Guiding Principles, or, The Great Commandment Again

Hannah and I were talking in the little Starbucks at Barnes and Noble today: we've both been having some life crises lately. You know, the usual Senioritis scares of Who-Am-I-Really-And-What-The-Hell-Am-I-Going-To-Do-With-My-Life. Maybe it was because of the stimulating Barnes and Noble atmosphere, or maybe it was because I was coming off a caramel frappuccino, or maybe it was because when Hannah opens up like she did I always get inspired. But I came up with a couple diagrams (scrawled on ripped-out pages from a little pocket notebook), the first a simple principle that I hope comes to define my life and the second a principle that will define every person's life as long as she doesn't give up. (Giving up is the worst.)

Guiding Principle No. 1:

LOVE YOURSELF.

Guiding Principle No. 2:

(It got a mention on Hannah's blog! Wow!: http://londonfoggyblog.blogspot.com/)

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

Try --> FAIL

etc.

Try --> die.

= SUCCESS...

...is NOT being perfect.

...is being a glorious imperfection in the Kingdom of God.

Really, I just stole those principles from Jesus' two Great Commandments (Matt. 22:37-40). The first "Guiding Principle" is only a summary of the two commandments, and the second sums up our lives lived in light of them. I'm not trying to be cynical.-- I mean, life is scary...and awesome! By the grace of God (as opposed to my effort at perfection) I get up again every time I fail.

My difficulty is with Guiding Principle No. 3:

Grace

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>-|-O [sideways stick-person me] <------Grace

^

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Grace

(This diagram means rest in grace.)