I am a hypocrite; I admit it. It is just that I have trouble when my ideology collides with my reality. It happened several months ago when I admitted in my blog that I support gun control laws until my own loved ones are threatened in some way. I then do a 180 degree reversal. I am doing it again after listening for the past week or so to both sides of the American torture controversy. And again, my position involves putting my family in a hypothetical situation.
On the one hand, I agree with John McCain and others that torture rarely ever leads to any real and viable information. On the other, however, as I watched a television discussion on the subject last week, one of the e-mails that came in asked a rather startling question. It was, "If your child could be freed from possible death at the hands of terrorists, would you support torture?" In my mind, I immediately responded, "Yes!"
I wish I wasn't so wishy-washy and could take political positions and stand by them. I remind myself of a good friend who recently stated, "I believe whatever the last thing I read." One aspect that I do take pride in is that I listen to both sides of an argument. Since I taught argumentative writing at the college level, I know the value of giving some weight to opposing viewpoints. I am afraid, however, that my emotions tend to take precedence over my intellectual side too often.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Disappearing Southern Women
As I listened to Rick Bragg's presentation last week at the Arkansas Literary Festival, he gave a quote by William Faulkner that I have not heard before then. It basically went like this: "Women disappear from Southern towns like beads off a broken strand of pearls." The quote was startling and immediately made me analyze the reasons why this statement could possibly be true. By the next morning at the Literary Festival, as I attended South Carolina writer Dorothy Allison's question and answer session, I realized I had known the answer all along.
As for me, I left my home state of Mississippi the week after I graduated from high school. It was a planned move a long while in coming since I had made the decision at age fifteen. My family, unlike that of Dorothy Allison, did not include numerous cousins and siblings who were subject to drug addiction, early deaths from reckless driving, accidental drownings, and early pregnancies. I had a sister only, and my mother had been an only child. The element that does bind me to Allison's story is that we were both victims of sexual abuse at an early age, by a stepfather for her and a step great grandfather for me. One of my new friends recently told me her abuser was a surrogate uncle.
As children we are, of course, helpless to change our situations because someone has to take care of us in our early years. We become our own advocates, however, as we approach the magical age of eighteen and the possibility of our independence at last. The road for Allison, for Bragg (who suffered much in the hands of an alcoholic father), for me, and for many other Southerners can be a torturous one as we move from the dysfunction of our families to mental and emotional recovery. We cannot do this by staying in the South.
We simply feel we must leave the scene of the crimes committed against us in order to heal. Often, ironically, we choose--after a number of years away--to return to our home states. Perhaps through our writing and speaking of childhood horrors others might be saved from such a fate. We can only hope that to be true.
As for me, I left my home state of Mississippi the week after I graduated from high school. It was a planned move a long while in coming since I had made the decision at age fifteen. My family, unlike that of Dorothy Allison, did not include numerous cousins and siblings who were subject to drug addiction, early deaths from reckless driving, accidental drownings, and early pregnancies. I had a sister only, and my mother had been an only child. The element that does bind me to Allison's story is that we were both victims of sexual abuse at an early age, by a stepfather for her and a step great grandfather for me. One of my new friends recently told me her abuser was a surrogate uncle.
As children we are, of course, helpless to change our situations because someone has to take care of us in our early years. We become our own advocates, however, as we approach the magical age of eighteen and the possibility of our independence at last. The road for Allison, for Bragg (who suffered much in the hands of an alcoholic father), for me, and for many other Southerners can be a torturous one as we move from the dysfunction of our families to mental and emotional recovery. We cannot do this by staying in the South.
We simply feel we must leave the scene of the crimes committed against us in order to heal. Often, ironically, we choose--after a number of years away--to return to our home states. Perhaps through our writing and speaking of childhood horrors others might be saved from such a fate. We can only hope that to be true.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The New Authority
My Wednesday book study group has been reading Phyllis Tickle's new book The Great Emergence. Her thesis is basically that every five hundred years in the history of religion a great cataclysmic change of some type occurs. She asserts that we are now in such a time period.
