The headline read, “Renowned climber dies in Himalayas.” I don’t know what drew my attention to a small article at the bottom of the page, tucked in the middle of a recent edition of the Columbus Dispatch.

Above all, he was a supreme climber who moved the boundaries of possible. He had an amazing gift and amazing strength. He was a mountaineering genius whose accomplishments have been admired by the whole world.”  [Comments made about veteran climber Tomaz Humar who was found dead in the Himalayas after he was injured and stranded.]

As I read the account, I wondered if — at the end of his life — this gifted climber felt the risks were worth the payoffs of reaching higher, being among the first to go solo, winning awards, and enjoying international fame.

This news story caused me to reflect. To question my own actions.

How does one know when to take the risk or take a pass?

To jump in the game or sit this one out?

When the next step is one step too far?

When innovation and courage becomes reckless?

I wondered if I may have been too quick to take risks in the past, cheered outlandish bravado instead of properly inspecting liability, treated the future carelessly.  The introspection and questions continued to linger.

Well, as luck would have it, I discovered answers a few days later — in the Sports Section of The Wall Street Journal of all places.

The article, “What’s so great about punting?” related how Coach Belichick was being ridiculed because he had recently made a risky decision which cost his New England Patriots the game to the Indianapolis Colts.

The call in question was to go for the yardage rather than play it safe and punt. The result caused Belichick to be called a fool and pundits declared it the worst coaching decision they had ever seen the coach make.

Hey, I thought, at least my foul-ups aren’t broadcast on television, discussed during post-game shows, and dissected in national newspapers.

But what I found to be most interesting was the research presented later in the article.  According to a recent study, people have an overwhelming tendency to make the supposedly safe choice — to err on the side of caution — even though doing so may lead to worse results.

Players who did something aggressive were more successful
than those who did something offensive.

Subjects made four times as many passive mistakes
as they did aggressive ones.

People embrace caution because of the regret they face
when it doesn’t turn out well for them.

It didn’t work out for Belichick this time.  But what if it had? Research shows that more often then not, the real gamble is playing it safe. Maybe the coach’s decision wasn’t that risky after all.

I realize every risk won’t result in success.  That my decision might be dangerous and uncomfortable, and I may suffer loss. But I also know that I will never reach distant shores if I choose to remain upon the dock, fearing that my little ship of dreams may be dashed upon the rock [F. Bolen].

If mistakes will be made whether I go for it or not, I figure I might as well embrace the risk. Climb to the top and enjoy the view. Push away from the dock and head toward the distant shore. Live the life I’ve imagined.

“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself” [Soren Kierkegaard].

Whatever you are, dare to be a good one!

Deanna

Dale Carnegie: Tell me what gives a man or woman their greatest pleasure and I’ll tell you their philosophy of life.

Real Carnegie: Tell me what gives a man or woman their greatest pleasure and I’ll sell it to ‘em.

Alphonse Karr: The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Carphone Warehouse: There ain’t nuthin’ new under de sun.

Ursula Le Guin: It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters, in the end.

Urge Le Goin: If you must travel, go First Class.

Soren Kierkegaard: Life must be understood backward. But it must be lived forward.

Liam Gallagher: Don’t look back in anger; throw the first punch.

Charles Schultz: I’ve developed a new philosophy… I only dread one day at a time.

Charlie Brown: I’m a miserable git.

Lao Tzu: The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

Low Shoe: The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a flat tyre.

John Keats: Beauty is truth, truth beauty –  that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Dodge McLarty: Don’t buy no ugly truck – it’s unpatriotic.

René Descartes: I think; therefore I am.

Tilly Bud: Pig Philosophy: I’m pink; therefore I’m ham.

Lessons designated by the Common Lectionary include: 2 Samuel 23: 1-7, Psalm 132: 1-12, Revelation 1:4b-8 and John 18: 33-37.

