What Is Half Air?

What Is Half Air?

Is the glass half full or half empty? It is the quintessential personality test. If you say the glass is half full, you are an optimist. If you say it is half empty, you are a pessimist. I was always a bit different. I liked to be a smart-aleck and would answer, “Actually, half is water and half is air. The glass is really filled all the way.”

From Bad Idea T-Shirts

Now, this observation isn’t unique to me. Several years ago I found a t-shirt company selling shirts depicting a half filled glass with the text, “50% Air, 50% Water, Technically the Glass is Completely Full.” Needless to say, I promptly bought one of those shirts for myself.

I like the full glass explanation because I see it as analogous with respect to two aspects of my life. The first is a positive outlook. I try not to worry about things and simply take life as it comes. In fact, my wife sometimes is afraid I might be too positive and ask, “Aren’t you concerned?” when I am involved in something that has the potential to go wrong. I'll admit, however, that this positivity can be fleeting, because there are many other times that same wife will say, "You're always so negative," as I’m listing all the reasons I/we shouldn’t do something. But in the end, I’ve seen people worry about things they have little control over or focus primarily on the “worst case scenario,” and I would rather think positively and enjoy life.

The second analogy refers to my Christian faith, my relationship with God, and His influence in my life. The glass represents my life. The water represents me. The air represents God. The analogy works on several different levels.

For starters, the air represents God in several ways. I’m sure there are skeptics reading this who are saying, “Of course it does, because God is nothing but thin air!” But the Christian knows that God exists and influences every aspect of life even though He cannot be seen. (Rom. 1:20) Similarly, the scientist knows that air exists of various molecules, has weight, and can affect its surroundings even though it cannot be seen. In fact, air, in the form of wind, is a classic analogy for God. Even though you can’t see the wind, you know it exists because you can see and feel its effects.

Another way air represents God is that it is necessary for life. You can survive about three weeks without food and about three days without water, but deprive yourself of air and you will last about 3 minutes. Similarly, God sustains every living creature every minute of the day, regardless of whether they believe He does or not. The entire universe, in fact, is ultimately sustained by the will of God. (Heb. 1:3, Col 1:17) No God, no life.

Let’s get back to our glass and explore how it represents the relationship between God and the Christian. This is first uniquely seen in the glass’s chemistry. The air is primarily oxygen which, as you might remember from school, is made up of two oxygen molecules. (I know what some of you are saying right now, but I’m not trying to write a science textbook here. I’m just keeping it simple.) The water is made up of two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen. This means that a part of what makes up the air is also found in the water. Similarly, God lives within the Christian in the form of the Holy Spirit. So, it can be said that a part of God can be found in the Christian.

Next, the water in the glass is finite. It exists in a measurable space bordered by the glass on its sides and bottom, and by the air on top. The air fills up the rest of the glass, which, if you remember, represents an individual’s life. However, unlike the water, it is unlimited since the top of the glass is open and the air in the glass is supplied by a much larger body of air that surrounds everything and fills many other glasses. In the same way, man is very limited while God is infinite and omnipresent. I can go on, but I believe you get the picture.

[Note: Starting in January 2018, Half Air underwent several format changes. As a result, some of the information in the following paragraphs is longer accurate.] So, how does this relate to my blog and what can you expect from Half Air? For me, a full life (or full glass) consists not just of my actions and desires, but also God’s actions and desires for me, and not just on Sunday mornings, but every day of the week. Therefore, all I do, say, and think is done within the context of what God has revealed in His Word, the Bible. The same goes for Half Air. Ideally, I want everything I post to be positively influenced by scripture. This doesn’t mean I will beat you over the head with the Bible through sermons, admonitions, and apologetics. Instead, it means that the Bible will be “in the room” while we talk, and every now and then I might tap you on the shoulder with it. How this translates is that while many of my posts may contain little to no specific mention of my faith, that faith will still be guiding what and how I write. However, every now and then I will post something that spotlights my faith, bringing it to the forefront (such as this post). When I do it’s because I learned or read something that I want to share, or I really feel the need to comment on a current issue or event. I expect that the exact balance between the two will shift as time goes by and I follow where I feel led.

My goal with Half Air is to post at least three times each week. One post will be a long-form article that will share a story about what’s going on in my life, tell you about a book I read or movie I saw, or just offer my thoughts on a particular topic. Another post will be what I call “Quick Shots”, which is a compilation of several smaller observations or comments, 2 to 4 sentences in length, representing thoughts I have had that don’t require a full article. I expect this will be an end-of-the-week post, acting as a weekly wrap. The final type of post will be a “Let’s Play” style video of me playing and commenting on some video game.

Why a gameplay video, you might ask? While you can read a more detailed explanation in the “About” section, the simple reason is that I want Half Air to be a place where I can share all aspects of my life, and gaming is a big part of that. These videos will feature a wide variety of games that deal with everything from adventure to action to storytelling. Sometimes the games may deal with mature topics. However, my desire is to steer clear of posting anything with excessive adult language or sensuality. Additionally, while violent actions are a big part of many video games, especially first or third person shooters, I will attempt to avoid games or scenes that I feel go over the top with unnecessarily excessive violence. I realize all this is a judgment call on my part, but I will open each video with a screen explaining what you can expect to see so you are not surprised (i.e. “This game involves a large yellow pie that eats dots. Also, it has a supernatural aspect as the main villains are ghosts.”).

That’s pretty much it. As I mentioned before, I’m looking to present as positive a blog as I can and I hope it will be something others will enjoy reading. So I invite you to come back often to take this journey with me, as we live a life that may be half water and half air, but always completely full! (Col 2:9,10)

3 thoughts on “What Is Half Air?

  1. Am i two years late? I just read this piece and it really stirred me mentally emotionally and spiritually. I am still processing…so i have little to say

    Thank you so much, looking forward to more articles.

    1. Hello, thanks for reading.

      I am so, so sorry for not responding sooner. I don’t believe I was notified of your comment, and, as you may have noticed, my posting has dropped considerably (down to only once or twice a month) but I am still keeping the site active. I’m glad that this article was encouraging and I hope that you find some of the other articles helpful, or at least interesting.

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