People's thinking about the roles of government and economics has been narrowed and stifled. We must get out of the box that the theories of Communism, Socialism, and Democracy put us in. Looking at Pre-Enlightenment times, when revolutions did not exist, and absolute monarchies has dominated the world for centuries, there was a huge paradigm shift in the way in which people viewed themselves in light of their government and their social economic status. The changes are of course multi-faceted and too complex to narrow down to a single cause as to why people changed their thinking, but that is not the purpose of this essay. It is crucial to securing a hopeful future that people should look at government and economics from a historical standpoint, temporarily setting aside the modern men that we are, and with that, pushing aside our desires and criticisms to look for the truth through the eyes of reason.
Today, as free intellectual thinkers, we should, by natural right according to Descartes, continuing to Locke, be able to think about the modern world's situation objectively and if possible, outside of the current manifestations of capitalism, democracy, socialism and communism. An alternative to capitalism BESIDES socialism is possible. An alternative to socialism BESIDES capitalism is possible. Looking at any form of economic standing requires a loss of some sort. It requires limitations. For a capitalist, limitations on what can be capitalized or marketed, sold or bought. For a socialist, what can be distributed, not everyone will have equality, there inevitably will be social injustice and inequality, unfair representation and compromise. The government not becoming a democracy, nor a tyranny, will find a wavering and sometimes unequal harmony in the middle. With capitalism penalized, and resources unavailable, a tyrannic ruler would not be able to oppress with the kind of limitless power that is possible today. With socialism criticized as a weak cry for a utopia, a democracy would not be able to thrive because the majority of citizens would have no desire to rule or make decisions, due to the consequential role their actions will take in matters of state and policy. The weight of decisions would be on the shoulders of one or a few well educated, experienced, COURAGEOUS people, that is, in the event of an aristocracy or oligarchy, decisions will be more critical, but the relationship between citizen and ruler would change for the better, because of the lack of a need for explanations. The citizens could live more peaceful, less harrowed lives, the ruler(s) could concentrate on the art of decision making and hopefully, discussions based on the knowledge and understanding they have of their citizens and land.
A person owning land changes things. With this type of government in place, the citizen would have the opportunity to work and own land and not feel compromised, because the ruler(s) having more of a moral sense, or ethics weighing on his conscience, would be caring more about what land is under his rule, the actual land, not considering only the capital which the land could produce. In this way, he is not separating what is from what could be, but he is looking at the development and well-being of not only the land, but of the farmer who tends the land as well. Depending on how wise or unwise this ruler might be, or how greedy or unselfish, he will have a smaller scope in which to deal with. In the event of a despot coming into power, he might require labor from the workers to serve his means, he might take away rights, and make unethical decisions, but is it any worse than what we see in the work force today? People don't know how to compare, having adopted narrow ways of looking at the world, the modern ideas of democracy and equality that have only been around for a couple hundred years. Compare, for example, the modern man working to feed his family at any job whether making a low income or high income (depending on whether the country leans toward socialism, not IF he is controlled, but HOW) He is required to pay taxes. If he is a wealthy man in a country that has high taxes, he is not making what he should, and is therefore being deprived of his due share, in the same way that a despot might take the produce of land from a farmer. If he is a poor man and makes a low income, depending on where he is, he still has no choice in his income and where it goes. If in a socialistic country, he will have his money and every other poor man's money distributed for him, for all his “necessary” expenses, but then again, he does not have much room for decision making, o r a direct say in it. If a rich man lives in a more capitalistic country, he will have all the option to expand freely, trample on others freely, and be tyrannical if he so wishes, because, he has the resources, and he can. If a poor man lives in this same capitalistic country, he, not only will most likely not be able to climb the social hierarchy to be able to amass as much income per capita as the wealthy man, but he is trampled on even more so, and becomes more and more a product of his environment, he becomes a helpless part of a system in which he cannot escape for fear of starvation or death, he is more apt to turn to immoral actions such as the capitalist on the other end, who has free range and limitless power to do immoral actions. Both breed repression and tyranny, not by one person, but by a never ending and complex system in which no single human has control.
With a moderate and limited economy in place, goods would not be available on such a vast, unlimited scale. With the resources and needs of each country addressed and focused on, the economics would be more stable and predictable, the knowledge of what cannot be produced, and what can be, the knowledge of what is scarce, and what is plentiful, all of these important matters would be impervious to the rest of the world, and would be considered where they matter most, on their own soil. A problem with Capitalism and Globalization, is that it takes concentration off of what one country has and places it's concentration on what it can get. It's focus is more on the other countries around it, which it has little or no influence on, and not adequate knowledge of. Even if the main distributors of products and marketing and even the world leaders have knowledge and understanding of surrounding countries, the citizens of the buying or selling countries will not have the same level of knowledge and they will not get the luxury of directly dealing in any of those transactions unless it so benefits the buyer or seller, and will not be given the power to take millions of important details into consideration, such as the effect on the environment, and every trade relation, or problem, will potentially cause shortages of resources or wasting of resources as many chains of bureaucracy mediate the produce and goods as they are exchanged from many different hands. The problem with such dealing is that no one is left responsible for the pollution, mistreatment of workers, contamination, waste, environmental destruction, not replenishing resources, etc. and if something goes wrong, the deal is not stopped, the trade agreement still goes on, the buyers and sellers making compromising decisions to any end to end up on top, to end up at the end of the day making money. No one in this situation wants to lose out on money, even if the rest of the world suffers from it, and the earth is permanently harmed.
