We begin to understand that our worldview and our philosophy of life becomes engaged at the human level. Whether we bear arms or work very skillfully with our hands and our God-given mental faculties, how we view the world and those in it, is key. If I presume a certain bias, if I assume a certain arrogance and self-aggrandizing posture, others may not matter to me. If I have a heart of gold and a personae to match, I may become a self-less caregiver and a super hyper helper. Seeing others get what they need when needed can be gratifying in a magnanimous way.

Predicated on our approach to repulsing what we don’t like, is our praxis of life. Webster’s 9th New Collegiate Dictionary states that praxis is, ‘‘exercise or practice of an art, science or skill...customary...” This brings to light an interesting thesis. We move about in our living, from praxis to praxis. How we exercise our God-given faculties and how we care and share with those around us and how we handle the rough times and the tough stuff speaks volumes about us as people. My life becomes a living testimony, a living work in progress but progress to where?

Theologically, I must consider God and mortality. Life and death and the time we have on this earth must be given our greatest consideration. Personally, I must consider the people around me who matter the most. Love and loved ones make life a wonderful place to live. Antagonistically, I must consider the way I have conducted myself when things weren’t good and my vote was counter to those around me. I stood on an unpopular issue with unpopular people who were nonplussed to the opinion of the other side. Either way, life is lived, choices made and what happened is what happened.

From praxis to praxis, God gave me air to breath, an earth to walk on and a choice on what to do with the next minute. Was I thankful? Was I hateful? Was I the best I could be? Only God knows our hearts and only God knows why we did or didn’t. In my opinion, we do what we do and we ask God to see us through and if it was a bad idea in the first place, then we should be the most grateful person, because God gave us mercy even when we didn’t dispense it to others around us. Our praxis and customary way of doing things should be a recipe with God’s ingredients all in it. It would be a meal best served with a smile.