experiences of all. Religion, any religion, when studied
as a religion, is at best a complex system of rules and dogma on which
hope and happiness is envisioned. How we integrate these beliefs and practices
into our daily life equates to the level of personal fulfillment we experience.
For many, the harder we try, the more stressed and discouraged we become.
And confused.
On
the Person of Jesus:
In order for us to arrive at the conclusion
that Jesus is Divine, we need to make only two concessions: First, Jesus
was not a bad or dishonest person and secondly, that He was not mentally
ill. If He said he was Divine when He knew He was not, He could not be
a good and honest person. If He falsely imagined that He was God, then
He would be suffering from a mental disorder.
I
never cease to be amazed at the number of people, including some religious
leaders, who are so quick to point out the virtues of His teachings and
the everyday lifestyle of Jesus, but quickly dismiss the idea that He
is Divine.
It
can't be. We can't have it both ways. Either He is who He claims to be
-- God -- or He is at best a liar and deceiver, or at worst, a demented
liar and deceiver. Both history and experience proves He is Divine.
On
Forgiveness:
On a December day in 1983, Pope John Paul
II walked into a musty cell of Rebibbia Prison outside Rome to meet Mehmet
Ali Aqua, the man who had fired a bullet at his heart. In a quiet moment
alone with this would-be assassin, the Pope forgave him.
For
most of us it is not easy to forgive.
My
first visit to Vietnam came not as a US soldier, but as a pastor. "...It
was not the fear of death on the battlefield, but rather the fear of living
that he could not deal with."
On
The Lord's Prayer:
The indication is that our own "forgiveness"
is probably contingent upon our own ability to forgive those who have
wronged us. How can this be? Is God's love and forgiveness not unconditional
..."
On
Steps to Forgiveness:
"...Remember the verse we read
a few minutes ago. Let's let God repay those who deserve it. Then: admit
your bitterness, separate the person from the deed, begin to let go of
the past by ..." |
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