The evolution of childishness!
12/January/2011 10:26 Filed in: Weekly Column
Volume 13, Issue 2
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When I was but a wee lad, I used to visit my friend Donnie who lived out in the country near the rural community of Harrington, Washington. My dad was the grade school principal in this small town and finding playmates of your same age was not all that common.
Donnie had this great plan of getting his own way, or so I thought. Every time he wanted something, which many times included our mutual benefit, and if results were not forthcoming in a manner acceptable to a four year old, he would get down and pound his head on the floor. It worked great every time! I mean every time.
Even though his mom would always say, “Donnie don’t do that!” Donnie’s scam always worked.
It worked so well; I figured I might just try it out on my mom.
I still recall vividly the trauma of that fateful evening.
Mom was at the kitchen sink peeling potatoes and carrots. For sake of the story we will say she was making a New England boiled dinner, which was my dad’s favorite supper.
I don’t remember at all the reason for my growing angst, but I do remember vividly the results.
“If you don’t do what I want, I will pound my head on the floor,” I announced bravely.
My mom turned and looked at me, like she really didn’t care and went back to peeling the spuds.
So I proceeded to pound my head on the floor until it began to hurt. My mom continued to peel the veggies long after I decided that this just wasn’t going to work out to my benefit.
Childish things, we live in a world in which too many adults get there way by pounding their head on the floor, and then people respond by saying, “Please don’t do that, you are going to hurt yourself, let me save you!”
This truly describes the current political discourse following Saturday’s shootings in Arizona, where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot, six people killed, along with eleven others being wounded.
Before anyone really knew the name of the shooter, liberal political pundits were pounding their heads on the floor saying, “Look at me, I know what happened, I’m cool for I know, without any other evidence, that I’m right, even though I’m left!”
Instead of ignoring the childish behavior, the twenty-four hour news cycle continues to give in to this childishness with more childishness on the part of their “news anchors and commentators.” That no-news cycle seems to be winding down slowly as we approach five days.
America, the land of the free and the brave, has become the land of spoiled brats, their sons and daughters, and now their grandchildren. The mentally ill shooter, Jared Loughner fits about midway along that childish continuum.
I haven’t pounded my head on the floor for around three score years, but for some reason this current overt childishness still gives me a headache. The chances of a couple more nights of lively debate, like they didn’t allow you to have in Catholic School, probably isn’t going to change that.
The United States is undergoing some profound changes and the “news clips” we get to make informed decisions are not just oxymoronic they are moronic. These changes are by their very nature divisive. To say lets all come together and dance around the May Pole is not only childish it is mentally disturbed, for it doesn’t look at true reality.
Put in common natural terms we are looking at two mutually exclusive worldviews and everyone is going to have to make a choice. The choice is not going to be between an obesity causing Happy Meal and a toy, or healthful yogurt and fruit. If we still had passenger trains, that train has left the station. It is a childish meaningless waste of resources.
This choice is as old as human civilization itself.
Of course one worldview says human civilization never really was, or is, it is really a dynamic evolution of progressive ideas, where we humans can save anything, be anything our childish desires want us to believe, and through it all we will lose our divine humanity to the wonder of the great collective karma here on earth.
The other worldview says its all about the individual, created in the image of God, a God that gives us the opportunity to be all our childish desires want us to possess. The more faithful we are to that calling the more our individual mandate will allow us to create a material utopia here on earth and bless everyone with our squandering of limited resources.
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
That sounds like a mature thing to say, sort of disgusting, because it takes me into a world beyond my own vision, but a noble goal nonetheless. I wonder where that comes from?
Actually it is from 1 Corinthians Chapter 13:11, right after all that stuff about love, that we use to satisfy our own personal gratification. The thought finishes in verse 12 with:
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
So how do we truly move beyond our childishness?
I have been watching Glenn Beck since he moved to Fox. Probably is most oft repeated quotation comes from Thomas Jefferson:
“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear”.
