You Nique By Design

 

 

 

 

‘For it is a false assertion that the sense of man is the measure of things…because the individual man…refracts and discolors the light of nature.’

~ Francis Bacon

“Our lives shouldn’t be based on what can’t be doubted, but on what we have the best reasons to believe. All other ways lead to insanity.”

~ J. Budziszewski

 

I wrote about what follows in the forums where I participate, regarding discussions that relate to spiritual topics and to consider whether we tend to use our objective or subjective reasoning abilities when discussing matters of a spiritual nature. Are we able to use our objective (unbiased) reasoning to come to the truth in spiritual matters? Or does the use of our subjective (personal)  reasoning seem to keep us from ever being able to come to the truth of the matter? Is there a way to find The Way for our souls eternal resting place?

What is Your Reasoning Style?

Have you ever evaluated your reasoning style? Is it more objective or subjective? Come and see, take a look with me, as I have come to clearly see the way mine has most prominently been for many years, and now, I am uncovering my ability to use both ways in making different decisions in my life.

We are being overwhelmed daily with so much information grabbing for our attention, and we have the ablility within our self to take the responsibility to create order from within all this informational chaos of our modern day. Our ability to make use of our objective reasoning, helps us to define what the repeatable patterns outside and apart from our self are, assisting us in being able to sort through it all and understand what is true, from what could possibly be true, to being able to identify what is absolutely untrue or false.

We have to have a firm grasp on what defines objective and subjective reasoning, especially in these days when so many are buying into the idea that ‘truth is subjective or relative’ as we diversely subjugate truth with the cliche of  ’my truth and your truth’ which has led many people to accepting the idea that truth is an illusion. A sign of our times…and one that does not lead us in the direction of agreement, it leads instead to seven billion disagreements.

Is there level ground to be found? A reason to agree and not disagree?

An objective reason is completely unbiased, because it is untouched by any of our previous personal experiences, tastes, or preferences. It is outside the sphere of our personal experience, yet this does not mean it does not exist. An objective reason is also verifiable by concrete facts, including three or more agreed witnesses, and/or figures that support the person’s statement. Whether we exist or not, an objective reason still exists, as it is independent of whether we believe it is true or not, so it is not dependent upon our view point in order to exist.

A subjective reason on the other hand, has been colored over by the lens of our uniquely individual character based upon being the person who is doing the speaking or writing, and often has a basis in reality but reflects our personal perspective of how we view reality. Our reality can hide over reality as I was saying above.

Subjective reason is a view point that cannot be verified by using concrete facts and figures to support our statement, although sometimes there may be a witness that agrees with a particular statement we make. It is colored by our own  previous personal experiences, tastes and preferences and ceases to exist when we do.

What Is the Purpose for Using Our Objective and Subjective Reasoning?

 They are both tools that affects the way we make the decisions in our life, and each way of reasoning serves their purpose in our decision making process quite differently. To make a solidly wise choice, it is essential to use the appropriate method of reasoning to be able to make a wise, solid, or good choice about something that may be at high risk, like relating to our physical health and well-being, and as above so below, relates to decisions we make that pertains to our spiritual well-being as well.

Objective reasoning is important to use when making any kind of a rational decision like with making the choice in buying a house or a car, or whether to make a change in our careers or not, basically when something will come with a high cost if something is overlooked and there is an error. Objective reasoning is the better choice when making a high risk decision because of how the decision will have an impact upon our life and possibly impact those around us. We are looking both ways before crossing the street. Weighing carefully our options because the quality of our life depends on it.

 

Subjective reasoning is useful when nothing of real importance is at stake in our decision making process. Like what flavor of tea we will be drinking at a restaurant or choosing our meal. It’s based purely on what appeals to us as an individual based upon our own personal preferences and not necessarily fact based, and using our subjective reasoning has nothing to do with others choices, unless of course we allow others subjective reasoning to sway our own. It’s used when a decision in our life is not a life threatening or life changing decision.

When we hold our subjective view as  being the basis for everyone else’s view of  life, we are projecting our view onto all others in our life, making our view true for all others, by believing what is true for me is equally true for everyone else, even when there is nothing to substantiate this as being true or not, it’s not concrete, it’s subjective.  We tend to say this is being objective when we are in reality, truthfully being subjective.

This is why it is important to define the difference and purpose between the two kinds of reasoning. Which one is honestly your most particular point of view of life reasoning style and how will it determine the outcome of your decision? Is it possible that we might be wrong about our point of view? Can we be objective with our self and others, in order to understand why another believes what they do, or we do for that matter? The disagreements we have are opportunities to validate or invalidate our opinions or that of another, for making a wise choice, not to prove someone wrong. We might be the one who is wrong.

