Current mood:

thirsty

A paradox.
**Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a coverup for evil; live as servants of God.**
- 1 Peter 2:16

In my 12th grade classes we've been talking about metaphysical poetry. One of the main characteristics of metaphysical poetry is its use of paradoxes. The problem is that the idea of "a paradox" is pretty huge and intense... hard for even me to understand sometimes. But, like the awesome little students that they are, they've been plugging a long, trying to grasp the concept. So the other day... I think it was Tuesday... we start talking about paradoxes and one of them reads the definition from the book.

"a phrase that seems to contradict itself, but when examined deeper holds a truth" (not a direct quote)

Then they want me to give an example. I am at a loss. Trying to come up with something fast I say... okay, like in the poem we just read Donne says "Death, thou shalt die." How does that contradict itself? Obviously the answer is that death can't die because death is death. Then I ask, so how can it be true. This is the beautiful part. Somehow, we start talking about Christianity and Jesus and how Jesus killed death when he rose again and how if you believe in him your sins are forgiven and you get to conquer death too. It was pretty intense. I mean, the way that God can work himself in to a conversation so that these teenagers who so desperately need him (and so desperately want him... even if they don't know that it's him they want) are hearing his message in a way that relates to school so that I'm not going to get fired... it's pretty amazing.

So today, I'm reading the bible chapter of the day on Bible Gateway.com (it's become my new morning devotion) and it's 1 Peter 2. And I read verse 16 and I get really excited because it's a paradox!

Live as free men, but live as servants of God. The contradiction? Servants aren't free. The truth? They are free! Free from the world, free from sin, free from worrying about what we're doing with the rest of our lives... free from death.... I think I need to work this out more and figure out how exactly it applies to my life, but I know that it does and I know that if I can just get this concept grasped it will make my life a lot better. So anyway, that's the end of my paradox.... for now.