Discover Free Will and Purpose: Kill off the Mystical Mind

 

The Mystical Mindset vs God's Word

The most useful thing I’ve discovered is that our free will provides us with opportunities to choose our path without fear of ignoring God’s will.

 It may be a little much to say I’ve “discovered” it, as if I’m working in a lab mixing chemicals and hoping for the next penicillin. But a teacher of the Word brought it to my attention recently. I should explain a little more. A good friend from church told me to sign up for this class that helps Christian men find their purpose. The class is led by a teacher who developed the curriculum. It is based on scripture but it also assumes certain things about the people in the group.

Instruction on Purpose

 First, they understand (at least marginally) the Bible and its application to our lives.

Second, they must have some interest in discovering their purpose. He breaks down words like “purpose” and “freedom” into manageable chunks. We walk through simple exercises designed to explore what we believe about ourselves and God. A good part of the class is looking at our own lives to figure out where the kinks are. The second part, I imagine, is untangling the kinks so that purpose can flow unobstructed through our lives. I say kinks as in a garden hose. The analogy is a little forced but I’m working on it.

The Bible tells us we were sinners before Jesus made a way for us to get to the Father, or more accurately for the Father to get to us. Jesus reconnected that link between humans and God that was broken in the Garden of Eden. The problems we walk around with are the result of bad thinking. Here I’m talking about Christians. Even when we understand what Christ did for us we struggle to live completely in His will, choosing to make decisions based on our faulty ideas lodged in our brain like a virus.

Decisions for Life

One type of thinking, I’ll call it mystical, is the idea that We can’t make big choices in life without a sign from heaven. What constitutes big choices? Let’s say the usual types of life affirming stuff like career, relationships and school. We could lump in moves and big spending financial stuff like whether or not to buy an additional car. Most people will have a slightly different list. The point is to separate daily decisions we make like which groceries to buy to which sports can our kids play at school.

I’m calling the mindset “mystical” because as a Christian I want to align my will with the Holy Spirit and follow His call. But waiting for a sign from heaven can become a hindrance if we are unwilling to make decisions without them. Signs are a crutch for those not confident in their faith. I can’t go there because God hasn’t told me I should. I won’t sign up for that because I haven’t heard from Him yet. I’m not sure I should take that job, buy that house or sell my boat.

 Sometimes God may choose to give us a dream as a warning, or close a door we would’ve walked through. But we shouldn’t let the lack of a sign paralyze us to inaction. The victory that Jesus secured through the cross and the resurrection, gave us the ability to walk confidently in the world and make bold decisions.

The Wrong Message

I like how the apostle Peter says it “…His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” (2 Peter 1:2) That should give us a sense that we are infused with a holy confidence we can rest in. The mystical mindset is a problem for a lot of charismatic Christians, raised with a sense of divine appointment around every corner.

How do I know it’s a problem? Because it’s a problem for me. I can extend that thinking outward and rightly assume it affects a lot of us. I think it comes from hearing miraculous testimony from pastors and visiting speakers at church. A steady diet of healing stories can make one believe that only daily miraculous encounters constitute genuine Christian living. This is the fault of the hearer and not the speaker. The speaker reminds us that God’s power is alive and responding to His Word. We need the confirmation. We need the testimony. Faith comes through the hearing of the Word.

Additionally, I’ve heard a handful of divine appointment testimonies that put the man or woman of God in the right place at the right time. 

Divine Appointments

One very moving story I heard was about a husband and wife who filled a cooler with Coca-Cola and handed them out to thirsty people at Walmart. To anyone who listened they talked about Jesus and shared the gospel. The Coke was just a way to approach strangers with the good news. A woman was so moved by the gesture that she invited her husband to come to Walmart and hear the nice folks handing out Coca-Cola. He came and heard about Christ. He agreed to come to their church and got baptized that night. He surrendered his life to Jesus and the rest of his family followed his lead. This all happened in a day. Later that evening he collapsed of a heart attack and passed away.

Amazing right?

If not for those people handing out drinks would that man hear the gospel? The mystical mindset takes a story like that and assumes God gave specific instructions in a dream or a vision to the couple to hand out Coke. Or maybe they think God used an audible voice. I can almost see the couple sitting there watching the news and a booming voice interrupts them and starts giving directions. We know the Holy Spirit puts burdens on our hearts for people. He certainly can speak to our hearts about specific places and times and events.

