Having recently been urged to learn to "think outside of the box", I thought I'd meander on the subject for a little bit, safely inside the box. This browser window's text box, that is.
Wishing to think outside the box is the Buddhist's goal. He hates the box, because the box reminds him that he is a creature. He is not infinite. He is not one with everything. He is limited and finite and weak and creaturely. The box reminds him that try as he may, he cannot be everything, nor good at everything. In short, the box reminds him that while there is a God, he is not it. He hates the box because it is imposed upon Him by the hand of the Creator, whom he also hates.
The Christian must not learn to escape the box- he must learn to love the box. Here is joy and wisdom. If we love the Creator, we must love the creation since it proceeds from Him, which means we must learn to love the creaturely limitations placed upon us. We should greatly rejoice when one of our brothers or sisters has a better idea than ours, for we are not an envious people. We must thank the Lord when we forget something we used to know, for He knows everything and does not forget. When we cannot figure out a problem, we should toast the Lord with a glass of wine and enjoy an evening on the porch.
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor- it is the gift of God. - Eccl 3:11-13
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