So, continuing from last week, if foreign wars benefit our corporate economic system; if, indeed, that system depends upon a war economy to provide jobs and profits for so many within our nation, doesn’t that raise the theological question that our lections from Revelation and John confront, which is: who or what has the power to rule?

I was struck by David Brook’s New York Times’ article (11/10/09) where he writes that among the many things we don’t control, we do control and determine which narratives or stories we’ll use to make sense out of our lives. Such stories help us to set our priorities and to judge what is important in our world, what is not so important and what is actually destructive.

The passages on this Sunday suggest that for Christians making the stories and narrative concerning the kingship and reign of Jesus Christ central to our lives are of critical importance. In fact, the terms, “king” and “reign” imply power, and all of the lections this week have to do with kingly power and authority. A king supposedly reigns and his subjects obey; they are subject to the king’s rule. So, the question of this lection from John becomes, “how powerful is Christ’s reign in us? And what power and authority does that reign have over, for example, the shaping our values and what is of critical importance in our lives. It would certainly influence, for example, who we vote for and how we respond to the disenfranchised poor, the stranger or foreigner, in other words those responses that cohere with the life and teaching of Jesus.

Of course, we may think that in voicing our political and economic convictions, making our case to our friends, we’re simply rendering to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar as citizens of a democratic republic. But in fact we’re doing something more. We’re involving ourselves in our particular piece of human history. The authors of our lections this week knew that human history is God’s chosen arena of activity. They believed that in the here and now, God has disclosed in the story and reign of Christ life’s meaning, direction and destiny. They sought to convince us that our immediate future and the future of humankind, in part, are in our hands and in the particular decisions we’ll make.

In this regard, I love the story Soren Kierkegaard tells about a man who was very frustrated with his minister. So he said to him something like this: “Pastor, you’re always talking in generalities about the betterment of humanity and the world’s situation. Why don’t you talk about the issues where we live?” True to form, the next Sunday the minister kept talking about God’s concern for the human condition in terms so lacking in specificity and so abstract that the layman gain was completely frustrated. As it happened, they were both invited to attend a meeting in the capital city of Denmark. Compared to the small town from which they’d come, it was a large and complex city, so the minister expressed concern about getting lost. He wondered aloud how they were going to get around. “Oh,” said the layman, “don’t worry, don’t concern yourself. I’ve got just the thing for you.” And with that, he reached into the back seat of his carriage and pulled out a globe of the world! He knew full well you can’t find your way through Copenhagen with anything like that. You need the specifics of a city map. I often wonder if the minister caught on.

The truth is we all need more than generalities. And yet in terms of our attempts to submit to the rule of Christ in our lives, the specifics sometimes require tough choices. They’re choices where of necessity we need to interweave or correlate both or inner lives and our common life together paying attention to the reign of Christ with all that it implies about justice and mercy. In our larger public life, that means doing what seems most appropriate to shape our political and economic and social life in such a way that all of us can have a chance at the abundant life which Jesus said he came to bring.

If we take the reign of Christ seriously, the question that constantly applies is whether in our attitudes, values and votes we’re giving help to our neighbors far and wide, as we understand it from the prophets and from Jesus as our ultimate guide.

It’s a tough assignment, but as David Brooks reminds us, we do control the narratives that make sense of our lives.

Ralph Ahlberg



Hearing Shane Claiborne speak has led me to do a lot of soul searching, and I can’t get the following quote from Soren Kierkegaard out of my mind:

The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of a living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.

Yep.

From the Word of the Day

Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.

(Mark 10: 46)    

 How should we live this Word

 Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, is a blind beggar.  He has faith in the Son of David and knows how to ask and knock with perseverance.  In recompense, he receives much more than what he asked for.  He asked Jesus to restore his sight with words that have become part of Church tradition, “Lord Jesus, have pity on me!” 