It does not make sense to have a country using its resources to ship of to a second country, and the second country ships of its resources to the first country. It is a sign of greed, covetousness and non contentment to not settle for what one has, but to want, and EXPECT to get it from someone else, no matter what it takes. An example would be two families. The dad and mom of the first family see that the second family has something that they want, vise versa, so they both come up with an agreement and begin trading. This is fine, as in, trading goods is fine. The problem is capitalism. With capitalism in the picture, need and want become interchangeable terms. Whereas before, with the interest of the county at heart; meaning, a desire to promote and keep the natural resources of that country, and to grow them, for the gain of the country, trade was not an issue. The country would not be willing to plunder itself and demolish itself for the sake of gaining a few goods from a different country. When value is placed on what one has, the desire for something else is not non existent, or even lessened, but it is subservient to the desire to keep what one has, and develop that. The capitalistic family would perhaps decide to negotiate with the other family, with the goal of making as much as possible from it, always increasing for the sake of increase, instead of for the sake of necessity. This is where want and need can become interchangeable terms. The capitalist will use whichever makes for better capital in his negotiations, with the family at home, and with the other family whose goods he would like to have. This promotes dishonesty and illogical actions to be possible, whereas before, when the main focus is on his own family, and promoting what they have for the sake of bettering themselves, not for the sake of making capital, (which means that the capitalistic family will better itself as much as it can but only to make itself appealing to its buyer, to make the sale.) Genuine interest is not found in the right place, or for the right reasons.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Musing on philosophy
(why philosophical thinking is so critical especially for a leader)
Anyone who follows logic and reasoning, as well as has an understanding of moral principles, or for Plato, the unchangeable forms, will be able to make assertions that are accurate and measurable to some extent. They will be able to make assertions despite lack of knowledge on the subject, despite every possible outcome besides the desirable one, despite the rebuttles of others. This person can have certainty that what he says is valid and has weight; he doesn't need a fact book to back him up and make his story more plausible. That belief is erroneous and leads into propaganda and divisiveness. The modern man does not have anything to stand on, to take his position on, for what he stands on, is always subject to error, erosion and dissipation. Once he is afraid to take a position, he falls into irrelevancy and ruin, the product of the whim of the masses, whichever way the wind is blowing, this is where he is found.
Anyone who follows logic and reasoning, as well as has an understanding of moral principles, or for Plato, the unchangeable forms, will be able to make assertions that are accurate and measurable to some extent. They will be able to make assertions despite lack of knowledge on the subject, despite every possible outcome besides the desirable one, despite the rebuttles of others. This person can have certainty that what he says is valid and has weight; he doesn't need a fact book to back him up and make his story more plausible. That belief is erroneous and leads into propaganda and divisiveness. The modern man does not have anything to stand on, to take his position on, for what he stands on, is always subject to error, erosion and dissipation. Once he is afraid to take a position, he falls into irrelevancy and ruin, the product of the whim of the masses, whichever way the wind is blowing, this is where he is found.
A Child At Breakfast Poem
A Child At Breakfast
Waking up involves a lot of wandering
Trying to get from my bed
to the iron vent in the living room floor
takes a lot of work.
My feet are freezing, and Mama's singing.
I stand over the vent and let the hot air come
swirling up my nightgown,
puffing it out like a big hoop skirt.
I crouch down, toes burning on the metal squares.
The smell of bacon pulls me nose first into the kitchen.
Stephen's standing on the vent by the stove.
I fight for my turn,
while glasses are clinking, skillet pops and sizzles
She opens the lid to the green tupperware
where she keeps her coffee
placing it under my nose,
I close my eyes and breathe deeply.
Her breakfast table is large, and welcoming
it sends us scurrying to our seats.
Waking up involves a lot of wandering
Trying to get from my bed
to the iron vent in the living room floor
takes a lot of work.
My feet are freezing, and Mama's singing.
I stand over the vent and let the hot air come
swirling up my nightgown,
puffing it out like a big hoop skirt.
I crouch down, toes burning on the metal squares.
The smell of bacon pulls me nose first into the kitchen.
Stephen's standing on the vent by the stove.
I fight for my turn,
while glasses are clinking, skillet pops and sizzles
She opens the lid to the green tupperware
where she keeps her coffee
placing it under my nose,
I close my eyes and breathe deeply.
Her breakfast table is large, and welcoming
it sends us scurrying to our seats.
