We Slaves

Slavery: What a negative word. So often associated with the South and foreign nations. Never a good thing. But a physical bondage is nothing compared to a bondage of the soul. We are all slaves, to some god, ourselves, pleasure, whatever. Something drives us unto the end. I would call that an inescapable slavery. Society enslaves, but not nearly so much as the self. We allow our bondage, and even if we cast off one slavery, we take on another- The self is exchanged for Christ, pleasure for society, et cetera. Perhaps I am taking the idea of mental slavery ad absurdum, but I believe the Bible is clear on this. We are to be slaves of either this world or Christ, and no matter how upsetting the decision, it must be made. Better a slave than nothing.

Love: Which?

I love you: such a simple phrase, but it means so much. Do I love you in the terms of eros, philos, or agape? Teenagers do not know what agape love is. Numerous teens will understand the term of eros love or philos love, but certainly not agape. Now, before going on I must state what these terms mean, as I am aware you may not know the meanings. Eros love is the lowest form of love. It is the physical attraction. Philos is the middle form of love, friendship love; mutual give-and-take. But agape love is the highest. Agape love is giving selflessly and it is the unconditional love. "(S)He's cute." is eros love. "He is my best friend, I love him" is philos love. But "I will do anything for him/her, no matter what will happen to me" is agape love. God loves us all in the form of agape. He gave His Son to die on the cross so that our sins would be forgiven. He selflessly gives to us, his Son did all for us, and nothing for him.
But teens, their love differs. We can love eros and philos. I have personally been in both of these relationships. For the most part, eros love lasts the least amount of time, and agape the longest. Although there was a seven month difference in the length of my eros and philos love relationships (philos being shorter). This surprised me, as I cared much more for the philos relationship versus the eros relationship. But everything happens for a reason. Many people enter the confines of marriage in an eros or philos relationship. This is the cause for divorces, the feelings lessen and then the spouse goes off looking for what he/she is not getting.
Everything seems complicated, but God knows all. He knows that to get to the stage of agape love, a couple must go through eros love and philos love. To say "I love you" should not be confused with saying "I love your body" or "I love your mind". It should be I Love You, you as you are, everything that you are, your all. God loves us as we are, a husband should love his wife as she is.
Agape love is the hardest form of love to get to, as one must be willing to selflessly give his/herself to her/his partner. No "if I do this, he will do that" or "I want this so I am going to flirt more". Nothing but "I am going to do ____ for him because I love him and he deserves it." Selflessly.

Be aware of the dangers of saying "I love you" and no matter what you do, make sure you mean those three simple words.

The Aesthetic Limit (Calculus Essay)

Aestheticism is a modern philosophy of art, which maintains that art is the constant striving for ever greater pleasure. In accordance with the idea of limits in calculus, this aesthetic pleasure also has limits. Since aesthetic pleasure uses the self as its main standard, it is limited by the same things which the self is limited by. First and most noticeably, the self is limited by the idea of space-time. One cannot instantaneously move from one place to another- one must reach a place through some means. A second limit is that of the mental-bodily complex. A person can only have so much intelligence, which limits his ability to achieve mental pleasure, and by chemical hormones such as endorphins, which limit physical pleasure. Since all of this is limited, then perhaps it can be said that aestheticism is equally limited. However, its limitation is relatively high, as an individual can take a large amount of pleasure before “maxing out.”
This limited aestheticism can, perhaps, find its antithesis in fundamental Christian thought. The spiritual, under this system of thinking, is limitless and free. The spirit still finds pleasure, but it is seen as a higher form of pleasure. A sense of peace- that seems to be the best way to describe the Christian’s pleasure. The Christian view offers other forms of limitlessness as well. It insists that God is infinite, something that the self-as-god aesthete cannot believe rationally. In the end then, every man has a choice, as to how he wants to limit himself- morally, as the Christian; mortally, as the aesthete; or in all ways, as those who refuse to really see their position. Man must choose, and in doing so change everything.