Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Creative Process

While listening to my latest CD from the library the other day, I came across the following, and it sort of jumped off the page at me. I felt that, given different circumstances, I easily could have written the same words. They resonated with my own experience in creative endeavors. Musing on the creative process in his current stage of life, the author wrote:

"Shouldn't I have reached the place where I can enjoy the fruits of my labor and be sated with accomplishment? In fact, for me the opposite is true. [ ... ] the experience of creation has yet to become easy. In truth I'm as hungry as I ever was: the 'emptiness deep inside me' aches even more. [Creating] is my life, the one constant I can't live without. It's more than a desire or yearning: it's a necessity.

"The compulsion to create overwhelms from the moment you take that leap. It's irresistible AND terrifying. The undertaking consumes your mind, body and spirit. [...] You're in your own womb-like world. All you can hear clearly is whatever is going on in your mind and the pounding of your own heart. You're removed from what's going on around you, you're holding your breath and your mind is preoccupied in a primal way with the fear of drowning. I am filled with the fear of failure, the fear of not coming up with the goods. [...] This isolation caused a deep uneasiness which I carried around with me every day that I spent writing..."

----- Neil Diamond in his liner notes to "Home Before Dark".



Yeah, man. Me, too. :)

Monday, September 27, 2010

How is the Bible true?

Each week in OT501 - Pentateuch, we are asked to post about 5 paragraphs in response to a question from the prof. So far, I've found these pretty engaging, and will publish the question and my answer here from time to time as class rolls on.

As a preface to this post there was a little joke in the readings that made a great point on the difference between Modernism and Post-modernism. To understand the post that follows, I'll repeat the joke here:

"Consider the joke told by Walter Truett Anderson (as reported by J. Richard Middleton and Brian J. Walsh:

...three umpires are having a beer after a baseball game. One says, "There's balls and there's strikes, and I call 'em the way they are." Another responds, "There's balls and there's strikes, and I call 'em the way I see 'em." The third says, "There's balls and there's strikes, but they ain't neither' until I calls 'em."

Middleton and Walsh comment:

"So what is reality? [Or, in terms of this online discussion, what is true?] Are there balls and strikes objectively out there in the world as the first ump implies? Most baseball fans and hometown commentators insist that there are, though some might side with the second ump in his more honest appraisal of his own subjectivity. Many postmodern thinkers, however, wonder whether the third ump just might have the most honest position of the three. How do we know, after all, if there is anything "real" beyond our judgments?"

They comment further:

"The first ump is a naïve realist, believing that human knowing is a matter of seeking direct correspondence between the external world and epistemological judgments. The second ump knows that access to the external world is always mediated by the perspective of the knower. He might be called a perspectival realist (or perhaps a critical realist), since he recognizes that the way he sees the world invariably affects his epistemological judgments. The third ump pushes this perspectivalism to its extreme. His perspective is all there is, or at least all that matters. The radical perspectivalism epitomizes the postmodern shift."




Post from Week 2 of OT501:

Q: How is Bible true (case-in-point, Genesis 1-11)?

A: The umpire joke in this week's readings was a great little way to understand the move from a Modernist (objective) view of truth to a Postmodernist (subjective) view. As our culture moves further and further away from the Positivist Modernism of the Enlightenment, it seems that the arguments of traditional fundamentalist apologetics are losing steam, while storytelling is gaining much ground. Even doctrinal statements which state that the Scriptures are inerrant in their original languages are difficult to maintain in the current culture, which seems to routinely reject objective, definitive truth claims just on their face. Claiming that the Bible is true in the same way that a science or mathematics textbook is true is now rejected out of hand as uninformed and simplistic.

So, the question of HOW the Bible is true is a very important one for our current day. If we stay away from the notion that truth is discernible at an atomic level, as granular as Greek syllables or Hebrew vowel markings, and able to be summarized up from there to broad doctrines, then I think we can actually have a fruitful discussion about truth with our Postmodern culture. To stand squarely on the idea of truth residing at the level of specific word choices made by the inspired authors of Scripture, is to deliberately disengage from dialogue with our present postmodern culture. We render ourselves obsolete, and surrender our right to make truth claims, when we insist on objective truth existing at a granular level in the Bible.

And the sad thing is... we don't have to do that to be "faithful" to Scripture, or to hold it in high esteem. There is plenty of truth to go around! For instance, the narrative of Gen. 1-11 communicates truth on several fronts:

1) the character of God (merciful, relational, just),
2) the nature of humankind (fallen, but still bearers of God's image),
3) the consequences of our sin to us and to creation,
4) God's desire (and actions) for our (and creation's) redemption.

