Change and Limits in Life

A few days ago as I was sweeping the driveway, I noticed some holes in the cement. The more I looked, the more holes I saw. There were lots of them. Everywhere. Apparently rocks that were in the cement when the driveway was laid have worked their way up and out. I know this is n0t rocket science to realize that through the forces of nature, expansion and contraction this is happening all the time. What I am thinking about though is how this is happening right under our feet with no human effort and hidden from our sight. So much of change happens in life without our consent, effort or knowledge. And yet, the fact is that being alive gives us the privilege to play a part in change. There is always that fine line to walk. Accept changes that we cannot do anything about - I could not stop those rocks from working their way to the surface if I tried. On the other hand, I have a duty to affect change for good when and where I can.
And then there are the limits in life. We all have limits. I don't like limits in my life that seem to hinder me from achieving goals. Money is one such limit we all have. The big dream of winning the lottery is really a dream about life without limits. But then if you view life as a temporary situation and realize that it is not the limits that matter but what you do within those limits that matters it can relieve some of the stress from struggling against those limits. Not all limits are good and it is good to work to take the limits off that hinder us; but some limits are good. For instance, evil is limited. It may not seem limited. But it is. As Jesus said, "Fear not them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear; Fear him, which after he has killed has power to cast into hell. . ." Only God has no limits. He sets the limits. On nature. On evil. On us. So why should we think we should have a life with no limits? Not on this earth.

Nothing New Under the Sun

One book I am reading written by G.H.P. Thompson on Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon brought to light the surprise (to me anyway), that there really is nothing new, as Ecclessiastes tells us. Thompson explains some of the thinking in the days of Paul when he wrote the letter to the Ephesians. Stoicism was a philosophy of that time period. It was founded by someone called Zeno, from Cyprus around 250 B.C. The Stoics were very interested in unity. Apparently, the Stoics believed that the world really was like one great big city to which every human being belonged. They held a belief in "world-wide commonwealth, in which which all have equal status." (Sounds like some Democrats today.) 'I am a citizen of the world,' some of them would say. I could only think of todays mindset of "globalism" and laugh to think that this too is nothing new. Two to three hundred years before Jesus came people held the same views of the world that many in the year 2006 have. Now we are just called Democrats, or Republicans. But the ideas we hold have been around long before us and our forefathers.

Welcome to the World of Blog

I have finally taken the big plunge into the world of blogging. It did not take me the "5" minutes it should normally take. Since I am "creativity-challenged" it took me much longer to come up with a user name I hope to remember as well as the name for my blog spot. After much searching, I chose "The Kibbutz" for a couple of reasons. I came across this interesting Yiddish word while thumbing through a thesaurus. It caught my attention and when I looked up its meaning, I felt that it was an appropiate term for this site. A kibbutz is "a settlement community (in Israel), chiefly agricultural, organized under collectivist principles." You might be wondering what "collectivist principles" are. Well, my dictionary defines "collectivism" as "the political principle of centralized social and economic control." Centralized, of course, means to "draw or gather together about a central point."

Okay, I know I am not in Israel, and I am not in agriculture, and this is not a political or economic site. But I hope this site can be a "centralized social community" (a social group of any size sharing common interests). The central point or common interest will be to support each other as well as explore Scripture together. As many of you know, I have been studying the Book of Ephesians for quite some time. I will be sharing much of what I have learned - and no - it is not just about marriage! I am very interested in your comments, question, and concerns as well.

Since it has taken half of my day setting this up, I won't write much else today. That is not to say I don't have a lot to write! LOL.... I just don't have enough time at the moment.