So there I was
Stuck
Inside a gumball machine
Not knowing why I was in there
Not caring if I ever could get out
I was a happy kid
Not even three years old
There were gumballs
All so brightly colored
And I was happy.
I looked out at the world
And smiled
And laughed
Because my brothers were freaking out
How to get her out?
But I smiled.
I didn't realize it was candy
Until it started to get sticky
Really sticky
I put one in my mouth
I was not used
To the consistency
They'd never let me have gum
before
So I started choking on it
I wasn't even three yet.
Luckily I did not stay
In the gumball machine
Forever.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Free Will: Chess
I was recently involved in an epic game of chess. I really like chess and it was a lot of fun. Especially since I was playing with someone who didn’t know any more about chess than I did.
Chess is a game about strategy. My problem with it is that I can’t think ahead. I can’t visualize all the possible moves that my opponent or I could make in the turns ahead. I see the small picture. It’s hard to form a strategy when you’re focused on moving one piece at a time.
In this particular game that I was playing, there were several people watching. Several people that are much better at chess than I am. They CAN see the big picture. They CAN see the best moves to make. The big thing is that these chess-savvy people can think just a few turns ahead, so they can see what the best moves will be in the future. This is why they are good at chess and I am not.
These chess-savvies ended up giving a lot of advice throughout the game. Unfortunately, most of it was directed at my opponent, but every once in a while someone would tell me what to do.
Throughout the game I was exercising free will. There were people telling me what to do, but I had the choice to listen to them or not. Of course the smart thing to do is to listen to them. Why? Why not make my own choices? Because THEY are the ones that can think ahead. They can see what will be good for me in the long run. It’s my choice to trust the experts.
It’s kind of like God (parrick, isn’t that your line?). We, as people on earth, are like me in the chess game. We usually can’t see very much outside of ourselves. And we definitely don’t know what will happen in the future, so we really are clueless as to what choices to make. God is like the chess-expert. He invented the game and he knows it so well that he knows every move that could or ever will be played.
So, when God tells us to do something, it’s probably a really good idea to go ahead and do it, even if it doesn’t make sense to us. He can see the big picture and we can’t, and you know that he only wants what is best for us. However, sometimes we ignore what God tells us to do, or we’re simply not listening for it. Maybe it’s because we think we know what’s best for us, or maybe it’s just because we like to make our own choices. Sometimes we make the WRONG choice, and it turns out really bad for us.
So, wait a minute. If God loves us so much, then why does he let us make those wrong choices? Why doesn’t he just MAKE us do what’s best for us? Because then we wouldn’t have free will, would we? I think it’s cool that he allows us the option of choosing whether or not to listen to him. I’m sure that it hurts him to see the people he loves hurting because of the bad decisions they make, but it’s better than a bunch of robots just doing whatever he says without thinking about it.
We have free will.
Near the very end of the chess game, it was as if I wasn’t even playing anymore. In fact, I just let one of those Chess-savvies take over for me. I wasn’t even paying attention to the game anymore.
So this is my question:
Since that person made all my moves for the rest of the game without me even looking on, did I still have my chess free will? After all, it was MY CHOICE to let him play for me.
At what point does free will crumble?
Chess is a game about strategy. My problem with it is that I can’t think ahead. I can’t visualize all the possible moves that my opponent or I could make in the turns ahead. I see the small picture. It’s hard to form a strategy when you’re focused on moving one piece at a time.
In this particular game that I was playing, there were several people watching. Several people that are much better at chess than I am. They CAN see the big picture. They CAN see the best moves to make. The big thing is that these chess-savvy people can think just a few turns ahead, so they can see what the best moves will be in the future. This is why they are good at chess and I am not.
These chess-savvies ended up giving a lot of advice throughout the game. Unfortunately, most of it was directed at my opponent, but every once in a while someone would tell me what to do.
Throughout the game I was exercising free will. There were people telling me what to do, but I had the choice to listen to them or not. Of course the smart thing to do is to listen to them. Why? Why not make my own choices? Because THEY are the ones that can think ahead. They can see what will be good for me in the long run. It’s my choice to trust the experts.
It’s kind of like God (parrick, isn’t that your line?). We, as people on earth, are like me in the chess game. We usually can’t see very much outside of ourselves. And we definitely don’t know what will happen in the future, so we really are clueless as to what choices to make. God is like the chess-expert. He invented the game and he knows it so well that he knows every move that could or ever will be played.
So, when God tells us to do something, it’s probably a really good idea to go ahead and do it, even if it doesn’t make sense to us. He can see the big picture and we can’t, and you know that he only wants what is best for us. However, sometimes we ignore what God tells us to do, or we’re simply not listening for it. Maybe it’s because we think we know what’s best for us, or maybe it’s just because we like to make our own choices. Sometimes we make the WRONG choice, and it turns out really bad for us.
So, wait a minute. If God loves us so much, then why does he let us make those wrong choices? Why doesn’t he just MAKE us do what’s best for us? Because then we wouldn’t have free will, would we? I think it’s cool that he allows us the option of choosing whether or not to listen to him. I’m sure that it hurts him to see the people he loves hurting because of the bad decisions they make, but it’s better than a bunch of robots just doing whatever he says without thinking about it.
We have free will.
Near the very end of the chess game, it was as if I wasn’t even playing anymore. In fact, I just let one of those Chess-savvies take over for me. I wasn’t even paying attention to the game anymore.
So this is my question:
Since that person made all my moves for the rest of the game without me even looking on, did I still have my chess free will? After all, it was MY CHOICE to let him play for me.
At what point does free will crumble?
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