May 31, 2004
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I spent five bloody bucks downloading these Michael W. Smith songs you’ve probably never heard of from iTunes: “Ashton,” “Lamu,” “The Throne,” “Too Many Times,” and “Missing Person.” Ninety-nine cents or not, I wasn’t tempted to touch “Friends” or “Heart of Worship.”
I’ve thought about Tebben’s response to my meditations on war in my last post, and I think I was wrong. War is capable of being a good metaphor, but it’s also capable of being a really really bad one: the culture war, a war of ideas, the war on drugs, the war against illiteracy, the battle against cancer. The U.S. drug czar cannot possibly empathize with King Arthur, General Paton, or Donald Rumsfeld. Jerry Falwell doesn’t know the first thing about real combat. What I was getting at is that I haven’t found anything that seems to be (or promises to be) as meaningful, demanding, and engaging as war. If I’m at war, I have to be my very best and get up every morning and go kick ass. I can’t lay around on the couch. As sniperific as taking on CCM is, it’s nothing like being at war.
At the same time, I’ve heard it said that there are only two stories to be told: Iliads and Odysseys. In other words, the story is either “life is war” or “life is a journey.” The Lord of the Rings is both, which is part of what makes it great. I definitely find my life resonating with the journey thing, which is one reason I love the Psalms of Ascents (and Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction). On a spiritual level, I have a hard time seeing myself as being at war with Evil (or “the Evil One”)–it feels more like I’ve experienced a series of cheapshots (what is Evil if not a boxer who punches below the belt?) than a series of battles. This is good stuff to mull over, especially because I think I’m wrong and have something to learn about how I can know and experience war (and think of my life in terms of war) without enlisting.
On a less deep subject, The Day After Tomorrow was a lot of fun. Even more fun was coming out of the movie in my sandals, literally looking down the street at the in-tact Empire State Building, and revelling in the benefits of coming out of a movie based on bad science. There was almost too much story and not enough destruction, but on the whole the special effects and the scale of it made it worthwhile. Every show of the movie in every theater in Manhattan was sold out on opening day.
Ben – I’m leaning more and more away from my Interpretivist stance also, in favor of Perspectivalism, though I’m not sure about the Postmodern bit. I do love my Enlightenment.
Amanda and I went to the Central Park Zoo today, which was much cooler than I expected. Since it’s in the park, I expected a sort of glorified petting zoo. While it’s not as big or awesome as the Bronx Zoo, it’s got some great animals (including the ball of 100% loveability the red panda, a river otter [or "river rotter" if you're the 6 year-old girl next to me], and a bunch of penguins ["let's watch to see which ones fart under water," an 8 year-old boy suggested]). Went ahead and got a 2-person year-long membership with Amanda, so I can go to any of the zoos or the aquarium any time. I think I’ll take my Guelzo reading to where I can look up at the walrus scaring children when I get bored.
Still haven’t gone grocery shopping. And Bekea, I’m on day #4 of no shower. And since I need to do laundry, it’s day #2 of Commando Klotz. (Additionally, I shaved my face the other day. I hate it, and I’m growing back my stubble as quickly as I can.)