I also believe the Pentateuch specifically can be trusted to contain faithful transmission of ancient oral traditions passed down from earliest times, until such point as literacy was sufficiently pervasive to allow faithful preservation of those traditions via the written word. And just like we pass down to our children through faithful repetition the most treasured of our "family stories", the Pentateuch does the same for the treasured stories of God's family: Creation, the Flood, the Patriarchs, Moses, the Exodus, the Promised Land. Just because they are many generations removed from us today doesn't mean they aren't true family stories that tell us who we are, and how we fit into God's purposes.

These stories are effective, in much the same way as Jesus' parables are effective, at telling others about who God is, who we are, and why we're here. Modernism and objective truth can't make us feel like family. Treasured stories, faithfully preserved and told, can.

Friday, September 24, 2010

In search of Happy Meat



This last weekend, one of the local colleges (a clue to the school's identity is in the last photo) held a gathering of local growers and consumers in support of sustainable agriculture, which is my latest cause célèbre. :)



Growers/Farmers/Ranchers and "environmentally conscious, humane" buyers of their products rubbed shoulders for a night, and made some connections for product.



Given we now have a second paycheck in the household (yay!) we marched right out and ordered a teeny (5.0 cu. ft.) chest freezer from Home Depot (delivery day tomorrow!). Now we have space for some frozen food to buy in bulk when fresh... and eat out of over winter. And in the spirit of my new conviction to move away from factory meat to happy meat, we hooked up at the party with a couple of small ranchers and interviewed them about their animals, their practices, and the processing facilities they use.



It was a good evening. Managed to score a 1/4 cow and half a lamb and feel pretty good about the people who raise them and the way they take them on through to harvest (read: butchering and packaging... but harvesting is a kinder, gentler term befitting more humane methods; or at least that's what they told me).

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Asynchronous learning and communication

Taking classes online is a unique experience - at least to someone like me who has had many years of experience with learning (and teaching) in what is known in educational circles as "the Academy".

In online learning there is an attempt to simulate (or at least substitute for) the kind of interaction one has in a traditional classroom environment, with both the professor and the other students. You simulate that by posting regularly to a discussion board, with some measure of structured topics and enforced interaction (replying to at least X of others' posts). This is graded, too, not unlike "class participation" used to be.

Asynchronous learning has advantages and disadvantages. One of the most obvious disadvantages to me is an attempt to create a sense of community in the classroom without the face-face communication, the body language, the tone of voice, the hallway conversations on break about your personal lives or homework struggles. It seems so artificial, and you have to be so careful how you write things - they can be easily misinterpreted when communication is restricted to words on a page. Plus, emoticons are pretty much frowned upon in grad school. ;)

An advantage frequently touted for online learning is the asynchronous nature of it. You post when you want, read replies when you want. It's not done in real time. You don't have to block that time slot in your schedule every week. It's super convenient.

But, is the trade off of convenience worth the loss of richer communication? Right now, because of circumstances, I have to do it this way. And I'm glad I have that option. But I would not choose it otherwise.

You could sort of say the same things about modern electronic communication. Email is super convenient. :) It's asynchronous, like J2's tactic of letting your phone go to voice mail all the time, and calling back when you want. (If ever! Oh, that boy.) It may be annoying to callers, but you can sure control your time better.

Texting is a little bit closer to real time, but still asynchronous. You have to wait for a response, and you're never quite sure if you're really going to get one. Opening a chat session in an instant message environment is better in that regard. If the other person replies to your opening "hello?" then it's like they answered the phone. They might tell you they are not free to talk, but if they are then it's pretty close to a real time exchange. Of course, if the other person is a multi-tasker (brushing teeth, cooking...), you may wait for a reply almost as long as with email. ;) You know who you are.

A phone call, though, now that's real time. It's unpredictable, very back and forth (talking over each other, finishing the other's sentences), and you get at least a piece of interpretive help: tone of voice, pauses, "Hmpf" and "umm..." kind of noises. But nothing beats face-face discussion. You get the whole experience of communication, the visual, the aural, a scent in the air, plus the occasional opportunity for physical connection, a salty taste of tears, a touch that comforts or thrills.

You can't kiss or hug someone asynchronously. Only in person. X's and O's at the end of a text or email are placeholders... for the real thing.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Lights and Leaves

I'm always a happy boy when I see signs of Fall approaching. Signs like... the first leaves to turn,




and the temperature dropping low enough to chill my neck when I leave the office to head home.

But I'm not so crazy about the loss of daylight. In just one week the hours of daylight will equal 12 - a balance between darkness and light. But after that the darkness will begin to crowd out the light, the yin giving place to the yang.



I have steadfastly refused thus far to turn on my headlights when I leave for work in the morning, but the time is coming soon when I will no longer be able to ignore the ever-encroaching dark.


