Oh. It's only you Polonius. Sorry 'bout that.
Rat:"Hey Goat, you writing your blog?"
Goat: "Go away, Rat."
Rat: "You know, I like blogs... I really do... you know why?"
Goat: "Go away Rat."
Rat:" Because they provide their frustrated creator with the delusional outlet of being a published author. Sort of like how the prison warden lets the psychotic inmate scribble 'poetry' on the cell wall so he doesn't beat his bunkmate with a toilet seat."
Last Panel: Rat with broken coffee cup over head: "perhaps you didn't like the analogy."
Comment from Stephan Pastis: "Whenever Rat does a strip about goat's blog, the strip gets posted on tons of people's real-life blogs. Blog writers on the whole seemed to be a good bunch of sports."
Item of interest: I read recently that blogs are considered to be a sport for old people, somewhat like smart phones are avoided by many young people because they cannot text as fast. It also made the comment that young people do not like to read posts because they are generally long -- as I observed in a previous post. More than a paragraph is considered excessive. Neil Postman would probably interpret that as just another product of the age of television which in general cannot provide sustained argument or even commentary. Fortunately for some, NPR can provide some sustained thinking whether people, young or old, are not doing anything else i.e. driving. Un/fortunately there is no way to post a rejoinder on NPR! One would hope that would at least keep some people from texting while while they are driving. I have other horrible habits while driving ;at least this is not one of them -- on the other hand I text so slowly I don't usually even bother, hence no one sends me any. Not a bad deal.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
LIGHTNING? WHAT LIGHTENING? (white thing?)
First of all to reply to Dennis, my father wonders if you are sort of an other -- employed author and if you are familiar with the works of the longshoreman etc., Eric Hoffer? He is enjoying your posts and thinks you might have something in common with Mr. Hoffer.
You are absolutely right about the movie, better known as the "Jesus Film." But it is interesting that you mentioned the film "Jesus of Nazareth," by Zeffirelli -- that was the, "save one" movie I was talking about in my last posting. And indeed it was instrumental in "saving one", namely, me. I was in the same position as CS Lewis up until that time, being sort of intellectually okay with God although reluctantly but never having had an personal encounter of the saving kind until Flo and I and some Catholic friends viewed Zeffirelli's film on Palm Sunday 1979 so last year was the 30th anniversary of this event as well as my 60th anniversary of Being (not Nothingness I trust). These are events which I celebrated somewhat privately all year long. My specific words as best I recall were addressed to Flo: "I don't know what it is but I need this Jesus that you have." Interestingly, only a few weeks before, the Spirit told my wife not to talk to me anymore about Jesus because it was His Job and not hers so there was, as they say, "no pressure," at least not any social or relational pressure. I do believe that there were numerous people who did influence me up until this happened but I am a strong believer in the fact that a film can change your life. Or even an opera. I remember a woman at Shimer College who basically flunked out because she was too busy listening to Tristan und Isolde and worshiping Richard Wagner. Another acquaintance of mine was quite sure that Jean Paul Sartre was God incarnate. But for me, I didn't really know what a disciple of Christ would look like until I met my wife who was at that time the most compelling example of what a real Christian might look like. But I am the sort of person who doesn't like to be pressured and likes to figure things out for himself. This event however became an exception. Pascal described this sort of event in one word: "Fire" I speculate that this event which occurred about 8 years before his death, is what makes his writings more than a mere imitation of Montaigne and beyond what they held in common, which critics would later call, "fideistic skepticism". More on Pascal later.
I'm not sure however what Dennis meant by advertising in terms of "Jesus Film." It is really more of a ministry and the only advertising I would say would be announcements in local villages..the money that is given really goes to equip teams, do new translations, and to produce new films, such as the recent film about Mary Magdalene which is specifically aimed at the many women who suffer marginalization in most cultures worldwide. It is not connected with any denomination. I would say that it is doing for hundreds of thousands of people what "Jesus of Nazareth" did for me. Also, no one else is coming to these villages to show any films at all so naturally everybody wants to go regardless of what is showing so that advertising to the "consumer" would not usually be even marginally necessary. I suppose I could find out what their advertising budget is, if anyone is interested. addendum: I s'pose that "adverts" may mean the shiny brochures we all get in the mail to solicit contributions--yes these are problematic and do require some oversight and some discernment. People are people no matter what "dose" of the Spirit they imbibe and I would hasten to add that I certainly am far from claiming I have never been bamboozled by a ministry that sounded good. There is an independent-hopefully- agency to which ministries such as these are accountable but as we read in Camus, "All fall down." It's kind of like medicine, you hope you do well on the balance--but one is often not sure of that on many days...
I wanted to also give you-all a quote from a correspondence between CS Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers on the topic of imagination. Dorothy said:
"I think the trouble is that the unscrupulous old ruffian inside one who does the actual writing doesn't care tuppence (Dragonspeak doesn't know what that is obviously) where he gets his raw material from. Fantasy, memory, observation, odds and ends of reading, and sheer invention are all grist to his mill, and he mixes everything together regardless. But critics can't sort it out............. so they just explain it all by "fantasy", and make up an imaginary biography to explain the bits that they can't account for."
