Common Senseless

He sent me a link. This was to yet another app. He loves apps. I just noticed that when I typed in “app” it wasn't underlined as a misspelled word. Apparently even my word processor has accepted the term as a new word. 

This bothers me. I don’t have the same enthusiasm for daily updates in appville (my software didn’t recognize “appville” - this makes me happy because it gives me a point  up in the fast paced inventing new words game). 

I get it. I know that modern technology has become something akin to life as we have known it but on steroids. I get that the “next new thing” must happen before the majority of the population has even discovered there was a last new thing. I also get that the driving force is about not just replacing what came before even if it isn’t a better way to do a thing, but rather a way to coax us into the addiction to all things new so that we will want whatever it is without question. I get it that this is founded in rampant commercialism and not in the altruistic desire to better mankind’s condition.

Well, here’s a confession. I don’t need new just because it is labeled new. Like Dyson I just need things to work properly. If it works, why replace it with something else that may or may not work better and probably takes more effort, devises and/or steps to complete? 

I get it.  I am a lone voice of resistance in the brave new world. I am definitely not new. I am not even old anymore, I am officially antique. 

However. 

I still know how to do things, without apps, without Facebook, without Twitter. I can create an html page and get it up on the web, even though the software has gone from easy to use to almost impossible because what could once be done in two steps now takes five or six. Easy has been redefined to mean “whatever is new so disregard  everything else even if it is more complex and way less easy”.  And further, my webpage, as designed using archaic skills, won’t look exactly like all other webpages in the current trending pattern. (Trending - that’s a new word. It means what the sheep...uh...er...people are pandering after in a given moment. This changes hourly).  

I can predict what the next “new” hairstyle will be. Short. (That’s a future blog post).

I can find my way to a place with a printed map. Shockingly this is more often than not more reliable than the bad directions given by my smooth-talking GPS lady who tells me I have arrived at my destination and yet I am pretty sure I haven't..

I can read a book without having to charge it first. And it works every time.

I can divide 90 by 18 and get the answer “5” in one step instead of 104 steps even though Common Core says my answer is wrong.

I don’t need to be profiled, categorized, classified or relegated so that the deluge of advertising thrown at me is more likely to fit my wants. What I want is to be left to my own determinations about what I need and want. Like back in the old days when humans were allowed to be diverse and less able to be anticipated.

Yes, I am an antique which means I am also one of the last of the generation of independent thinkers who still evaluates all things utilizing criteria founded in near extinct common sense.

If I had to, I could wash my dishes by hand. I could rinse out dirty clothes and hang them up to dry. I could make a meal on a campfire. Do I want to? Not so much. No one appreciates indoor plumbing as much as I. I enjoy the instant, unlimited access to knowledge via the internet. I enjoy being able to post my ramblings in this blog for whomever might stumble on it. But while I am engaged and participating in the new paradigm I insist on maintaining a measure of common sense that allows me to discern the truth from the lies. To sort and file based on my conclusions, even if no one else agrees. To decide if a new thing is indeed better or not...for me. To make choices for myself only after I scrutinize all the angles and then ask the question, “Is this an improvement or just another attempt to force me to part with my hard earned common sense and/or money?” 

And, the age-old question that my mom instilled in me, “Is it better just because everyone else is doing it?”

From this rant one might deduce that I am opposed to technological progress but that would be incorrect. What I am opposed to is mindless acceptance of every and all new innovation. It is a dangerous condition that is causing the rapid dissolution of what used to keep civilization civil and has now put us on the fast-track to self-destruction. Some will argue that it’s okay though because the train is the latest, newest, bestest of the best. 

My word processor, (that I do so appreciate), does not like the word ‘bestest”. Another point for me, I'm on a roll.

For Him,

Meema

(Daniel 12:4) But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.  (note: knowledge is not wisdom)

Love Isn't. . .

Years ago, back when I still acquired my daily dose of news from a newspaper, I always finished up by turning to the comic page looking for the touching, single frame cartoon titled “Love Is...” by artist Kim Casali.  It featured two cherub-like characters sketched in scenarios that represented a simplistic definition of what love is. “Love is...your anchor” “Love is...when it’s just great being together” “Love is...sharing the same dream”. The sweet little couple expressed the never ending positive views of love and over time “Love is...” became an industry and familiar iconic phrase in modern lexicon. 

Love is... (fill in the blank).

In the English language the word “love” is more or less generic and used to cover all manner of ways for one to express devotion or affection for another unlike in the Greek which distinguishes love in several senses depending on the way in which the word is used. For example, ancient Greek has the words philia, or brotherly love, eros, physical love, agape, idealistic love, and storge, for child/parent love. 

Christians believe that to love God with all your heart, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself are the two most important kinds of love in life. The Apostle Paul glorified love as the most important virtue of all. Describing love in the famous poem in 1 Corinthians, he wrote, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres."

The short version of first Corinthians 13:4-8, as used frequently in wedding ceremonies, lists fifteen attributes of love, seven of which speaks of what love is and does. The remaining eight items addresses things that love isn’t. For example, love is not jealous, envious or possessive.

