Are you the victim, the villain, or the hero?

"As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so men are trapped by evil times
that fall unexpectedly upon them."

Ecclesiastes 9:12

Hard times will come and trouble will find us all. It is never a question of whether or not we will go through trials. The question is: how are you going to deal with the trial?

My dad taught me that in every story there are three characters: the victim, the villain, and the hero. In life, he said, we can choose which character we play and our choice becomes apparent during times of trouble.

When the hard times come, those who take the victim role are inwardly focused and paralyzed by such thoughts as "Why did this happen to me?" "It's not my fault," and "When will this tragedy end?" They do nothing and let their surroundings determine the outcome of their situation.

The villain is self-centered but outwardly focused. He or she lashes out at others saying "This is your fault and I'm going to get back at you." He or she desires to cause the same pain that is caused to them, whether real or imagined. Consequently, they hurt other people, many of whom are in no way involved.

Those who have chosen the hero mentality, however, deal with the tragedy in a positive, constructive way. They think, "How can I overcome this?" "How can I learn and grow from this?" and "If others are hurting in the same way that I am, how can I help them?" The hero will take positive action. This is unlike the victim who takes no action and unlike the villain who takes negative action.

As it almost always works out in the stories, the hero will come out on top. However, this mentality must be developed in the small incidents in our lives so that when the big trouble comes we will automatically take the role of the hero. If we take the role of either the victim or the villain we will hurt either ourselves or others or both.

My dad is a wise man.

The Strange Longings of an Ex-Student

As this time of year comes around I am feeling something strange. People around me are scurrying around, trying to finish what they have to do before it's too late. Friends excuse themselves to write papers and study for tests. Facebook statuses bemoan due dates and unfinished assignments. As I see all of this end of the semester activity as an observer and not a participant for the first time, unfamiliar emotions creep into my being.

Could it be withdrawals? Do I actually miss the stress of completing academic assignments?

For the last couple of years I did not particularly enjoy this time of year. I looked forward to the break and usually did not worry too much about my assignments. But as I wrote my papers at the end of the last few semesters I wished that I could be finished. I exhibited all the symptoms of Senioritis and longed for the freedom I believed graduation would grant me.

However, now that I no longer have the deadlines and test dates I find myself almost jealous of those that must still worry about their scholastic activities. I miss writing papers late at night and showing off my raw intelligence by barely studying for what were supposed to be difficult tests.

Perhaps it's because I miss the sense of accomplishment I got from doing well (enough) on all my assignments. Perhaps it's because I miss that sense of purpose. Perhaps it's because I'm still a nerd.

Questions for Kierdegaard

So I've been reading Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling. Kierkegaard argues that to find the greatest good, one needs to look no further than faith and he uses Abraham's test of faith to make his argument.

He argues that Abraham passed the test of faith not because he was willing to sacrifice Isaac, but because he fully intended to kill Isaac and at the same time, fully expected to keep Isaac (not a replacement heir, but Isaac himself).

He did not begrudgingly offer Isaac and thus lose his passion and he did not act like a madman to save Isaac's faith. Instead, he relied on the absurd idea that he could both sacrifice Isaac and still keep him.

My question to Kierkegaard is this: if we are to follow Abraham's example and have faith in the absurd, how can we tell which absurd we are to have faith in? There are many absurd ideas that we could put all our faith in that will not come to be. Granted, if there was something to tell us what absurd idea God wanted us to believe, then it would not take the same amount of faith.

What would happen if we spend our entire lives placing our faith in the absurd that never happens?

Is it because Abraham had faith that he would keep Isaac that he was allowed to keep him or did he just make a lucky guess when he decided to have faith in this absurd?

I haven't finished the book yet, so maybe these questions have yet to be answered.