For example, she goes back in time to five hundred years before now and points out the beginning of the Reformation as the Protestants broke away from the authority of the Catholic Church. The new authority at that time became "Scripture and Scripture only." Five hundred years before the Reformation there occurred the Great Schism between the Eastern church and the Western church. Before that, five hundred years approximately, the Dark Ages ushered in a long period of monastic tradition. When we return to the years 70-130 of the common era, we find the beginnings of the Christian church and its break with traditional Judaism.
On the one hand, as we review this church history, change seems inevitable and evolving. On the other hand, we might be fearful of whatever changes might lie ahead for us. Tickle's point about these "great emergence" periods, however, is that they are always divided into two parts that become stronger than ever before. We need only to look at the growth and proliferation of Protestant churches as one proof.
The new authority of the 21st century, Tickle suggests, is going to be an emergent "beloved community" where all work together as the early New Testament church did to provide for the needs of all its members. She argues that the Bible will no longer be valid as the authority since numerous scholarly articles and books have been written recently to suggest the somewhat arbitrary nature in which the Bible was assembled. In addition, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls have challenged traditional beliefs. The Bible may no longer have the inerrant content and infallibility that Protestants once believed.
I personally have believed in the Bible's Truth as authority for too many years to support this new theory though I am open to seeing how a new community of believers might work. As a relatively new Episcopalian, I value already both tradition and Scripture, but I am now open more to using experience and rationality as an additional test of faith.
For example, she goes back in time to five hundred years before now and points out the beginning of the Reformation as the Protestants broke away from the authority of the Catholic Church. The new authority at that time became "Scripture and Scripture only." Five hundred years before the Reformation there occurred the Great Schism between the Eastern church and the Western church. Before that, five hundred years approximately, the Dark Ages ushered in a long period of monastic tradition. When we return to the years 70-130 of the common era, we find the beginnings of the Christian church and its break with traditional Judaism.
On the one hand, as we review this church history, change seems inevitable and evolving. On the other hand, we might be fearful of whatever changes might lie ahead for us. Tickle's point about these "great emergence" periods, however, is that they are always divided into two parts that become stronger than ever before. We need only to look at the growth and proliferation of Protestant churches as one proof.
The new authority of the 21st century, Tickle suggests, is going to be an emergent "beloved community" where all work together as the early New Testament church did to provide for the needs of all its members. She argues that the Bible will no longer be valid as the authority since numerous scholarly articles and books have been written recently to suggest the somewhat arbitrary nature in which the Bible was assembled. In addition, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls have challenged traditional beliefs. The Bible may no longer have the inerrant content and infallibility that Protestants once believed.
I personally have believed in the Bible's Truth as authority for too many years to support this new theory though I am open to seeing how a new community of believers might work. As a relatively new Episcopalian, I value already both tradition and Scripture, but I am now open more to using experience and rationality as an additional test of faith.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sustaining the Weary with a Word
In church the other Sunday, one of the key verses we heard read was from the book of Isaiah, chapter 50, verse 4: "The Lord God has given Me / The tongue of the learned, / That I should know how to speak / A word in season to him who is weary." Almost from the very beginning of my life, I have longed to become a teacher. Since I was raised in poverty, it seemed a goal that was quite distant from the reality of my daily life. I always instinctively believed, however, that education would be a key to the escape for which I longed.
I married at age twenty after working as a secretary for a couple of years in Wichita. During the time I was working in an office full-time each day, I also attended night classes at Wichita State University to pursue my goal slowly of teaching English at the high school level. Since my husband also wanted to pursue a professional career, we decided to get loans (it was the early 60's and money was freely available through government loans from the National Defense Education Act). I began my first teaching position as an adjunct at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, and then went on to add another thirty-four years to my teaching career before I retired in 2006. I sometimes wonder about the worth of my work though. Teaching is not easily measurable. Today, especially, it is a great challenge.
