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| Thinking?So, I've been thinking lately about thinking. I've been feeling as if my mind has been blocked or something weird like that. I attribute that mostly to laziness. I watch too much television. I come home from work and turn it on. Then turn it off once in a while to do other things, but not very much. I really need to limit my time watching television.
It is a beautiful night tonight. A few stars are visible from my vantage point, but not many, due to a number of trees blocking the view. The sound of crickets and cicadas fills the speakers of the natural stereo system God created. They sound off in waves. The crickets flash from left to right and back again. Cicadas wave from the furthest point away and eventually that wave reaches me on my porch, only to fall away again as quickly as it comes. Surrounding me are four plants who have taken the brunt of the summer heat, only to fight back and enjoy the coming autumn as much as I. Brown-tipped leaves show evidence of the grueling dog days of August. It is a fresh September night, the first of many to come. The silence is shattered by the sound of the phone ringing. The rhythm of the night is changed momentarily by an outside force of man. The ruinous habits of men who tear down the things nature built up are beginning again.
Men are ruinous by nature. Since the inception of man, he has set out to ruin everything. He does not feel what he does, only the earth does. Only God does. Man cries out in his own name that just this one disaster will make everything better. This one war, which ruins vast expanses of land, will end all wars and create a lasting peace over the world. Over and over again men cry this way, only to leave their descendants worse off than they were. Sure, technology is advancing and the world is changing, but this begs an important question. Is the interference of man in the rhythm of life ruinous?
As the sounds of squealing tires, buzzing air conditioners, and the symphony of nature fade away, I believe I know the answer. | | |
| 1984I am currently reading George Orwell's 1984 and I came across a passage which is quite interesting. It says, "In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two makes four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and the mind itself is controllable-what then?"
It is an interesting thought to think like this. That is, to think that our entire system of thought, even down to the most elementary principles, could just be a product of chance. Who decided that two plus two is four? Why did he or she decide it to be so? Numbers and language are, at their base level, simply a series of made up scribbles put in order to signify to their readers some arbitrary meaning. Speech is simply a combination of vibrations strung together to create words. Have you ever thought about how strange language, letters, and words actually are? At their base level, that is all they are. Well I think I was going to say more, but it is time to actually do some work at work. | | |
| Whoa. An entry?Well, I haven't written anything in here for a while, mostly because I have really had no reason to, but that is beside the point. Life is well. I got some plants last week and repotted them today, so maybe they will grow better. I like plants a lot. Living on my own is great, although it gets lonely sometimes since I only work at night right now. This will get better when CCU gets back in session. It is so weird to be graduated now. I don't really want to be graduated, but that is what happens when you try hard in school and pass all your classes. You graduate. I'm not so afraid of the future, I just think I will miss school. From the age of somewhere between three and five I have gone to school. I am 22 now. This means I have spent 17-19 years of my life in school. School has been my social structure and now I must construct another social group in a totally different way. I think this may have some to do with the loneliness and boredom I have succumbed to as of late. It is just interesting to think about that. Most times friends are friends because of proximity (anyone who has taken an introductory psychology course will know that). It is much harder to be friends when you are not thrown into a situation where you must make friends. It is much harder to make friends the older one gets. This is one of many reasons that I think the church is important. It provides a social structure for Christian adults and allows them to meet friends in much the same way other adults make friends in bars. Some thoughts. Thinking is a wonderful thing. I've been reading a lot this summer. Here is a list of the books I have read so far, if you care: Jeff Gordon's autobiography, Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, Kimball's Emerging Church, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, C.S Lewis' The Great Divorce and A Grief Observed, and I am getting ready to start George Orwell's 1984. So it has been an interesting summer for reading at least. So many books in the world and so many of them so worth reading. Well maybe it won't be so long before the next update. Later. | | |
| A Library with a View.Cincinnati. Cincinnati. Cincinnati. I'm sitting up in the library right now at school and the table that I am sitting at has a great view of the city. Before I started working on the homework that I came up here to do, I took a minute to look out at downtown. I am always struck by the beauty of this city. Yes, I know that it is a mid-major Midwestern city, but it has been a home to me for the last three and a half years. This city has taught me many things. It has taught me to not be afraid of a city. It has taught me how to interact with people who are much different than me. However, I think the most important thing it has taught me is how to love people. I have had the opportunity here to do many things I never dreamed I would actually do. I've seen things I never thought I would see and I see all these things as beautiful. A lot of people think I am crazy for loving this city, but I do. I think one day I will have to tear myself from it, but not for a few more years I don't think. The other night I was walking back down to my dorm at about midnight and I took a minute to look over the city again. It was one of those nights where the air was crisp and cold and the sky was totally clear. I could see the brightness of the city lights. Everything was clear and the night air felt amazing. I was awestruck by the beauty of the artificial lights glowing across the night sky. I love the industrial looking Cincinnati sign on the side of the convention center. What can I say, I love this place. I have never lived in a city before, but I think I will probably spend the rest of my life in or near one. I love the country too, I grew up on the line between a very rural area and one that is fairly suburban. It's a great city.
