{"id":105,"date":"2012-01-26T10:39:40","date_gmt":"2012-01-26T15:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=105"},"modified":"2012-01-26T10:39:40","modified_gmt":"2012-01-26T15:39:40","slug":"ruts-rules-and-resolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2012\/01\/26\/ruts-rules-and-resolutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruts, Rules, and Resolutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am particularly fond of the parables of Soren Kierkegaard, a noted Danish theologian and Philosopher, and so I decided to share one of my favorites with you as we return to the patterns of the spring semester.<\/p>\n

Kierkegaard wrote a parable about a wild duck that came to eat with the tame ducks in a farmer\u2019s barnyard.\u00a0 The wild duck intended to feast there for a day, but enjoyed it so much he decided to stay for a while.\u00a0 Each day he ate more and more and grew heavier and heavier, he felt perfectly at home there on the ground.\u00a0 When fall came and the wild ducks took to the skies, something stirred within him.\u00a0 He decided it was time to move on.\u00a0 He longed to soar into the skies, but when he spread his wings, there was no strength there.\u00a0 His body was too heavy and his wings were too weak.\u00a0 He could not get off of the ground.\u00a0 He tried and tried, but he couldn\u2019t get over the fence.\u00a0 Each spring and fall as he saw the other wild ducks, he would look up and flap his wings, then settle down to his comfortable life.\u00a0 And it wasn\u2019t too long before he didn\u2019t even look up anymore.\u00a0 Subtly and gradually, he had become a prisoner, enslaved by his easy living; he forgot he was meant for the skies. (Parable adapted from Parables of Kierkegaard<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

This is not meant as a Weight Watchers promo, but a reminder that so many of us are imprisoned by ruts of our own making.\u00a0 It is the very things that we treasure that also limit us.\u00a0 It is the \u201crules\u201d of life that we internalize that keep us from trying new things or reaching towards new goals.\u00a0 It is the patterns that we develop to make life easier that may hide our next opportunities towards growth.\u00a0 If you made New Year\u2019s Resolutions, I hope you are making your early goals.\u00a0 If you didn\u2019t and like me you have stumbled into a growth edge recently without looking too hard, I hope you are making a plan and reaching out of your usual self in new ways.\u00a0 If you are enjoying a \u201ccoast\u201d phase right now, I pray that you will enjoy the rest until it is time to change again.<\/p>\n

I am reminded of these words from the Hebrew Bible, Ecclesiastes 3.1-8:<\/p>\n

There is a time for everything,
\nand a season for every activity under the heavens:<\/p>\n

a time to be born and a time to die,
\na time to plant and a time to uproot,
\na time to kill and a time to heal,
\na time to tear down and a time to build,
\na time to weep and a time to laugh,
\na time to mourn and a time to dance,
\na time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
\na time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
\na time to search and a time to give up,
\na time to keep and a time to throw away,
\na time to tear and a time to mend,
\na time to be silent and a time to speak,
\na time to love and a time to hate,
\na time for war and a time for peace.<\/p>\n

Blessings, Stephanie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am particularly fond of the parables of Soren Kierkegaard, a noted Danish theologian and Philosopher, and so I decided to share one of my favorites with you as we return to the patterns of the spring semester. Kierkegaard wrote …<\/p>\n

Ruts, Rules, and Resolutions<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stephanie"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-1H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}