Much research has been devoted to analyzing the nature of today's student who has been reared watching television, playing video games, seeing movies, searching computers for information and for social networking, watching DVD's, and so on. We teachers have taken many short term workshops to learn how to become "guides on the side" rather than "sages on the stage." We have learned that today's students simply cannot endure too much content and must learn more through cooperative groups and case studies. For myself, I have also believed that students struggle with a variety of personal struggles that need our attention as teachers. As the verse in Isaiah says, I believe we are to sustain the weary with a word. We are there to be counselors as well as teachers. I hope I have done both in my long career in the classroom.
One of my favorite plays through the years was Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons. The famous dialogue between Sir Thomas More and Richard Rich has always been rich for me as well:
"Why not be a teacher? You'd be a fine teacher, perhaps a great one."
"If I was, who would know it?
"You, your pupils, your friends, God. Not a bad public, that."
Since teaching is a career whose worth and value are not easily measured, we can only hope that, in the eyes of God, we have done an acceptable job.
I married at age twenty after working as a secretary for a couple of years in Wichita. During the time I was working in an office full-time each day, I also attended night classes at Wichita State University to pursue my goal slowly of teaching English at the high school level. Since my husband also wanted to pursue a professional career, we decided to get loans (it was the early 60's and money was freely available through government loans from the National Defense Education Act). I began my first teaching position as an adjunct at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, and then went on to add another thirty-four years to my teaching career before I retired in 2006. I sometimes wonder about the worth of my work though. Teaching is not easily measurable. Today, especially, it is a great challenge.
Much research has been devoted to analyzing the nature of today's student who has been reared watching television, playing video games, seeing movies, searching computers for information and for social networking, watching DVD's, and so on. We teachers have taken many short term workshops to learn how to become "guides on the side" rather than "sages on the stage." We have learned that today's students simply cannot endure too much content and must learn more through cooperative groups and case studies. For myself, I have also believed that students struggle with a variety of personal struggles that need our attention as teachers. As the verse in Isaiah says, I believe we are to sustain the weary with a word. We are there to be counselors as well as teachers. I hope I have done both in my long career in the classroom.
One of my favorite plays through the years was Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons. The famous dialogue between Sir Thomas More and Richard Rich has always been rich for me as well:
"Why not be a teacher? You'd be a fine teacher, perhaps a great one."
"If I was, who would know it?
"You, your pupils, your friends, God. Not a bad public, that."
Since teaching is a career whose worth and value are not easily measured, we can only hope that, in the eyes of God, we have done an acceptable job.
Friday, April 10, 2009
"How Can You Blog About Mowing the Yard?"
Yesterday morning as I left the study in our home, my husband asked if I had been e-mailing all that time. I replied, "No, I was blogging," to which his response was, "How can you blog about mowing the yard?" I laughed and said, "You're funny!" I have to admit I am not a big blog reader, but I know there are literally millions out there online. It made me think a little about the difference though between blogs and twitters. As I understand the world of twitter, though I have never tried it, one posts a tiny message of 100 characters or so, basically telling what he or she is doing at the moment. As I think about both methods of discourse, I prefer not to be limited to actions only; I would rather speak of ideas, hopes, and dreams.
I remember keeping a diary as a young adolescent. As I read passages from it today, I am amused that I wrote only my daily activities, i. e. "I went to Clarksdale this morning with Gram and got a new sweater and skirt. Then we bought groceries at Kroger. Got home around 11:30 and ate dinner." My question, of course, about the nature now of a public blog or twitter is, "Does anyone out there really care what we are doing or thinking?" My purpose in retirement for writing a blog is two-fold: keeping in touch with a small cadre of relatives and friends and writing about issues that I believe other retirees also care about.
We all know the society is moving away from print media rapidly, and there is major employee trauma about layouts in the publishing industry and the newspaper business. Perhaps blogs and twitters can somehow be preserved for future generations as a guide to what our society was like in 2009. I hope, however, that they will say more about our interior lives than our daily activities like mowing the yard.