CS Lewis, in his letter to Dorothy -- wish I could reprint it all right here--: "Don't let's believe anything people like us tell one another about the new towns and dormitory suburbs. When one really meets these traduced people one finds them far less confused about art and reality than most of the 'clerks'. I don't think they ever dream of applying to real life, mistaking for history or science, what they find in the films or the comics. Talk to an intelligent milkman about the very improbable ending of the film, and he will reply, ' oh well, they got to put that in to finish it off like.' He never dreamed of demanding the sort of realism the critics demand: there's his safeguard. No child, and no adult -- except a 'clerk' would ask what the ring in J.R.R. Tolkien's book was. That's the idol of the cave, not the marketplace. I admit that people write me letters asking if I really know someone who has been to Mars and Venus, but I think that's because they are mentally disordered, not because they live in new towns. Yours, Jack"
I think what Dorothy Sayers was saying particularly applies to the "structure," of what I am doing in this blog. It probably looks pretty chaotic probably like someone's kitchen does in the middle of meal preparation but there is a "unity in diversity," operative here. In Judaism couples are often married under a covering called a "huppah" -- any of you who attended our rather strange wedding got a chance to see one -- we were married at St. Giles in Oak Park Il in 1977 and a lot of people couldn't figure out whether this was a Jewish wedding, a Unitarian wedding, a Catholic wedding, or just a hippie wedding but all of these things represented the elements from which Flo and I emerged as individuals. There was a lot more that went unsaid of course we could only put in so much. I do remember especially the part from the book, "The Little Prince" in which the Fox talks to the Little Prince about friendship. Very applicable to any marriage would say.
But my point from which I diverted myself is this: that the huppah can also represent the Holy Spirit which is why I was so fascinated by Joyce's comment about a Holy Spirit community. Joyce, you may be familiar with John Michael Talbot and his community which was very much of a Holy Spirit driven and very amazing story. I was very much influenced by his music and his ideas once I got over my fear of "ghosts"!!!
And other white things. Franz Kafka once was asked what he thought of Christ. His only comment was that Jesus Christ was "an abyss of Light-- one must be careful that one does not fall in." I guess I was not careful enough, to the chagrin of many. But I have never been sorry and I must say that Light is a wonderful thing in which to swim.
You are absolutely right about the movie, better known as the "Jesus Film." But it is interesting that you mentioned the film "Jesus of Nazareth," by Zeffirelli -- that was the, "save one" movie I was talking about in my last posting. And indeed it was instrumental in "saving one", namely, me. I was in the same position as CS Lewis up until that time, being sort of intellectually okay with God although reluctantly but never having had an personal encounter of the saving kind until Flo and I and some Catholic friends viewed Zeffirelli's film on Palm Sunday 1979 so last year was the 30th anniversary of this event as well as my 60th anniversary of Being (not Nothingness I trust). These are events which I celebrated somewhat privately all year long. My specific words as best I recall were addressed to Flo: "I don't know what it is but I need this Jesus that you have." Interestingly, only a few weeks before, the Spirit told my wife not to talk to me anymore about Jesus because it was His Job and not hers so there was, as they say, "no pressure," at least not any social or relational pressure. I do believe that there were numerous people who did influence me up until this happened but I am a strong believer in the fact that a film can change your life. Or even an opera. I remember a woman at Shimer College who basically flunked out because she was too busy listening to Tristan und Isolde and worshiping Richard Wagner. Another acquaintance of mine was quite sure that Jean Paul Sartre was God incarnate. But for me, I didn't really know what a disciple of Christ would look like until I met my wife who was at that time the most compelling example of what a real Christian might look like. But I am the sort of person who doesn't like to be pressured and likes to figure things out for himself. This event however became an exception. Pascal described this sort of event in one word: "Fire" I speculate that this event which occurred about 8 years before his death, is what makes his writings more than a mere imitation of Montaigne and beyond what they held in common, which critics would later call, "fideistic skepticism". More on Pascal later.
I'm not sure however what Dennis meant by advertising in terms of "Jesus Film." It is really more of a ministry and the only advertising I would say would be announcements in local villages..the money that is given really goes to equip teams, do new translations, and to produce new films, such as the recent film about Mary Magdalene which is specifically aimed at the many women who suffer marginalization in most cultures worldwide. It is not connected with any denomination. I would say that it is doing for hundreds of thousands of people what "Jesus of Nazareth" did for me. Also, no one else is coming to these villages to show any films at all so naturally everybody wants to go regardless of what is showing so that advertising to the "consumer" would not usually be even marginally necessary. I suppose I could find out what their advertising budget is, if anyone is interested. addendum: I s'pose that "adverts" may mean the shiny brochures we all get in the mail to solicit contributions--yes these are problematic and do require some oversight and some discernment. People are people no matter what "dose" of the Spirit they imbibe and I would hasten to add that I certainly am far from claiming I have never been bamboozled by a ministry that sounded good. There is an independent-hopefully- agency to which ministries such as these are accountable but as we read in Camus, "All fall down." It's kind of like medicine, you hope you do well on the balance--but one is often not sure of that on many days...