Objective reasoning is very beneficial when having discussions with others especially new acquaintances, in order to keep our focus on the goal or the discussion on topic, and not by what is coloring our reasoning with what appeals to us, thus triggering an emotionally based response that can turn a discussion into an argument. Our subjective reasoning, is laden with our emotions and when having a discussion, especially in regards to a topic with a difficult nature, it calls for being based upon making a rational decision and not an irrational one.

I say this only because I recognize this in myself. And what is ironic, is that I was tested as being a highly logical person! And I have allowed my subjective reasoning to over rule this fact many times in my life! So for years, I kept ignoring my logical side and ran with my subjective side full stream. What I understand much more clearly now about myself, is that I can make good use of both, it’s just knowing when it’s the proper time to use them and which one to use. The right tool for the right ‘job’.

It doesn’t mean there are no facts in subjective reasoning, it’s just more difficult to define what they are, because they are all in our own minds and based upon our own past experiences, and our own emotions are a factor when sharing from our own subjective point of view or perspective. And no one else can feel or think the same way as we do.

 

 ’Objective reason deals with universal truths that dictate that an action is either right or wrong…Under subjective reason, concepts lose their meaning. All concepts must be strictly functional to be reasonable.’

~ Max Horkheimer

Our objective reasoning allows us to use facts that are concrete and tangible to find level ground, and the way to reach agreement. It is unbiased when what we are pointing to can also be validated by others outside of our own minds view point. As in 2+2=4. It’s the same equation whether we are an American, Canadian, Japanese, English, African or are flying in an air plane or sailing a boat. It’s based upon our objective reasoning.

Are You Objective or Subjective When Discussing Spiritual Matters?

When speaking of all kinds of things of a spiritual nature. It’s interesting that whenever anything is mentioned about Jesus and/or God, we tend to leave objective reasoning out and instead out comes our subjective reasoning! Well…in speaking of spiritual topics, we can no more leave Jesus or God out of the spiritual topic equation any more than we can leave evolution or creationism out of scientific topics. To do so leaves very large gaps in the information being presented as incomplete.

In order for all to observe and be able to make a rational objective decision, the discussion interestingly seems to switch from being objective to easily being from our subjective reasoning, whenever it comes to speaking of Jesus or God especially, and what they have to say about any topic that relates to us. We lose our objective reasoning abilities within having any discussion about Jesus or God in moments it seems…

Interesting…

Something about bringing these two into a discussion seems to bring out the strongest emotional responses in us… It seems that as irritating as these two are to many, they are not easy to ignore.

In making a decision regarding the destination of our souls it would seem to be objective reasoning is the most reasonable choice, and our decision once objectively made, can be experienced subjectively as well. As an example, I will use the Biblical idea that mankind is made in the image and likeness of God. This is an objective statement. It applies to all mankind, both men and women, all races and cultures, and exists independent of our own personal opinion.  What we may think about this subjectively, doesn’t change the unbiased statement. It doesn’t change because it continues to exist outside of our personal opinion, whether we believe this or not,  won’t change the fact of this being a true statement. Is it possible that this idea may possibly be true outside of our personal opinion, as to whether we believe it does or not?

How each one of us chooses to perceive this statement as being true to us,  is evidenced by the way we choose to live based upon whether or not we apply this statement in how we relate with all people.

Are we objective (unbiased) or subjective (personal tastes and preferences) in how we treat other people?

As equals or only people I like are treated as equals and the rest well…

The decisions we make regarding the destination of our souls is no different than making a rational decision about our health as being vital to our well-being, since our choices will affect our ability to experience a certain quality of life, or can lead us down the road to our death.

Making a rational decision about the destination of our souls is necessary because we are speaking here of where our souls are going to be spending its eternity, and considering the scope of eternity as being outside of the sphere of time, it may be the most important decision we ever make for ourselves, for this life seems like a vapor when we consider what it can mean by an eternity. It’s possible to choose wisely. It is possible to create order within all this chaos of information bombarding us daily, by finding the patterns that will be helpful for us to understand what is true, what could possibly be true, and what is outrightly false or untrue.

Objective Questions To Ask About Any Spiritual Leader or Guides Entrusted With Our Souls Destination 

How can we do this objectively? Objective statements (unbiased) can be asked of anyone who claims to be a Spiritual leader or guide, whose claims will also be verified by outside of them-self third parties. Subjective statements may not always be true as they are colored by the personal opinion (biased) of the person making the statement them self.

These objective questions can be asked by anyone when looking to validate making a choice of who to be able to entrust with the final destination of our soul for all of eternity. The validity of a person’s statement is considered reliable and true when able to be agreed upon by three or more witnesses usually by those who have had some intimate or personal relationship with a person, in person, and also can include outside (of the relationship) witnesses.