I remember keeping a diary as a young adolescent. As I read passages from it today, I am amused that I wrote only my daily activities, i. e. "I went to Clarksdale this morning with Gram and got a new sweater and skirt. Then we bought groceries at Kroger. Got home around 11:30 and ate dinner." My question, of course, about the nature now of a public blog or twitter is, "Does anyone out there really care what we are doing or thinking?" My purpose in retirement for writing a blog is two-fold: keeping in touch with a small cadre of relatives and friends and writing about issues that I believe other retirees also care about.
We all know the society is moving away from print media rapidly, and there is major employee trauma about layouts in the publishing industry and the newspaper business. Perhaps blogs and twitters can somehow be preserved for future generations as a guide to what our society was like in 2009. I hope, however, that they will say more about our interior lives than our daily activities like mowing the yard.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Present Joys and Future Griefs
Our book club has just completed a discussion of J. M. Coetzee's latest novel, Diary of a Bad Year. Its format is creative since it tells three stories simultaneously. At the top of each page, the narrator has an essay on a variety of topics, including politics, probability, birds, and so on. In the middle of the page, the dialogue centers on conversations between the narrator and his secretary-typist. At the bottom of the page, the conversations occur between the secretary-typist and her lover. Strangely enough, the novel works and a complete story is told. One of the essays that I found fascinating as a novice writer myself is that on the techniques of the masters of literature: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Homer. At one point, Coetzee states, "Behind every paragraph the reader ought to to be able to hear the music of present joy and future grief." As illustrations, he speaks of Hector's father asking the king for his son's body and one of the characters from War and Peace getting his horse ready for battle on the day that he will die.
I believe Coetzee has captured the reason why so many modern authors are unable to reach the pinnacle of writing success that the old masters did from the literary canon. The works fail to achieve dramatic irony that tugs on the hearts of readers as they read about characters' "present joy and future grief." I wonder if our writing classes should focus on achieving this technique. The closest writer I have read recently who is able to still accomplish this goal is Wendell Berry. In his small novel Hannah Coulter, he writes of a young man saying goodbye to his new wife, the poignancy of the moment, and the complete unawareness that he was soon to become listed as Missing in Action--"present joy and future grief." I agree that few writers however, as Coetzee reiterates, can accomplish this goal.
I believe Coetzee has captured the reason why so many modern authors are unable to reach the pinnacle of writing success that the old masters did from the literary canon. The works fail to achieve dramatic irony that tugs on the hearts of readers as they read about characters' "present joy and future grief." I wonder if our writing classes should focus on achieving this technique. The closest writer I have read recently who is able to still accomplish this goal is Wendell Berry. In his small novel Hannah Coulter, he writes of a young man saying goodbye to his new wife, the poignancy of the moment, and the complete unawareness that he was soon to become listed as Missing in Action--"present joy and future grief." I agree that few writers however, as Coetzee reiterates, can accomplish this goal.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
To Forgive Or Not to Forgive
The news unfortunately has been filled with heinous murders over the past few weeks. So far more than fifty people have been slaughtered, for seemingly no reason, by men who evidently have recently lost their jobs, who have feared losing their gun rights in the new administration, who have been severely depressed because of treatment by others, or who are simply paranoid. In addition, several young girls have disappeared from their homes or neighborhoods and are assumed to be dead. The latest is eight-year-old Sandra Cantu in California whose body was just found in a black suitcase floating in water. I have often wondered what our responsibility as Christians is to forgive these perpetrators.
Yes, God in His Word speaks frequently of the idea of forgiveness. He gives us many illustrations of the importance of forgiving others. One of my colleagues at the university where I taught for twenty-two years had a lot of trouble with forgiving. She was attacked while a graduate student in New Orleans by several young men who said and did vile things while she was trapped in a phone booth. As a result of the experience, she has suffered for years from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She does not believe she could ever forgive these men for their actions.