I wanted to also give you-all a quote from a correspondence between CS Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers on the topic of imagination. Dorothy said:
"I think the trouble is that the unscrupulous old ruffian inside one who does the actual writing doesn't care tuppence (Dragonspeak doesn't know what that is obviously) where he gets his raw material from. Fantasy, memory, observation, odds and ends of reading, and sheer invention are all grist to his mill, and he mixes everything together regardless. But critics can't sort it out............. so they just explain it all by "fantasy", and make up an imaginary biography to explain the bits that they can't account for."
CS Lewis, in his letter to Dorothy -- wish I could reprint it all right here--: "Don't let's believe anything people like us tell one another about the new towns and dormitory suburbs. When one really meets these traduced people one finds them far less confused about art and reality than most of the 'clerks'. I don't think they ever dream of applying to real life, mistaking for history or science, what they find in the films or the comics. Talk to an intelligent milkman about the very improbable ending of the film, and he will reply, ' oh well, they got to put that in to finish it off like.' He never dreamed of demanding the sort of realism the critics demand: there's his safeguard. No child, and no adult -- except a 'clerk' would ask what the ring in J.R.R. Tolkien's book was. That's the idol of the cave, not the marketplace. I admit that people write me letters asking if I really know someone who has been to Mars and Venus, but I think that's because they are mentally disordered, not because they live in new towns. Yours, Jack"
I think what Dorothy Sayers was saying particularly applies to the "structure," of what I am doing in this blog. It probably looks pretty chaotic probably like someone's kitchen does in the middle of meal preparation but there is a "unity in diversity," operative here. In Judaism couples are often married under a covering called a "huppah" -- any of you who attended our rather strange wedding got a chance to see one -- we were married at St. Giles in Oak Park Il in 1977 and a lot of people couldn't figure out whether this was a Jewish wedding, a Unitarian wedding, a Catholic wedding, or just a hippie wedding but all of these things represented the elements from which Flo and I emerged as individuals. There was a lot more that went unsaid of course we could only put in so much. I do remember especially the part from the book, "The Little Prince" in which the Fox talks to the Little Prince about friendship. Very applicable to any marriage would say.
But my point from which I diverted myself is this: that the huppah can also represent the Holy Spirit which is why I was so fascinated by Joyce's comment about a Holy Spirit community. Joyce, you may be familiar with John Michael Talbot and his community which was very much of a Holy Spirit driven and very amazing story. I was very much influenced by his music and his ideas once I got over my fear of "ghosts"!!!
And other white things. Franz Kafka once was asked what he thought of Christ. His only comment was that Jesus Christ was "an abyss of Light-- one must be careful that one does not fall in." I guess I was not careful enough, to the chagrin of many. But I have never been sorry and I must say that Light is a wonderful thing in which to swim.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
What's it all about, Ava?
Wherein the author speculates about the most expensive and highest grossing movie to date:
Wherein the author/creator of said film, Mr. James Cameron, claims his film is a "perfect ecoterorism recruiting tool."
Is anyone else getting a whiff of irony here? Which Mr. Cameron perhaps did not intend? I would love to compare my carbon footprint with his!
There is also the fact that many young people who have seen the film come out quite depressed, some even expressing the desire to commit suicide if only you could end up in a place like Pandora. (Sorry that could be "Unobtainium.")
I will confess to all that I did not see the film Titanic and from what I am hearing I probably I will not bother to go and see this film either. For one thing, the storyline is not very robust, even for a science fiction production. I prefer my science fiction rather more complex and perhaps less dependent on expensive visual illusions. Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke come to mind. By Mr. Cameron's own admission, this may be sort of a high-tech version of, "The Triumph of the Will," or, "The Birth of a Nation," both of which were "quite staggeringly popular "at the time of their release.
One author's book that I would like to read is Kurt Vonnegut's masterpiece, "Slaughterhouse Five." I not sure if I will come out depressed or elated but I would like to comment that I was not particularly depressed after reading, "The Fall, "for reasons I will outline later. I do like my fantasy/science fiction but I am partial to stories that reflect the complexity, not to say the depravity, of human life as it really is. And the reality of having a Down Syndrome child and not even being able to experience the life of the child was reality as I have known it. And it continues to affect me to this day. Here is the point: the "unobtainium" of my life has presented itself--and been obtained-- through sadness, trials, and so forth. If I had to make a choice between watching all the movies I have ever watched, (save one), I would prefer at this point in my life to go through Samuel's birth and forgo the rest.
Relevant Question: what movie is being and has been watched by more people in the world than any other? Hint: low-budget,no-tech, no name actors, and no other movie comes close in terms of the numbers of those people who have watched it.
For all of the reasons noted above and many more, I would like to present the various Webster's meanings of, "avatar": "the incarnation of a Hindu deity such as Vishnu or Krishna; an incarnation in human form; an embodiment, as a concept of philosophy, often in a person; a variant phase or version of the continuing basic entity; and an electronic image that represents and is manipulated by a computer user, as in a computer game or an online shopping site."
