"People wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature; people wonder why it is read more than books of science or books of metaphysics. The reason is very simple; it is merely that the novel is more true than they are. Life may sometimes legitimately appear as a book of science. Life may sometimes appear, and with a much greater legitimacy, as a book of metaphysics. But life is always a novel. Our existence may cease to be a song; it may cease even to be a beautiful lament. Our existence may not be an intelligible justice, or even a recognizable wrong. But our existence is still a story. In the fiery alphabet of every sunset is written, 'to be continued...'"
- GK Chesterton, Heretics
“...while most of us realize how dangerous it is to expose ourselves to immoral content, we often fail to realize that the form of popular culture affects us just as much – not only what is said but also how it is said… The best way to grasp this is by a comparison to high culture. A sonnet or a symphony has a complex structure that takes some effort to understand. It challenges us; we have to work to appreciate it. That’s why we study Shakespeare in English classes and Mozart in music-appreciation courses. But who takes courses to understand Madonna? Who needs to? Who takes Soap Opera 101? Who needs Cliff’s Notes to understand a Harlequin romance?”
- Chuck Colson, How Now Shall We Live?
Let us remember that our brains are capable of far more than we demand from them; our minds will stretch as far as we ask them to. We will never see or reach or rise above our highest effort, and we live in an age which is viscerally opposed to effort in any exercise which does not involve money or physical fitness, and that is because we have to earn money so as not to starve to death, and we tend to be too obsessed with our looks. Every other part of our lives is a constant, uncomprehending race away from effort, discomfort, or inconvenience. We either expect things to be made automatic by technology, or avoidable by some hireling. But while we admit that the discipline to excel at our jobs in unavoidable, and physical fitness cannot be proxied, we frequently have no such understanding or concern about our spirits, in spite of the fact that scripture assumes everywhere that we will pour out our lives as a 'living sacrifice'. Small investment always yields small benefits, especially within the threshold of eternity.
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6 comments:
Wow Josh. I love that comment "Physical fitness can't be proxied". When we think about it, nothing that really matters to us is ever proxied. We can measure what doesn't matter to us by seeing what we proxy and what we personally attend to.
Perhaps it is time to exegete Madonna. I read both classic and current literature. When I want to understand Everyman of the American dream, I read John Updike or Tom Wolfe. When I want to know what contemporary culture looks like from the insider's POV, I don't read Colson, I read Sophie Kinsella.
But for the sheer appreciation of books, no one can beat Diane Sutterfield's masterpiece, "The Thirteenth Tale". I challenge anyone to try and put it down after starting it, and to not want to read more after finishing it.
Josh
Karl Marx said religion is the opiate of the people. I say religion is the proxy of the spiritually slothful. By that I mean we are meant to have a relationship with Jesus. When that becomes too invasive, too difficult, too time consuming, too uncomfortable, or too ... anything else we rely on a series of religious disciplines to take it's place.
Read the Bible, do unto others, say the right things, read the right books, sing the right songs. Too many people end up with this relationship by proxy and miss out on the relationship God is waiting to have with them.
Mike; thanks for your comment! I've never tried the Thirteenth Tale, but I want to look it up. After I've paid my overdue fine at the local library, I'll see if they have it. I recently read The God Delusion by R. Dawkins and God is not Great by Hitchens. I'm building up to them.
My brother said you are pretty savvy about this sort of thing, so I'm wondering if you can tell me something about the Blue Ridge Mtns Christian Writers' conference. I was thinking of going, but I'm vaguely worried that it will turn out to be 99.9% pop-chick lit. Any thoughts?
One of my favorite novels is a book about books by Umberto Eco called The Name of the Rose. It is a ponderous but enjoyable period novel which revels in the mysticism of the written word, and also includes some juicy murders. Ha.
That's funny ... I was at Borders yesterday and I saw Dawkins' book, then I saw a book called The Dawkins Delusion.
Admittedly I know nothing about either, so I await your thoughts.
Josh: You're fairly astute. This Blue Ridge is mostly women writers, though there are a lot of men who go it (and a few who lecture as well).
For a more balanced conference, Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference at the Mount Herman Center near Santa Cruz at the end of this month would be much better I would think
Mike,
The problem, I guess, is $$. I have an opportunity to apply for a scholarship to the Blue Ridge conference, so if I get that it'll be free. But I'll check the other one out too, because you never know.
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