Does God make any distinction between those we should forgive and those who must be forgiven by God only? Perhaps there is a glimpse of an answer in the New Testament passage, Matthew 18, verses 21-35. This group of verses speaks of the disciple Peter who comes to Jesus and asks, "Lord how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus' response is remarkable when he says, " . . . up to seventy times seven." In other words we are to forgive endlessly. Jesus goes on to give a parable of the servant who failed to forgive
his fellow servants their debts. Christ then concludes by saying we simply must forgive our brother his trespasses
I believe the key word in the passage is perhaps the use of the word brother. I believe we are commanded to forgive those with whom we have a relationship before the trespass takes place. I do not believe, however, we have an obligation to forgive a stranger who does us harm. I believe forgiveness, or condemnation, must be in the hands of God for the murderers of young children and the general population.
Yes, God in His Word speaks frequently of the idea of forgiveness. He gives us many illustrations of the importance of forgiving others. One of my colleagues at the university where I taught for twenty-two years had a lot of trouble with forgiving. She was attacked while a graduate student in New Orleans by several young men who said and did vile things while she was trapped in a phone booth. As a result of the experience, she has suffered for years from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She does not believe she could ever forgive these men for their actions.
Does God make any distinction between those we should forgive and those who must be forgiven by God only? Perhaps there is a glimpse of an answer in the New Testament passage, Matthew 18, verses 21-35. This group of verses speaks of the disciple Peter who comes to Jesus and asks, "Lord how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus' response is remarkable when he says, " . . . up to seventy times seven." In other words we are to forgive endlessly. Jesus goes on to give a parable of the servant who failed to forgive
his fellow servants their debts. Christ then concludes by saying we simply must forgive our brother his trespasses
I believe the key word in the passage is perhaps the use of the word brother. I believe we are commanded to forgive those with whom we have a relationship before the trespass takes place. I do not believe, however, we have an obligation to forgive a stranger who does us harm. I believe forgiveness, or condemnation, must be in the hands of God for the murderers of young children and the general population.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Our Liberation Narratives
During the recent presidential campaign, the idea of liberation theology received a lot of negative publicity because of its association with the radical views of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I have been thinking about the topic again, however, based upon a recent article I have read on the ministry of Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan. It seems that Bell has departed from the traditional pastoral styles as taught in his previous college, Wheaton, and seminary, Fuller. He particularly wants to engage popular culture and move young adults beyond the controversial topics of the past fifteen years or so--gay marriage, abortion, and embryonic research. He wants them instead to broaden their thinking to include the poor, those infected with HIV, the environment, and the immigrants.
In an interview, Bell stated an interesting truth that I had not considered, "Our redemption experience is deeply tied to extending our redemption experiences to others." In other words, he says, God knows how forgetful we are as human beings, so much so that unless we connect our own personal salvation to "acts of justice, compassion and mercy," our faith is essentially dead.
God has given us stories that we need to share with others as our lives progress. The idea is not a new one to me, having been raised as a Southern Baptist. As members of that denomination, we were always encouraged to be able to share our "testimonies" or personal salvation experiences with others. The goal was to bring others into the fold of Christianity. As one who now attends an Episcopalian church, it seems a natural extension of the faith to be concerned with others who need our friendship, time, and love. James says in the New Testament that faith without works is not viable. We have an obligation to become involved in issues of social justice that will help liberate others--just as we ourselves have been liberated.
In an interview, Bell stated an interesting truth that I had not considered, "Our redemption experience is deeply tied to extending our redemption experiences to others." In other words, he says, God knows how forgetful we are as human beings, so much so that unless we connect our own personal salvation to "acts of justice, compassion and mercy," our faith is essentially dead.
God has given us stories that we need to share with others as our lives progress. The idea is not a new one to me, having been raised as a Southern Baptist. As members of that denomination, we were always encouraged to be able to share our "testimonies" or personal salvation experiences with others. The goal was to bring others into the fold of Christianity. As one who now attends an Episcopalian church, it seems a natural extension of the faith to be concerned with others who need our friendship, time, and love. James says in the New Testament that faith without works is not viable. We have an obligation to become involved in issues of social justice that will help liberate others--just as we ourselves have been liberated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