I think the reality reflects the last description as the most appropriate definition of Mr. Cameron's Magnum Opus. And in view of his "statement of purpose," I would like to, in honor of Kurt Vonnegut, propose that the alternative title could be,
"Abattoir".
Apollyon: Suddenly I feel very, very good!
Igor: oh, master!
Apollyon: "Don't worry, it'll pass it'll pass.......... now, where were we? Obviously in the hands of a complete incompetent!
Day one: computers! "
From: Robert Duvall's version of the great Satan in the Monty Pythonesque Pilgrim's Progressite film, "The Time Bandits ." (four moons)
Wherein the author/creator of said film, Mr. James Cameron, claims his film is a "perfect ecoterorism recruiting tool."
Is anyone else getting a whiff of irony here? Which Mr. Cameron perhaps did not intend? I would love to compare my carbon footprint with his!
There is also the fact that many young people who have seen the film come out quite depressed, some even expressing the desire to commit suicide if only you could end up in a place like Pandora. (Sorry that could be "Unobtainium.")
I will confess to all that I did not see the film Titanic and from what I am hearing I probably I will not bother to go and see this film either. For one thing, the storyline is not very robust, even for a science fiction production. I prefer my science fiction rather more complex and perhaps less dependent on expensive visual illusions. Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke come to mind. By Mr. Cameron's own admission, this may be sort of a high-tech version of, "The Triumph of the Will," or, "The Birth of a Nation," both of which were "quite staggeringly popular "at the time of their release.
One author's book that I would like to read is Kurt Vonnegut's masterpiece, "Slaughterhouse Five." I not sure if I will come out depressed or elated but I would like to comment that I was not particularly depressed after reading, "The Fall, "for reasons I will outline later. I do like my fantasy/science fiction but I am partial to stories that reflect the complexity, not to say the depravity, of human life as it really is. And the reality of having a Down Syndrome child and not even being able to experience the life of the child was reality as I have known it. And it continues to affect me to this day. Here is the point: the "unobtainium" of my life has presented itself--and been obtained-- through sadness, trials, and so forth. If I had to make a choice between watching all the movies I have ever watched, (save one), I would prefer at this point in my life to go through Samuel's birth and forgo the rest.
Relevant Question: what movie is being and has been watched by more people in the world than any other? Hint: low-budget,no-tech, no name actors, and no other movie comes close in terms of the numbers of those people who have watched it.
For all of the reasons noted above and many more, I would like to present the various Webster's meanings of, "avatar": "the incarnation of a Hindu deity such as Vishnu or Krishna; an incarnation in human form; an embodiment, as a concept of philosophy, often in a person; a variant phase or version of the continuing basic entity; and an electronic image that represents and is manipulated by a computer user, as in a computer game or an online shopping site."
I think the reality reflects the last description as the most appropriate definition of Mr. Cameron's Magnum Opus. And in view of his "statement of purpose," I would like to, in honor of Kurt Vonnegut, propose that the alternative title could be,
"Abattoir".
Apollyon: Suddenly I feel very, very good!
Igor: oh, master!
Apollyon: "Don't worry, it'll pass it'll pass.......... now, where were we? Obviously in the hands of a complete incompetent!
Day one: computers! "
From: Robert Duvall's version of the great Satan in the Monty Pythonesque Pilgrim's Progressite film, "The Time Bandits ." (four moons)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
PNEUMATO-LOGICAL IMAGINING
"For example, Baylor University Press in 2007 published the theologian Amos Yong's book, "Theology and Down Syndrome : Reimagining Disability in Late Modernity". It is an important work that takes both the culture and the Church to task for having a too-limited view--one might say, "handicapped" --view of people with intellectual disabilities."
"Underpinning Yong's work is the fact that he grew up a child of Assembly of God pastors and has a younger brother with Down syndrome. In his earlier books,Yong made a case for a "pneumatological imagination" enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Here, he suggests that such an imagination is needed to help Christians think more deeply" (and, may I add, fairly) "about people with disabilities and their role in creation and in the Church."
"He argues that Christian perspectives on disability have colluded with modern medicine -- perhaps unintentionally -- to produce a "medicalized" view of disabilities, both physical and intellectual. If he is right, it is this medicalized view that is driving the nine-out-of-ten statistics concerning the number of Down syndrome pregnancies that are aborted. It is interesting here to note that in 1998 study of Finnish doctors' opinions of Down Syndrome screening revealed that 15 to 21% of doctors thought the current prenatal screening in general is partly based eugenic thinking."
"It is this idea of speaking to the culture that there is a parallel with art, literature, music. George Steiner's thoughtful book, " Real Presences", suggests that responding to a meaningful form in a text, an artwork, or a piece of music is essentially a metaphysical and theological act. In the same way, to receive and respond to a person, any person, including one with an intellectual disability, is to respond to a living text whose Author is God."