Having had an unexpected encounter with Jesus Christ last year that has changed my life, I will use Him as my example here of testing His ability to be entrusted with my soul’s eternal destination by asking some objective questions about Him.

Is He willing to hold himself personally accountable by His own statement, of being responsible to keep His Word to me at all times?

Is He willing to show Himself faithful to maintain his responsibility in the keeping of my souls well being?

Is He involved in caring for my souls safety to make sure my soul reaches His specifically promised eternal destination as being the best place for my soul to find its find rest?

What insurance does He give me that my soul will indeed reach Heaven as being the place He defines is my souls’ resting place if I entrust my soul to His keeping ?

What do those who have known Him personally have to say about Him from seeing him at all different times and in all kinds of circumstances?

Does he have any double standards or any contradictions in himself or his life?

What’s it like to live with Him on a daily basis?

Does His words align with his behavior and actions all of the time, some of the time or not really?

How does He handle those who disagree with Him?

Where is He receiving His direction from regarding being able to qualify Himself as the way for all of mankind to reach their eternal destination?

What stands out about Him that would give evidence to validate that he is who he says he is?

Is there anything that separates him from all the rest who claim to also be the way?

What assurance if any does He give and how is he willing to back it up in action that shows that I can trust Him explicitly with the eternal destination, the final place of rest for my soul?

Is there any evidence in being able to validate the claims He makes as being 100% verifiable true?

Are there at least three or more witnesses that can validate that His claims are true?

Can He give me a 100% guarantee of knowing that His directional guidance is without a doubt the most accurate one?

Is He familiar with the place He is leading me to? Has He ever been there personally?

Does my subjective reasoning conflict with my objective reasoning regarding Him? Or do they both agree about this person? Which reason disagrees if there is conflict?

Have I genuinely looked into what He has to say for myself, or is my opinion of him formed by what others around me have said based upon their own subjective opinions about Him?

What are the consequences (if any) of not following his guidance?

If there are any consequences, do they agree with or contrast with other ways and possibilities of my soul being able to reach my eternal destination?

What do other ways say about there being any consequences (if any) in not following their way to reach my soul’s eternal destination?

If His way is not the one true way yet, I follow it, what are the consequences (if any) of my soul’s eternal destiny by living my life in following his way, if His way is the wrong way?

If other ways are not the one true way yet I follow them, what are the consequences (if any) of my souls eternal destiny in following after these other ways, if they are the wrong way?

Is It Possible God May Exist Out Side Our Subjective Reality?

Can we be objective about these questions asked? Yes, I genuinely believe we are capable of being unbiased yet are we willing to be unbiased? Can we reason and decide without involving our emotions in answering these questions? If emotions arise then we are using our subjective reasoning in answering objective questions that relate to the eternal destination of our soul. This doesn’t make us bad, just unable to be objective when it comes to our questions about God. Each and everyone of us tends to get emotional when we are speaking of God. Whether we agree or disagree.

And this tells me something. That God is personal. Because we take God personally as all of us do. It is literally impossible not to be affected in someway in speaking of things that relate with there being a God, or even Jesus for that matter.

God hasn’t gone away. Even atheists really believe in God deep down inside when you think about it, even if they never admit this until their death. Because they fight so hard against there being a God (not always outwardly) and anything having to do with God and they challenge those who believe in a God as much as they are challenged by people who believe in God. Why so much effort spent upon something or Someone Who does not exist? Why not focus on putting their efforts into something else that they say they do believe in? I am genuinely asking about this. And to say to stop the nonsense, is nonsense.

Can We Be Objective About God, Our Self and Others?

Love is not possible without forgiveness. And forgiveness begins with accepting it for our self. And we have to know ourself in an unbiased-objective way in order to be able to forgive our self and others, and this means we are very capable of harboring unforgiveness towards ourself and others, but ultimately it is towards God, even when hidden by denial. And we have to have a basis for knowing our self objectively from outside of our own personal bias.

Being unbiased about our self comes from someone objectively stating what they see in us without subjecting their personal emotions into their objective, by being ‘outside’ of ourself. While we have the ability to reason objectively, it seems we are not very good with applying this kind of reasoning with our self and others. We tend to favor our subjective reasoning when it comes to our self and others.

We speak of having a Love that is unconditional to draw out from within our self, yet we deny the very Source that gives it. Unconditional love isn’t a love based upon emotion, because emotions come from subjective reasoning. It’s a Love by Will, Freewill. It is Love choosing to Love by doing what is best for the object(ive) of God’s love and not based upon emotions or any other conditions, nor expectations of receiving anything in return, and this is simply not possible without being able to be objective of our self and with others. Otherwise our feelings get hurt when we feel like we are not being responded to and we take it personally, it has become subjective.

