Tuesday, March 12, 2013

If You Would Only Give It An Honest Try


People who like worshiping in a certain style, tend to believe that others would like it just as much as they do, if they would just give it an honest try. This applies to other Christian practices as well – retreats, prayer meetings, meditation, Bible study.  I always think people would like adult Sunday School if they would just give it a try.  My self-centeredness.

People who like exercising are likewise convinced that all those non-exercising people, if they could just get over that hump and give it an honest try, would begin to gain a similar pleasure to their own.  (In view of the diet and exercise research that some people may congenitally be uncomfortable if they don’t exercise, this is interesting.)
Styles of music…or travel style…or subjects of study.  Most of us probably have a few of these kicking around, believing that the pleasure we take in an activity is the essentially normal one, or worse the proper and elevated one, which others don’t share because of some lack of effort and character.

It is true enough to persist despite its essential falseness.  We all have a hundred activities we have never given an honest try because our lives are full of other things which we have given said H.T. Some of those we would indeed enjoy, even surprising ourselves.  We have all belatedly taken a whack at some endeavor and warmed to it quickly, wishing we hard started in on it earlier in life.  This gives us no right to smuggle in the idea of our own elevated taste in those matters we just like doing.

We see this readily enough with hobbies and foods, but if you go back up to the top of the essay you will notice that people offend in these areas pretty often.  Y’all need to cut that out.

4 comments:

Sam L. said...

Another one of those danged hateful micro-aggressions! OOOOOOOOHHHH, how I hate those things!

Texan99 said...

I think you'd learn to enjoy micro-aggressions if you'd give them a fair shot.

Sam L. said...

You and whose army? Oh, look: A Valium!

SJ said...

And if I gave an honest try to posting every day on my blog, I might...I don't know.

Commenting is so much fun.