I have no idea how many times I have heard Glenn repeat that quote, but last Friday it seemed to take on a context that I had not considered before. My question was much more childish, like:
“God if you are real get me out of here, for if I have to work here until I retire, I will die of boredom before I reach forty.”
I have a pounding my head on the floor story that goes along with this profound statement. In essence within a couple of months I was in the unemployment office in the Lake City neighborhood of Seattle, at the beginning of the previous great recession of the 1980s. Before I finally grasped the reality of the situation, I had a pile of rejection letters over an inch tall, and what I had considered my childish rights had basically fallen apart.
It should be understood that this questioning of God really isn’t something to do with human maturity, but rather a gift of God’s grace given to all, but accepted by few. In this gift God’s adoption as one of His children, this awareness begins a specific revelation path of discipleship where you very slowly become aware and part of God’s Kingdom in its true common context.
Today’s Christian experience doesn’t require a bold questioning of God’s existence; it is more like ordering a double tall skinny latte and leaving a big tip. So instead of trying to gain a deep understanding of the costly grace commitment indicative of the gospel, instead you’re encouraged to do your best and God will take care of the rest. This holiness really is not the gospel at all but rather another rendition of moral law, dumbed down for a childish simple comfort.
Putting this into our article context, Jefferson decides to take out the references to the miracles of Jesus in the New Testament, in an attempt to commonly give a basis for Judeo-Christian morality to the Indians. Those today interpret this childishly as some sort of enlightened Deism that denies the existence of God, when in reality it expresses a maturity that will forever remain totally beyond the skeptics’ grasp. This is because the skeptic really wants to remain childishly capable of pounding their head on the floor and they think the ensuing headache comes from the depth of their enlightenment.
Our current point of focus in these weekly columns continues to be a worldview conflict. One worldview is the common reality Kingdom of God instituted on this earth by the words, life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as the Redeemer of mankind. The other common kingdom is best described as the Kingdom of Babylon, where mankind decides to save themselves through the collective will of progressive global leadership.
We see in this context a conflict as old as human civilization itself.
What we see in that Genesis 11 example is that God did not destroy the people of Babylon, but rather confused their languages and the whole Babylonian model self destructed, not through violence, but rather the Babylonian leadership was unable to communicate their dreams for a world of the great collective karma here on earth.
In the microcosm in the childish political bloviating about the Arizona shootings is the verbal conflict of kingdoms. The one verbally expressing their fear, not so much about the shooting, but rather that years of progressively pounding their heads on the floor, is not producing the results of their blind faith in the collective good of humanity. If hope turns out to be a bogus lie, they have no recourse but to blame others, whose methods of communication they do not understand, nor care to learn.
On the other side of the political spectrum, especially if life has given you a nice, cozy, secure public platform, it is sure great to be able to pound other peoples’ heads on the floor for a change. Self-justification has a way of taking away the pain of a self-induced headache.
The more mature point of view however is to realize that what we are really facing in the world “is a failure to communicate.” This is because what we really want to do is to sit around our world’s urban utopias, and do childish things, like let the rest of the world go to hell, because they can’t afford to buy our cake.
This is not a discussion about social justice, but rather, whom are you going to serve and how is that non-religious faith going to be expressed in thought, word and deed.
Saturday we saw a sick young man with a gun kill six people and wound another twelve, because our politically correct system was unwilling to face reality. Not all that long ago, our politically correct system allowed a religious zealot to pull off a similar feat at Fort Hood in Texas.
As the Apostle Paul said, “When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
The big reality that faces the whole world, are we as individuals going to give up our childish ways, and look at a bigger picture of reality. The Babylonian model of the collective good does not solve this childishness.
However, the model of inalienable self evident human rights given to mankind through creation’s natural laws, does form the basis for a country, that is called the United States of America, but also provides the mature reality required to establish more viable communities on the basis of the Kingdom of God, or more childishly Religionless Christianity.
Next week we will look at those more mature communities on the basis of the natural laws of human interaction and survival, not just our childish desires to save the world through our perceptions created by our head pounding experiences.
