Tagged: philosophy

Why College? Veterans Know.

The reason to attend college is debatable.  It shouldn’t be.  Let’s clear the air.

College, if you’re lucky enough to go, is simply the place to finish out the “how to be human” training we began in kindergarten.  It is not, nor will it ever prove to be, a kind of vocational training ground.  But that is what a lot of people seem to believe it is.  My question, the question this post asks, is why?  Why is college now discussed as merely a part of our professional development, as opposed to our human development?  Perhaps more important than that question is this one:  what can be done about it?

Lucky for all of us, I have the answers:  College became known as a place for professional development because the baby-boomers found out they actually had to work for a living, and the resultant anger they felt clouded their subsequent decision making.  Poor decision making led to them not wanting to accept or own the fact that the America they grew up in did not happen by accident.  The question about the future is, of course, one that I can and will answer, but it is one that we all have to answer for ourselves.  Do things have to get worse before they get better?  Some seem to believe that.  Or can we just start making things better right now?

It’s a given that I had the least military bearing of any of my peers in the Air Force, but even I still recognized the value of “Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence In All We Do.”  I’m sure the other branches have some similarly applicable ideals to guide their decision making.

In other words, we should never forget that college is the place where we learn how to be human.  Being human entails getting along with people who are different from us.

Veterans know what it’s like to not get along with people who are different from us, and therefore must accept the new duty of re-enforcing college’s mission.  But there is more.  Veterans must not shirk the responsibility of reminding the country of the value of values.   Unfortunately for veterans, then, it seems the fight never ends.

 

Body Language

“Please, please don’t talk to me today.  Not today.  Can’t it wait?” he thought to himself.  The big boss was scheduled to arrive any minute.  The day was a slow one, and that meant plenty of random tasks could be accomplished.  The problem was he was looking for new work.  No, that’s not quite it.  The problem was he hated lying.  He had tried it a couple times in his life.  It never felt good.  And he could tell that today was going to be no different.  He wanted to know what kind of situation work is that it forced him to lie.

The big boss being there is what bothered him so.  In order to keep his job he’d answer the man’s insincere question with, “Good.  Things are good.  How about you?”  Inside, though, he’d be thinking, “Not great.  In fact, I can’t think of a single reason why anyone would do this work except to get paid.  And that’s just not how I’m going to live.”

The moment came and went without much excitement.  He had done it.  He had looked a man directly in the eye and lied.

Leaving work as soon as they let him, he went home and laid down.  Waking up three hours later, his stomach was still in knots.  Like when in the aircraft his hands began maneuvering the machine away from danger before his brain concluded there was danger ahead, he knew that he had to trust his body’s language now.  It was saving itself.

Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

Push through the first chapter.

Anyone who has worked through Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights knows how rewarding sticking with a book can be.  Zora Neale Hurston’s classic Their Eyes Were Watching God is nowhere near as difficult, but the eventually transparent phonetic spelling of the dialect along with the introduction of several female characters does make for a slow opening.  Push through the first chapter.

We are quickly introduced to Janie and her life in the deep south.  From the start we are told about Tea Cake, who is apparently the man Janie loves after two less-than-successful marriages.  Hurston uses the familiar start-with-an-intriguing-end-then-tell-how-it-came-to-be formula, and–as usual–it works well.

The book reeks of female-empowerment, which can be off-putting at times, but upon completion, the reader discovers that that notion was ancillary to Hurston’s sure message.

I’ve always assumed that good books are considered good for a reason.  (I say this to emphasize that I’m a half-full reader when it comes to highly recommended books.)  For me, what separates a book from other artwork, is the work that’s required to intake  it.  Reading is interactive, to say the least, and unlike other art-forms, the power of a book rarely fades.  Add to this perspective the notion that there really aren’t that many eternal truths, instead just a few that require a steady river of reminding, and it is clear why this novel resonates with readers of all backgrounds.

The setting, characters, and drama are all believable and compelling.  Janie’s concluding wisdom conceals any would-be flaws.  It is a lesson as old as time, but as refreshing as sweet tea just poured into a glass of crushed ice on a sweltering summer afternoon.  Maybe you’re looking to read something new.  If so, be sure to check out Hurston’s classic.

****

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Perennial Classics, 1998.

How To Make Blogging Thrilling

(If you’re short on time, skip to the bottom for numbered instructions).

Clicking away at the keyboard, he suddenly found himself grabbing the mouse, about to highlight and delete everything.  He couldn’t possibly publish it.  He was a good dude; what would people think?

He sometimes wanted to write some horror posts–he wanted to graphically describe the most gruesome paths out of this life.

He sometimes wanted to write some posts from a women’s perspective–he wanted to have some fun exploring how the female human navigates this world.

He wanted to write without abandon.  He wanted to swear, he wanted to be passionate.  More times than not he wanted to cause people who knew him to say, “I can’t believe he wrote that.”

But as soon as the words manifested themselves on the screen, he’d hesitate.  “What if they don’t like it?  What if they think I went too far?” he’d ask himself.  “Ah, fuck it,” he’d answer, clicking the publish button.  And then he’d feel it–a rush like no other.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!”

He’d then laugh out loud thinking, “If people only knew how much energy I put into each post…they’d think I was nnnuts.”

And there was something more.  Behind all of this he would tell himself that his daughter might someday read his posts.  And if he guessed correctly, by that time she would be fascinated that he wasn’t quite the man she’d taken him for all those years.  He’d hope that if she wasn’t there yet, this realization would be the weight that would finally and forever tilt the scales of how she’d live the rest of her life towards courageously, without fear, without worry, and without anxiety.  Just the way he strove to.

