Seems I’ve imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God’s Holy wisdom is foolish to men
He must have seemed out of His mind
For even His family said He was mad
And the priests said a demon’s to blame
But God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
And so we follow God’s own fool
For only the foolish can tell-
Believe the unbelievable
And come be a fool as well
So come lose your life for a carpenter’s son
For a madman who died for a dream
And you’ll have the faith His first followers had
And you’ll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Have the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see
When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
And so we follow God’s own fool
For only the foolish can tell-
Believe the unbelievable
And come be a fool as well
So we follow God’s own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable,
And come be a fool as well
This is from Anne Snyder’s talk at the conference. I think it’s a good explanation of why awkward people like me show up in the forum. It’s not that we haven’t “been doing our homework,” but that we have been doing different homework for a long time. That different homework answers great questions, but not all the questions we need answered now as completely as we need them answered.
Anne Snyder, studying philosophy, describing a conversation with her sister in premed and mathematics:
Sister: [Y]ou humanities majors are such fuzzies! How do you even get graded? There is no objectivity in your world!..
Anne: I had to admit that she was right at least some immediate obvious level. I sort of retorted back that at least we fuzzies know how to have a good laugh about unanswerable questions of why and what for. And we may have fewer hang-ups about channeling that unknowing through less frontal lobe mysteries like music and friendship and dry wit, just going further up and further in.
We all do what we can.
This was just from her preface. I think overall you would enjoy her talk. Here is my (mediocre and somewhat edited) transcript of her stated purpose for her talk:
About 12:00 mark
I want to talk to you all today about something that I think is a bit counter to the scientific ethos, at least as I understand it. I do this not to be contrarian for its own sake but rather to try to wrestle with you with the always confounding wisdom of Christian thought as it invites us to take view of our nature as humans. … [We are] at once positioning to dignify that nature with supreme honor and love,
and to be reminded always that at the end of the day we are creatures.
I want to talk about limits – how understanding [the concept of] finitude … as an emphasis, as a fundamental feature of our human existence might counterintuitively be precisely the key we need in our era to recalibrate so much that has gone off the rails – so much that is dividing us.
Might a more intentional focus on limits in the sciences, in medicine, in our personal habits and our very own conceptions of self be a gift rather an annoyance or cause for depression?
Wow. I’m so impressed. Now I’m really looking forward to checking it out. If you had to transcribe this yourself [thank you], I guess that means no transcript is available as they are for the pod casts. Oh well I’ll just play it on my phone while I weed.
You’re welcome.
This one I don’t think is a podcast. I transcribed the bits I posted here from the conference video. Thank goodness you can play videos in youtube at half speed.
Some of the videos (like the one on disabilities) had the CC transcript available, which gives you something to work with.
I don’t know why Anne’s didn’t have the CC transcript.
BTW, I suspect you would like Her husband’s talk as well, and their chat with Collins afterward. More lovely people to invite to our picnic.
I’m so bad with technology. I see on the Whova app a link for playing it on a larger screen but no way to do so on my phone. Do you happen to know whether it is even possible on a phone? (My laptop really needs to be replaced.)
Mark, I don’t know. I just got home from the grocery store. i’ll check around, and see if there’s a phone app. My phone and ipad are so full of other things, so the app was not an option. I used my daughter’s chromebook, so i can watch/listen upstairs, rather than on my desktop down in my office.
Sorry about your laptop. It’s a pain. I just replaced my desktop, and the whole software set-up process is so different and convoluted now, it’s a pain.
Not exactly a quote, but I don’t know where else I would put this.
I saw “The Atomic Cafe” at least 3 times in classes in high school. I remember specifically my that Mr. McLaughlin showed it in either Government or U.S. History, and Mr. Williams showed it my senior year (1985), when we studied fission in Physics. “The Atomic Cafe” was my conscious introduction to propaganda and counter-propaganda. It provided me with the most powerful example of how primary sources become secondary sources, and vice-versa, how we use the same information to achieve opposing goals. It is one of a multitude of influences on my thinking I have been gathering for 55 years. It is, unfortunately, timely again. I loathe it and love it all at the same time.
“Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I’ve come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.”
― Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
Finally sitting down with “Art and Faith.” Since I use an ereader for most of my reading, it’s really tricky not to get ink smeared all over the screen, trying to underline stuff like this one:
Art and Faith
Makoto Fujimura
p. 26
Could it be that what is deemed marginal, what is “useless” in our terms, is most essential for God and is the bedrock, the essence, of our culture?
Could it be that our affinity for the utilitarian pragmatism of the Industrial Revolution created a blind spot in culture that not only overlooks great art, but if purity of expression is comprised could also lead us to reject the essence of the gospel?
Could it be, if I may extend this thought to the extreme, that we have missed the essence of the gospel message by focusing merely on an industrial, commoditized way to convey the information of the gospel, or even to “sell” the Good News in the most efficient manner prescribed by our entrepreneurial or industrial mindset?
Last night I watched The Zookeeper’s Wife and found what seems to be an excellent example of a member or a community being allowed to be who she is, and excelling. Punia seems a bit strange among her peers, because she loves and cares for animals, lives at her family-run zoo, and works with her husband. After determinedly saving an animal (the peers looking on, having been schooled by Punia’s example), her husband tells her,
“ You are a wonder, Punia. You are Eve in her garden.”
She had used her experience, interests, and who she had grown into to give life and vitality to her community. When the opportunity arose to protect, nurture, and risk everything for hundreds of Jews, she did.
I haven’t read the book, so this is my take on the movie. I think it illustrates @Kendel ‘s Fujimura quote, as well as linking to what creation was meant to be, and how the Body of Christ is meant to be a community of interdependent stewards of the new creation.
. So I sure do appreciate your mind reading skills.
