Comments on: Some New Thing

By: Blog Segullah : Better With Age

Blog Segullah : Better With Age — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:56:21 +0000

[...] into the life and lives of people who have nothing else left to speak for them. For all that is beguiling about newness, it’s the old things that capture me. The skill, the struggle, the sheer amount of time [...]

By: Of good report

Of good report — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:13:31 +0000

[...] read this post back when it was originally posted, and I’m still thinking about it. Especially this comment [...]

By: Carol Brown

Carol Brown — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:16:43 +0000

I really like the posts of m&m, corktree, and Merry Michelle. I love learning new things about my Savior, knowing that I can be made a new creature in Christ as I turn away from sin and turn to Him in faith and humility, and experience His profound and infinite love in new and deeper ways.

By: TJ Hirst

TJ Hirst — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:58:00 +0000

I often fall prey to the need for the new. In my home, I solve that buy rearranging the furniture. In church, I pine for a new calling. In motherhood, I look forward to the next season.

This year, middle age took root and I realized that I can’t just keep expecting and wanting new, at some point I have to turn around and recognize what I’ve been given. It’s been my life-changing mid-life crises.

By: jendoop

jendoop — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:57:39 +0000

Great comments, esp. Blue and Lindsay. In reading through them all I realized what makes the difference for me in enjoying something new, versus complaining about change, is the time and capacity to enjoy it.

By: Selwyn

Selwyn — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:57:57 +0000

I find renewal amongst the new when I find it among those things I already value/appreciate. A new book (even if it’s been read by someone else) renews me more than… than washing my hair. A new friend brings renewal, both the world because you’re newly minted friends, but also because you get to see the world a different way, AND see yourself in a new way. A new song you’ve never heard before can lift you. A new day, barely breaking over the horizon. Particularly if I’m running at the time!

I don’t think seeking after the newest thing is divine – I think seeking after a new higher thing/option/quality is divine.

Old definately has an important place in renewal as well though – looking forward to that post.

By: Merry Michelle

Merry Michelle — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:50:15 +0000

I loved what “Blue” said. I’ve gotten caught up in the new “stuff” cycle, only to find out that while I was still sliding my card through the register–I was already bored with what I was buying and lusting after something else. So dumb. Aren’t we lucky when the economy falls off a cliff and frees us from stupidity like that?

Something “new” worth having? A new heart. Seeing someone through new eyes after truly understanding what’s going on in their world. A newness of hope that things really can get better.

By: wendy

wendy — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:31:09 +0000

I really like the balance of perspectives being shared about this.

I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes (that I can only find the beginning of without more effort I don’t have time to give) by Thoreau, “I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.”

I love the fresh smells of spring that feel “new” as well as opportunities to start anew.

By: m&m

m&m — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:52:54 +0000

I have always thought of this scripture more in intellectual terms than anything else. For all that the glory of God is intelligence, I think sometimes we can confuse ‘new information’ with intelligence. Intelligence is light and truth — not all new information, new theories, new age self-help, etc. etc. etc. are light and truth, or sometimes have just enough light and truth to potentially distract from the real deal. It can be difficult to discern the difference.

As such, I love the newness that comes when the Spirit illuminates the basic truths of the gospel, when I find new light into a scripture I have read already a million times, and when I see the gospel through my children’s eyes.

By: corktree

corktree — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:55:49 +0000

I think the quest for new experiences and new abilities and perspectives is divine. This, of course, is part of why we are here and will help us to grow and gain knowledge for the eternities. The quest for new physical objects is a cheap imitation that Satan provides (slowly down the primrose path…) to fill this divine need that is placed in us. If we get caught up in the “next new thing” cycle, we are less likely to focus on learning and creating.

I have found (after some difficulty) that I am much more satisfied by CREATING something new versus BUYING something new, and that to appreciate newness in nature and human endeavors is to see the divinity of creation mirrored, which points us in the right direction.