But mostly He works through what we already have. The most amazing part of the story was not the logistical issues of handing out Coca-Cola, it was God’s heart for that lost soul. He looked around to find an opportunity for this man to hear about His Son because the man’s time was short. That’s the real miracle. That’s the beauty of the Father’s relentless pursuit for His Sons and Daughters. The mistake we make (unintentionally) is focusing on our part and waiting for the mystical reveal, the voice or the dream or the vision.

Fear of False Moves

The other side of the mystical mind is a fear of making the wrong move. Whereas the testimony of God’s divine timing encourages us, the anti-testimony (my phrase) about the wrong decision creates fear from the opposite direction. I know of pastors who’ve taken positions in churches across the country only to return less than a year later. They’re distraught and confused about where they messed up. 

Did they mess up? Did they leave a job unfinished, what it too daunting? Were they even supposed to be there? It’s never an easy question to answer because every situation is different. The mystical mind fears a false move because it seems like failure or worse. We’ve made a critical error in hearing from God and now we must suffer from our self-inflicted punishment.   

Our mindset led us to believe that struggle can’t be right. If God’s path is true than it must be easy. The testimonies of the saints tell us so. Get a sign, do a deed, get a testimony. Repeat as needed. But this was never true. We heard the wrong message. We focused on the sizzle and not the steak. Our understanding of God’s will for us amounts to signs and wonders with fortune cookie wisdom. Our mystical mindset keeps us kinked up (Sticking with the garden hose analogy) unable to let our purpose flow freely.

Conclusion

God gave us free will as a gift. We need to take the right messages from testimonies. In every one we should see the heart of the Father toward the lost and move toward that vision. I’m convinced that God uses us where we are and where we might be. And yes, healing, deliverance and divine appointments will become more frequently in our lives when we start moving.

 

 

PGA Championship Tulsa

 

Golf for Non Golfers

This week has been busy with house repairs and painting. Usually I do some writing during the week and not much else. Summer is just about here though and that means mowing and taking care of the yard. I’ve talked about how much I enjoy yardwork, housework not so much. But my smoke room needed to smell less smoky. All those years of cigar smoke and neglect created a small headache for me. No problem, I’d do it again. But cleanup means Kilz paint and a lot of scrubbing. That’s been my week.

I had a reprieve Saturday in the form of golf. No I don’t play. But the PGA Championship was in town and Michael (left in the picture) scored some club tickets. Apparently this is the 5^th time Tulsa has hosted this event. I didn’t live here the last time (2007) but others who did told me it was quite a spectacle. I’d never been to any professional golf tournament and I’d never seen the grounds of Southern Hill Country Club. I’ve played a few public courses in my life but nothing on the scale of a championship course.

They prepare for these events years in advance. Tulsa just hosted a Senior PGA event last year so they were more prepared than most to turn around suddenly and host another one. The “suddenly” was the January 6^th event at the White House where agent provocateurs stormed Congress and blamed Trump for it. Trump was toxic after that and the PGA decided to pull out of his course in New Jersey and look elsewhere. They found Tulsa. Good for us, victory for the hometown. This event is expected to bring in somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 million dollars. So yeah, this was a huge win.

The city set up shuttle areas and rented 50 busses or so to ferry people from two separate lots. We showed up at 9:30 and took a short ride to the course. The first thing that surprised me was how quiet such a large group of people could be. We walked up to the 9^th hole and watched a duo (can’t remember who) finish their puts. Thousands of spectators in jackets looked on silently and clapped when the ball rolled into the cup.  Jackets, because the temperature never got above 57 all day; the day before a steamy 90. With an occasional breeze it was cold at times, unseasonably so for Oklahoma in May.

Our tickets entitled us to eat and drink for free. Businesses can pay for makeshift suites set up at strategic areas of the course. I image these only go up during big events. Our deck faced the 16^th hole. If we wanted we could’ve sat there all day and watched from the windows as the players hit their second shot. But the real action is right up along the green. That’s where a lot of spectators set up shop early in the day. It became difficult to get near the any of the green after noon. Too many people had set up their chairs. It was clear they weren’t moving.

