This week’s reading assignment deals with circles of sufficiency. Willard describes these circles as assurance of others being for us. He indicates “When the required type of “for-ness” is adequately present, human “circles of sufficiency” emerge” (Willard, 2012, pg. 179). My intention with this paper is to discuss such circles in my own life and their impact.
Genesis 2:18 tells us a very important fact about humanity. It indicates that God recognized that “It is not good that the man should be alone” (English Standard Version). While in this specific situation, God was talking about Adam specifically, God created us as social beings. In order for us to be happy, we need to have people around us who love us and are in our corner. Having others around you is not just important for the sake of your mental health, Proverbs 27:17 tells us “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (ESV). Having
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That of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” (Willard, 2012, pg 180). Our circle was very Christ centered, unfortunately, even if you are centered on Christ, the devil can begin to bring division if you are not on guard to stop him. The leader of the life group went on a mission trip overseas. When she returned, she suddenly felt that she did not need church in order to be a Christian, her and her family completely cut ties with us. We tried moving life group to another location, but slowly people who consistently came before stopped being consistent. Our game nights started becoming once every other month and then went away all together. Eventually several of the people in the group became offended for one reason or another and left for other churches to meet their needs. No matter how tight knit a group, it takes the devil getting his claws on one person to tear it all apart in some
Frequently, people strive for meager gains—material possessions, changes in appearance, or social acceptance—at the cost of both the strengths and the flaws that define them unique individuals. Indeed, they become artificial in their attempt to conform. Similarly, in Messenger, citizens of Village could trade their “deepest self”—their kindness and acceptance of differences, their special gifts and talents—for insignificant luxuries. Unfortunately, their effort to buy happiness nearly leads to the ruin of Village and the endangerment of outcasts from outlying
Take a minute to relax. Enjoy the lightness, or surprising heaviness, of the paper, the crispness of the ink, and the regularity of the type. There are over four pages in this stack, brimming with the answer to some question, proposed about subjects that are necessarily personal in nature. All of philosophy is personal, but some philosophers may deny this. Discussed here are philosophers that would not be that silly. Two proto-existentialists, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, were keen observers of humanity, and yet their conclusions were different enough to seem contradictory. Discussed here will be Nietzsche’s “preparatory human being” and Kierkegaard’s “knight of faith”. Both are archetypal human beings that exist in accordance to their respective philosopher’s values, and as such, each serve different functions and have different qualities. Both serve the same purpose, though. The free spirit and the knight of faith are both human beings that brace themselves against the implosion of the god concept in western society.
Humans live constantly in flux between vulnerability and invincibility. The change in the state of being is so fluid that it has blurred together into the medium of the human experience. The fact that the feeling self-consciousness is what develops the character of people has become lost on the masses. However, Michael Chabon’s “The Lost World”, uncovers this deeply buried secret. “The Lost World” directly supports the fact that vulnerability is the key to the human condition and a more perfect life. Life is about tradeoffs- with all disappointments come surprise and with all joys come disappointments.
This makes the reader question the meaning of needs. He makes the reader ponder by stating “We obviously get along without them… because we have no choice” (Sowell). Here he gives more support to his question and also making an introduction to his argument. Sowell then states “These ‘needs’ are simply things we want” (Sowell). Sowell argues that the concept and definition of “needs” is reality our “wants”. He creates unity for his purpose by asking the reader questions to ponder about and connecting these questions to his
People always like to refer to themselves as “independent”. Independence may seem like a great ideal in modern society, but in a post-apocalyptic world, a sense of dependence is unavoidable. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs help us to understand what people depend on. In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, survival of the boy and the man is due to their dependence on their human nature and ability to support one another.
Individuals often have a strong desire to pursue their aspirations and desires due to their ambitious, determined innate nature. However, through these numerous achievements they have successfully fulfilled, other people’s perception of the individual will vastly differ depending on their relationship with him/her. In the poem “Prodigal”, Bob Hicok suggests that when individuals have successfully accomplished their ambitions, others will perceive the individual’s changed identity in vastly different ways depending on their relationship with the individual. An individual’s ambitious nature will also significantly impact themselves due to their ever-changing perception of themselves, which will greatly affect their own perceptions and decisions
(Saul McLeod (published 2007) Maslow hierarchy of needs. Available: http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html last accessed 17th march 2014.
In his work, Who is Man, Abraham J. Heschel embarks on a philosophical and theological inquiry into the nature and role of man. Through analysis of the meaning of being human, Heschel determines eight essential traits of man. Heschel believes that the eight qualities of preciousness, uniqueness, nonfinality, process and events, solitude and solidarity, reciprocity, and sanctity constitute the image of man that defines a human being. Yet Heschel’s eight qualities do not reflect the essential human quality of the realization of mortality. The modes of uniqueness and opportunity, with the additional singular human quality of the realization of mortality, are the most constitutive of human life as uniqueness reflects the fundamental nature of humanity,
Man is insufficient alone. He is a social being who is proned to sin because of his inherited "fallen" nature. Only beasts or God can exists alone. Humans require social interaction.
And the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone...”
Alderfer’s ERG model provides a satisfactory insight of how human beings strive to satisfy their needs for existence, relatedness and growth. He postulates that existence needs are fulfilled by the basic material things such as clothing, food and shelter (Alderfer, 1977, p. 132). Alderfer argues physiological and safety needs are lower in order and classifies them as existence needs. His model places Maslow’s esteem and interpersonal relations into the relatedness category. On the other hand, the growth category entails higher order needs such as self actualization needs. He is also responsible for the frustration regression theory, which explains that if needs high in the hierarchy are not satisfied, then an individual puts more effort to achieve the needs that are lower in order. For instance, if needs such as esteem and interpersonal relations are not fulfilled; the person will put more effort to achieve physiological and safety needs. This is simply because the lower level needs are easier to achieve.
In conclusion it is hoped that a better understanding of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the motivations it presents to the individual has been gained. And while admittedly woefully lacking in detail and barely scratching the surface of the person that is Sigmund Freud perhaps some knowledge of the man has been attained.
We are blessed as children of God to have the gift of agency for ourselves. One of the hardest realizations in life is that we don’t get to make decisions for others because they are given that same agency. Growing up, my brother Chantz has always struggled with attending church and accepting the gospel standards by which we live. This has been a hard trial for my parents, my siblings, and me as we want the best for him. After moving to college, where the ultimate test of our agency exists, he became inactive and started researching difficult gospel topics, doctrine, and principles. Most recently, he feels the need to retaliate against the Church, which has sparked long family conversations and arguments. With spiritual inspiration from recent
When G-d separated Eve from Adam, He created two equals. As equals, Adam and Eve recognized their individual strengths and limitations. Moreover, they had to accept that their individual and mutual goals could only be accomplished if they would give to each other and take from each other. That interdependency, without which neither could be complete, is the exchange of kindnesses that should be the basis for all healthy family and social dynamics. However, G-d first created Adam singular and alone to show, by contrast, that doing kindness demands the presence of
Simply Psychology. (2017). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. [Online] Available at: https://simplypsychology.org/maslow.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2017].