Random class thoughts

I was very intrigued by three specific topics that Leeper touched on in class Tuesday. 

Does "Secular" exist?
 Leeper said that he hates the word and usage of the word secular for artistic creations because he believes there is no such thing as truly secular. The actual definition for secular is "denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis." Personally, i agree with Leeper, just maybe not for the same reason. I believe that nothing can be secular because everything is created through and by means of God's creation. Even if someone does not believe in God and claims to not be spiritual at all, anything they make is done because they were created by God, and the creativity they posses to create the thing they did was given by God. Through this logic, nothing that is made can be done without a spiritual or religous basis, meaning nothing is truly secular. 

Revelation 19
In this passage it says that Jesus will have a new name that we never could have imagined that would be an even truer identity than the one we know of him. Leeper touched on this passage in Revelation relating it to a different passage that was referenced in our reading where everyone was given a white stone with a new name for themself on it, This new name would be an identity that would be who they are truly supposed to be- the best version of themselves, in a way. This reminded me of a book series I read once. In the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini when someone learns their own, or another's, "true name" this gives them ultimate power over that person. When one does learn their true name for themselves though, it sort of rings true inside them and resonates through their whole being. This reminded me of the stones in a way because we may not even know who we are, but God will, and as soon as he shows us we will know for sure that is who he always planned for us to be. 


Loved to be Lovable/Lovely
Leeper said in class that we must first be loved in order to be lovely, or lovable. This point really rang true to me when i heard it. A lot of people do not think they are worthy of being loved by anybody, and this is untrue for everyone. I do believe that we must first be loved in order to be lovable, but the thing is that God loved us unconditionally first, and Jesus was and is the ultimate personification and display of that love. So, every single person who thinks that they are not lovable, or lovely, are just plain wrong because as soon as we accept the fact that since God loved us first, we are all lovely now, we will all accept ourselves as lovely!