But you know... if a season of darkness is inevitable... a guy really ought to learn to dance with it. :)





And I do.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Digital Immigrants

In my latest Seminary class (OT501 - the Pentateuch), the students went through the obligatory self-introductions in the class discussion board. Normally, being essentially anti-social at the core, I do this part only grudgingly. But this time I actually read people's bios with some desire to understand. Remarkable! Personal growth at this advanced age. ;)

Sure enough, there was something to learn. :) One lady about my age shared an analogy about dealing with web-based knowledge delivery systems and acquiring the related technological skills needed to function well in this environment. She suggested that it's much like emigrating to a new country where you don't speak the language. It depends on how old you are, and how motivated you are to learn, as to how well you pick it up and fit in.

People of my generation are like digital immigrants, who moved here as young adults. We can pick up the language and the cultural subtleties of interacting online, but we have to work at it and pay attention. Even after years and years of living here, we still speak digital with an accent that betrays our analog childhood. (one that was lived sans computers, absent digital music (remember vinyl?), without Microsoft Word, only black & white TVs with rabbit ear antennas, NO pocket calculators ... not even an LED alarm clock.) We entered the digital age young enough to adapt, but not young enough to be digital natives.

Generation Y and later, though... or say, maybe anyone born in 1982 or later (the year the first mass-market personal computer, the Commodore 64, was released)... have grown up speaking the language from birth. They're digital natives, need no cultural orientation, speak digital fluently with no trace of an accent. They see analog technology (like vinyl records or a slide-rule or a tube amplifier) as a curiosity, an artifact of the past. It's interesting to a point, maybe a bit cool in a retro sort of way, but... excuse me, I'm getting a video message on my smart phone, wait a sec, BRB.

The whole business is complicated even more for people of my parents' generation (God rest their souls - I suppose I should use my in-laws as an example, since they're still alive and trying to figure out Facebook and anti-virus software.) They are the ones who emigrated to the digital world late in life, and have very little chance of the internet making real sense to them. Like older immigrant folks who need their kids to translate for them at the market or the doctor's office, they need help to reset their passwords or upload a pic from their digital camera and attach it to an email. And of course I can do that for them. I can translate.

Because I still speak analog. Fluently. :)

Friday, September 10, 2010

clouds




.




sudden summer storm



freakish shapes of swirling grey



menace overhead




.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

epitaph

.


man of many words
few of which were worth reading
but those that were... mmmm


.


There's a leadership exercise that many corporations (and not a few churches) go through to get you thinking about what's important in life. They ask you to write your own eulogy, or your epitaph. "If you could view your own funeral", they say, "what would you like to hear said about you? And would people actually say that? How do you want to be remembered?"

I used to think that my epitaph should read: "He lived what he sang and taught." But I don't think so now. I sing far less than I used to, and haven't taught in some time (although I still hope to). And when I do teach, I think I'll be asking more questions than giving answers.

So.. maybe I'd rather hear people say "he made an impact on me... an impact for good." I'd like to make a difference - a positive one - in the lives of people around me. I'd like to leave them better than I found them... better off for having known me. Then I think I'd feel like I did good in this world, and I could face my Maker with a clean heart, even if not with perfectly clean hands.

Words sometimes make an impact for good. But actions often do.

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Necessary AND Sufficient

Stephen Hawking, astro-physicist extraordinare, said in a recent article that "It is not necessary to invoke God to ... set the Universe going." In other words the concept of God is not necessary for explaining the existence of the universe.

The media, naturally, is now distorting this statement to support the view that God doesn't exist. But really there is quite a difference between saying God isn't necessary, and saying God isn't.

Logic gives specific meaning to the words "necessary" and and "sufficient" when it comes to scientific testing of theories.

Belief in fiat creation by God IS sufficient to explain the universe, but NOT necessary to it. A Grand Unified Theory of Everything (which cosmologists and physicists seek like the Holy Grail) IS necessary to explain the universe scientifically, but ultimately NOT sufficient to it, because it cannot answer metaphysical questions. There are many things about human nature and spirituality that it does not explain.

Finally, Stephen Hawking is neither necessary nor sufficient for my understanding of the universe. Sorry, Dr. Hawking. Nice try, though.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Transition month is here

... finally!

Because I'll tell you, I can hardly stand it the way it's been. If this summer is the new normal because of global warming, I'm ready for a little intergalactic space travel. (in an air-conditioned pod, of course. with good music and wine.)

As I've noted on this blog before, I have a slightly different take on the seasons than most. To me, the seasons are all two months long, linked together by the transition months of December, March, June, and... September! So, we have just left the Summer season which consists of July and August. By the time September is over, we will have entered the season of Autumn which is made up of October and November. You get the idea, I trust, dear reader. The transition months are half like the ending season (but moderated) & half like the beginning season (and moderately so).

My favorite months are the true Autumn and true Spring (April, May) months, and... all the transition months. So most of the year I'm good with being outside. Just not in true Summer or true Winter (January, February) months. But from this day on, I enter a great stretch of happy weather, September through December. Love it, love it.
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