Art, A Natural Language
Art, A Natural Language
I am sitting in a spacious Gothic-style church where the walls are light stone and reaching. Tall, symmetrical columns form in rows meeting with pointed arches and a vaulted ceiling. Majestic windows of stained-glass are fogged over by the cold, winter night. In the front of the church a college choir is dressed in white and red. Men and women stand together, the richness of their voices fills and nourishes the room where we sit, suspended with awe. It's Christmas time, and the choir has begun singing Handel's Messiah. Suddenly, I feel a fever rising in my chest, as it grows throughout my body, it sends chills up and down my spine. This feeling is one I have often felt when in the presence of profound beauty. I am compelled, and cannot take my eyes off of the choir. As all my thoughts are frozen in one instant, I know I have engaged with beauty with every ounce of my being.
I have often thought about the joys that awaken the senses, and fill the soul with deep, satisfying beauty. The soul needs to be fed, and thrives on the pure, weighty, and metaphysical world. This is the world that is unseen, and yet, wholly real and present. The transcendental is beckoning the soul out of its despondent slumber. Art is a natural language that acts as an intercessor between the human and the spiritual realm. It awakens us to the existence of the invisible, it reaches the depths of our essence, and speaks to our senses. It opens us up to see our lack of beauty, and our need for something beyond ourselves, beyond our present reality. It stirs us out of our spineless shells and calls us to respond. The world is filled with art, it is present in every culture, every town, every home, every person. Even so, art seems like a distant concept, removed from the every day realities that require our time, diligence, and work. Art was at one time organically intertwined with the mundane, and ordinary parts of life. This was before the Enlightenment era, and the birth of Industrialization. The Enlightenment brought thinkers who radically changed the ethos centered in Christendom to one that was centered in human reason, and rationality. The original ethos looked at man in light of his relationship with the
Judeo-Christian God, while the latter looked at man in light of his abilities to advance technologies and provide answers to the sufferings of humanity. While the world was turning its focus away from God and eternity to science and rationality, art was extracted from its natural position in the world to be reconfigured to parallel the new ethos. Its God given identity and purpose were replaced with more mechanical and rational ones. Once, long ago, art was the medium in which people told their stories. They weaved baskets with designs, made pottery with symbols of their beliefs, used beads in clothes making, and left the world wondering with cave drawings. Other arts such as clock making, leather making, and woodworking, were skilled trades passed down and preserved through hundreds of generations. Art once covered floors, walls and ceilings, naturally flowing out of people's lives. Today art is compartmentalized and deified, encased in glass far away from human reach. Suddenly museums, galleries, and encyclopedias are housing works of art and classifying them. What happened to art being in the dirt of real life? Why the separation, and what has this separation done to humans? How has it changed the way we think about art? How has it changed the way we look at art? These are a few questions that every human being needs to ponder, regardless of their familiarity with the practicing art world. If the process of creating art is just as important as viewing art, why is the viewer considered in a separate class from the artist? Aren't they supposed to respond the same? Shouldn't every human be able to appreciate and understand art without going through art education? Would it make sense for God to create something for our benefit, and not give us the necessary means to enjoy it? Certainly not. God has created every person with the equipment to be able to converse with the world we are a part of.
Art in its essential nature is a creative force given by God for the benefit of mankind. The power of creation is one of God's great attributes, perhaps the one humans are most familiar with. The purposes of art are manifold, spilling into every arena of human existence. Art can act as a mirror, or a magnifying glass to examine the inner life of men and connect it with the tangible, physical, and exterior life. Art has the ability to discover or reveal truth. It acts as an intercessor between the physical and the spiritual. Within himself, man has two opposing natures constantly at war with each other. One is the original nature that the Creator has called good, and this nature has been made branded in His image. The opposing nature comes as a result from the Creator severing man from Himself, when man is exposed to evil. The nature of God, the Creator of man, is such that it cannot change, is solely good, and cannot dwell with evil. Thus man is severed from God, and forfeits his complete nature as he becomes divided into two clashing natures. Man is now a broken, disfigured image of God. When man was dwelling with God, he carried within himself an innate sense to perceive beauty and good, but once man fell, his innate sensibility to beauty and goodness was forever impaired. Therefore, this impairment is the reason why humans have trouble understanding art and the world around us.
Art, being a human manifestation, grows out of the fallen man, and embodies his double nature. Art that manifests an evil nature will use distortion, lies, unbelief, and anything which taints and corrupts good. Art that manifests goodness will be that which exposes evil as it reveals truth,faith, and purity in pointing directly to God. On what principles is art critiqued? Should these principles be based on rational conceptions of good and bad? in relation to the design and purpose of art) On the other hand, is there a form of critique that comes from a purely irrational and deeply immediate response? Should both these principles be based on beliefs concerning the design and purpose of art? If the former is true, than how does one explain art that expresses itself most significantly on an emotional or irrational level? A person could make accurate observations about a piece based on their experience with previous art pieces, and with a knowledge of technique and style, but it appears as if even so, the person is only parroting what has historically been observed, accepted, and recorded. They may be speaking some truth, but they are not exercising their innate ability to critique art with their full person-hood. If the latter is true, and assuming the person critiquing the art does not have an educated, or formal grounding in the critique of art in which to rely upon, they will have to use their 'naked' intellect to examine a work of art. On the other hand, art which is looked at with a 'naked' intellect needs the context of the culture to make sense out of the work. For example, one could examine Roualt's painting entitled “Who Does Not Paint Himself A Face” which is a painting of a clown with a dejected expression on his face. If the artist had left no title, the painting would have lost it's meaning. To summarize, things like language and cultural context are extremely important for a person critiquing art to understand the work.
