Being Born Again
This morning I was very late for church. This is not unlike me, but it is unlike me to come in sorely and conspicuously late, even after the sermon. But that's how things have been going recently–I'm often so late to events that I just decide to turn around and drive home.
I think back to school, when some professors actually addressed the subject of lateness in the syllabus, or mentioned it on the first day of class. They would say something like, "If you don't have enough respect to arrive on time, I would prefer you not come at all." And I would instantly see where they're coming from, because I don't respect people who come in halfway through class either. I mean, how would they feel if they were the professor? The early bird gets the worm, you know? If you snooze, you lose.
So this morning I was really thinking about leaving, but instead I decided to pull up a chair in the narthex and look in through the sanctuary doors. The only thing left was communion, and I decided I'd better not even bother. I hunched down in my chair, listening to the organ and thinking about how pointless it was to come like this.
But halfway though the song I heard one of the sanctuary doors swing open and one of the ushers suddenly emerged to serve me the bread and quickly went back in. It seemed really bizarre to me, like some kind of fluke or mistake. If the ushers had served the late narthex people in the past, I hadn't noticed it. I didn't think I particularly deserved being served, and I hardly knew the particular usher, so (whether logical or not) I was thinking he would forget me the second time. But a few minutes later he came out again.
I was sitting there thinking about this, when I saw something else I'd never noticed before. At my church the narthex and the sanctuary are divided by ancient-looking oak panels that come together in what looks like a rather imposing permanent wall. I don't usually pay attention to this, but the panels are actually removable.
As the communion music ended, the ushers quietly began changing the scene like experienced stage workers. One by one, the oak panels were carried away. Even a portable screen, which had been set up for a presentation before the service, was folded up and pushed aside. In less than a minute I could see straight into the sanctuary.
2007-03-05 at 8.54 am
I'm late to church myself these days. The reason is that I really dislike singing (especially since I sometimes use the phone a lot on Saturdays), which is most of the early part of the service. I figure if I can get in before offering, that's a good criteria. I've also been later in to work, recently, but that's just a quality of life issue.
In other words, I'm getting increasingly late, but it's thought out.
2007-03-08 at 9.07 pm
Hehe. You are forgiven, John.
2007-03-17 at 3.42 am
Hello:
I linked to your website from a comment you made on another website regarding physics, Plato, Math and said to myself, wow these guys are really smart for understanding all these concepts. When I read about your lateness at church and your somewhat realization that we are all connected whether seen or unseen was of course something I thought you would have known already. It's all relative after all.
Have fun,
Evelyn
2007-03-17 at 9.31 am
Evelyn, thanks for the comment, and thanks for reading!
According to psychologists, I should have learned about the interconnectedness of people when I was six. Better late than never, though. : )
As for an intelligent discussion about math and physics, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Easter, when Kevin will start posting again. This is actually his blog, and the wiser posts are his doing.
2007-03-21 at 3.27 pm
I reserve the right to discuss the banal.
2007-03-26 at 6.21 pm
Often reviews of books, music, and film make me nauseous, and sometimes I even get more than one type of nausea. And there are some delicate flavors of nausea. Some go way beyond the review itself to the larger world. Consider the following, for instance:
Mmm…let me count the ways:
1. It might be correct. And it's very depressing to think about how much of the average celebrity's mind is taken up by innovative new ways of self-promotion. But then, it isn't just celebrities who do this. In the age of reality TV and personal blogs it's just about everyone else, too.
2. It might be wrong. In this case the critic actually hates the author so much that he's willing to spend hours creating ill motives that might be attributed to him. Wonderful.
3. The critic is willing to devote large ammounts of time to poisonous sarcasm.
4. Who's entire persona doesn't "rest on the pride [they] take in not being like everyone else?"
5. Who doesn't want their "individually validated," and obsess about it to a fault? Maybe someone doesn't, but I'm not them!
6. Who doesn't think they're "a shade different and slightly better?" Uh…
2007-03-27 at 9.17 am
Hmm, I don't think I'm that pessimistic. I think that not all promotion is self-promotion, and that the promotion of good, useful, and humane ideas is worthwhile and individually validating. Furthermore, it is easily mistaken for self-promotion: if a project is worthwhile enough to promote, it is quite often also worthwhile enough to want to study and work on, in which case you must also promote the idea that you've studied and that you're excited, and thus the right one to make it happen.
However, I agree that reading texts like that will make you sick, just in the same way that eating bad food will.
2007-03-27 at 5.58 pm
Yes, there is something in what you say, Sancho. I wonder if part of the nausea is that the critic does not allow for the possibility you mention, that the author is simply attempting to promote good, useful, and humane ideas, and that he finds self-promotion to be an innocuous by-product of this. Yes, yes, I think that may be so…(here Mark immediately hurls)
(aside…mmm…thinking…"John is a "voice of reason"")
(mmm…additional thinking…"John the Statistician, Kevin Saff, and Steven Pinker (author of The Blank Slate) can all perhaps be categorized as "voices of reason" (though categorizing them as *only* voices of reason is perhaps improperly reductionistic))
(mmm…imagining…Steven Pinker commenting, "The human animal is a complex data-processing machine wired for self-validation. Mark's belief that he should somehow rise above his circuitry is completely unwaranted. There is no Ghost in the Machine.")