"Steiner says concerning the arts: 'What I affirm is the intuition that where God's presence is no longer a tenable supposition, and where its absence is no longer a felt, indeed, overwhelming weight, certain dimensions of thought and creativity are no longer attainable.' ":
"The magazine New Scientist touched on the topic of human worth when it devoted a large section in its July 26, 2008 issue of the topic of reason. The bioethicist Tom Shakespeare suggested that a focus on rationality doesn't get at the complexity of how we live our lives, since our brains feel as well as think -- with vast repercussions for issues such as disability. If people are valued only for their output or performance, then disabled and older people could be viewed as too costly to keep alive -- it simply might not be "rational" to keep them around."
"Or as Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, put it in the same issue of the magazine:
'Absolute convictions about human worth... are not simply generated by instrumental reason. They have more in common with the pre-modern "rationality" of recognizing oneself and one's fellow humans as standing together in a common relation with a certain kind of "order," the way things "just are, " in the universe.'
"..... and by reasoning through what Paul said about male and female, slave and free, Scythian and Jew and Greek.... it should then be a little easier to decide what is habitable earth."
Once again quoting from , "A Habitable World" by Lance Nixon in Jan/Feb 2010 "Touchstone" magazine, with thanks.
"Underpinning Yong's work is the fact that he grew up a child of Assembly of God pastors and has a younger brother with Down syndrome. In his earlier books,Yong made a case for a "pneumatological imagination" enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Here, he suggests that such an imagination is needed to help Christians think more deeply" (and, may I add, fairly) "about people with disabilities and their role in creation and in the Church."
"He argues that Christian perspectives on disability have colluded with modern medicine -- perhaps unintentionally -- to produce a "medicalized" view of disabilities, both physical and intellectual. If he is right, it is this medicalized view that is driving the nine-out-of-ten statistics concerning the number of Down syndrome pregnancies that are aborted. It is interesting here to note that in 1998 study of Finnish doctors' opinions of Down Syndrome screening revealed that 15 to 21% of doctors thought the current prenatal screening in general is partly based eugenic thinking."
"It is this idea of speaking to the culture that there is a parallel with art, literature, music. George Steiner's thoughtful book, " Real Presences", suggests that responding to a meaningful form in a text, an artwork, or a piece of music is essentially a metaphysical and theological act. In the same way, to receive and respond to a person, any person, including one with an intellectual disability, is to respond to a living text whose Author is God."
"Steiner says concerning the arts: 'What I affirm is the intuition that where God's presence is no longer a tenable supposition, and where its absence is no longer a felt, indeed, overwhelming weight, certain dimensions of thought and creativity are no longer attainable.' ":
"The magazine New Scientist touched on the topic of human worth when it devoted a large section in its July 26, 2008 issue of the topic of reason. The bioethicist Tom Shakespeare suggested that a focus on rationality doesn't get at the complexity of how we live our lives, since our brains feel as well as think -- with vast repercussions for issues such as disability. If people are valued only for their output or performance, then disabled and older people could be viewed as too costly to keep alive -- it simply might not be "rational" to keep them around."
"Or as Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, put it in the same issue of the magazine:
'Absolute convictions about human worth... are not simply generated by instrumental reason. They have more in common with the pre-modern "rationality" of recognizing oneself and one's fellow humans as standing together in a common relation with a certain kind of "order," the way things "just are, " in the universe.'
"..... and by reasoning through what Paul said about male and female, slave and free, Scythian and Jew and Greek.... it should then be a little easier to decide what is habitable earth."
Once again quoting from , "A Habitable World" by Lance Nixon in Jan/Feb 2010 "Touchstone" magazine, with thanks.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
THANKS
My thanks truly to Joyce and Dennis for their Kogent Komments which deserve a thoughtful reply which I will post when I have a bit more time and energy.. but to go along with Joyce's word, "incarnational," I offer another quote from Lance Nixon's article on Down's : It is from Dietrich Bonhoffer's work:
"The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from a Christian community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ; in the poor brother Christ is knocking at the door."
Also mentioned in the article are such persons as Henri Nouwen, a favorite author of mine, who gave up theology/academics to serve "Adam," a very brain damaged and immobile person residing at one of the "L'Arche" shelters inspired by communitarian Jean Vanier. I will be referring to Amos Yong's book, "Theology and Down syndrome; Reimagining Disability in Late Modernity,"as soon as I am able.
"The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from a Christian community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ; in the poor brother Christ is knocking at the door."
Also mentioned in the article are such persons as Henri Nouwen, a favorite author of mine, who gave up theology/academics to serve "Adam," a very brain damaged and immobile person residing at one of the "L'Arche" shelters inspired by communitarian Jean Vanier. I will be referring to Amos Yong's book, "Theology and Down syndrome; Reimagining Disability in Late Modernity,"as soon as I am able.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
UNSUBSUMABLE--------------???
"Surely you're not comparing yourself to Christ!" -Didi aka Vladmir
"All my life I've compared myself to Him!" -Gogo aka Estragon from Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
"Ideas have consequences."
From Oswald Chambers: "the Lord Himself is the one standard of conduct and character in the New Testament. People do not object to a man or woman becoming outwardly holy; but they do object to his or her becoming a devotee of Jesus Christ."
