An argument for mysticism in a skeptical age

Are you ready for this? I haven't blogged in a while but I have a massive mind dump to extract from the sphincter that is this blog.

What is this?

A man and a woman, you say? A beautiful painting you say? I'm afraid I must disagree. You may see that but when I look at it objectively all I see is a piece of canvas with some oil and pigment smeared on it. If we do scientific tests on it we will not find anything chemically in it that has anything to do with human beings. A man and a woman are nowhere to be found there. So why do we see it?

If you said "because we project it into the image based on our memories of what a man and a woman look like" then you're absolutely right and you get a high five.

So the only difference between that painting and this...


...is our own desire for it to be more than just a bunch of paint. Why is the painting better than the paint? Why is the sum greater than its parts? There's only one reason, because we want it to be that way.

Now let me ask you another question. Why is this...


...better than this?


Maybe you would say that objectively there is nothing better about a human baby than a chunk of carbon. And you might be right.

So why are there babies?

Why is it that millions of years ago some single celled living organism decided it wanted to be alive and not dead? Why was so much energy spent to make sure another organism would follow in its footsteps and do the same thing, before returning to its natural state of being lifeless?

Why has so much energy been spent on life when chemically speaking the difference between a living organism and a dead one is negligable?

Why spend so much energy on life when it's so much easier to be dead, and we all end up dead anyway?

Objectively speaking... skeptically speaking... scientifically speaking, there's no answer. Why should there be life if the universe was doing just fine without it? Why does life want to perpetuate itself when there is so much opposition and, objectively speaking, so little reward.

Dear universe: Why bother?

The answer cannot be found by studying what it's made of, just like we can't understand that painting by looking at paint. There is an aesthetic meaning there that cannot be grasped in the violent tongs of science.

Science can tell us what something is made of. It can't tell us what something is. Science can tell us how we survive. It can't tell us why a block of carbon wasn't satisfied with being a block of carbon and spent millions of years and countless amounts of energy to turn into a human baby.

Science can't tell us why a Pinocchio wants to be a real boy. It can't even tell the difference.

What if the universe isn't just paint. What if it's a painting? What if life only exists because it's projected there by an outside force?

What if the difference between paint and a painting... the difference between carbon and babies... is that God has determined that life is superior to death, order is superior to chaos, law is superior to lawlessness?

This is a real IM conversation. I'm not even joking.

AIM IM with Random Person.

Random Person: Neither have you tasted my Jesus!

Me: yes, I have never tasted Jesus

Random Person: No but i wonder sometimes

Me: what he tastes like?

Random Person: Who?

Me: Jesus?
Me: haha, I'm really confused

Random Person: Sounds like it

Me: I don't even know who this is

Random Person: Neither do I but hello

Me: I mean you - I don't recognize your IM name

Random Person: Yah i was supprised to see someone i dont knoe

Me: haha... you have me on your buddy list but you don't know who I am?
Me: I mean, not that I'm anyone important or anything... although I suppose I could be

Random Person: Visit my Mall free games on game page
Random Person: http://Harrisonsonlinemall.com
Random Person: Everyone is important
Random Person: Do not know the name

Me: what if it turns out that I am particularly important though?

Random Person: The computer sayse you are not in my contacts
Random Person: Everyone is important

Me: for all you know I could be an infamous pirate, or an alien sleeper agent
Me: probably a cyborg

Random Person: If you are Welcome to Earth

Me: Your planet is okay
Me: not really worth conquering
Me: I mean it's as easy as pressing a button but we're not in the mood

Random Person: Yah I think so now that Bush is gone

Me: I'll let you know if that changes though

Random Person: Great

Words are fun!

Let's expand our vocabulary together!
If you use any of these words at some point this week, let me know and I will give you a high five along with my unending respect.

Milquetoast: A timid or cowardly person.
Example: "Quit being a milquetoast and order the hot wings!"

Maelstrom: A large, powerful or violent whirlpool
Example: "I tried to park the car and I was surrounded by a maelstrom of suicidal drivers!"

Culdesac: A dead end alleyway. May be used metaphorically.
Example: "I'm sorry Johnny, but this relationship is a culdesac of agony."

Anachronism: Something or someone that is not in its correct historical period.
Example: "Did you see what Denise was wearing last night!? She's a walking anachronism!"

Paradigm: A pattern or model.
Example: "You're going to need a new paradigm if you want to beat me at Street Fighter."

Lilliputian: Small, diminuitive, narrow, insignificant.
Example: "Your comprehension of Star Trek fan culture is lilliputian, to say the least."

Now go start an argument with someone and watch them blink in shame after unleashing one of these super-words on their poor unsuspecting rhetoric. You can thank me later!

I celebrate the day

Merry Christmas to my beloved blog readers - both of you!

-----------------

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life
Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

Proverbs

This is going to be a little disjointed... stick with me... You may have noticed a recurring theme with my admittedly flew-and-far-between blog posts. Somewhere along the lines we decided that to be loved is to be popular. Hopefully this latest post will more or less wrap it up my thoughts on it.