 Hearing his cry, Jesus stops and calls him over.  He cannot ignore the plea of one who invokes His name.  “Go your way.  Your faith has saved you.”  The sight of Bartimaeus is immediately restored and he follows Jesus along the road.  We have much to learn from Bartimaeus!  We are all spiritually sightless, blinded by so many false lights.  But there is always the possibility of seeing again, of entering more deeply into the mystery of God and that of our human reality.

 Through his experience, Bartimaeus teaches us to ask incessantly, ‘Lord Jesus, have pity on me’.  By its very nature, this prayer transforms our being in Christ because it opens the soul’s eyes to the truth of ourselves and to the Truth of God (Cf. Stories of a Russian Pilgrim).  We too, like Bartimaeus, can have a new vision to see persons and events in their rapport with the after life.  This gives meaning to our entire being and acting.  Thus we can walk with Jesus along the road of our life.

 Today as I pause for silent contemplation, I will reflect on the dialogue between Bartimaeus and Jesus and apply it to myself.  I will pray with insistence:

 Lord Jesus, have pity on me!  Grant that I may see my weakness so that I may experience with St. Paul that ‘Your grace is sufficient for me’.  Help me to pray this always.

 The voice of Sorèn Kierkegaard        

 If I rise at dawn and immediately raise my prayer to You, You precede me; You have already loved me first.  It is always this way.  You do not only love us once, but every day on the roads of our life.

New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority [MTA] is experimenting with a literature program where quotes are delivered by announcement to subway and bus passengers. This is to follow their original, pilot program of displaying poetry placards – successful enough to be copied by other metropolitan transportation services in North America – and complement their public art. What makes this program unique is that the MTA is eschewing traditional, inspirational axioms and reaching for more, well, unusual material. Here is one example of a recent actual Kafkaesque announcement on the New York City subway that incorporated an actual quote from the actual Franz Kafka, from his novel, The Metamorphosis:

“MOVE CAUTIOUSLY THROUGH THE TRAIN AT ALL TIMES.

REMEMBER THAT AS GREGOR SAMSA AWOKE ONE MORNING FROM UNEASY DREAMS

HE FOUND HIMSELF TRANSFORMED IN HIS BED INTO A GIANT INSECT.

THANK YOU AND ENJOY YOUR DAY.”

Now, Icarus Landing is happy to provide a lovely collection of similarly interesting, uncommon, curious, even weird little literary apothegmatic gems for the MTA [and any other public transportation authorities worldwide interested in duplicating this program]…

SIGMUND FREUD ON THE BUS

MTA bus passengers will be surprised and befuddled when, at 7:45 A.M. soon, the drivers all make this same announcement:

“PLEASE MOVE TO THE REAR OF THE BUS.

RIDING IN A BUS IS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EQUIVALENT OF A LONG REPRESSED DESIRE TO

RETURN TO YOUR MOTHER’S WOMB AS SEMINAL SPERMATOZOA PROJECTED FROM A PROGENITORIAL PENIS.

THANK YOU.”

FREDERICK NIETZSCHE ON THE TRAIN

Passengers on the New York City subway may be very startled when, at 7:14 A.M. shortly, the following announcement is made to everyone:

“KEEP DOORWAYS CLEAR AT ALL TIMES.

OUT OF DAMP AND GLOOMY DAYS, OUT OF SOLITUDE, OUT OF LOVELESS WORDS DIRECTED AT US,

CONCLUSIONS GROW UP IN US LIKE FUNGUS.

THANK YOU.”

YOUSSEF AL-SAYIGH ON THE TRAIN

Passengers at all New York City subway stations will be delighted when, at 5:53 A.M. in the near future, they hear the following announcement:

“CAUTION: STAY BACK OF THE YELLOW LINE AS TRAINS APPROACH.

YOU’LL BE SAD TO DEPART THIS STATION AND YOU WON’T BE SAD TO DEPART.

YOU’LL FIND OUT WHY SOON, OR YOU MAY NEVER FIND OUT.

THANK YOU.”

