Thoughts Inspired by The Princess Bride & Dr. Hotchkiss

Pain is an interesting emotion. Are we supposed to feel it? No doubt it is programmed into us as human beings. When we are hurt, we feel pain. But are we supposed to feel it...is it "ok" to be in pain? Or is it a temporary state that only exists so that it can be overcome as quickly as possible?

"Life IS pain," replied Wesley to Princess Buttercup, "anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something." Life indeed contains pain, but I question whether it is the ingredient that life is made up of.

On the flip-side, while discussing the Romantics in class one day, Dr. Hotchkiss made this statement: "Art comes from pain, and Christians aren't supposed to feel pain." Its as if pain is like the bad guys in 'The Village' ("those who we do not speak of"). It sounds ridiculous, by saying "we do not speak" of something is actually what proves its existence. Often we pretend pain doesn't exist either for the purpose of fooling ourselves or maintaining a front, because to acknowledge pain is painful, and allows people to see that you aren't "ok." The unbeliever might respond with a cavalier "who cares?" but what must be understood is that from the Christian perspective, to admit that you are in a state of pain is tantamount to an unstable spiritual life, and the last thing we want people doing is questioning the eternal state of our souls.

Life IS pain...no. To live is Christ.

Christians aren't supposed to feel pain?...yes, but, WE DO.

To reconcile the two we must acknowledge pain, its existence as well as its presence in our own lives. But to stop there would be to despair - to be without God. We are perplexed by pain, but not in despair (2 Cor. 4:8). And we do not despair because our hope is beyond this life and is found in Christ...but I digress.

Life is not pain, life includes pain. Don't ignore it, embrace it.

http://christian-topics.info/Article/The-Christian-and-Pain/10898

unfinished business

The tagline under my blog title reads: "...is in the works..."

While initially I put that there because it literally was "in the works," I like it. I think I'm going to stick with it.

In lieu of a quote that would be pertinent to describing my blog by a person who has impacted me, I'll leave it as it is. Nothing had come to mind after a day of brainstorming, but a truism instead. Most often, the best-fitting things come effortlessly. My tagline took me about 2 seconds to think and type out, and yet its the best thing I've come up with.

This blog isn't about anything, per se. Its all just in the works, as its author is in the works. By the grace of God alone I am being grown and changing by the day. My posts will reflect this, as I've noticed that my interests almost seem to change daily as well.

The Beginning

This blog was born out of the idea that no one is original, and almost no one truly cares about what you have to say excepting that your opinion is already esteemed...sort of a Catch-22. What results from this is a generation of critics where scarce are the souls who actually dare to do anything. Criticism is easy -hold your horses, literary critics.

"I could have made a better movie..."

"Going mainstream ruined that band."

The list goes on. And while we find a certain level of comfort in giving our half-thought-through criticisms of movies, music, and presidential policy, what have we really accomplished? What have we actually created for ourselves? At the risk of sounding like Rob Bell, let me actually attempt to answer the questions I've presented. There is a place for criticism. It is vital to form an opinion on pertinent issues. We don't have the luxury of being ignorantly blissful, life is happening whether you are conscious of it or not. That being said, what if all everyone did was critique? Eventually the only things left to critique would be critiques! Who are the criticized? The do-ers. I commend them for it, and wish to do likewise. By doing, something is created. Something original to yourself, albeit not something inherently original, we are not the Creator. BUT we have been endowed with creativity - all of us have. Use it.

Now for some more personal context. I started a blog about 3 years ago now. It was a personal blog in which I shared my thoughts on certain ideas. Putting yourself "out there" means you are now vulnerable. Although I was typing out my thoughts, I didn't share them. At the risk of feeling boastful about myself, and battling with the feelings I described in my first paragraph (the "no one cares about my thoughts anyway" mentality), I didn't share my blog with anyone, and I think I made something like 5 posts. More of a diary than a self-publishing platform. Last year I wanted to write again. I pulled up my blogger account and changed my first blog entirely. New name, new format, and a new theme. This time around I played the critic. I blogged about new recipes, movies I had watched, and even art. I still enjoy it, in fact I kept the blog, its good for what it is. But none of the recipes were mine. And I certainly didn't write any screenplays or paint anything.

There is a quote that caught my eye. I was in the passenger seat of my friend's car in snowy Chicago. Its from Eleanor Roosevelt: "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." Now I don't know if I'll ever have a "great mind," nor am I sure that that should be one of my goals, but there is something to be said for this. Events and people can function on their own - they need no help existing. But ideas...ideas don't happen on their own. The nature of ideas is that they are thought up. They are the content of cognition. So what I am going to push myself to do is counter-cultural in a sense. Lets make more doers. To criticize is comfort, to create is to be vulnerable...but you have still DONE something! Let that outweigh the fear of criticism.