tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618000693321801605.post3719014718900962734..comments2023-10-08T03:04:19.161-07:00Comments on Hot Rod Anglican: My Fierce Desire to be Different.Anglican Beach Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04775953413487218314noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618000693321801605.post-77527878979724752032010-05-16T06:26:16.194-07:002010-05-16T06:26:16.194-07:00Wonderful essay. I have the same sensibility, whic...Wonderful essay. I have the same sensibility, which makes us the same, so in this there is irony. But my striving to be different, as I assume yours, is genuine not a desire to be different simply for the sake of being different.<br />The distinction is in the level of performance, the best at what one does, not simply being different. I think in this way we fully use our gifts and please God who blessed us with them.<br />And to the average, well God loves all even the lowly, but this is not about whether God loves those who don't perform to distinction certainly he does. This is about attaining that distinction and fulfilling the desire that God has apparently placed there for a reason. The call can not be ignored. Some might call it obsession, but that is a negative expression of the burning desire to be outside and ahead of the "pack".Jim Himehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08530077534662694892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618000693321801605.post-20018990334065212552010-05-15T19:21:47.587-07:002010-05-15T19:21:47.587-07:00I had always been raised to believe that I had exc...I had always been raised to believe that I had exceptional potential, and therefore I had no excuse for falling short of excellence. But I learned that such a belief is a terrible lie, an insufferable pride, and a tragic burden. Initially I was crushed -- over and over again, as I inevitably failed to achieve the perfection that was expected and demanded (and so did everyone else around me... fortunately I didn't impose those expectations as much on others, or I'd <i>really</i> have been insufferable). So much of my self-image was wrapped up in it. But in time I have come to realize that I am better off without the burden of greatness (whether real or imagined). God loves average and below-average people just as much as He loves above-average people. He created and redeemed them all. I can be free to be myself and not worry about whether or how I am "different."Prester Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06520935157265618641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618000693321801605.post-55993436402246021432010-05-15T19:11:57.811-07:002010-05-15T19:11:57.811-07:00And did that make you feel disappointed, or reliev...And did that make you feel disappointed, or relieved?Anglican Beach Partyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04775953413487218314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618000693321801605.post-20491418755574359192010-05-15T18:54:04.087-07:002010-05-15T18:54:04.087-07:00Actually, I have of late been coming to terms with...Actually, I have of late been coming to terms with the fact that I <i>am</i> like everybody else.Prester Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06520935157265618641noreply@blogger.com