PDF PrintWhen I was but a wee lad, I used to visit my friend Donnie who lived out in the country near the rural community of Harrington, Washington. My dad was the grade school principal in this small town and finding playmates of your same age was not all that common.
Donnie had this great plan of getting his own way, or so I thought. Every time he wanted something, which many times included our mutual benefit, and if results were not forthcoming in a manner acceptable to a four year old, he would get down and pound his head on the floor. It worked great every time! I mean every time.
Even though his mom would always say, “Donnie don’t do that!” Donnie’s scam always worked.
It worked so well; I figured I might just try it out on my mom.
I still recall vividly the trauma of that fateful evening.
Mom was at the kitchen sink peeling potatoes and carrots. For sake of the story we will say she was making a New England boiled dinner, which was my dad’s favorite supper.
I don’t remember at all the reason for my growing angst, but I do remember vividly the results.
“If you don’t do what I want, I will pound my head on the floor,” I announced bravely.
My mom turned and looked at me, like she really didn’t care and went back to peeling the spuds.
So I proceeded to pound my head on the floor until it began to hurt. My mom continued to peel the veggies long after I decided that this just wasn’t going to work out to my benefit.
Childish things, we live in a world in which too many adults get there way by pounding their head on the floor, and then people respond by saying, “Please don’t do that, you are going to hurt yourself, let me save you!”
This truly describes the current political discourse following Saturday’s shootings in Arizona, where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot, six people killed, along with eleven others being wounded.
Before anyone really knew the name of the shooter, liberal political pundits were pounding their heads on the floor saying, “Look at me, I know what happened, I’m cool for I know, without any other evidence, that I’m right, even though I’m left!”
Instead of ignoring the childish behavior, the twenty-four hour news cycle continues to give in to this childishness with more childishness on the part of their “news anchors and commentators.” That no-news cycle seems to be winding down slowly as we approach five days.
America, the land of the free and the brave, has become the land of spoiled brats, their sons and daughters, and now their grandchildren. The mentally ill shooter, Jared Loughner fits about midway along that childish continuum.
I haven’t pounded my head on the floor for around three score years, but for some reason this current overt childishness still gives me a headache. The chances of a couple more nights of lively debate, like they didn’t allow you to have in Catholic School, probably isn’t going to change that.
The United States is undergoing some profound changes and the “news clips” we get to make informed decisions are not just oxymoronic they are moronic. These changes are by their very nature divisive. To say lets all come together and dance around the May Pole is not only childish it is mentally disturbed, for it doesn’t look at true reality.
Put in common natural terms we are looking at two mutually exclusive worldviews and everyone is going to have to make a choice. The choice is not going to be between an obesity causing Happy Meal and a toy, or healthful yogurt and fruit. If we still had passenger trains, that train has left the station. It is a childish meaningless waste of resources.
This choice is as old as human civilization itself.
Of course one worldview says human civilization never really was, or is, it is really a dynamic evolution of progressive ideas, where we humans can save anything, be anything our childish desires want us to believe, and through it all we will lose our divine humanity to the wonder of the great collective karma here on earth.
The other worldview says its all about the individual, created in the image of God, a God that gives us the opportunity to be all our childish desires want us to possess. The more faithful we are to that calling the more our individual mandate will allow us to create a material utopia here on earth and bless everyone with our squandering of limited resources.
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
That sounds like a mature thing to say, sort of disgusting, because it takes me into a world beyond my own vision, but a noble goal nonetheless. I wonder where that comes from?
Actually it is from 1 Corinthians Chapter 13:11, right after all that stuff about love, that we use to satisfy our own personal gratification. The thought finishes in verse 12 with:
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
So how do we truly move beyond our childishness?
I have been watching Glenn Beck since he moved to Fox. Probably is most oft repeated quotation comes from Thomas Jefferson:
“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear”.