Something to Consider Objectively and Experience Subjectively 

What we also seem to forget about is that Love is not the only truth about God’s nature. It is written that God is also Holy and Just in His nature. And one part of God can’t deny the other or God cannot claim to be a Perfect Complete Being, a Fully Whole Being. This would describing a partial being.

It is not possible to know ourself objectively because we base our whole view of our life subjectively from within our self, tucked within the immaterial part of our self, where no one else like us can see. So to answer these questions I posted above, it would seem to be a logical choice to consider, that we are not just of a physical makeup that can be seen in body only, with some able to be hidden deep inside emotions tossed in for good measure.

It is a good possibility that we might just be triune in nature. Body, (heart)Soul(mind), spirit. It is written that we are made in the likeness of God. Making it also a possibility that God is very possibly a Triune Being in essence.

 And what I have been learning about what God has to say about us in reading the Bible again after a 16 year sabbatical, is that Jesus validated being Love’s Logic by being willing to Incarnate on earth as the Expressed Image of God in a body. Objectively view Him by the way He lived His life as was shared by three or more witnesses, actually quite a lot more but who is keeping count past three, four plus… He spoke with authority being the physical embodiment of The Logos, The Living Word of God,  and came to establish the way God’s view is of us in speaking to us of this truth and reality:

That we are made in the image of God, and are endowed with such infinite worth and value, revealed by the mystery of all time, in that God ’squished’ His Infinite Self into the limitations of a human body, in order to have a relationship with us, due to the infinite worth and value He holds of us, in giving us freewill to make moral choices.

 The Missing Link 

 

 

The ability to love and reason with one another comes from healing our relationship with God first, in order to be perfect or complete, fully furnished, whole as a being. And God’s Word is known as The Logos (Reason) or Word of God, Who is Jesus, who is The Lover of our souls. You can witness it for yourself in reading the Bible in the Book of John.

As I observe these ideas of practicing deep breathing, yoga, meditation, explaining right brain-left brain, etc…I see that these are other ways we are willing to explore as a spiritual healing practice, or we are seeking to understand and explore the spiritual side of our nature, yet these ways all turn our attention to being inside and subjectively focused, as being ways of looking specifically for God who exists outside of our reality in order to be able to remain unbiased in His unconditional love for each one of us.

We have possibly been looking for God in all the wrong places.

I notice how these practices are being used as ways that are considered helpful to the relieving of stress or releasing of unforgiveness, in order to give us more compassion and love, and I am struck by the clarity of seeing mankind’s need to have spiritual fulfillment and nurturing, to be fed spiritually in some way. It is an intimate necessity in us to have this spiritual hunger met and filled. I’m not saying these things will not help people. They just don’t deal with the root cause of what is causing the need  in us to look for other ways to practice spirituality when we are leaving God out of our equation.

A part of our triune nature is missing and we know this deep down inside.

This makes the third need we all have, as remaining incomplete-not fully filled in us, aside from meeting our body’s needs, our soul’s needs for being able to nurture our desire to feel and use our minds to reason or not, we also need a spiritual filling for our insatiable hunger that nothing else seems to fill. We have an innate need for God that only He can fill, while we continue to seek and live as though He is not real or accessible.

…the ways of God are way past finding out, and who can know Him intimately?

Long yes, but totally at peace in the writing of this, mm hmm, it is subjective from using experiences from my own life journey from being on this long road of looking everywhere else to find the right way to fill my spiritual hunger and I have finally found Him. I am fed by a Living God through relationship with Him.

May this speak to the soul who is still spiritually hungering and really looking for a way to logically and objectively be able to find the right direction for your soul’s resting place and then be able to finally find this rest, relax and enjoy the ride with a peaceful assurance, for you will know you are on your way and heading in the right direction that is leading you to Heaven, the final resting place for your soul for all eternity, because you know the One who has gone ahead before you, to prepare a place for you to live with Him.

This is the way Jesus spoke of Himself as being The Way. His Way.

And there were witnesses who validated what He said, after not believing it themselves at first.

You can find your way to The Way. I know you can. By using Love’s Logic in working together, and not by leaving one out and leaning only to one side. This leads to being imbalanced. It has taken me many year’s to understand this. Thank God for the gift of both when they work together, we gain deeper understanding on how to use the tools in the right way and much more effectively.

My life when I consider eternity, is just beginning and wow, my mother was prophetic again, in saying, ‘Lisa, in Japan, people believe and say, that life begins at 50′. Hon to Yo! Kahsan! It really does and I am a witness to this statement and loving it.  Thank you mom, I love you in my memory always.

In the Love of Christ for you all,

Sharing many blessings for your well being in finding your souls eternal resting place.

InJoy this day being open to looking at Love’s Logic objectively by considering His Way as The Way to Heaven,

 “We love him because he first loved us.” ~ 1 John 4:19

Love, Grace and Peace in the Spirit of Christ,

Julia

 

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