Thoughts

I wonder. Sometimes fluency of thought comes without trying. It invades the mind even if I try to put barriers in its way. Sometimes deprivation of thought is the daily fare. It won't develop even if I try to compel its generation. So, I just sit and wonder how thoughts happen and whether the thought process is controlled by something physical or metaphysical. Much can be said about language and thought. But inspiration and imagination are caught up in this land within the mind. I hope that I can tell the difference between the two and let them guide me to a fuller appreciation of life and understanding.

The Neat-EST Thing

Many times our conversations start with, "I heard the neatest thing," or "I saw the neatest thing." In Greece 2 millenia ago, they had a single word for this "neatest thing" idea. It was used in the same way that we use the expression today. Usually people were pretty excited about something they wanted to announce to someone else. They wanted everyone to hear their good news. Many times, in fact, the translation of the Greek word is "good news."

But I wonder if that expression is getting the idea across in today's world. We live in a world of news, all kinds of news. We can get news from the war front with embedded reporters. That's pretty sensational. Then there are all the stories that are on one end of the spectrum or the other, sensational in one sense or another. No stories get told if they are average. Usually, good stories don't get told at all. But if they are sensational enough, they get published. So when it comes to telling someone else about "the neatest thing," we use the superlative form for "neat." Then people listen.

So, if I have a story I would like to tell or if it's not a whole story at all, but pieces of a story that I can tell over a period of time that equal a whole story, then I have just the phrase. I have this "fabulous story" to tell. In reality I do. It's a fabulous story because I become healed after the most outrageous darts are thrown at me by life. It's a fabulous story because at the heart of it is a clear message of reconciliation that I can have with others and with someone who died in my place. Fabulous, really, remarkable indeed. I think translations need to get busy clearly communicating what people in this society will listen to - something sensational, something of note, something fabulous and remarkable. It's just the neatest thing.

Credentials

I saw an article in the paper about this country's brightest and best 2 days ago. While I cannot altogether identify with that elite group of people, I have had enough academic experience that I wish I could tell them what they are headed for. Oh, they will have many compliments paid to them in life. And they will stand tall beside each sheepskin they receive. And many of them will make money, some of them hand over fist. They will be in positions of authority or in the rat race climbing ever upward. But, I wish not to tell them any of this because it is obvious and is what they strive to attain.

I wish I could tell them, instead, that life brings so many unexpected curves, that there is only one way to make it through life with any confidence. And it's not the way of the scientific method. It's the way that is unseen, unknown. It's the way where the greatest guides are those with the greatest confidence in seeing the unseen, knowing the unknown. The greatest credential is the mercy shown from the creator for the human condition. The greatest joys are in reconciliation. The greatest day is the day one enters the portal from this world to the next.

Of course, they will all have to find this out on their own as we all do. May the one who stays home to draw us to him, find many seekers to draw to him.

Giving Candy

Giving encouragement to people is much like giving candy to kids. Some show that they needed or appreciated it while others show no emotion at all and say nothing in return. But giving encouragement falls into the bigger category of just giving. Since giving reflects the giver's willingness to connect to a higher, nobler cause, how a person receives the "candy" doesn't matter. The receiver is under a different set of expectations than the giver. It's not the giver's problem. Now that I have thought through this for the hundredth time and come up with the same answer, I just need to get more candy to give and give away.

Card Hands

Playing the cards that are dealt is tricky at best. In a real card game, a person has to know well the players he is playing against in order to win very many rounds. Playing the cards life deals is tricky too. I don't know how many rounds there are in life, but one does have to study the different environments he is in in order to win very many rounds. Now, what winning means to a person is an altogether different matter. But even if it only means walking away from a round satisfied (for whatever reason), then still playing the cards is tricky. Our self-images are tied up in winning and losing the rounds we play. Sometimes, even, just playing the round instead of folding is monumental and laudable. Well, enough said. I have to get back to my card game. I'd tell you what I'm holding, but I don't want to tip my hand. Bluffing is part of the self-image after all.

Mismeasure

The state measures how much students know about a subject. They do it once a year in most grades. I cannot figure out for the life of me what they think they are measuring. And I cannot figure out the mentality that says measuring everything is necessary. It sounds much like a control freak wanting to call all the shots just because he or she doesn't trust anyone else to call shots. One of my favorite books is called The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould. It definitely raises the question of the existence of intelligence in the first place and the question of whether or not it can be measured if it exists in the second place.

When I deal with my own inner person, I know that growth takes place over time. But, that growth has a learning curve and some failures along the way. I don't try to gauge it once a year. I sometimes go a long time without thinking that growth has or should have taken place. I sometimes start seeing growth spurts everywhere I look. But, constant measuring of something that takes place internally is probably not a good idea. Recognition of growth I support - if needed, if wanted. I hope the state never makes it its business to deal with anything other than knowledge. They have totally screwed up the knowledge business. I prefer the great delight I get when occasionally I "see" growth of some aspect or another of my inner person.

Designs

Someone challenged me tonight to think of something that happened to me that wasn't random. I do believe in the randomness of many of people's activities; my friend doesn't. He thinks everything has a purpose. We can disagree and still be friends. That's a beauty all its own. But, I also believe that not everything is random. So, I was split-second quick to recount a recent event that happened to me with crystal clear certainty that it was not a random event; it was an event that without doubt had the stamp of the Designer on it. I am thankful that the design is in place in my memory. From time to time, I see the indelible print of the Designer, but many times and for many years I have probably missed out on design. Well, I don't know if I did or not. Some designs I see are seen by mature eyes which take years to develop. Other designs are ones that just were not on the road I was traveling at the time, so they weren't available for my eyes to see. Some designs are dictated by experience, so whenever it is in life that you get that experience, you see the design. Anyway, I am suddenly grateful for the designs I get to see in life and look forward to seeing as many as I can from here on out.

Unique Philosophy

I was angry this Saturday. I created a situation, but not all by myself. I wanted to march right in to someone (who lives far away) and just have a word or two. That would have been disastrous, probably, and would have worsened the situation. So, I did not do anything, except to call one person who could say something to the person I wanted to contact. But, that person was gone for the day. So, nothing happened. I am reminded of the words to a song by Matthew West. "Here the strong survive and the rest just disappear. But your (God's) philosophy is more unique. You are only strong when I am weak." So, I guess that I need to let The Strong One handle this situation so that I can continue living in this newly defined strength according to a different philosophy than the one I tried and failed at.