There seems to be 3 different ways people watch the event. The first way is what I already described. Pick a hole, bring a camp chair and stay put. You can see every grouping come by and save your legs from what is a grueling walk from hole to hole. That’s actually the second way to watch. Find a golfer you like, or one who’s in the lead, and follow them around the course. This is tough. You won’t get a great look at them because of the alternate routes that exist for each hole. You need to avoid dead ends and blockages. It’s impossible to stand near the greens in the afternoon because of the camp chairs parked around the edges. Some fans prefer it because they can watch their favorite golfer. That brings up the third option, a mixture of both. We parked near hole 4 for a bit, then trapesed over to 2 and 3. We walked a lot but not as much as someone following a player.

We followed Tiger early in the day. He teed off early but still managed a huge crowd. He sunk a nice 30 foot put on 15. The crowd erupted. I like that about golf, no booing and very little heckling. There is the obligatory overserved fan shouting the golfer's first name hoping they look over. "Rory! Rory!" they never look. Other sports have good guys and bad, home teams and away. We boo the refs when they make calls against our guys. Not golf. Fans root for the ball to go in the hole. That’s basically it. Golfers are so lucky.

The grandstands were set up in front of the clubhouse. It’s an ideal place to watch because you can see 3 different holes from that point, 18, 9 and 5. Neither of us wanted to sit for hours at a time so we mixed it up. I enjoyed the whole experience. Tulsa was ready to go too. It was highly organized and professional.

Our next big event is 2029. I believe it’s the US Open. Here’s to hoping we can get the same club tickets again.

Fearing the Lord: Society's Missing Piece

 

Fear the Lord

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.” (Psalm 110:10)

Child Like Fear 

We read the verse differently as children than we do as adults. Fear to children is something to avoid at all costs. Not all kids have the same measure of fear either. My brother was more of a risk taker, likelier than me to get in trouble for recklessness. When we were young my parents would put us down for a nap. He would wait until they turned out the light and creep (carefully) over to his table and get out coloring books. Of course he wasn’t careful at all, he’d crash into the wall or trip on his way back to bed.

My fear of parental correction was greater than his. 

I laid in my bed just watching him and shaking my head in amazement. I’m sure I uttered something snotty like “Just wait till Dad sees you!” I don’t remember any of this of course. I’ve since heard these stories about his clumsy attempts to sneak out of bed and my 'saintly' refusal to follow along. My parents used to crack the door slightly and peer in to watch the show. We never knew they laughed themselves silly. Risky behavior or not, fear can be crippling and not how we would want to think of God. Nor would we want kids to think of the Heavenly Father as an old West judge dispensing punishment.

Correctly Understood Fear

Old Testament fear of the Lord is closer to awesome power than scary spirit. The ocean is an awesome force that we neglect at our own peril, but it’s not scary the way a horror movie is. But we’ve seen the devastating impact of tidal waves or tsunamis on communities close to the sea. Anyone spending time on the ocean should fear its power and respect the boundaries nature sets. But the ocean is critical to the life of the planet. Not to mention, it’s rich in natural resources. It’s a vast ecosystem we don’t even fully understand yet.  

Why is fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom? The simplest explanation is this: society doesn’t fear the Lord because they don’t believe in Him. Obviously there are people around the world who fear the Lord. But in most countries the leadership believes in humanity. This has probably been the case for longer than I realize. I used to think of the New World Order as a conspiracy for nervous libertarians. I can see how blatant the NOW has become since Covid 19. Nearly every Western democratic leader has talked about the great reset like they’ve already decided what it means. They’re all reading from the same script.

Loosing Fear

The European Union has tried to dissolve sovereignty within the zone and toss decision making to Brussels. The World Health Organization is pushing for total control over pandemic preparedness in the United States. Their new bill would give the Director General carte blanch decision making within this country. Through lockdowns and surveillance they would run our lives. Our own country has debased the currency and flooded the borders with illegal aliens. There is no way any immigration system can keep up with this many people in the country. I can keep listing examples of lawless behavior from the top, not to mention the street violence (BLM, Antifa) being funded by wealthy communists.

Globalists don’t have the fear of the Lord because they act like their actions won’t have consequences in the next life. Likely their actions will have consequences in this life as well. I don’t know how long of a dark period we are facing but I know that God is just and His wrath is something to truly fear. Evil doers still have time to turn from their wickedness or face eternal damnation. Humanism is pride in the individual, his achievements, his progress and his indomitable will. It’s the philosophy that holds the evolving mind can overcome earthly constraints. Any world view that doesn’t recognize God as Creator begins as a lie and ends in destruction.

