This column is unusual in that it is not one cohesive thought or concept, but many seeds for thought. Included in the collection are several column ideas that I just didn’t feel the need to elaborate upon; other snippets are quotes that I felt worthy of recording for future food for thought. Hopefully you will find something inspiring about this collection of potential.
“The cake is done and that project I’ve been working on is finally finished.” Back in the day, grammarians used to be sticklers that “food is done, people are finished,” and do not confuse the two. I am now officially through with this topic. You may speak about the doneness of cake and the completion of tasks; in any way you see fit. I’m okay with it either way.
I’ve heard the word “tyranny” used in a couple of rather poignant phrases, describing the oppressive use of power in an unusual way. The first phrase I recall was highlighted by a television preacher in the 1980s, “tyranny of the urgent.” Oh, my goodness sake, if anything is any more oppressive, pressing, or stressful than someone else’s urgency, where they’re urging you to do something on their timetable, I don’t know what it is. Then, lately I’ve heard of an interesting concept labeled, “tyranny of the fringe.” This is presumably oppression from an outside group, exercising power over the in group. I don’t know how this works, but it’s real.
How about this idea of “Breaking News?” It used to be that breaking news was some important new information about a vital issue that may impact your life in some way. Now, breaking news is an attention seeking bit of fluff. It’s just a headline used by advertisers or clickbait to grab your attention.
“I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” This is the oath, sworn by witnesses in a court of law. But nowadays, your truth, my truth, and THE truth are all different truths. In fact, it was truthfully said on a Norwegian crime drama that I watched, “The truth with a capital T is dead… public life is now just a form of theater where anything can be true if you say it loud enough.”
Vladimir Lenin, the first head of the Soviet Union (USSR), said, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” Ain’t that the truth?
In The Tempest, William Shakespeare, considered by many to be the greatest writer in the English language, said “What’s past is prologue.” Our future is in part shaped by the choices we made in the past. The stage has been set, but what are we going to do with it?
“Discovery isn’t seeking new lands, but seeing with new eyes,” so said French novelist and essayist, Marcel Proust. It seems that “seeing” isn’t done just with the eyes, but also with the mind. When you read a book, watch a movie, walk in nature, you can discover worlds you’ve never set foot upon. “Seeing is believing, but feeling is the truth.” Seventeenth century English clergyman, Thomas Fuller knew that deep personal experience is more about seeing with the heart than seeing the surface with our eyes.
Oh, my gosh, are we humans ever satisfied? There’s never enough. More, more, more, seems to be the battle cry of most people. In the 19th century, social philosopher and political economist, Henry George captured it with this quote, “Man is the only animal whose desires increase as they are fed; the only animal that is never satisfied.”
So much of our emotional pain is manufactured by the “what if” of anxiety. Shakespeare said in Macbeth, “present fears are less than horrible imaginings.” Imagination, it seems, is both a blessing and a curse. I guess our continual job which we cannot ever retire from is to choose where we go with our imagination, not to mention our expectations.
Isn’t it funny that after some considerable time, many of the really sticky situations we found ourselves in long ago, become comical stories we tell about ourselves at family gatherings or reunions. I think Miles Davis, the famous jazz artist said it well, “When you hit a wrong note it’s the next note that makes it good or bad.”
Similar experiences, sitting in the same boat, and sharing those experiences, make for the closest friendships. Seventeenth century English poet and priest, George Herbert said, “only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches.” This means that personal experiences are just that, personal to the individual, however, an experience shared becomes more real, more powerful, not to mention purposeful.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” if you wait long enough. Martin Luther King said this, and he was a man who waited, waited, and waited some more for a smidgen of justice to manifest itself. Michael J. Fox completes the thought with his truism that “gratitude makes optimism sustainable.”
Some fundamentalist Christian thought has encouraged followers to put our emotions down and act solely on biblical truths without the filter of emotion. On the other hand, others, from Aristotle to modern thinkers, philosophers, theologians and more, believe that “emotions are at the center of wisdom.” I think that pairing these two perspectives is the perfect cautionary tale. “Self-control” is one of the biblical virtues and fruits of the Holy Spirit. We need to develop awareness as to when our emotions begin to free-fall, and reign them in so that they work for us and not against us.
So that our actions are purposeful and not reactive, we all would be wise to “practice the pause.” This concept is widely associated with mindfulness or thinking before doing it. I was tickled with my two-year-old grandson when he mimicked me and began saying, “pause it,” when it’s become time to pause all video learning to begin applying what we’ve learned, through play. In this writing, I deem it is time to “Selah” or pause and think about it.