Limited Human Understanding

Have you ever considered the idea, that there are some things that we just aren’t meant to understand? I certainly have.

Over the course of my high school and college life, I’ve frequently heard some variation of this statement: “I can’t believe in a God who does or allows……. (Insert seemingly unjust or incomprehensible event/circumstance here).”

Perhaps ironically, given the title of this post, I have given this question a lot of thought. The answer to the aforementioned question is surprisingly simple: We aren’t meant to fully understand what God does. No matter how much research we do, or questions we ask, using our human intellect, we will always fall short.  The issue, really, is not too complicated. We are not God.  His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8).

Think about it. If we, as humans, could fully and truly understand God, then we, in a sense, would not need God.

I choose to focus on what I know to be true about God, rather than what I do not know about him. This begs the question, “Drake, where do you acquire this knowledge about God?” The answer is surprisingly simple.

I learn about God by reading his word, the Bible. I learn about God by reading about his son, Jesus, and how he treated other people.

If you question the validity of the Bible, and thus, the premise for this entire post, that is fine. Obviously, I disagree with you.  That is a conversation I will save for another time.

I will end with this. I believe a vast majority of people ask themselves the wrong question. Rather than looking at the world and asking yourself, “How can God allow these kinds of things to happen,” instead, ask yourself “What can I do, with what I’ve been given, to help remedy the various issues in our world”?

After all, we’ve been given free will. I believe God gave this to us for a reason.

Pickup basketball 101: An all-encompassing guide to the game I love

I’m an unashamed basketball junkie. On an average week, I probably spend 5 hours playing the game, 2 hours reading about it and 1 hour arguing about how LeBron absolutely needs to develop a post-game (Thanks for finally listening, Lebron). I plan on naming my first child Dirk McHale Diamond (Will my wife ever agree to this? I like to think that she will).

Now that I have sufficiently established my credibility (At least I think I did) as a “basketball junkie,” let’s move to the real point of this column: pickup basketball and the various kinds of people that play it.  Listed below are 5 general categories of players, based on my own observations and a properly specified, multiple regression analysis, studying the impacts various types of players have on winning a pickup basketball game (I didn’t actually do the regression analysis…….I certainly could, but, alas, I have better things to do with my time)

Category 1: The legend

To qualify for this category, you have to be at least 40.  This type of player loves using old-school spin moves, calling touch fouls and properly executing a high screen and roll.  You absolutely want this type of player on your team. The team with the legend wins 95% of the time.  How can you spot the legend? If when he enters a gym multiple people go over and talk to him and want to get on his team, chances are, he is a legend.  However, a decent percentage of players that qualify for this category are actually not that good at basketball. You’ve been warned.

Category 2: The rulebook stickler

Undoubtedly, this is the most annoying type of player.  This player insists on calling every foul, travel, illegal screen and backcourt violation. To spot this player, look for someone that brings his backpack to the gym, wears sweatpants and glasses on the court, and looks overly eager to play.

Category 3: The skeptic

This type of player questions every foul call.  At the same time, if he calls a foul, there better not be a word said about it or HE IS ANGRY!!!! He takes the game entirely too seriously and causes games to last 45 minutes longer than they should.  Unfortunately, it is difficult, if not impossible, to predetermine who the skeptic is.  If you end up with a stickler and a skeptic in a game, the game will last at least 3 hours.

Category 4: The jock

This type of player likely just looks like an athlete. 9 times out of 10, he is wearing legitimate basketball shoes.  Most of the time, you want him on your team.  However, judging skill based mainly on looks is a risky business.  Sometimes, the athleticism displayed by this player doesn’t translate to the basketball court.  A pertinent example is Michael Phelps; he certainly looks like a basketball player, and yet, by his own admission, is awful at anything other than swimming.

Category 5: The Girl

Some girls are sneaky good. Others are awful.  My advice is to flip a coin.

 

You may be wondering how I would categorize myself.  I deserve my own category: The Dirk Nowitzki. 

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.

Here are some suggestions for your first post.

1. You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading the Daily Post.
2. Add PressThis to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting  page you read on the web.
3. Make some changes to this page, and then hit preview on the right. You can always preview any post or edit it before you share it to the world.