"The standard for creed, conduct, and character is Jesus Christ Only. My limitations and liberties must spring from my personal devotion to Jesus Christ and nothing else. All who observe me should perceive that I have been with Jesus, not that I have formed some personal convictions about conduct and character, whereby to measure the Almighty and everybody else with whom I come into contact.."
Thinking about the magazine," First Things," I would have to say that what is being discussed predominantly is still all about things, which is to say ideas, criteria, and what Russell Kirk called, "The Permanent Things."
I refer back to my previous question about what is more important, ideas or people. Or a person as suggested above. The natural answer for the intellectual is that ideas, mass movements, political convictions, and ideals are more important than the petty concerns about individuals. Hence the individual can be sacrificed to the party or the creed. This is why there is nothing more dangerous than an idealist and many of the world' s great slaughters, at least in the last 100 years and probably before that as well, go back to a person or a party that treasures a concept which they conceive to be new or brilliant when, "there is nothing new under the sun."
Keep in mind I am not talking about People magazine! Gossip is not concerned with the integrity of the individual but rather schemes to dis - integrate the individual, to bring celebrities down to the common denominator so that we can feel good about ourselves. No, the concern with the individual person certainly cannot be reduced to this, except at our greatest peril because there is really no respect,awe, or honor to be given.
Walker Percy in his book, The Thanatos Syndrome, refers to the Jews as "unsubsumable," in other words, not reducible to some humanly devised formula. Jesus Christ, by implication, also falls into this "category," although it would hesitate to use the word category, as in the formula "categorical imperative," for actual people, who in the final analysis, defy our usual tendency to put people into a catalog, as is exemplified by most of our thinking, considerably amplified by Freud and Marx to give a few recent examples. Having just finished the book, The Fall, I see that the ending of the story about this "exemplary" lawyer is the pre-requisite to what Kierkegaard described as, The Sickness unto Death. More about this later.
Here once again I have been drifting into the realm of ideas to describe something that is basically indescribable in words of any language so I will ask the readers indulgence about these feeble attempts to point to something that is beyond policies politics religion or any of the usual categorical imperatives to which we willingly, all too willingly, yield. It is also something that is deeply resented, as Oswald Chambers points out. Certainly that was the case with me, especially in the first couple of years of our marriage. I was okay with the concept of God as long as it was just a concept. But I would bristle at the name of Jesus or Christ. What exactly was my objection I still cannot say. In fact, what led me to change my mind is also still a mystery; the fact that life was becoming more mysterious and not less so probably was a factor. This impression has only deepened with time. The same was the case with CS Lewis, a hardened atheist and, "the most reluctant convert in all England." His book, Surprised by Joy, attempts to describe the experience in better words than I can say. I daresay his case is not a mere anomaly.
On a different note, all the psychiatric hospitals within 100 miles of here are full so I am having to play psychiatrist and treat some rather major mental breakdowns in our ICU. Is it just the economy, stupid? (The BBC would like to apologize for the previous comment, the author was just quoting Mr. Clinton) Or is it what the lawyer of Mr. Camus said, "when we are all guilty, that will be democracy,"? Thoughts or feelings, subsumable or not, are invited in the comments section.
"All my life I've compared myself to Him!" -Gogo aka Estragon from Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
"Ideas have consequences."
From Oswald Chambers: "the Lord Himself is the one standard of conduct and character in the New Testament. People do not object to a man or woman becoming outwardly holy; but they do object to his or her becoming a devotee of Jesus Christ."
"The standard for creed, conduct, and character is Jesus Christ Only. My limitations and liberties must spring from my personal devotion to Jesus Christ and nothing else. All who observe me should perceive that I have been with Jesus, not that I have formed some personal convictions about conduct and character, whereby to measure the Almighty and everybody else with whom I come into contact.."
Thinking about the magazine," First Things," I would have to say that what is being discussed predominantly is still all about things, which is to say ideas, criteria, and what Russell Kirk called, "The Permanent Things."
I refer back to my previous question about what is more important, ideas or people. Or a person as suggested above. The natural answer for the intellectual is that ideas, mass movements, political convictions, and ideals are more important than the petty concerns about individuals. Hence the individual can be sacrificed to the party or the creed. This is why there is nothing more dangerous than an idealist and many of the world' s great slaughters, at least in the last 100 years and probably before that as well, go back to a person or a party that treasures a concept which they conceive to be new or brilliant when, "there is nothing new under the sun."
Keep in mind I am not talking about People magazine! Gossip is not concerned with the integrity of the individual but rather schemes to dis - integrate the individual, to bring celebrities down to the common denominator so that we can feel good about ourselves. No, the concern with the individual person certainly cannot be reduced to this, except at our greatest peril because there is really no respect,awe, or honor to be given.
Walker Percy in his book, The Thanatos Syndrome, refers to the Jews as "unsubsumable," in other words, not reducible to some humanly devised formula. Jesus Christ, by implication, also falls into this "category," although it would hesitate to use the word category, as in the formula "categorical imperative," for actual people, who in the final analysis, defy our usual tendency to put people into a catalog, as is exemplified by most of our thinking, considerably amplified by Freud and Marx to give a few recent examples. Having just finished the book, The Fall, I see that the ending of the story about this "exemplary" lawyer is the pre-requisite to what Kierkegaard described as, The Sickness unto Death. More about this later.