A book called State of The Arts speaks of the immediate, and intuitive recognition of beauty a person can have. “When we see something beautiful, our intellects experience a flash of satisfaction and joy. Classical aesthetics understands our perception of beauty on earth as a glimpse of that total and direct apprehension of the essence of things that the angels and saints in Heaven always experience.” “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV).
Art as a natural language, communicates on many levels, the physical and the spiritual. One is the human mind, the other, the human psyche. Every human has a strikingly imperative need to communicate through this natural language. Every human needs to be moved physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally by heavenly beauty that is seen through this natural languages that God created. The interior life of a man needs to be fed, cultivated and grown. Most importantly, this life must be protected. Proverbs 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” This passage of Scripture applies to the interior lives of men, the lives we seldom show, and seldom ever understand. For Christians, the inner life is eternal, and is of the utmost importance. This is evident in the work of the great European artist, Rembrandt. His work testifies to the existence of the Christian God. As opposed to Pablo Picasso whose work is a testimony to the humanism of the 20th century. The majority of the modern world places importance on a person's outer life, the physical or emotional. This has been most evident in the lack of substance found in some secular art. The question is not whether secular art is or isn't art, or even whether it's good or bad. The important question one must ask is whether the artist, and the person viewing art has developed their inner sensibility to be able to recognize things like beauty, goodness, ugliness, and evil. One can only correctly judge art on these intrinsic principles. One of the wonderful results of making and viewing art is that it is a humans intimate companion, a mirror that shows their journey on earth. It is a reflection of everything that is human, the full human experience, the inner life, and the outward journey. It is a window into the secret places of the psyche. Deep emotion can be brought out of it's uncreated form into the light to be looked at objectively. The Creator of the Universe longs to bring people close to His heart. He speaks to people through the natural language He has put into place, between humans and art. Through art people can learn to perceive the truths that God wants us to see about ourselves, and the invisible world were made for. We can begin to see what parts of our nature are broken, and what parts He is replacing with Himself. In the end, perhaps every human who God is working in will see themselves in their truest form, finely crafted clay in a Potter's steady hand.
I am sitting in a spacious Gothic-style church where the walls are light stone and reaching. Tall, symmetrical columns form in rows meeting with pointed arches and a vaulted ceiling. Majestic windows of stained-glass are fogged over by the cold, winter night. In the front of the church a college choir is dressed in white and red. Men and women stand together, the richness of their voices fills and nourishes the room where we sit, suspended with awe. It's Christmas time, and the choir has begun singing Handel's Messiah. Suddenly, I feel a fever rising in my chest, as it grows throughout my body, it sends chills up and down my spine. This feeling is one I have often felt when in the presence of profound beauty. I am compelled, and cannot take my eyes off of the choir. As all my thoughts are frozen in one instant, I know I have engaged with beauty with every ounce of my being.
I have often thought about the joys that awaken the senses, and fill the soul with deep, satisfying beauty. The soul needs to be fed, and thrives on the pure, weighty, and metaphysical world. This is the world that is unseen, and yet, wholly real and present. The transcendental is beckoning the soul out of its despondent slumber. Art is a natural language that acts as an intercessor between the human and the spiritual realm. It awakens us to the existence of the invisible, it reaches the depths of our essence, and speaks to our senses. It opens us up to see our lack of beauty, and our need for something beyond ourselves, beyond our present reality. It stirs us out of our spineless shells and calls us to respond. The world is filled with art, it is present in every culture, every town, every home, every person. Even so, art seems like a distant concept, removed from the every day realities that require our time, diligence, and work. Art was at one time organically intertwined with the mundane, and ordinary parts of life. This was before the Enlightenment era, and the birth of Industrialization. The Enlightenment brought thinkers who radically changed the ethos centered in Christendom to one that was centered in human reason, and rationality. The original ethos looked at man in light of his relationship with the
Judeo-Christian God, while the latter looked at man in light of his abilities to advance technologies and provide answers to the sufferings of humanity. While the world was turning its focus away from God and eternity to science and rationality, art was extracted from its natural position in the world to be reconfigured to parallel the new ethos. Its God given identity and purpose were replaced with more mechanical and rational ones. Once, long ago, art was the medium in which people told their stories. They weaved baskets with designs, made pottery with symbols of their beliefs, used beads in clothes making, and left the world wondering with cave drawings. Other arts such as clock making, leather making, and woodworking, were skilled trades passed down and preserved through hundreds of generations. Art once covered floors, walls and ceilings, naturally flowing out of people's lives. Today art is compartmentalized and deified, encased in glass far away from human reach. Suddenly museums, galleries, and encyclopedias are housing works of art and classifying them. What happened to art being in the dirt of real life? Why the separation, and what has this separation done to humans? How has it changed the way we think about art? How has it changed the way we look at art? These are a few questions that every human being needs to ponder, regardless of their familiarity with the practicing art world. If the process of creating art is just as important as viewing art, why is the viewer considered in a separate class from the artist? Aren't they supposed to respond the same? Shouldn't every human be able to appreciate and understand art without going through art education? Would it make sense for God to create something for our benefit, and not give us the necessary means to enjoy it? Certainly not. God has created every person with the equipment to be able to converse with the world we are a part of.
