We will take the empty young man Who knows nothing and has no wisdom And we will fill him up To bursting with pompousness With the vacuous ideas That since we have put him up front That must mean that he is Knowledgeable and wise after all And that God himself has ordained it.
In a way, the human will seems to underlie so many of our cognitive processes—and even so, it is not always unified within itself.
I’m going to do my best to keep this short, as I just want to put a couple of thoughts out there without composing the volumes of supporting ideas that should eventually go with it. So here’s my main point: I think that in our complicated selves—somewhere amid that thing—or groups of things—that we sometimes refer to with words such as mind, heart, soul, spirit, or being, there’s an important part that underlies the parts of which we are more often aware. The parts we more commonly “see” in action—that we are more routinely aware of—have to do with mental functions or features like thoughts, words, actions, feelings, plans, decisions, and actions. Though probably none of us are fully aware of all of these things when they happen, most of us are at least generally aware that such things are indeed doing on inside our selves. That underlying part is what I will (today) call “the will”; it’s our set of desires (wants, wishes, inclinations)—and the important feature of it that I’d like to draw attention to in this post is that not all of the desires that reside there are pointing in the same direction; sometimes they are at odds with one another. And when this happens, it can sometimes make us miserable. I’ve lately taken to describing this misery by use of the metaphor of a horse having a burr under its saddle.
My church may not be perfect— It may have its shortcomings and flaws— It may have its errors and bad habits And its imperfect leaders— And even some of its sins Swept under the carpet—
Being ever the champion of the obvious I have keenly noticed that people Are not effectively bothered by things That do not concern them.
Yes, you may quote me on that.
And you’re welcome!
And in support of this assertion I invite you to witness how a certain fool May be beaten all day With principle and precept And fact and reason And sourcing and demonstration And will not be bothered by it in the least.
But if you want to agitate a wise man Just pose an important question He cannot answer off-hand And witness how we may well Be up half the night Digging into it best he can.
You’ll never recognize the fools For what they are until you’ve seen them Alongside the wise.