Here once again I have been drifting into the realm of ideas to describe something that is basically indescribable in words of any language so I will ask the readers indulgence about these feeble attempts to point to something that is beyond policies politics religion or any of the usual categorical imperatives to which we willingly, all too willingly, yield. It is also something that is deeply resented, as Oswald Chambers points out. Certainly that was the case with me, especially in the first couple of years of our marriage. I was okay with the concept of God as long as it was just a concept. But I would bristle at the name of Jesus or Christ. What exactly was my objection I still cannot say. In fact, what led me to change my mind is also still a mystery; the fact that life was becoming more mysterious and not less so probably was a factor. This impression has only deepened with time. The same was the case with CS Lewis, a hardened atheist and, "the most reluctant convert in all England." His book, Surprised by Joy, attempts to describe the experience in better words than I can say. I daresay his case is not a mere anomaly.
On a different note, all the psychiatric hospitals within 100 miles of here are full so I am having to play psychiatrist and treat some rather major mental breakdowns in our ICU. Is it just the economy, stupid? (The BBC would like to apologize for the previous comment, the author was just quoting Mr. Clinton) Or is it what the lawyer of Mr. Camus said, "when we are all guilty, that will be democracy,"? Thoughts or feelings, subsumable or not, are invited in the comments section.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
TUESDAYS,WITH GLORY
I thought of something else scary and white. Me! Did you ever hear about white coat hypertension?
Has anyone ever tried to compose with a kitty cat on their lap? This is where VAP (voice activated wordprocessing) comes in quite handy especially if said cat has had a good night's sleep.
Here is more from Lance Nixon, A Habitable World:
"Sj'on's name means something like "sight", but he has overlooked the obvious here: in our day it is people of faith, not people of science, who are interested in living in what is, in some sense, the limit of the habitable world -- that is, side by side with people who have Down syndrome."
"This is not to say that there are not scientists who have Down syndrome children or who are demonstrating various ways to care for people with intellectual disabilities."( I mentioned Dr. Lejuene previously in there are many others who are even more unsung)
"One could argue that, as far as modern science and medicine are concerned, the limits of the habitable world lie not in Iceland, or any other geographical place, but in the condition of being "normal," of having fairly ordinary features and intelligence. The condition of having Down syndrome is alien territory, apparently beyond the limits where people can reasonably be expected to live valuable, productive lives."
"To be fair to Sj'on, there is another Christian minister in his story who was not as cruel as the Rev. Baldur. Nor are we told in so many words what Friedjonsson thinks about the Christian faith, or that he sees himself in opposition to it. In fact, one could argue that his compassion for people with intellectual disabilities is simply reflecting ancient Christian ideas on the worth of the individual -- ideas expressed in the writings of such figures as Tertullian, Origen, and Paul. Perhaps more to the point, Christian thinkers in the present day are generating new texts reaffirming one of the themes in SJ'on's novel -- that life in community with disabled people is not only possible, but beautiful and enriching." More later to the exciting conclusion of our story.
Certainly that has been my experience as I related earlier. I would like to thank the people who gave me positive feedback as relating to my experiences with Samuel. As far as being the best thing I have ever written, certainly that may be possible; but it is a standard that may be difficult to reach again. Personal revelation can be a gift from God but I have learned since that I have very little control over that. All I can really say is that Samuel was a gift to all of us even as he is and was a profound mystery that has a lot to do with some of the purposes of suffering that are not instantly obvious nor visible to McWorld. Our unwillingness to suffer tribulation in our personal lives seems to be a current basso continuo of our "culture of complaint" that cannot recognize a gift when it sees one. "Pain -- The Gift Nobody Wants, "is an excellent book inspired by Dr. Paul Brand and orthopedic surgeon who worked with leprosy patients first in India then later in Carville, Louisiana, the only leprosarium of which I am aware in the United States. Had we no proper sensation of pain, none of us would live beyond childhood -- there are in fact some who are born without the sensation of pain relatively speaking and they are extremely difficult to manage and to preserve in anything resembling a healthy state and do not live a normal life span.
What makes this so poignant and important to me is that I am a practicing scientist, but I have many doubts about current state of science, which as I have indicated, seems to be more culturally driven than anything; and it seems to me that science has basically jettisoned any pretense of objectivity, much less compassion -- and above and beyond that, the bulk of scientific research seems to have no ehical landmarks whatsoever. An exception might be the Human Genome Project which did have some built-in opportunity to ask ethical questions -- how effective or lasting these questions are or how they will impact subsequent events or research is difficult to say. But thanks to the ethical forum afforded by the HGP leader and CMDA member Francis S. Collins, there was some consideration of the purpose and the limits of research. But many of the incentives to do honest research have long since been removed and the results are fairly obvious, with the emphasis increasingly on mere pragmatism and personal self-promotion and political action committees. Herein both those on the left and the right are equal opportunity abusers. Postmodernism and Machiavelli (who is experiencing a new renaissance in the present day), certainly have had no qualms about any of this. Or if they do they keep it to themselves. The current glorification and adoration of something rather unscientific called Science seems to be a quasi-religious turn of events in which no one is allowed to question the current obviously rather opportunistic status quo; which, one way or another, makes reactionaries out of all of us. The current emphasis seems to be on damage control masquerading as preventive medicine. Here again the observations of Dr. Camus are very relevant to the discussion. More on that after I finish The Fall which should be shortly. There does not seem to be any real oversight, balance of powers, or any consideration of the horrors that men have committed in the name of Science; and recent attempts at peer review appear to be a closed shop deal.