I have no idea how many times I have heard Glenn repeat that quote, but last Friday it seemed to take on a context that I had not considered before. My question was much more childish, like:
“God if you are real get me out of here, for if I have to work here until I retire, I will die of boredom before I reach forty.”
I have a pounding my head on the floor story that goes along with this profound statement. In essence within a couple of months I was in the unemployment office in the Lake City neighborhood of Seattle, at the beginning of the previous great recession of the 1980s. Before I finally grasped the reality of the situation, I had a pile of rejection letters over an inch tall, and what I had considered my childish rights had basically fallen apart.
It should be understood that this questioning of God really isn’t something to do with human maturity, but rather a gift of God’s grace given to all, but accepted by few. In this gift God’s adoption as one of His children, this awareness begins a specific revelation path of discipleship where you very slowly become aware and part of God’s Kingdom in its true common context.
Today’s Christian experience doesn’t require a bold questioning of God’s existence; it is more like ordering a double tall skinny latte and leaving a big tip. So instead of trying to gain a deep understanding of the costly grace commitment indicative of the gospel, instead you’re encouraged to do your best and God will take care of the rest. This holiness really is not the gospel at all but rather another rendition of moral law, dumbed down for a childish simple comfort.
Putting this into our article context, Jefferson decides to take out the references to the miracles of Jesus in the New Testament, in an attempt to commonly give a basis for Judeo-Christian morality to the Indians. Those today interpret this childishly as some sort of enlightened Deism that denies the existence of God, when in reality it expresses a maturity that will forever remain totally beyond the skeptics’ grasp. This is because the skeptic really wants to remain childishly capable of pounding their head on the floor and they think the ensuing headache comes from the depth of their enlightenment.
Our current point of focus in these weekly columns continues to be a worldview conflict. One worldview is the common reality Kingdom of God instituted on this earth by the words, life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as the Redeemer of mankind. The other common kingdom is best described as the Kingdom of Babylon, where mankind decides to save themselves through the collective will of progressive global leadership.
We see in this context a conflict as old as human civilization itself.
What we see in that Genesis 11 example is that God did not destroy the people of Babylon, but rather confused their languages and the whole Babylonian model self destructed, not through violence, but rather the Babylonian leadership was unable to communicate their dreams for a world of the great collective karma here on earth.
In the microcosm in the childish political bloviating about the Arizona shootings is the verbal conflict of kingdoms. The one verbally expressing their fear, not so much about the shooting, but rather that years of progressively pounding their heads on the floor, is not producing the results of their blind faith in the collective good of humanity. If hope turns out to be a bogus lie, they have no recourse but to blame others, whose methods of communication they do not understand, nor care to learn.
On the other side of the political spectrum, especially if life has given you a nice, cozy, secure public platform, it is sure great to be able to pound other peoples’ heads on the floor for a change. Self-justification has a way of taking away the pain of a self-induced headache.
The more mature point of view however is to realize that what we are really facing in the world “is a failure to communicate.” This is because what we really want to do is to sit around our world’s urban utopias, and do childish things, like let the rest of the world go to hell, because they can’t afford to buy our cake.
This is not a discussion about social justice, but rather, whom are you going to serve and how is that non-religious faith going to be expressed in thought, word and deed.
Saturday we saw a sick young man with a gun kill six people and wound another twelve, because our politically correct system was unwilling to face reality. Not all that long ago, our politically correct system allowed a religious zealot to pull off a similar feat at Fort Hood in Texas.
As the Apostle Paul said, “When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
The big reality that faces the whole world, are we as individuals going to give up our childish ways, and look at a bigger picture of reality. The Babylonian model of the collective good does not solve this childishness.
However, the model of inalienable self evident human rights given to mankind through creation’s natural laws, does form the basis for a country, that is called the United States of America, but also provides the mature reality required to establish more viable communities on the basis of the Kingdom of God, or more childishly Religionless Christianity.
Next week we will look at those more mature communities on the basis of the natural laws of human interaction and survival, not just our childish desires to save the world through our perceptions created by our head pounding experiences.