"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses" - Proverbs 27:6

I've read this verse so many countless times and always felt like I had it down pretty good... I like to think that I'm generally a pretty difficult person to offend, and I'd rather be told the hard truth than comfortable lies. But what happens when you're on the other end of the equation, when you know what's right and you know that someone you care very much about won't like it? I would so much rather be the one who gets wounded. I would rather be a punching bag than the bad guy. Sometimes I wonder if this is some form of selfishness. It's easy to hurt if you're well-liked. You can be treated horribly and yet console yourself because the same person who is tearing you apart says they love you.

I've always had this perception about people who are in abusive relationships - whether it's physically or emotionally or whatever. I was under the impression that they're in that mess because they don't think they deserve something better. Maybe that's true sometimes. But maybe a lot of the time it's because like I said, it's so much easier to be a punching bag if it's someone that says they love you. In some strange way, being a "martyr" like this can even make you proud - you can start to think that you're better than them. When they hurt you, you can comfort yourself because you "know" that you love them more than they love you. There's this bizarre thing that happens where the more abuse you take, the more it stokes your ego.

The problem is that it's not necessarily true. Taking a lot of damage from someone because you like them doesn't make you a better person. I don't think these are the "wounds" that this proverb is talking about. In fact it's just the opposite.

The wounds a friend inflicts, are done so out of love. It's a friend who says "I have to do what's best for them, even though they'll probably hate me for it." It's a friend who says "If I have to be the bad guy, I don't care. As long as they're okay."

The enemy's kisses say "No, stay here. I have every intention to keep hurting you. But I don't care if I hurt you. I just want you. And I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you keep giving me what I want."

So I guess there's two sides to this. Do you love someone so much you don't care if they hate you as long as they're all right? Or are you so selfish you will give someone whatever you have to, to keep them infatuated with you, no matter how much you're hurting them?

And on the flipside... is the hurt that you're feeling just the result of your ego being damaged? Deep down do you know they're right and they're just trying to help? Or is it because the person you trust does nothing but betray you when their own desires conflict with your wellbeing? Don't let false humility cloud your judgment on this, really think about it.

It seems like the older I get, the more these silly old proverbs mean to me.

Ever feel like that?

And we could ride all night
To the place of a blinking light
Wishing traffic was faster
Traffic was faster
Keeping safe distance
But courting disaster
We could dance all night
To the sounds of a starting fight
Hoping change would come around
Change would come around
Amazing division
How sweet the sound

Blame Me! Blame Me! Blame Me!
For mistakes you've made
But you can't own
Hate Me! Hate Me! Hate Me!
For every honest word
That you postpone
Leave me out of this
Lights on sinking ships
Are gleaming! gleaming! gleaming!
For mistakes you've made
But you can't own

And we could stare all day
At problems that will go away
Silence is pounding
Silence is pounding
You're wearing me down
These corners, they're rounding
We could scream all night
You know there's love still left inside
Stop saying you're sorry
All of these words feel so very empty

Blame Me! Blame Me! Blame Me!
For mistakes you've made
But you can't own
Hate Me! Hate Me! Hate Me!
For every honest word
That you postpone
Leave me out of this
Lights on sinking ships
Are gleaming! gleaming! gleaming!
For mistakes you've made
But you can't own

Torturing ourselves
We must be into the abuse
If you're the rope that ties us together
Then please make me a new sad speech
Or leave and beg me just to stay
Used to run to my arms
But now I'm pulling away
Come and go as you please
I'm like a part time lover
With well worn knees
Well come on

A lesson about heroism

I think every guy wants to be a hero, deep down inside. Every guy wants to swoop in to the rescue of some fair maiden and kill a dragon. Maybe it's nature's way of ensuring reproduction. Maybe it's got nothing to do with sex and it's just a natural desire to do something noble and right. Pedophiles are beat up in prison because even in that swarm of decadence there is still a sense of honor and justice among twisted minds, even if it's wrong.

Every guy wants to be a hero, and every guy expects that beyond that act of heroism is the "happily ever after" in some sense whether it's metaphorical or literal. Everyone expects glory to follow heroism. After all that's how it works in the movies.

But I've learned that this is not what lies at the end of the hero's road. There is no princess. If you really want to see what awaits every would-be hero, it's this:


A crucifix. Death to self. That one thing you desire, however big or small, you must ultimately deny. Jesus warns us throughout the gospel that everyone who does what He calls them to do, will have a martyr's death to look forward to. And then He went and died a martyr's death. I thought he wasn't really that serious. Turns out he is. He wasn't joking when he promised that if you want to do what's right you're going to have to give up that one thing you wanted.

You want to be a "hero"? It's going to cost you. Whatever it is at the top of your list of wants and desires, that is what it costs. It's going to hit you where it hurts. I promise you beloved, you will find yourself bruised, bloody, naked and screaming for God. Just a fraction of what Christ went through.

If you genuinely want to be a hero, if you genuinely want to make a difference for another person, this is what it costs.

And yet I'm glad I did it.