In my life I have had more than enough experience with the complex and various manifestations of love that has taught me how to discern when love is genuine, whether  it is agape, philos, eros, or storge, and when it is something else masquerading as love. Unfortunately, because love taps into emotions instead of intellect, love is easy to imitate. Love can often be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a dark devourer dressed in artificial light. Synthetic love is enticing and speaks glibly, making promises it rarely keeps or, even worse, enslaves with guilt because of promises endowed. In comparison, real love does more and speaks less. 

Of all the things that love is, there are as many attributes that love, real love, is not.  Most importantly, among these, love does not loudly demand loyalty, rather it chooses to earn devotion gently, quietly. Sometimes, because of circumstances and affiliations, one might find it easier to capitulate to the dictates of imitation love, if only to silence the din. That’s when real love shows its true character by remaining even more silent. That’s when real love waits patiently, never drawing attention to itself, never issuing ultimatums or imposing its own will. For this reason real love is often taken for granted and/or ignored. It is the first great failing of humans, to misinterpret what love really is. The second is assuming that real love never needs anything in return. But even love eventually needs affirmation of love and loyalty back, needs reciprocating, because though real love is indeed patient... it isn’t blind. 

Love is...often better revealed in what love isn’t.

The beginning of a brand new year is the best time to figure out and stand up for real love. 

For Christ,

Meema

(Rev. 2:1) To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, he that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks:  (2:2) I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them that call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false;  (2:3) and thou hast patience and didst bear for my name's sake, and hast not grown weary.  (2:4) But I have [this] against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.  (2:5) Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.  

Silence

As the year wraps up, it’s a common practice to reflect on the previous twelve months and count blessings, failures, successes and, above all, what was learned, if anything. At least I do. I’ve been measuring my progress in yearly increments since childhood. Some years I proudly note strides, other years I barely manage to claim having maintained status quo. All in all, in this winding down stage, I am grateful for anything and everything, including status quo. Mostly I live in my own little world anyway, but they know me here so it’s okay. Whatever I do, or don’t do, accomplish or not, isn’t earth-changing and isn’t the thing that everything else is hinged upon, which is not a small comfort, I admit.

This year, however, I’m more focused on something other than my own report; I’ve been thinking about the impact of silence and when it is a good thing as well as when it is bad.

Silence is a noun but it can also be a powerful verb. In the doing it can often accomplish ten-fold more than the noise of disingenuous words. So, silence used properly can shut down contentious debates and quickly remove the vehicle for nefarious lying. Who hasn’t resorted to silence on occasion to put an end to conflict? When one is hiding from a threat, one instinctively goes silent and thus silence becomes a defense mechanism. Sometimes silence is often the only possible equalizer in a situation where there can never be balance or consensus. Faced with knowing that what one has to say has no chance of being heard, one is effectively muted for lack of fuel to continue.

I can recall several occasions, and for different reasons, that I have utilized silence as a way to declare there was nothing left to say. In each case I will never know whether or not my silence caused angst or frustration or any kind of detriment though I can assume it did because the absence of sound usually leaves a void of unanswered questions on both ends. Life is rarely tidy and sometimes things must simply hang out unfinished, unresolved and left to ongoing speculation, if for nothing else, in the interest of prudence. Sometimes this kind of non-ending is merited because it was inevitable anyway, other times it’s a hard pill to swallow, especially when it wasn’t expected or foreseen. It just happens, like a blow from behind, and then...nothing, no reason, no explanation. 

There have been times when I elected to go silent to stop myself from saying something I instinctively knew I might regret someday; a classic example of silence being golden. 

Many times I have been able to walk away from strife of one kind or another by choosing to shut up so I can easily sympathize with someone else who takes that road. And this is why I am unable to judge another for doing so; I get it, completely. But there is a subtle difference between acquiescing to keep the peace, and knuckling under to sinister intentions or influence. That is when silence, coerced in one way or another, is most assuredly not gold. 

The decision to speak or not speak is always a painful judgment call. There are times when words left unspoken are the very ones that should have been said even though breaking the silence risks causing discord. Wars have be launched on less. Stephen, the Apostle, found out the dire consequences of choosing to speak over remaining silent. But what he said needed saying and though he paid the ultimate price for it, he looked up to glimpse his reward for having said it.

Personally, and keeping it real, I’ve never experienced a reconciliation once silence has fully closed a door, whether I closed it or it was closed on me. But I am experienced enough to realize and accept that, even though silence most definitely is better than witless yammering, a day is rapidly approaching, if not already here, when those who choose silence for the wrong reasons, find out that while a thing said cannot be unsaid, a thing that ought to be said does far more damage in all directions when it is silenced.

What I learned in 2013 about silence is that it works both ways, for good and for bad.  Knowing the difference is the blessing. 

For Christ,

Meema

(Acts 7:57) But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord;  (7:58) and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.  (7:59) And they stoned Stephen, calling upon [the Lord], and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.  (7:60) And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.