No Fear

Humanism works as a legitimate theory because man is an achieving creature, continually solving problems and making everyday life better. Science and technology have grown incredible in my short life. Today’s iPhone has a million times more memory than the computer that sent the Apollo 11 crew to the moon. I would never discount the power of the human brain, nor the determination to solve problems and conquer new worlds. We are made in God’s image and without that critical understanding we don’t have appropriate fear.

We don’t treat great works of art like they just materialized. Imagine standing in line to see the Mona Lisa and never acknowledging Leonardo Da Vinci as the creator. What if the Louvre removed all references to the artist and treated the painting like a beautiful accident with no author? That’s exactly what we do when we celebrate human achievement and pretend the individual is an entity unto themselves.

The lack of recognition is a slight against God. It’s offensive but we’re actually kind of used to this. But after years of ignoring the Creator, it begins to bleed into everything. It’s in inherent in the textbooks, awards, and laws that govern society. Slowly it takes over and sets up a primary position as the dominant way of thinking. Before you realize what’s happened, humanism is the default philosophy of the land. Judeo Christian attitudes are still around, like a Star Trek convention years after it was popular. Secular humanism, like an invasive weed, has choked out all opposition.

Recovering Fear

Now it’s becoming ever more prideful, any fear that existed in the Almighty is totally gone. Now notions of human achievement and progress means sex changes for pre-teens and gay literature for young kids. Why not though? Moral laws require boundaries and fear of crossing them. Humanism doesn’t recognize boundaries and actively works against the created order.

Christians raised in a moral country (mostly) aren’t familiar with resisting the culture. I’m convinced they’re waking up all over. I’m convinced they will see the rot at the heart of humanism and start dismantling corrupt institutions. Whether global organizations like the WHO or local ones like the school boards, all need a good cleansing. Most need to go away forever. There are hopelessly corrupt and/or antagonistic toward Christian beliefs. This war is upon us and has been for a long time. It won’t be easy to recover the lost ground but God is for us.

 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and we hurt ourselves when we don’t remember it. That’s the story of humanity. God’s unfailing love keeps bringing us back. But punishment is inevitable without repentance.

 

Jogging Loosens Mental Tightness

 

The Mental Ease of Consistent Running

Nothing brightens my mood like a long hard run. There is a strong connection between physical fitness and mental fitness. I can't imagine a better, healthier option for depression and anxiety.

Today was a perfect. I’ve decided I’m a morning person. Not that I hop out of bed and charge to coffee maker while singing showtunes, but I do function better early. Some people are born with a preference for mornings and some for late nights but the rest of us adapt. How many late nights did I have while working at Target? Or early mornings while in the Army? The point is I’m adaptable to either schedule, but when left to choose I pick early mornings.

My Preference

For the last 5 years or so I’ve chosen to run early because the sun is low in the sky. That’s my summer excuse at least. In winter the sun doesn’t show up for the first half of my run. That creates difficulty because I don’t like running in the dark. On occasion I’ll run through the city but it leaves me a little uncomfortable. Even with the street lights overhead I’ve tripped and tumbled on the concrete. I took a nasty scrape on my hand last year but nothing serious. The colder weather ensures that homeless people aren’t outside as much. When they are though they’re bundled up in blankets and not likely to bother me.

Loose dogs are a scarier than vagrants anyway. I cut through a neighborhood I don’t usually run in and noticed a dog trotting toward me. He didn’t seem aggressive but I stopped anyway and talked sweetly to him just in case. Thankfully he was friendly. I tried to walk away after petting him for a minute and I couldn’t shake him. He walked right behind me like my new best friend. This went on for a couple of minutes. Luckily a car pulled into the parking lot of an apartment complex and he lost interest in me and pursued the car instead. I’ll run past a group of sketchy homeless folks before I’d go down a random neighborhood again.

Another time I passed house with a stout Pitbull sitting on the porch of an old Victorian in need of a serious makeover. He stared me down intently but didn’t move. Again I stopped and walked slowly past the old house, just a guy minding his own business. I can’t outrun a dog and I won’t try, well maybe a dachshund.

But whatever the risks of jogging in the city, nothing tops the whole body release of an early run.

My Release

Running breaks up tension in the mind. If you’ve ever had to loosen a rusty nut on an old faucet you’ll understand what I mean. Once you spray on WD40 and torque the wrench it breaks free with a little muscle. Jogging does that by unwinding some mental tightness through sweat and endurance. I can’t decide if it’s the breathing or the leg muscles flexing and contracting. Maybe it’s just the body’s reaction to knowing that the effort is benefiting my health over the long term. It’s closer to a placebo effect but it still works.