Instructions for How To Make Blogging Thrilling

Step 1 — WRITE what you think.

Step 2 — DO NOT DELETE what you wrote.

Step 3 — PUBLISH what you wrote.

Did Jesus of Nazareth Pass Notes?

“If you open your bulletin, you’ll find a communication card.  If you’re new to the church or have questions or would like to sign up for a class, just fill out the card and drop it in the offering plate when it’s passed around later in the service.”

He cringed.  He wanted to get more involved, he really did.  He wanted to be a part of the group.  He would love to spread the message that he knew to be valuable, yet he couldn’t complete this simple step.  He had been burned so many times in in his life.  He wondered, “Does the preacher actually think there is anyone in the congregation who hasn’t been bombarded-to-death with contact after they signaled interest to Gold’s Gym, or Subway, or a Time-share, or a Credit Card?”  The list goes on and on.  Yet, here he was in a place that offered…well, it offered hope; and he was being asked to formally display interest yet again.  How could he not feel once bitten, twice shy?  He knew he couldn’t be that different than others.

The contents of the offering plate seemed to prove he wasn’t.

The challenge then:  Jesus of Nazareth was different.  He was surely recruiting, but he was not starting a business.  And he was surely not starting an organization.  The picture painted by historical critical scholarship is that the man was intimate.  He didn’t pull punches.  He didn’t waste time.

“Being the more difficult course of action,” he thought, “this intimacy requirement only adds to the strength of his, Jesus’, argument.”

Standing in front of a crowd and asking them to perform the same ritual they’re asked to perform countless times throughout each day should be shameful.  He wondered, “Would Jesus of Nazareth have ever passed notes?”

The Last Time He

The last time he unquestionably believed something because of the proponent’s position in society he was a child.  This is not because he thought position, rank and/or authority were easily gained, but because he wanted to keep ever sharp his ability to think for himself.

And because there is that point, increasingly difficult to identify over time, when trust becomes foolishness–itself only a few steps away from danger.

Professor Batman

This was my first post ever. The concept is still unbeatable; I’d like to think my writing has improved.
12 years later, what future do you see?

Pete Deakon's avatarCaptain’s Log

Even before The Dark KnightRises is released, a lot can be learned from Bruce Wayne.  Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Batman and his self-imposed battle with the forces of evil is more than entertainment.  After all, could anyone argue that Bruce Wayne is not the greatest example of a successful man?

Once you take away the awesome gadgets, the state-of-the-art superhero body-armor, and the adoring community who benefits from Batman’s vigilante nightlife, you have a man. Plain and simple. Unlike most superheroes of the comic world, Batman possesses no super-human powers other than his own strength and cunning. He is a successful hero because he maximizes and focuses on his internal qualities.

Is Bruce Wayne simply a myth? Or is he a character who can inspire each of us to define our purpose in life, our personal measure of success.

Our entire lives we are taught to achieve success. In…

View original post 827 more words

How To Laugh

(If you’re short on time, skip to the bottom for numbered instructions.)

“You have a sister?  What’s she like?”

“She’s cool.  You’ll like her.”

“Do you guys look alike, notwithstanding she’s a girl?”

“Not really.  She’s a lot lighter than me.  It’s actually kinda funny.  My sisters are all light brown, while I’m black–even though we have the same parents.”

“I knew someone who had the same problem.”

“What problem?  What problem is that?”

Lucky for her, he asked this only moments before bursting into one of the most contagious laughs imaginable.  Lucky for her, he had one of the best senses-of-humor available.  His ability to laugh transformed a moment more serious souls might have let become negatively charged into one filled with the glorious sounds of laughter.  Laughing uncontrollably, even she was unable to successfully join enough words together to mount whatever self-defense she had in mind.

Instructions for How To Laugh:

Step 1 – Resist all temptation to believe people actually think before they speak.

Step 2 – While smiling, immediately exhale the full amount of whatever air happens to be in your lungs.

Step 3 — Inhale as able.

Step 4 – Appropriate to the situation, repeat Steps 2 and 3 with ridiculously nonsensical  rhythm.

Paul – Explained

“Yes…Yes…Yes…  That’s it exactly!” he pronounced to an empty room.  Again, Tolstoy came through.  Leo just finished explaining that the “chief cause” of the false interpretations of Christianity’s and Jesus of Nazareth’s message was Paul.  What caused Tolstoy to decide this?  The fact that Paul was the apostle who connected the Old Testament to the New Testament.  Tolstoy concludes, “…this doctrine of the tradition, this principle of the tradition, was the chief cause of the distortion of the Christian teaching and of its misunderstanding (xxii).”  Tolstoy’s premise?  Simply that Jesus’ words should rank higher than any other persons.

“This all makes so much sense,” he thought to himself.  Finally, someone said what he had been feeling.  But it was not that simple.  He still believed and needed some of Paul’s ideas.  In particular, Paul’s assertion, “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,” for him, had singular merit.

So, what should be done with Paul?  For years, this question vexed him.  During a sermon one Sunday, in an instant the answer came:  end the special treatment.  Some of what Paul said was true and had value.  Some of what Paul said wasn’t true and didn’t have value.  His task was to treat Paul no different than any other thinker.  The issue wasn’t black and white.  He had to discern the value himself, idea by idea.  In other words, he finally remembered that Paul was just a man.

Despite the profound meaning and encouragement he gained from this statement, he felt it would be too radical for other believers.

Holding his breath, he hoped instead to discover that it resonated.

*****

Tolstoy, Leo, Leo Wiener, and Greg Oviatt. The Gospels in Brief. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2004. Print.