THE MTA ON THE MTA

People at Penn Station waiting for trains at 8:08 A.M. one morning will be both surprised and thoroughly confounded by this announcement:

“ATTENTION:

THE NEXT TRAIN WILL ARRIVE AT 6:00 A.M. REGARDLESS OF WHAT TIME IT IS.”

SOREN KIERKEGAARD ON THE TRAIN

Passengers waiting on all New York City subway station platforms will be utterly dumbfounded by the following announcement when it is made one day at 10:12 A.M.:

“WARNING: STAY CLEAR OF THE TRACKS AT ALL TIMES.

FEAR IS ABSOLUTE. FEAR IS NECESSARY. WITHOUT FEAR WE WOULD ALL BE WALKING AROUND HALF SCARED TO DEATH.

THANK YOU.”

SAMPLE MTA WARNING SIGN, TO BE INSTALLED AT KEW GARDENS STATION:

CAUTIONARY INSTRUCTION: DO NOT PUT YOUR FOOT IN YOUR MOUTH ON SUBWAY TRAINS. INJURY MAY RESULT.

CHINESE PROVERB ON THE BUS

Passengers on all Manhattan bound buses are going to be stupefied to hear, at 2:30 P.M. on a Tuesday, the following instruction announced:

“ATTENTION ALL BUS PASSENGERS:

BE SURE TO FIGHT A WOLF WITH A FLEX STALK.

PLEASE EXIT AT REAR.”

MAHATMA GHANDI ON THE TRAIN

MTA subway passengers are going to be drummed into near zombification when, from 6:00 A.M. sharp to noon each day, the following will be loudly intoned every five minutes:

“MONOTONY IS THE LAW OF NATURE. LOOK AT THE MONOTONOUS MANNER IN WHICH THE SUN RISES.

THE MONOTONY OF NECESSARY TRANSPORTATION IS NECESSARILY MONOTONOUS.”

THE MTA ON BUS PASSENGER MANAGEMENT

Passengers on all New York City buses will be shocked and flummoxed when, at 3:43 P.M. every Thursday, they simultaneously hear the following announcement:

“PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE OF YOUR FELLOW PASSENGERS.

MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE BUS. PAIR UP IN GROUPS OF THREE AND LINE UP IN SMALL CIRCLES OF TWO.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.”

CONFUCIUS AT THE BUS STOP

Waiting passengers at the Canal Street bus stop will be perplexed by the following posted quotation:

MAN WHO STAND ON HILL WITH MOUTH OPEN WILL WAIT LONG TIME FOR PEKING DUCK TO DROP IN

FOR PEKING DUCK TAKE 24 HOURS PREPARE TIME WHEN CALL ORDERED AHEAD OF THEN.

SIGN TO BE ERECTED AT THE GRAND CENTRAL STATION MAP DISPLAY:

STUDY ROUTE MAPS THOROUGHLY TO LEARN WHERE YOU ARE GOING IF YOU WISH TO GET THERE AND NOT SOMEWHERE ELSE.

IF UNSURE ABOUT ASKING, DON’T ASK.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ON THE SUBWAY

Passengers on the New York City subway will surely be stunned into physical paralysis when, at 1:56 P.M. on the third week of each month, they hear the following announcement:

“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS:

REMEMBER NOT ONLY TO SAY THE RIGHT THING IN THE RIGHT PLACE BUT FAR MORE DIFFICULT STILL TO LEAVE UNSAID THE WRONG THING AT THE TEMPTING MOMENT.

TWO WRONG THINGS SAID DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT THING HEARD ANYMORE THAN TWO RIGHT THINGS HEARD LEAD TO A WRONG THING SAID.

TWO WRONG THINGS AND ONE RIGHT THING IMPLIED DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT OR WRONG THING INFERRED AND

TWO RIGHT THINGS AND A WRONG THING PRESUMED DO NOT MAKE A WRONG THING OR RIGHT THING DEDUCED.

