It all has to end somewhere, and where it ends has to do with two things: The sovereignty of God, and the choices we make. A Calvinist theologian might argue that if God is truly sovereign, then our choices are all predetermined, while the Arminian theologian would suggest that God gives us the latitude to choose and adjusts his will to those choices.
My own hypothesis is that God's sovereignty somehow allows for our choices to fall entirely within his predetermined will without in any way limiting our ability to choose. You might say that does not make sense, and you would be right. There are many things about God that to us don't make sense. That is why he is God and we are not.
Caffeinated Beginnings…
Once long ago, in a land far away, I was on vacation, sitting in a coffee shop in Fort Myers, Florida wondering how hard it would be to start a blog site. Turns out it was not really that complicated. It was there at Starbucks, fueled by a little too much caffeine, that I started a project that resulted in recording a devotional thought or two on every chapter in the Bible. I would read one chapter each day, and write a few paragraphs reflecting on one or two thoughts that would come to my mind, and then post each day on the blog site.
The Project…
The project took a little over three years, and those musings can still be found at the original location on the world wide web (click on itallennshere.wordpress.com to peruse some of them if you wish) If I were to go back through them at this point, it is entirely possible that I would end up refuting myself in the comments, as I have now lived long enough to realize that while there are still certain none negotiable tenets within my theology, there are a lot less than there used to be.
Life is a Journey….
I’ve heard it said that life is a journey, not a destination. As it is with any journey into places we have never been before, we typically discover that things are not always as they appear from a distance. Take clouds for instance. I’ve always been transfixed by clouds on a bright sunny summer day. Growing up on the farm, I would lay out on the grass and watch them for hours…or at least until some insect would crawl up my pant leg. It was fascinating to me, how when I was not paying attention they seemed fairly static…kinda all looked the same…drifting lazily along on a warm summer breeze. However, when I would focus in on one cloud and watch more closely it was amazing how they would change shape and size. Often churning and billowing in what appeared to be a slow motion dance from my vantage point on the ground.
Above the Clouds...
Then I experienced my first flight in a commercial jet. I discovered clouds look much different from the other side. Looking down from above them they resembled vast snow covered hills. Stranger still, when the plane descended into the cloud bank, it was like being lost in a thick fog.
The Return of the King…
One of my favorite contemporary songs begins with the words: “He’s coming on the clouds. Kings and Kingdoms will bow down…” which I believe to be a true statement, that one day, we will see Jesus returning to earth in the same way those who followed him some 2000 years ago saw him leave. Perhaps that is why I find clouds so amazing.
New Beginning…
All that to say that this is the new home of ItAllEnnsHere.com. I expect this will turn into a journal of sorts, little snippets of my continuing journey. I wish I could predict exactly where it will take me. I suspect it will include musings on matters of spirituality, philosophy, and perhaps occasionally touching on matters political as I attempt to make sense of this wonderful, crazy, scary, fascinating journey we call life.
Hang in there…
If you are still with me at this point, I’m glad you found me, I hope that perhaps you will join me at least for a while. It is my plan to keep the comments open in the blog should you wish to engage in discussion. Some of this may appear in some of the other social media channels that I circulate within. I look forward to where ever it takes me, and if no one finds it, all is not lost. It is not my ambition to gather a large following. If by some odd chance, someone should happen to find anything beneficial in these musings, then I will consider it worthwhile to have written.