Glory! Glory glory!! Glory, glory, hallelujah-- I'm a bum too.........!!!
Has anyone ever tried to compose with a kitty cat on their lap? This is where VAP (voice activated wordprocessing) comes in quite handy especially if said cat has had a good night's sleep.
Here is more from Lance Nixon, A Habitable World:
"Sj'on's name means something like "sight", but he has overlooked the obvious here: in our day it is people of faith, not people of science, who are interested in living in what is, in some sense, the limit of the habitable world -- that is, side by side with people who have Down syndrome."
"This is not to say that there are not scientists who have Down syndrome children or who are demonstrating various ways to care for people with intellectual disabilities."( I mentioned Dr. Lejuene previously in there are many others who are even more unsung)
"One could argue that, as far as modern science and medicine are concerned, the limits of the habitable world lie not in Iceland, or any other geographical place, but in the condition of being "normal," of having fairly ordinary features and intelligence. The condition of having Down syndrome is alien territory, apparently beyond the limits where people can reasonably be expected to live valuable, productive lives."
"To be fair to Sj'on, there is another Christian minister in his story who was not as cruel as the Rev. Baldur. Nor are we told in so many words what Friedjonsson thinks about the Christian faith, or that he sees himself in opposition to it. In fact, one could argue that his compassion for people with intellectual disabilities is simply reflecting ancient Christian ideas on the worth of the individual -- ideas expressed in the writings of such figures as Tertullian, Origen, and Paul. Perhaps more to the point, Christian thinkers in the present day are generating new texts reaffirming one of the themes in SJ'on's novel -- that life in community with disabled people is not only possible, but beautiful and enriching." More later to the exciting conclusion of our story.
Certainly that has been my experience as I related earlier. I would like to thank the people who gave me positive feedback as relating to my experiences with Samuel. As far as being the best thing I have ever written, certainly that may be possible; but it is a standard that may be difficult to reach again. Personal revelation can be a gift from God but I have learned since that I have very little control over that. All I can really say is that Samuel was a gift to all of us even as he is and was a profound mystery that has a lot to do with some of the purposes of suffering that are not instantly obvious nor visible to McWorld. Our unwillingness to suffer tribulation in our personal lives seems to be a current basso continuo of our "culture of complaint" that cannot recognize a gift when it sees one. "Pain -- The Gift Nobody Wants, "is an excellent book inspired by Dr. Paul Brand and orthopedic surgeon who worked with leprosy patients first in India then later in Carville, Louisiana, the only leprosarium of which I am aware in the United States. Had we no proper sensation of pain, none of us would live beyond childhood -- there are in fact some who are born without the sensation of pain relatively speaking and they are extremely difficult to manage and to preserve in anything resembling a healthy state and do not live a normal life span.
What makes this so poignant and important to me is that I am a practicing scientist, but I have many doubts about current state of science, which as I have indicated, seems to be more culturally driven than anything; and it seems to me that science has basically jettisoned any pretense of objectivity, much less compassion -- and above and beyond that, the bulk of scientific research seems to have no ehical landmarks whatsoever. An exception might be the Human Genome Project which did have some built-in opportunity to ask ethical questions -- how effective or lasting these questions are or how they will impact subsequent events or research is difficult to say. But thanks to the ethical forum afforded by the HGP leader and CMDA member Francis S. Collins, there was some consideration of the purpose and the limits of research. But many of the incentives to do honest research have long since been removed and the results are fairly obvious, with the emphasis increasingly on mere pragmatism and personal self-promotion and political action committees. Herein both those on the left and the right are equal opportunity abusers. Postmodernism and Machiavelli (who is experiencing a new renaissance in the present day), certainly have had no qualms about any of this. Or if they do they keep it to themselves. The current glorification and adoration of something rather unscientific called Science seems to be a quasi-religious turn of events in which no one is allowed to question the current obviously rather opportunistic status quo; which, one way or another, makes reactionaries out of all of us. The current emphasis seems to be on damage control masquerading as preventive medicine. Here again the observations of Dr. Camus are very relevant to the discussion. More on that after I finish The Fall which should be shortly. There does not seem to be any real oversight, balance of powers, or any consideration of the horrors that men have committed in the name of Science; and recent attempts at peer review appear to be a closed shop deal.
Glory! Glory glory!! Glory, glory, hallelujah-- I'm a bum too.........!!!
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