Numb
Kaite e-mailed the other day with the following to say. I asked if I could share it publically.
"I went into chapters, and after reading numerous titles, I just got overwhelmed and discouraged. It's as if every book suggests that it has the answer, some morsel of truth to grasp onto, but in reality it's just as empty as the last. We are so consumed by our consumption. The entire store is tribute to the fact that we have no clue about reality, we remove ourselves from the real state of the world, and seek to find wholeness in superficiality of things. We keep making stuff, but in the end it'll all be gone. And in the process we throw away those bits of truth that are part of the whole, maybe incomplete, but at least they're something. People, relationships, connection, joy in the little stuff, and the fullness of life. That's what we're missing, that fullness. I browsed through titles like, "decorating to end depression" and "the anti-aging guide to eradicating wrinkles, laugh lines, that tummy, and attaining complete perfection through cosmetic surgery from head to toe). Aside from being a dreadful title, (can we say run-on anybody?) it just hit me all the bullshit that is out there. There's this ridiculous standard set up, attaining perfection is our god, it's in our attempts to IKEA ize our living rooms, the listening to of Martha Stewart for the perfect Christmas decorations, and our constant upgrades of technology, the gyms we join, the self-help books we read, and the never ending spending spree that is our lives.
"We're numb, and we don't even know it."
"I went into chapters, and after reading numerous titles, I just got overwhelmed and discouraged. It's as if every book suggests that it has the answer, some morsel of truth to grasp onto, but in reality it's just as empty as the last. We are so consumed by our consumption. The entire store is tribute to the fact that we have no clue about reality, we remove ourselves from the real state of the world, and seek to find wholeness in superficiality of things. We keep making stuff, but in the end it'll all be gone. And in the process we throw away those bits of truth that are part of the whole, maybe incomplete, but at least they're something. People, relationships, connection, joy in the little stuff, and the fullness of life. That's what we're missing, that fullness. I browsed through titles like, "decorating to end depression" and "the anti-aging guide to eradicating wrinkles, laugh lines, that tummy, and attaining complete perfection through cosmetic surgery from head to toe). Aside from being a dreadful title, (can we say run-on anybody?) it just hit me all the bullshit that is out there. There's this ridiculous standard set up, attaining perfection is our god, it's in our attempts to IKEA ize our living rooms, the listening to of Martha Stewart for the perfect Christmas decorations, and our constant upgrades of technology, the gyms we join, the self-help books we read, and the never ending spending spree that is our lives.
"We're numb, and we don't even know it."
posted by Barron C @ 8:22 p.m.
2 Comments:
At 11:18 a.m. ,
Paul Lawton said...
hey barron is katie that girl i met at living hope and then she came to church in the caf?
she's got a point there,
and i would say even a lot of christian books are hooey. inasmuch as so many of them want to offer steps to be closer to god, when we already know how to do that! read the bible! (i'm yelling at myself here just as much as others. and read with an open heart, ready to be convicted.
"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
no book can say that!
At 5:45 p.m. ,
Anonymous said...
'Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.' - CS Lewis
I personally enjoy this quote by him. It rings true for me. especially the last line. but as always, it pales in comparison to the words found in His book.
Hansen
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