Tulsa is about to get hotter than a stock car engine after 200 laps. It’s partly why I opt for jogging early. But at a certain point even early won’t be enough to avoid the heat. Longer runs have to give way to shorter until my endurance is up to summer level again. My tentative goal is to run the Route 66 Marathon this year. I’ve never attempted it but if I train correctly I like my chances. It’s a late fall run (November I think) so I have plenty of time. Last year I entered the Tulsa Run which is a 15K. It got my passion back up for racing. Without a race to work towards my jogging goals fade into oblivion.

My Plan

It’s not like I don’t run but I tend to settle for easier distances and a slower pace. For this past Cowtown half marathon (February) I put a lot of other work out priorities on hold. Everything I did became about sticking to the plan and hitting my pace goal. I didn’t finish with the time I wanted but I managed to shave off nearly 13 minutes from my first race 2 years before.

The best way to do that is to join a regular group again. I think I’m ready. I do love the teamwork idea of Saturdays spent with a consistent group. I only stopped because my injuries at the time made it impossible to keep going. But I’m a stronger runner today than I was then, thanks to early mornings in all kinds of weather.

 

 

 

DeSantis and the New Model for Education

 

A Model For Education: Start With Parents

Ron DeSantis is setting up a model for other Republican governors on how to protect kids and win over parents. In the process he is making it expensive for woke corporations to meddle in local affairs.

Fight the Woke Companies

Most people remember the national dust up over Florida’s bill to protect school children before 3^rd grade. In short, teachers can’t talk about sexual issues. Then Disney complained and the governor took away their sweet tax deal. He didn’t do it unilaterally of course. He got both houses to pass a bill to remove their self governing status. The governor (through parent groups) wanted references to sex and gender removed from their teaching instructions to young children. Disney and their allies protested. Ostensible because what, 1^st and 2^nd graders need to hear about sexual orientation? 

The whole thing was an own goal for the media company and I’m glad they paid an economic price.

Support the Parents

The long term problem for Disney isn’t the loss of tax advantages; it’s the idea in the minds of parents that the company that exists for kids, wants to push sexual issues down to the youngest possible levels. Does the stink from this go away anytime or do they keep rushing headlong into bankruptcy? When you lose the trust of the next generation you lose them for a long time. Governor DeSantis made this possible because he has guts and seems to understand where the country is on these issues. 

From CRT (Critical Race Theory) and masking to sexual identity for tots, parents are finally fighting back. The school board meetings across the country, Loudoun County, Virginia in particular showed parents railing against oppressive boards.

Will public schools be reformed through all of this or will parents opt for home schooling and alternatives? I’m curious what happens nationally. My optimistic take is that cities start electing common sense boards that aren’t antagonistic toward children. Curriculums move away from “woke” topics like race, gender and sexual orientation and get back to real school subjects like math and science. This will happen in some places while other districts go the other way and embrace left wing activism in all its forms. 

School districts will mirror the increasing urban/rural divide happening across the country.

Look for Alternatives

But some new ways of teaching and learning will replace the familiar classroom experience that most of probably grew up in. One option I really like is hiring one teacher for a small group of kids. Parents pool their money for a private teacher to homeschool small groups of kids. This took off during the pandemic as an alternative to teach through zoom that no one seemed to like. Private teachers for small groups is a cross between homeschool and small school. Called ‘pandemic pods’ they resembled one room school houses of last century. Obviously this isn’t an option for everyone. It’s expensive and not available everywhere.

I believe the idea of vouchers will take off as well. This is a great option for low income kids. Punish bad schools and reward good ones. Each parent gets a voucher and a choice of where to send their kids. I like the idea but I wouldn’t promise an end to all problems. But allowing parents (consumers) to treat schools like a marketplace should go a long ways toward killing off failing schools. Maybe it’s a pipe dream, but the current system is broken and needs serious reform.

Ignore the Critics

Critics of charter schools and vouchers like to say that it creates a system of haves and have-nots in education. But that’s exactly what we have now and keeping bad schools open is a guarantee that poor kids will go to poor schools and have less chance at success. I don’t have kids so a lot of this is purely academic, pun intended, to me. But I care about the future of the country the same as parents with a more direct stake. I heard a startling statistic about jail beds in Oklahoma prisons. The number of beds the state will need mirrors the number of drop outs in a given year.