NOW ASK YOURSELVES THIS: ARE YOU GOING THE RIGHT WAY OR THE WRONG WAY? OR BOTH?

REMEMBER THAT IF UNSURE ABOUT ASKING, DON’T ASK.

THANK YOU.”

ANONYMOUS FATALIST ON THE TRAIN

During all unexpected delays, passengers on all trains will be maddened by the following announcement to be made at 20-second intervals during the length of the delay:

“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS:

GOD DIDN’T PROMISE DAYS WITHOUT PAIN, LAUGHTER WITHOUT SORROW, SUN WITHOUT RAIN,

FLOWERS WITHOUT WEEDS, OR ON TIMES WITHOUT DELAYS.

NOW DID HE?

WE NEEDN’T APOLOGIZE FOR THIS DELAY AS IT IS CLEARLY AN ACT OF COMBATIBILIST PREDESTINATION.

THANK YOU AND ENJOY YOUR DAY.”

CHINESE PROVERB ON THE TRAIN

Passengers on the MTA will certainly be terrified to hear, at 11:07 A.M. presently, the following pronouncement:

“WARNING! DANGER!

DO NOT USE A HATCHET TO REMOVE A FLY FROM YOUR FELLOW PASSENGER’S FOREHEAD!

THANK YOU!”

SAMPLE MTA WARNING SIGN, TO BE SEEN AT THE 128th STREET STATION:

CAUTIONARY INSTRUCTION: DO NOT SHOOT YOUR MOUTH IN THE FOOT. INJURY MAY RESULT.

AFRICAN PROVERB ON THE BUS

Passengers on the Long Island City crosstown running from midnight to 6:00 A.M. may be driven insane but hopeful when the following is interjected between all street announcements:

JEFFERSON AVENUE.

HOWEVER LONG THE NIGHT THE DAWN WILL BREAK.

MAIN STREET.

HOWEVER LONG THE NIGHT THE DAWN WILL BREAK.

PARK DRIVE.

HOWEVER LONG THE NIGHT THE DAWN WILL BREAK.

[etc.]

JEAN-PAUL SARTRE ON THE SUBWAY

Passengers on all New York City northbound trains at 2:22 P.M. everyday will surrender to bewilderment when they hear this announcement:

“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS:

THIS TRAIN WILL PAUSE TEMPORARILY WHILE THE CONDUCTOR DECIDES IF HE SHOULD

BETRAY THE PROLETARIAT TO SERVE TRUTH OR BETRAY TRUTH IN THE NAME OF THE PROLETARIAT.

THANK YOU FOR WAITING.”

]]> http://ilopisara.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/aamuinen-ajatus/ Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:13:34 +0000 Ilopisara http://ilopisara.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/aamuinen-ajatus/

Vastoinkäymiset paitsi yhdistävät ihmisiä,
myös synnyttävät kaunista sisäistä ystävyyttä,
aivan kuin kylmä talvi
muodostaa ikkunaruutuihin jääkukkia,
jotka auringon lämpö haihduttaa.

-Sören Kierkegaard / Positiivarit-

“’I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more [redundantly].’” That’s not what Jesus said! So why do so many of us live like it is what He said? Redundancy is repetition of an act needlessly. Why do we do things redundantly? We like doing what we have always done. We like doing it the way we’ve always done it. It’s comfortable, predictable, and we’ve gotten pretty good at it. It doesn’t require a lot of thinking, listening, or in-depth learning. We can do it from rote memory. It is almost automatic. Familiarly brings with it a sense of control and that one of the reasons (along with fear and the risk of disappointment) that we rarely dare to venture outside our comfort zones. Let’s face it, we like what we know.

