This entry winds together three different thoughts about choice and consequence.
First about the three thoughts: 1. I spent the four nights before Christmas traveling on, in and over a river at the bottom of a steep sided canyon. Isolated in the wilderness and with no easy escape we ran rapids and waterfalls between car-sized boulders, interspersed by floating over deep idyllic pools of crystal clear mountain water between between tall vertical walls of rock. We averaged a speed less than a half a kilometer per hour - the nature of the terrain prevented anything faster. At times it was hard going, while also being surreal, idyllic and peaceful. By the end of each day we would pull over to a convenient spot on the bank, dry our waterlogged bodies, and sleep under the stars, tired and awed. An efficient means of travel? Not at all. As an exercise in maximizing the value of our body's energy, the trip was surely a failure. If you traveled on higher ground you could have walked the entire distance in less than a day. But the intention was never energy efficiency, but rather energy efficacy: applying our energy to accomplish a purpose that could not be measured simply by the work done. And so the trip was massively energy efficacious because it achieved a relaxation of mind and spirit, developed relationships, and gave a new sense of perspective. 2. There is always a dividing line, even when everything appears gray. What we call gray is really only our inability to recognize a boundary. Take a simple number example. Two numbers, 0.9999 and 1.0001, are separated by a tiny amount. Yet if you square each number again and again, they rapidly and inevitably diverge, one headed toward zero and the other toward infinity. What began as a seemingly infinitesimal difference was really total separation divided by an invisible boundary. Some boundaries are simple to understand, some we might never understand even though they seem simple (e.g. Mandlebrot). And so it is with morals, ethics, values, and choices - infinitesimal differences, if followed to their logical conclusion, actually lead to polar opposites, complete separation into incompatible sets. It might be called the slippery slope: all great good and evil begins with a small seemingly innocuous choice about a minor premise. Our lives began on a boundary, and as we grow we diverge to one side or another. Some do so rapidly while some may strive to hover indecisively with one foot on either side. But in the end we all eventually fall to a side of life's boundaries. 3. Passivity is not an option. Even to be passive is an act of choice, so why not make a choice that is proactive? The year 2016, perhaps more than any other year in my life, has shaken the covers off the facade that all is progressing well. In personal life, church life, city life, national life, globally ... all has been shaken to one degree or another ... and in 2017 we must all make a choice about how we expend our finite energy to move ahead. The very fabric of society, community, and the work is being ever further transformed through technology, virtualization, and loss of privacy. A new framework is being built on the fragile skeleton of a globalized communication and commerce network, steered by relativism and self interest. As individuals we face a choice. We can follow the route of efficiency and ease but at the expense of personal values (and which side of the boundary does that lead to?). Or we can choose to expend energy on what is efficacious, yet how is efficacy determined? I've heard it put this way: we can feel four types of emotional responses as we face new challenges. We can delude ourselves that all will return to normal and we need only wait, that the perturbations we see are merely short lived. Or we can numb ourselves, shut down emotionally, stick our head in the sand and suppress any outrage at post-truth lies and the disrespect of people. Else we can become deeply cynical and say "to hell with it all, it couldn't get any worse". Alternatively, one can be depressed, surrendered to a sense of helplessness and powerlessness against a flood of events. Each of these emotional responses is understandable, but each can be a trap that requires a choice to escape. Now, winding these three thoughts together. Einstein said "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed." How we choose to expend our energy, recognize boundaries that lead to separate destinations, and plot a path to move ahead, these are all predicated on open eyes that gaze on the mysterious. I'll point to two examples that currently occupy my thoughts. First, I see a society burdened by the conflict of contested value systems. The world has subscribes to a post-truth normality that is leading to ever increasing polarization and self-interest. I am preoccupied by questions of why, where is the meaning, what defines these values. And in response I can choose to submit to further being abused by the iniquities of the powerful, or else say that based on my understanding of the evidence of my life, I choose to examine, believe, live and act according to the values that I conclude to be Truth. Second, in my eyes Truth is embodied in the understanding that I am more than atoms, that I am a created spirit. All my reason and logic tells me that the full understanding of this nature is bound up in Christ. Yet I see the the institutions of Christianity blindly choosing efficiency over efficacy (they've really lost the plot), unable to see the dividing line between purpose and preservation, inactive in the face of overwhelming threats to Truth, focused on sheltering a passive and dis-empowered people while unable (or unwilling) to adapt to engage a transformed society. Combining these two examples, my faith (for all "facts" are ultimately faith based on evidence), I believe I need to seek new expressions of Truth to build relationship in this ever increasingly divided world. Depressing? Not really. Concerning? Deeply so. Daunting? Exceptionally. Exciting? Definitely.
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Why?
Probably the best therapy is to express yourself. Why do you think psychiatrists make you lie on the couch and talk, while all they do is murmur "hmmm", "uhuh", or "go on"? Archives
May 2017
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