Art in its essential nature is a creative force given by God for the benefit of mankind. The power of creation is one of God's great attributes, perhaps the one humans are most familiar with. The purposes of art are manifold, spilling into every arena of human existence. Art can act as a mirror, or a magnifying glass to examine the inner life of men and connect it with the tangible, physical, and exterior life. Art has the ability to discover or reveal truth. It acts as an intercessor between the physical and the spiritual. Within himself, man has two opposing natures constantly at war with each other. One is the original nature that the Creator has called good, and this nature has been made branded in His image. The opposing nature comes as a result from the Creator severing man from Himself, when man is exposed to evil. The nature of God, the Creator of man, is such that it cannot change, is solely good, and cannot dwell with evil. Thus man is severed from God, and forfeits his complete nature as he becomes divided into two clashing natures. Man is now a broken, disfigured image of God. When man was dwelling with God, he carried within himself an innate sense to perceive beauty and good, but once man fell, his innate sensibility to beauty and goodness was forever impaired. Therefore, this impairment is the reason why humans have trouble understanding art and the world around us.
Art, being a human manifestation, grows out of the fallen man, and embodies his double nature. Art that manifests an evil nature will use distortion, lies, unbelief, and anything which taints and corrupts good. Art that manifests goodness will be that which exposes evil as it reveals truth,faith, and purity in pointing directly to God. On what principles is art critiqued? Should these principles be based on rational conceptions of good and bad? in relation to the design and purpose of art) On the other hand, is there a form of critique that comes from a purely irrational and deeply immediate response? Should both these principles be based on beliefs concerning the design and purpose of art? If the former is true, than how does one explain art that expresses itself most significantly on an emotional or irrational level? A person could make accurate observations about a piece based on their experience with previous art pieces, and with a knowledge of technique and style, but it appears as if even so, the person is only parroting what has historically been observed, accepted, and recorded. They may be speaking some truth, but they are not exercising their innate ability to critique art with their full person-hood. If the latter is true, and assuming the person critiquing the art does not have an educated, or formal grounding in the critique of art in which to rely upon, they will have to use their 'naked' intellect to examine a work of art. On the other hand, art which is looked at with a 'naked' intellect needs the context of the culture to make sense out of the work. For example, one could examine Roualt's painting entitled “Who Does Not Paint Himself A Face” which is a painting of a clown with a dejected expression on his face. If the artist had left no title, the painting would have lost it's meaning. To summarize, things like language and cultural context are extremely important for a person critiquing art to understand the work.
A book called State of The Arts speaks of the immediate, and intuitive recognition of beauty a person can have. “When we see something beautiful, our intellects experience a flash of satisfaction and joy. Classical aesthetics understands our perception of beauty on earth as a glimpse of that total and direct apprehension of the essence of things that the angels and saints in Heaven always experience.” “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV).
Art as a natural language, communicates on many levels, the physical and the spiritual. One is the human mind, the other, the human psyche. Every human has a strikingly imperative need to communicate through this natural language. Every human needs to be moved physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally by heavenly beauty that is seen through this natural languages that God created. The interior life of a man needs to be fed, cultivated and grown. Most importantly, this life must be protected. Proverbs 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” This passage of Scripture applies to the interior lives of men, the lives we seldom show, and seldom ever understand. For Christians, the inner life is eternal, and is of the utmost importance. This is evident in the work of the great European artist, Rembrandt. His work testifies to the existence of the Christian God. As opposed to Pablo Picasso whose work is a testimony to the humanism of the 20th century. The majority of the modern world places importance on a person's outer life, the physical or emotional. This has been most evident in the lack of substance found in some secular art. The question is not whether secular art is or isn't art, or even whether it's good or bad. The important question one must ask is whether the artist, and the person viewing art has developed their inner sensibility to be able to recognize things like beauty, goodness, ugliness, and evil. One can only correctly judge art on these intrinsic principles. One of the wonderful results of making and viewing art is that it is a humans intimate companion, a mirror that shows their journey on earth. It is a reflection of everything that is human, the full human experience, the inner life, and the outward journey. It is a window into the secret places of the psyche. Deep emotion can be brought out of it's uncreated form into the light to be looked at objectively. The Creator of the Universe longs to bring people close to His heart. He speaks to people through the natural language He has put into place, between humans and art. Through art people can learn to perceive the truths that God wants us to see about ourselves, and the invisible world were made for. We can begin to see what parts of our nature are broken, and what parts He is replacing with Himself. In the end, perhaps every human who God is working in will see themselves in their truest form, finely crafted clay in a Potter's steady hand.
