Monday, February 21, 2011

From the 1st runner-up

 Canonical or not, this is my favourite parable ever.


http://books.google.ca/books?id=rqKUZ7bEvVEC&lpg=PA59&ots=FiDHC4XINl&dq=rigorous%20coachman&pg=PA59#v=onepage&q=rigorous%20coachman&f=false


This is the only way I can be sure is avoiding copyright issues

Monday, February 14, 2011

Just because it looks ridiculous doesn't mean it is.

So at school some of us have been throwing around the idea of Modern parables. Most searches into this are full of unoriginal content where the shepard who loses a sheep is a farmer who loses a cow and rides around on his John Deere looking for him. Not to disparage the people who put their effort into making these stories told by a guy in the Middle East a couple of millenia ago more relevant, but I think the whole point of parables is that they help to elucidate difficult ideas using culturally relevant symbols. Also they make us think about things differently than we normally would. 

The only problem is that when you hear the same story over and over again you know how it ends. I have a friend that, given the right set of triggers will always tell the same story. Mention the summer camp we used to work at...there's the time he got into a super soaker fight or something about when we wrestled and it got out of hand. Travelling with him? That leads to the story of a Beergarden and some train conductors                                                           that were conspiring against us.


I know that he tells these stories to reaffirm and to remember, which is a great way to strengthen a friendship and remind us of where we came from. But if all we ever do is rehash the "good ole' days our friendship stagnates.  That same situation creates problems if we don't think about new ways to tell old stories in our working out what's in the Bible. When I hear the story of the Good Samaritian I know it by heart. It doesn't make me ask questions as much anymore because it's familiar.  In Church people sing different songs along with old ones and they will tell you that they love new songs because when you are working through learning something, you are putting more effort into understanding what you're learning. At home I (read 'my wife') like to change around the layout of rooms because there is a freshness that is invigorating.  I still have all the same stuff, but looking at things in a new way makes me appreciate them again. Somehow we seem to feel that telling new parables doesn't fall into the same categories as new songs or new liturgies or new sermons, but that shouldn't be so

Whoa whoa whoa...you can't change parables they're in  the BIBLE! To those of you who thought this.....the gentlest thing I can say is of course not you idiot. These ideas are supposed to be ways of making you think about things differently and not about thinking totally differently. I don't want my words added to the canon, just for people to let stories reinvigorate them.

So here goes...

The Kingdom of God is like a Segway. Upon first seeing it you have a sneaking suspicion that it is interesting and confusing. When you first see a person using it you are struck by how profoundly ridiculous they look. If you ever take the time to try it out (which you are generally unwilling to do because you do not want to look both ridiculous and like you have no idea how it works) you find that it runs counter to every natural instinct you have. How is it that by leaning forward and inviting a quick meeting between your teeth and the pavement you can do something good like get from point A to point B? And really, aren't you getting where you need to go jsut fine already? Walking seems to be something that you're able to do quite well on your own thank you very much. But then a funny thing happens, you realize it works. People get where they want to go faster and exerting less energy. The balance and motions needed are like riding a bike and once you've got it you become an annoying proponent of how Segways can make everyones life easier. Some people try it and get it, while others never can get over the loss of pride required to become associated with Mall cops or are scared because the company chairman died on one. Those that do use them though swear by it and are convinced that everyone will someday own one or wish they did, even if that day hasn't come yet.


Lets keep doing this,
Jesse

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Who wants a Danish?

    So there was once a man who wrote many stories, letters and books. The thing is he wrote most of them pretending to be someone else. He had many pen names and used these different voices to express different ideas he had. I like this guy, or maybe it's I like these persons inside this guy? The distinction is a little fuzzy, and he realized this too. To not keep you guessing, the man is Soren Kierkegaard and he lived in Denmark in the 19th Century. Anyone whos taken a few philosophy courses will probably be able to tell you how terribly important he is, but then again anyone who has taken a few philosophy courses will probably be able to tell you lots of important things that you would think are bollocks, and they will tell you these things in a very important way that also means they think they are very important. Let me try, just try to say something about him without the self-importance thing.

      One of his ideas is that we think about who we are in terms of double reflection. Think of it like standing in front of a mirror. You know where you are, but you see your reflection in a different place and when you move your reflection moves too. The double reflection in our heads works sort of like this. There's our "us-ness" that's our very core, and that "us-ness" then thinks about itself. When we think about ourself we create our own mental image of who we are. It's a mental "reflection". The funny thing is that after we get this idea in our heads of what we are, that idea actually changes the real us so that our life isn't one or the other, our life becomes a double reflection. Sound complicated? Think of a guy who is a normal height and weight, but develops anorexia. He sees himself in the mirror not as a normal sized person but as fat. Then he lets the way he sees his reflection change who he is...he eats less...then the reflection changes too as he gets thinner. Can you see how you'd do this in your head? (By "this" I don't mean develop anorexia)

      Here's where I insert myself in the story of the Danish man with his mirror and imaginary anorexic. I think that people -millions of people- have stopped putting effort into the action of reflecting on their own life. Where has that effort gone? It's gone onto status updates, creating avatars in Second Life or customizing their characters in World of Warcraft. It's in the way people craft their persona in the type of tweets they make. The most dangerous thing about a digital identity is that it's outside of the self. So we are holding the mirror up to a digital self, but that digital self exists in a world we don't define. Do you need to daydream in 140 characters or less? Are you allowed to untag mental images of the really bad crap in your life? Of course not, and that makes life hard. But life will go on being hard whether we run and cry online or not ( :( ). Online worlds let us express ourselves in a way that's easier, and one we usually like better, but only because those online methods benefit by enabling us. Farmville (and its stupid effing updates) makes Zynga Inc. millions of dollars a year off of (mostly) children and people with addition problems. Do these people really want to become farmers? No they want to escape in another identity and someone makes a profit off of this. Only in our minds can we make ourselves into who we want to be, whatever or however that is. We don't level up when we try to be better people, but that doesn't mean we don't succeed.


Look in the mirror and think of the reflection inside your head too (Just don't try this stoned, you'll be in the bathroom for hours)


I, 
Jesse