Ahhhh, my mind is mush. I don't know how David A. Lauer can write a 291-page text on design. I can't even read ten pages without wanting to break something. There is seriously an entire page about the Greyhound logo, and how it was redesigned because the original logo was too fat and Loewy wanted to convey more speed. AHHHHH.
Okay, to change the topic entirely, there is an intellectual struggle I face with reading my Bible. Here we go.
Recently I have been exploring different translations/paraphrases/etc, trying to find the meanings behind verses that I struggle with or don't understand. I find if I read something several times in several different translations I get a better understanding of the message than if I just read it in NIV (what I'm used to) and move on. I love to read (clarification: I'm not talking about the Bible there, I have crappy Bible-studying disciplines). I mean, I love to read in general; I love literature. I especially love poetic language and descriptive passages. What bothers me about the Bible is, in a lot of places I feel there should be better description of main events, the Bible leaves things pretty blank.
I have been thinking about this/annoyed by this for a while now, but I just had a conversation with my dad about Pastor Dave's preaching style and how he tends to extrapolate (I hope I spelled that right; I am too lazy to check) on passages from time to time. This has never bothered me personally because as a well-educated critical thinker I can sift through my knowledge of God/Biblical history/theology/whatever and weed out things that don't make sense or seem somehow wrong to me. At the best it helps me to engage and remember stories and lessons I have never paid attention to before, at the worst it sends me back to the scriptures to find an answer of my own. That's one of the things I like about hearing other peoples' interpretations of Scripture.
My dad was commenting on someone else we both know who has "such a respect for the Bible" that he would "end where the Scripture ends." AKA, he would not extrapolate. EVER, for any reason.
But this just flat out bugs me. Because some of the stories in the Bible are completely amazing, and the way they are written makes them sound boring as hell, and if preached to me verbatim I'd be like... sweet... so an entire nation wandered for 40 years in a desert... 5,000 people were converted... Jesus wept... A man was stoned to death, and then rasied from the dead... Jesus was beaten and crucified. Hmm. Nice. Okay, now on with my day.
In order for me to process those events, it takes extrapolation. It takes an intense amount of outside study. And maybe that is just for me, maybe other people get it in the one-liners. But uhhh, the description of the beatings and crucifixion as written VERBATIM in the bible mean NOTHING to me. It wasn't until I studied those in a cultural context that I actually understood the weight of those few sentences where the Bible pretty much just says, Jesus was crucified.
Anyway. What I don't understand about this, and what bothers me so much, is WHY the Bible has to be so vague and simplistic on such important matters. It seems like the most important things, the miraculous works of God, are the things that are stated like everyday events. And that bothers me so much.
So. for the time being, I am continuing my tradition of reading the Bible with a history textbook basically on hand to answer my cultural questions.
I have many other spiritual struggles I could be going into right now, but I will save those for another day. I am sharing my testimony at the KPC tomorrow, and it makes me nervous. I feel so much in the middle on so much of what I believe. I am young, I am still seeking the truth, and I am not satisfied with the place God occupies in my life right now. I refuse to speak with authority on relational matters as if I have any concrete understanding of them, because I don't feel that I do. I can't remember a time in my recent past (the last two or three years) that I have been walking confidently with the Lord. I have questions that still need working out, and that is a process. A journey, if you will. I am still in the middle of it, which is probably what I'll say to the kids tomorrow at church, and hopefully that will encourage them, because I don't want to be misleading about my faith in God.
hahaha so NOW I'm just procrastinating on my design/math homework. but I got some studying to do tonight... so this needs to end before I ramble for like 20 more minutes (that's how long it took me to type this)...
audioangel2 (2:27:16 PM): can i get the math assignment from you?
Viper57728 (2:27:22 PM): yeah
Viper57728 (2:27:38 PM): page 90-95 as many problems as you feel you need to do
Viper57728 (2:27:49 PM): I'm probably going to do... half a page... lmao
audioangel2 (2:28:00 PM): as many problems as i feel?
audioangel2 (2:28:07 PM): what the...?
Viper57728 (2:28:20 PM): yeah
Viper57728 (2:28:24 PM): our teacher is wack
audioangel2 (2:28:36 PM): yeah well. welcome to art school i guess
P.S.---(i don't FEEL like doing anything).
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3 comments:
good post. thanks for writing it. good luck with reconciliation of bible and life, and i dont mean that in a negative way, i mean it sincerely since so many people have a difficult time with it. i agree that any historical text is worthless unless read from a certain perspective (usually the one of the person who wrote it). call me a postmodernist in that sense.
ps. is your math teacher shawn cardwell? he isnt whack he is phat.
Don't think I know you, but nice post.
I like that the Bible is vague. I do the same thing and read lots of translations and do lots of studying, which IS a lot of work. But I have found that God shows me different things at different times through different scriptures as I have had different needs and different struggles in different issues.
I think that happens BECAUSE the Bible is vague. It's part of what makes the Bible alive. If it were all spelled out in detail and all the conclusions were drawn for me, it might be less likely to speak to me in unique ways at unique times.
It's like music or poetry or art. It speaks in many ways, and it defies being figured out. It can be so much more than just a historical document. There is power in vagueness.
The tragedy is that all ORGANIZED religions are a cancer that stick to and grow on/at the expense of the truly spiritual nature of religion. Religious faith and belief makes us better people, priests/mullahs/rabbis/political religion make us ready to kill others.
So, believe in God, just don't believe in everything the guys in robes tell you. God speaks to us all, in our hearts, that is our consciences. If we have specific questions on something we do not understand, we should go to a relgiious SCHOLAR, more likely in a University not a church or mosque or temple.
Read more about religion and politics being a dangerous mix at my blog at http://imran.com
Thanks.
Imran
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