Mender
Mender
If I must mend broken bones,
Handling marrow with melting light;
Quiet fingers searching for something steady,
I will need my pulse to be as fixed as the flame
mediating between me and the matter.
My eye will be a ledge, a ruler to keep an even line
My breath, with each new rhythm sliding from my lips
will be a keeper of time, marrying the work of my hands
with the lucid, free flowing thoughts in my mind
Inhale when I pull, stretch, or turn
Exhale when I rest, giving warmth to the bruising room
Opening up the joints to give space back to a cool darkness
which has no reason to uphold its place.
Fiercely I am cradling a new body,
Taking form in my arms. Steadfast, I am a sliver of growing dawn.
Emily Clark
If I must mend broken bones,
Handling marrow with melting light;
Quiet fingers searching for something steady,
I will need my pulse to be as fixed as the flame
mediating between me and the matter.
My eye will be a ledge, a ruler to keep an even line
My breath, with each new rhythm sliding from my lips
will be a keeper of time, marrying the work of my hands
with the lucid, free flowing thoughts in my mind
Inhale when I pull, stretch, or turn
Exhale when I rest, giving warmth to the bruising room
Opening up the joints to give space back to a cool darkness
which has no reason to uphold its place.
Fiercely I am cradling a new body,
Taking form in my arms. Steadfast, I am a sliver of growing dawn.
Emily Clark
The Meaning of Life
Many other things may appear of importance, but this is the most important and crucial truth about life. It is what many people spend their entire lives missing, because they are unaware of it's importance to them and their lives on earth and in eternity. Reality is the highest form a human can possibly reach, reality is Heaven. Heaven, is reality. If one could imagine the world as a scale between two extremes, constantly tilting and sliding back and forth, and imagine themselves the weight on this scale, then perhaps they could understand what it is that is the ultimate purpose of their life. To be in reality is to be complete as a human. A humans' best moments happen when they are in the moment, no matter what moment it may be, but they are fully immersed and all present in that one, real, present moment. As children, humans seem to have more of these moments, well, at least they recognize their importance more, because they profoundly miss these moments, and long for them fervently. As an adult with more and more things going on in a humans' life, the moments pass by much quicker, allowing the human to become used to the moments, and quickly overlook them. As they come streaming in, it is easy for the human who is unaware of the absolute necessity and importance of being in and fully present in these moments. A child who has been fully enjoying himself at the beach will be extremely sad when the day comes that he must leave. His memory will be best because he, even as an adult, will be able to clearly recall the minutest detail about that one trip at the beach. As an adult, being unhappy and unfulfilled only come when the human is on one of the two extremes of the weighing scale. They have either slid towards the past or the future and are not in the present. There are degrees of this of course, but the further they slide in either direction, the more hopeless life will seem. This is where the feeling of numbness comes from. This is where the feeling of anxiety comes from. This is where the feeling of loss comes from, remaining in one of these two extremes. To actually be in reality is the highest achievement of life. This is why suffering and pain can be good things. It is not that the things in themselves are good, but that the extremes of suffering and pain actually have the effect of balancing the human, pulling them back into reality. Some people struggle with this problem more than others. Those who are daydreamers, thinkers, and more analytical people find it easier to get “stuck” in a false reality, one that lives in their minds. To be able to find reality, one must stop escaping. Drugs are a method of escapism, to run away from reality. They “soften the blow” C.S. Lewis once wrote that Hell is the place where the ground is soft, because it is the “ultimate escape from reality”. People who are angry at God can easily mistake the problems in their lives as being due to God, when in truth, God is just pulling them back, pulling them back into the present moment, no matter how difficult it is. God created change to keep people suspended in reality as much as possible. The seasons change to remind humans that they do not live on a perpetual, never-ending carousel ride, but rather that every moment counts and makes it's print in the full measure of eternity. Time was created to help people remain in reality, if there were no time, people might forget that each moment is different than the one before. Why is it that people need to know that each moment is unique? It is because reality can only be reached through time. Eternity cannot be reached within a person, without “traveling through time”. Eternity is present in reality. Eternity is the present, this one particular moment. But it must be gained in a way, because it is easy to lose.
Essay On Nietzsche
Essay On Nietzsche: The Missing Piece
Nietzsche understood what it meant to be alive. He had studied the Greeks and seen how passionately they lived, and was especially moved by their love for art and music. He was also this way, moved by music and greatly influenced by Wagner. He believed that humans needed to fulfill their potentials and live passionate, expressive lives, being aware of their power and potential. The highest form of man he could see; he defines as the Superman or Uberminch. It is one who is deeply self aware and realizes his power. He is not ignorant of himself but understands how powerful he is. Nietzsche was upset and angry because he saw Europeans living life out of an empty shell they called morality. He knew their version of morality wasn't real, it was empty and this is why he was angry. He saw the superman as not being afraid of his power. This is why Nietzsche had such a hard time with Jesus; because Jesus was a superman in the respect that He was all powerful. But Jesus became totally helpless and weak, which was intolerable to Nietzsche because it went against his whole understanding of humanity and what it meant to be alive and fully human. He didn't understand the paradox that Jesus embodied in his very weakness.