Education is important but only if it insists on making kids learn practical subjects. The diversity and inclusion game is a racket and it’s ruining the minds of the next generation. We need a massive educational system that rewards learning and growth. Woke schools should die on the vine. They rob young kids of the ability to think for themselves and fill their heads up with resentment.

Conclusion

It’s impossible to predict the future of elementary and secondary education. The place to start is with the parents. When they get serious about what their kids are being taught states and districts begin to fall in line. Ron DeSantis is as responsive a governor as I’ve seen, from the Right, in a long time. He doesn’t patronize conservative parents over their concern for curriculum and he punishes institutions that step out of line. 

 Governors in red states should take note. Get serious about protecting kids, the parents will back you up.

 

Writing for Posterity

 

This is the first day back from my short vacation where I can sit here and actually write something. Last night I recapped the trip to Estes Park but I always do that after a trip. I always feel the need to document these get-togethers. I’m specifically talking about writing, not taking pictures.

Of course I did manage to get a few. The rest I lazily stole from more efficient picture takers, my brother Justin. He took this one on the second day up the snow covered trail. There is a beautiful lake behind me completely covered in a late April blizzard. It seemed silly to take a picture here. There really isn't anything to see. Other tourists were there snapping away as well. I kept thinking, what am I missing here? But I didn't want to be left out. So here is a picture of me in snowstorm looking a little confused.

Pictures aren't my thing. They get in the way of enjoying the occasion.

The search for the perfect picture becomes the point instead of the search for adventure. You spend your time finding the perfect setting and the right light. My picture taking is somewhere between zero and Japanese tourist. No doubt I’ll update Facebook and share some pics on my page, but snapping pictures is pretty much a mystery to me. Not that I can’t figure it out, it’s easier than ever now. Modern camera phones adjust the light and auto zoom for you. My issue is with taking great pictures. It feels like the space for that is already so crowded. So many people doing wedding pictures and taking time to really learn Photoshop. I just don’t care that much.

But writing is different. It comes easier to me sure, but what I enjoy is knowing that I’ve given a little story line to the photos.  Pictures and movies are certainly the popular way to record for posterity. But writing creates a fuller idea in the reader’s mind of the time in question. Ask yourself what comes to mind when scrolling through a social media feed where pictures are prominent? What do most of the people in the pictures share in common? Happiness, peace, good times and fun? We tend to share the best of ourselves online through happy photos. Facebook and Instagram are all smiles and a sense of the good life.

Oh sure you can find the dark and scary and sad too, but we like fun more. Advertisers use fun to sell everything from alcohol to precious medals. Their images are as reflective of real live as those cat filter settings we use to distort our faces. But it’s also not a great idea to vomit sadness and regret all over the screen. Pictures are limiting the same way video is. We are consciously aware of our behavior when in front of a camera, video or picture. Writing allows some distance where a fuller idea of the time period can grow and expand. Words give the reader a sense of time, place, culture, relationship and importance. I realize the writer has to draw this out through either fictional characters or a detailed retelling of a situation.

In the case of short family vacation a little journaling is enough. We aren’t preparing a witness for cross examination or anything.

A good photo can do more than express the subject’s emotion. 

When I was a teacher I used to show stark photos of tenement life in New York City before some housing and building codes became law. Labor laws helped to change a lot of this too as did Christian charities like the Salvation Army. The picture above of the street kids sleeping in the street gives us an idea that this kind of thing was common. We can imagine they hustle to get by and struggle to eat. We might even be able to guess something about where they live and work based on their clothing. They probably don't have family or shelter. It's tough to look at and not feel heartsick.

 Newspapers advocating for labor laws would certainly capture the squalor of inner city life for kids with no families. Pictures are used to distort reality too.

How many police arrests make cops look like aggressors? We tell them to keep the streets safe and blast pictures of them roughing up a suspect that tried to flee the scene, risking everyone’s life in return. It’s maddening. I hope we can all get a sense of how easy it is to give a distorted picture of what’s taking place.

Words allow the subject to reflect on the event. With the benefit of time, even a few hours, your attitude can change significantly. This happens to me a seemingly every day. White hot anger turns to shame and apologies after a few minutes and a fuller picture of the event. Just the other day I got a phone call about an issue with one of my orders. I thought it could wait until I was back in the office. I was stuck, unable to help and feeling worthless. The whole incident felt unfair. I was angry. I started running through scenarios where I angrily defended myself to coworkers. I even managed to mentally prepare for an altercation. Time passed and I began to breathe again. After a while I started to see it from the other side and even became sympathetic.