2007-03-27 at 8.51 pm
I like that idea that the "The human animal is a complex data-processing machine wired for self-validation. That is so cool of an idea. Isn't most of our self talk that we think to ourselves always validating our perceptions of life day in and day out? Perhaps it is only when we finally admit to ourselves that we really do not know anything at all that all the truths will start to filter in somhow.
2007-03-28 at 10.42 am
Hmm, if there is any "truth" that I'm not capable of dealing with in some form I ultimately find agreeable or validating, I'm better off not even knowing it. In fact, if I didn't know anything at all, which is to say that if I didn't have some reasonable expectation of causal context, well then I couldn't accomplish anything. Or think, for that matter. Therefore, I think I disagree with everything you've said, Evelyn.
2007-03-28 at 11.22 am
Hmm, I was going to give you a reply, Mark, but I think I'd like Kevin to weight in on how our thought differs.
2007-03-28 at 2.03 pm
Oh, and also Mark, I think that there might be something in learning about new ideas that might affect one's self-validation approaches in beneficial ways.
2007-03-28 at 9.52 pm
I think I will just be a bystander in this conversation…
FYI, Kevin is trying to take it easy on the blogging right now, so you may or may not get a reply.
2007-03-28 at 9.55 pm
Oh, wait–Mark mentioned that earlier. Oops!
2007-03-29 at 8.41 am
Yes, that was partially to tease him out of hiding.
I wish I was smart enough to sit this one out…
2007-03-29 at 6.11 pm
Don't do it, Kevin!
2007-03-29 at 7.54 pm
Dang, that's hard. I feel like a villian in a Western or something.
2007-03-31 at 1.02 pm
I was going to say that becoming fools that we may become wise sounds like a dangerous concept, but one I might be willing to try. (Mark goes back to contemplating his navel and talking about himself in the 3rd person omniscient in an attempt to portray himself as sitting at the base of the tree of human knowledge rather than on the branches).
On the other hand, the concept of knowing nothing might be one of the reasons why I seem to be doing less and less.
Regarding learning about new ideas, I think that is good advice. Mmm…listening and considering before passing judgement…hmm…mmm…
I am all ears about how your thoughts differ.
2007-03-31 at 1.22 pm
Note to Everyone:
Everything I say is valid and of immense value for the simple reason that I have said it!
er…
or perhaps alternately…
Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
2007-03-31 at 1.42 pm
1. I can't be sure this "eating" thing has any validity to it. I mean, I could be doing more harm than good. I suppose I just won't eat.
2. I'm not sure if creating another human would be beneficial or not, you know? I suppose I just won't reproduce.
3. I kind of like John Kerry, but if I vote for him and he wins, the candidate representing my values will become dominant. And I can't be sure whether my values are right or wrong in the first place, so I suppose I'll just be neutral and not vote.
2007-03-31 at 3.10 pm
Here's a link to how John Kerry is helping the working guy. I loved watching it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULxC44aFBnE
Also in response to the above comment whoever wrote it, I lost track. "Everything I say is valid and of immense value for the simple reason that I have said it!
er…" Now that's comical!!!!Heheheheheh.
What scientific instrument did you use besides your mouth to test the validity of all of what you say?
2007-04-01 at 8.51 am
Dang, I'm bailing. There has now been official shark-jumping here.
2007-04-02 at 5.51 pm
Jumping The Shark is the defining moment when an established show changes in a significant manner in an attempt to stay fresh. Ironically this means the television program has reached its peak and from then on it's all downhill. From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same.
Common "jumps" include drastic cast changes, characters changing careers/cities, or stunts and show gimmicks such as 3D. Alternatively the writers can just refuse to kill off The Scrappy or even worse pen The Wesley.
Too many shark jumping moments in a row can spell Seasonal Rot.
This expression originates from the episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie literally jumped over a shark on water-skis.
(The above is true–I know because I saw it on the internet.)
2007-04-02 at 5.55 pm
Kevin, is there any way the site could be re-cast in a sort of "vintage 3D" way, like with the red and blue glasses?
2007-04-02 at 6.04 pm
Evelyn, I don't understand what you find so comical about the immense truth and value of everything I say.
If you think this is a joke, how will you deal with the fact that the power of being exists within myself alone?
2007-04-02 at 6.11 pm
Evelyn, it's good that you and John Kerry want to help the working guy, because he is me.
2007-04-03 at 3.10 am
Your comments are comical; however, I'll give you credit for the half truths you say. Why should the power be only in you though?
Also, as a telecommunications employee, I was flattered by Kerry's support of unions. The paradox is that I'm a registered Republic due to their support of the landlords as opposed to tenants who leech off the system. Also Clinton really turned me off completely. Yes, Bush is no better that's true; therefore I'm really looking forward to the next election. Maybe it will be OBama this time.