To elaborate upon the idea of the Superman one must look at his characteristics. He has what Nietzsche calls the Will to Power. What does this look like? My definition of will to power is Pride. Well, that is half of it. I think Nietzsche was aware of the two parts of the will because he refers to one as the slave and the other as the master. I don't think he understood that they both serve an imperative purpose and need each other as a balance. What is one without the other? Surely pure power without weakness to balance it would destroy itself. And weakness is the same. Part of the human will is the Will to Power. This is the pride of man. What is pride? Isn't it self-realized power, or self -actualization? So this is what the superman has, what sets him apart is that he has this power and isn't afraid to use it. The important and crucial point that Nietzsche missed; is that Jesus while having the “will to power”, was here to do something completely different. He was fully aware that He had his power, in this respect He was a Superman. The point Nietzsche missed is that He also had another will; a Will to Weakness so to speak. He was self-aware of His power to fall or to be destroyed by His power. This is why Jesus throughout the Bible never stopped being in complete submission to His Father, because His power had the potential to destroy Him. Jesus was self aware of His power and also aware of what that power could do to Him. He had a relationship with the Trinity which is what human beings don't have. Human beings can have a Will to Power but it means nothing if a human only has self-actualized power that isn't in relation to anyone else or have checks and balances. This is why Jesus was the ultimate paradox of the powerful man because He gave up His power for weakness. This is also why He had perfect power, because He had the trinity and was in submission to them. So His power was checked by others. Through Jesus people who have power can also be perfected; not by his strength but by His weakness.
To go into further detail let's look at the relationship between God and Satan, and what made Satan “fall”. Satan was extremely close to God; He was in charge of all the music in Heaven. Ezekiel 28:13 leads us to believe this might be possible. Satan might has also been a musician himself. He had the power to create which on a hierarchy of power is the highest and closest to the essence of God. Satan was the most powerful angel. Satan fell because of his pride; which I have explained to mean self-realized power or self-awareness. He fell because of this and because he wouldn't accept his need for accountability to someone else, namely God. He wouldn't accept weakness. This is why there is something really powerful about musicians, they have whatever Satan had, the power to create. What is it about music as opposed to other arts that makes it the highest art of all? The closest one to God? What is it about the nature of sound? Of breath? Music speaks in volumes of life, creation, development, and form. There is something about music, the nature of music that is deeply personal perhaps because it comes from the person's breath and something about breath has to do with life; God; creation. “God spoke the world into existence”. People need to realize their need for help, which is the need for outside assistance, reliance on others. This is the nature of all humanity, and the nature of God as well. People become literally “helpless” or beyond help when they no longer have the accountability from others. Questions I have. Was Socrates resigned to his humanity? Or merely aware of it? Did he have hope for humanity? Did Nietzsche respect Socrates? Or agree with him at all? If so, on what points?
Nietzsche understood what it meant to be alive. He had studied the Greeks and seen how passionately they lived, and was especially moved by their love for art and music. He was also this way, moved by music and greatly influenced by Wagner. He believed that humans needed to fulfill their potentials and live passionate, expressive lives, being aware of their power and potential. The highest form of man he could see; he defines as the Superman or Uberminch. It is one who is deeply self aware and realizes his power. He is not ignorant of himself but understands how powerful he is. Nietzsche was upset and angry because he saw Europeans living life out of an empty shell they called morality. He knew their version of morality wasn't real, it was empty and this is why he was angry. He saw the superman as not being afraid of his power. This is why Nietzsche had such a hard time with Jesus; because Jesus was a superman in the respect that He was all powerful. But Jesus became totally helpless and weak, which was intolerable to Nietzsche because it went against his whole understanding of humanity and what it meant to be alive and fully human. He didn't understand the paradox that Jesus embodied in his very weakness.
To elaborate upon the idea of the Superman one must look at his characteristics. He has what Nietzsche calls the Will to Power. What does this look like? My definition of will to power is Pride. Well, that is half of it. I think Nietzsche was aware of the two parts of the will because he refers to one as the slave and the other as the master. I don't think he understood that they both serve an imperative purpose and need each other as a balance. What is one without the other? Surely pure power without weakness to balance it would destroy itself. And weakness is the same. Part of the human will is the Will to Power. This is the pride of man. What is pride? Isn't it self-realized power, or self -actualization? So this is what the superman has, what sets him apart is that he has this power and isn't afraid to use it. The important and crucial point that Nietzsche missed; is that Jesus while having the “will to power”, was here to do something completely different. He was fully aware that He had his power, in this respect He was a Superman. The point Nietzsche missed is that He also had another will; a Will to Weakness so to speak. He was self-aware of His power to fall or to be destroyed by His power. This is why Jesus throughout the Bible never stopped being in complete submission to His Father, because His power had the potential to destroy Him. Jesus was self aware of His power and also aware of what that power could do to Him. He had a relationship with the Trinity which is what human beings don't have. Human beings can have a Will to Power but it means nothing if a human only has self-actualized power that isn't in relation to anyone else or have checks and balances. This is why Jesus was the ultimate paradox of the powerful man because He gave up His power for weakness. This is also why He had perfect power, because He had the trinity and was in submission to them. So His power was checked by others. Through Jesus people who have power can also be perfected; not by his strength but by His weakness.