My whole attitude changed completely by the end of the day.

This is writing about history in a nutshell, or at least it should be. Even short term history like what happened at work today. Journaling (or reflecting) is a way of reasoning out a story and writing as honestly as possible.

Tell the truth and provide a story to the pictures everyone is going to see. Don’t do it for today, do it for tomorrow.

Cat's Cradle: Review

 

If I had to pick one word to summarize Cat’s Cradle, it would be “cynical”. But cynical can make for a funny read if done right. Kurt Vonnegut’s characters and situations are not just fictional but ridiculous in the extreme. Cat’s Cradle tells how the world ended through stupidity and accident, and how a lack of morality pervades all decision makers.

I think the problem with a highly cynical book is it lets evil off the hook. Good and evil aren't opposites but different shades. With all the horrors from the twentieth century, it’s as if these events are another bit of silliness we have to endure. It’s one thing to talk about the complex system of religious codes and government malfeasance, it’s quite another to make evil dictators part of the machinery of war instead of their cause. It’s true that conditions within a country can push citizens toward it, but atrocities are the result of greed and selfishness.

I get what he’s Vonnegut is doing. He’s making an absurd reality to show the contradictions in religion, belief and the future of civilization.

The basic premise is this: Jonah is a writer who intends to write a story about the effects of the atom bomb after World War II. Right off he tells us that he used to be a Christian but converted to Bokonism. We learn more about it as the story unfolds.

 He tries to find Dr. Hoenikker, the famous creator of the bomb and interview him. But since he is dead he talks to his youngest son (Newt) through letters. Jonah also goes to the lab where the Doctor worked to interview his colleagues. The book Jonah intended to write instead becomes about his interactions with Hoenikker’s kids. The oldest (Frank) is about to be married to the daughter of a dictator (Pappa) on a small island country.

Jonah’s travels to the island, San Lorenzo, to meet Frank constitute the bulk of the plot. Frank sold a dangerous chemical compound invented (Ice Nine) by his father to the dictator Papa. His younger sister Angela married a weapons manufacturer and Newt is a midget who once slept with a Russian spy. Papa is close to death and hopes to see his daughter married to Frank, who will become the new president once Papa dies. Frank doesn’t want the job and convinces Jonah to marry Mona and become the president instead. I won’t spoil the end but it’s not a happy one.

No one in the story has a conscience but that’s also the point. Vonnegut is saying that life is meaningless and so are the ways we try to make sense of it. That’s where Bokonism comes in. San Lorenzo is supposedly a Christian nation but no one actually believes it. It’s a convenient way to keep the natives in check and provide them with a common enemy, Bokonism. It’s a religion of ‘harmless lies’ that admits it’s a bunch of lies. Vonnegut uses the belief to tear apart religion and the systems built up around them.  

It’s clear almost right away that everyone is lying about who they are or what they want. They either lie or are too dumb to see how fake everything around them is. It’s an ugly view of humanity but done with a light touch. The absurdity of the island and the characters hides the cancerous rot at the heart of life itself. Obviously I don’t subscribe to any of it. But Kurt Vonnegut lived as a POW in Dresden when the allies bombed it into oblivion.

That’s not an excuse but I do think it probably colored his perception of humanity. Also his mother killed herself when he was very young and his father suffered from severe depression. I watched a documentary on him recently and realized I’ve never read any of his books. It struck me as interesting because I’m always looking out for writer inspirations. My motivations are less about type of books and more about how they got their start, what kept them going and so on.

The most useful thing about Cat’s Cradle is how technology can be insanely destructive. In part it’s so destructive because of the slavish devotion we associate with scientific achievement. Breakthroughs are automatically assumed to be beneficial despite the indifference of the scientists to the morality of the project. Dr. Hoenikker’s kids encapsulate this purely amoral look at research and development. Ice Nine is a stand in for nuclear fission. It wasn’t created to kill but became a weapon. The fact that Felix Hoenikker didn’t anticipate this shows indifference rather than carelessness.   

I wouldn’t recommend the book for anything other than a look into the life of its author. Kurt Vonnegut doesn’t draw a sharp distinction between good and evil. War is hell, goes the saying. He certainly believes that. But are there redeeming qualities to be found whether heroism or sacrifice or charity? The answer is not obvious.