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| Donnie Darko and Christianity I am sure many of you have seen the film "Donnie Darko" by now. It is among my favorites and last night I watched it, but this time I saw the character of Kitty Farmer with new eyes. It is quite obvious that she is a character that one is not supposed to like and that she is supposed to look quite ridiculous most of the time. Kitty Farmer is the epitome of what most people think Christians are today. She is abrasive, closed-minded, ignorant, and has her hands in many things. She is a teacher, the coach of the dance squad, parent, and a community activist. Farmer supports self-help guru Jim Cunningham even after his arrest for child pornography and she helps to fire a teacher from the school who did something she disagreed with. How many people do you know who fit this mold or one much like it? At one time in my life I was exactly like this.
In high school, I was what you called a "super-Christian". I was a three sport athlete and good at most of them. I was the leader of three Christian clubs in my high school and helped lead a prayer group every morning in the library. I dressed nicely, spoke with confidence, but love, and wore my ignorant Christianity on my sleeve, just like Farmer does in "Donnie Darko". I made the obvious choice and began to attend Bible College right after I graduated from high school, just like any good super-Christian would, right? I knew how the world worked. I knew I needed to purge the evils of homosexuality, alcohol, and cigarettes from the world. I wanted to set out on a quest to make everyone in the world a Christian who was the same as me. I desired to become perfect. That is what Jesus wants, right?
I think my high school life paralleled that of the character of Kitty Farmer. It is easy to tell that it did, however, after spending a few years at a Bible College in a fairly large city, I changed many of my views. I began to realize that people do not enjoy being condemned to Hell every time they cuss in front of you. Some people can drink alcohol responsibly and justify it biblically. I do not mind it when people smoke anymore. I realized that homosexuals are people too and that maybe I should talk to them instead of wishing them death. Well, there goes my perfect transformation of the world. Jesus is going to be pissed.
In all reality, I do not think Jesus would be angry with the choices I have made. I believe that having an open mind and understanding many things that make me uncomfortable and that I might not agree with at first will help me to reach more people for the Gospel. An effective Gospel today is not one of abstinence from fun and enjoyment, but one that uses the fun and enjoyment of life to show people that Christ is not a stern-faced father, but a friend and guide. I do not want to spend all of my time wrapped up in the dogmatics of Christianity or the specifics of it, but in the practicality of it. Who cares whether or not God created the world in seven, twenty-four days or seven days of a different length? No offense to scholars, but I do not think many people care about that anymore, if they ever did. I care that someone can meet the Christ that allows the to be free of their old problems and lets them live a better, fuller life. If that includes alcohol and cigarettes, I think Jesus would be ok with that (I've heard he was particularly fond of fine wine).
Now, let's get back to the matter of Kitty Farmer. I find the scene where she is in the P.T.A meeting and arguing to ban Graham Greene's short story "The Destructors" from the school. The purpose of the meeting was to inform the parents and teachers about the investigation that would be occur concerning the vandalism of the water mane and the school's mascot. At the beginning of the meeting, Kitty launches into an attack on the story and wants it banned because it could influence students to do evil things. Next, she says that she is just upset because pornography is being taught in the schools. A final thing to notice when she sits down is that the man behind her pats her on the back and says good job. If you have seen this scene you will know how off base and ignorant Farmer sounds in her argument. Now, how much does this sound like most Christian arguments? To me, it sounds surprisingly familiar. It seems that a lot of today's Christians want just about everything banned from society. We must have a Christian society that allows no cursing, violence, sex, alcohol, or alternative views to exist. What are we afraid of? Are we afraid that people are going to turn away from God because they are exposed to another view? Personally, I am confident enough in my faith that I believe it could stand up to anything. Be confident in your God. When you want a Christian society, just remember what happened last time a great empire was declared to be Christian. Constantine did this and it led to the fall of the Roman Empire. When Christians come to ultimate power in society, it corrupts them and they help lead it straight to its downfall. I am perfectly fine with Christianity being a counter-cultural movement and I think it is much more effective this way. As for all the Kitty Farmers in the world, I say to you, get a life and learn to think, you'll be much happier.
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