To go into further detail let's look at the relationship between God and Satan, and what made Satan “fall”. Satan was extremely close to God; He was in charge of all the music in Heaven. Ezekiel 28:13 leads us to believe this might be possible. Satan might has also been a musician himself. He had the power to create which on a hierarchy of power is the highest and closest to the essence of God. Satan was the most powerful angel. Satan fell because of his pride; which I have explained to mean self-realized power or self-awareness. He fell because of this and because he wouldn't accept his need for accountability to someone else, namely God. He wouldn't accept weakness. This is why there is something really powerful about musicians, they have whatever Satan had, the power to create. What is it about music as opposed to other arts that makes it the highest art of all? The closest one to God? What is it about the nature of sound? Of breath? Music speaks in volumes of life, creation, development, and form. There is something about music, the nature of music that is deeply personal perhaps because it comes from the person's breath and something about breath has to do with life; God; creation. “God spoke the world into existence”. People need to realize their need for help, which is the need for outside assistance, reliance on others. This is the nature of all humanity, and the nature of God as well. People become literally “helpless” or beyond help when they no longer have the accountability from others. Questions I have. Was Socrates resigned to his humanity? Or merely aware of it? Did he have hope for humanity? Did Nietzsche respect Socrates? Or agree with him at all? If so, on what points?
Lucid Dreams
Lucid Dreams
Wheels of golden time
Winding round the screen
A mind beaming radiant design,
splashing color with the eyes
Turning and pivoting on
memories of golden moons.
White folds of skin
filling seams, begins again.
braided hair, satin strands
twisted melody, musing hands.
New curls loosened, left untied
dangle the chords around the head.
A crest, a halo,
curve to cover living shadows.
Hushed Immortal, sleeping star
yields and melds the night
Arms like strings entwined
second skin seeps lemon light.
Honey drips from fingertips and noses
Toes vanish in breathing sand
Step into a cloud bank from a crag
Rocking in tangy dreams
Clumsy tumbling world, a paperweight.
Spin a spool, a reeling note
Spending crowns
golden shards, feathered bed
plummeting
drawing in crayon
Light a suspended thread
Transparent heart,
liquid spills,
reflecting love draw near.
Drinking up golden,
pure pools disappear.
--Emily Robyn Clark
Wheels of golden time
Winding round the screen
A mind beaming radiant design,
splashing color with the eyes
Turning and pivoting on
memories of golden moons.
White folds of skin
filling seams, begins again.
braided hair, satin strands
twisted melody, musing hands.
New curls loosened, left untied
dangle the chords around the head.
A crest, a halo,
curve to cover living shadows.
Hushed Immortal, sleeping star
yields and melds the night
Arms like strings entwined
second skin seeps lemon light.
Honey drips from fingertips and noses
Toes vanish in breathing sand
Step into a cloud bank from a crag
Rocking in tangy dreams
Clumsy tumbling world, a paperweight.
Spin a spool, a reeling note
Spending crowns
golden shards, feathered bed
plummeting
drawing in crayon
Light a suspended thread
Transparent heart,
liquid spills,
reflecting love draw near.
Drinking up golden,
pure pools disappear.
--Emily Robyn Clark
Monday, October 6, 2008
Transformation Is Personal Elevation
Hello Comrades, Friends, Companions, and Fellow Scholars
This is the time for us. There is no past we are responsible for shaping,
only the grand and illuminated present, which has been given to each person
at Virginia Commonwealth University to have. It is our generation who have the honor of bringing
new dreams, desires, and our own ideas to the forefront of every person's minds from this point on
until forever. We have the opportunity to envision what we believe could be a better world, a better school, and a better individual for each one of us. I am here to embolden each person at VCU to take the reigns of their lives in their hands and do something incredible for the world, for ourselves, and for our future generations.
This is the time for us. There is no past we are responsible for shaping,
only the grand and illuminated present, which has been given to each person
at Virginia Commonwealth University to have. It is our generation who have the honor of bringing
new dreams, desires, and our own ideas to the forefront of every person's minds from this point on
until forever. We have the opportunity to envision what we believe could be a better world, a better school, and a better individual for each one of us. I am here to embolden each person at VCU to take the reigns of their lives in their hands and do something incredible for the world, for ourselves, and for our future generations.
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