What if Jesus had really promised redundant life instead? Would it have been a compelling vision? Would anyone have seen this as a change from what they were already doing? Doing the same thing, day, after day, after day, again, again, and again; it sounds pretty repetitious, pretty repetitious, pretty repetitious, doesn’t it? Redundancy is the same thing over, and over, and over. It is the same thing. It is the same thing. It is the same thing. It is maddening. We don’t have time for this. After all, life is short. And do you want to know something else about redundancy? It sounds boring. Not only does it sound boring, but it is!

Is boredom such a bad thing? “Soren Kierkegaard went so far as to say that ‘boredom is the root of all evil’ because it means we’re refusing to be who God made us to be. If you’re bored, one thing is for sure; you’re not following in the footsteps of Christ.” Mark Batterson, from In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, p. 57 (Multnomah Publishers 2006). And can you be bored to death? I think so. It starts out feeling like you’re in a groove. Being in a groove is a good thing, right? But if you keep on keeping on in the same groove the next thing you know you’re in a rut. Continue in the rut long enough and it becomes a ditch. Stay in that ditch long enough, back and forth over the same ground and it will become your grave, long before its time for you to be in one. Only the dead need a grave, so stop digging your own.

I believe that many men today are suffering from what I call the Sisyphus Syndrome. Sisyphus Syndrome is characterized by a seemingly pointless routine which has turned life into an unending chore, lacking in reward or fulfillment. Sisyphus was a character in Greek mythology who was punished by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a steep hill, only to watch it roll down again, and repeat this, again, again, and again throughout eternity. His curse was an activity that was unending and/or repetitive, pointless, and unrewarding. Sisyphus is the epitome of the redundant life. However, while Sisyphus’ task was a curse, most men today take on their tasks as a choice.

But the promise of Jesus was that He came in order for us to live, and life more abundantly, not redundantly. The word for “abundantly” used in John 10:10 means “superabundance, excessive, overflowing, surplus, over and above, more than enough, profuse, extraordinary, above the ordinary, more than sufficient.” So, does that describe your life, or does redundancy better describe your life? If redundancy reigns, what do you do about that? How does that change? It has been said many times that one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Could change be the key? Did Sisyphus need a new strategy?

After Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter took some of the disciples fishing. There, they reverted to their pre-Jesus way of life as fisherman. It was their groove/rut/ditch/grave. But all their efforts at fishing went unrewarded with no fish being caught. No doubt, they fished the way they had always done it before. At the end of the night, they were worn out and unsuccessful. However, Jesus came along on the shore with a strange command. “’Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some (John 21:6).’” Last year, while on a mission trip to Israel, I learned from a career naval officer that to obey this command was rather risky. Boats during this time in history always had the rudder on the right side of the boat. Accordingly, you just did not throw your net on the right side because if you did the net could drift back into the rudder and become tangled. That just was not the way you were to do it. But the obedience of the disciples to fish on the right side resulted in an abundant catch – a can’t get the net back in the boat, so many the net should have broken, 153 large fish catch (John 21:6-11).

Do not miss the allusion Jesus had made earlier to the fact that He would make them fishers of men (Matthew 4:19; Luke 5:10). Also, recall the fact that this was not the only time Jesus had instructed Peter, a professional fisherman, how to have an abundant catch by doing things differently. But the first time He told him to go into deeper water (Luke 5:4-9). Again, they had to be willing to do things differently. Do not miss the abundant life because you are religiously living the redundant life.

Let the redundant life go down into the groove/rut/ditch/grave it is so good at digging. Say a few kind words over “the way we’ve always done it.” Bring some flowers to the funeral if you like. But we must say goodbye to this old friend and bury the redundant life before we can ever begin to live the abundant life. Are you willing to get out of the rut, go “outside the box,” and fish on the right side of the boat? Your future depends on it. Stop being such a Sisyphus!

Soren Kierkegaard
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”- Soren Kierkegaard

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‘Never cease loving a person, and never give up hope for him, for even the prodigal son who had fallen most low, could still be saved; the bitterest enemy and also he who was your friend could again be your friend; love that has grown cold can kindle’

- Soren Kierkegaardl