“Why do we bother, Fawlty?”
-the Major
“ I didn’t know you did…”
--Basil Fawlty/ John Cleese; originally a Cheese….under his baited
breath…
“Questions no one asked me so I asked them myself.” –Walker
Percy
No one has had the cheek to ask me why I blog. “It’s an interesting question”—Satan, after
vaporizing the minion who durst ask the question.(George Harrison’s “Time
Bandits”)
I don’t think the answer is at all difficult. I enjoy
writing. That’s about it.
Is this “an attempt to communicate”? Or is it just super-secular Jacques Monod
averring that, “The brain secretes thoughts,” like any other gland of the
body? (If ‘twere, it would be a great
excuse)
How about, “Because I care.”? Well, that has to be partially true—it’s
pretty hard, even with 2 large mugs of coffee, to write about that which is of
no interest to me personally; even if it is a passionate subject for others;
c.f. Vogue and Vanity Fair magazines…or worse
yet, The Economist. (It is a pretty consistent thing with me that when
faced with the subject of finance/s , my eyes glaze over.)
I am not boasting here, these are just facts that apply to
me—and I don’t claim any great capacity for self-knowledge either. Hints that the Word of God and other people
give me are the only things that keep me from being as isolated as Screwtape in
his den with his nice “smoking jacket” on.
But is it wise to give in to mere compulsion? Expiating it
with the idea that this is a forge for my identity and a way to work out my
sins and troubles and obscure motives, etc.?
The Word of God, to which I claim to hew; has a completely
different view from mine, as usual; it is impossible for a mere man to
maintain, much less conform to, the divine perspective.
I may quote more from this later; these quotes are from a devotion by Henry Morris, entitled,
“Loquacity.”
“He that hath knowledge spareth his words; and a man of
understanding is of an excellent spirit.”
-PV 17:27
“In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin; but he that
refraineth his lips is wise.”-PV 10:19
“Study to be quiet and avoid foolish talking.” -Paul
“…be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,” for he
says, “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, set on fire of hell.”—James
“…let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before
God: for God is in heaven and thou upon the earth: therefore let thy words be
few.” –Solomon
Of course it must be said that the advice Solomon gave, he
only honored in the breach; and what he wrote to his sons, ie Proverbs, he did
not follow, which led to a permanent division of Israel between the descendants
of David and the 10 –out of 12- Northern tribes—because of careless reactionary
words from Rehoboam, who learned more from his Dad by example, unfortunately,
than from his many words.
It must be said, though, that much of the advice that we
give, esp. the unsolicited type, is unconsciously given because of “too much
information,” and perhaps not wanting our children to repeat our mistakes. But
more of it is highly likely to be instantly adulterated yet unadulterated
pride; uncontaminated by Christ.
All well and good, but it doesn’t work that way, which is
why in the raising of our children I always deferred to the peaceable wisdom of
my wife; and I thank God that even today my children are not usually interested
in what I write. And I can also give thanks that eventually my
journals—way too wordy but more meant for God and myself than for anyone
else—will all bite the dust; just as will all my blogs be purged; if my multitude
of words don’t hang me first. God
remembers… so I should pause, and shudder.
The question is always before me—should I continue, when one
can be assured that the thoughts of our minds when exposed, will cause more of:
“We all offend in many ways.” Is a
passion for record-keeping in place, outside of the medical record, or is it
what Paul said in our marriage vows:
“Love keeps no record of wrongs.”
---???
Not one of us is able to match up to our own standards, much
less anyone’s else’s expectations, and surely God’s standards are continually
ignored and forgotten because we can never keep up. Hypocrisy is therefore a
universal sin, not peculiar to any “belief system”—a poor expression, surely:
akin to the fashion magazine etiology of the neologism, “lifestyle;” which trivializes the meaning of
life to the level of a choice between chocolate or strawberry.
But if we are not content to let God manage the world, what
then do we who “believe,” believe?
“To have lived is not enough…they have to talk about
it.”—Waiting for Godot.
(Beckett gave up painting; but not writing! Yet the standard
and the truth about us remains.)
No comments:
Post a Comment