Goodness in the Modern World

   There are many people who are constantly at odds with the world in which we live. I happen to be one of those people. Another group of those people is Jehovah (or Elohim Adonai) Witnesses. We share little in common. Recently I have been in contact with a number of the before mentioned Witnesses and one thing in particular has struck me about them. They seem to see nothing good in the world, which has left me seeing anew all the good that there are.

   Disasters in and of themselves are not good, but with each disaster that befalls our world we become witness to an amazing outpouring of charity. Not, Robin Hooded, forced redistribution charity, but real and authentic concern for the well being of those affected. Food, medical supplies, and rebuilding materials are shipped to the needy area from those who choose to help them. And an amazing amount of people choose to help them.

   Architecture seems to have taken a turn for the worse. The Denver art Museum looks like a freeze of the explosion of the USS Enterprise. But stop and turn a contemplative eye upon it. While the external beauty may be lacking, the rules of nature were still followed. The internal structure is sound. Whatever beams and pieces were used to bear weight and to hold the walls in obtuse and acute angles to ground, were obviously calculated correctly. The engineering and construction skills necessary to make a building like that work are thrilling to consider.

   Communication has been accused of becoming to fast and impersonal. Yet, do to the miracle of the internet and Skype, a very good friend of mine, Fr. Charles Joseph Dygert, was able to allow his Grandparents to view his first  Mass as it happened even though they were unable to attend. I am able to stay in close conversation with my wife through text messaging and phone calls. And best of all I am able to inspire all of you with my brilliant thoughts.

   People are still seeking to be made known to each other in a personal way. Many people fail or try the wrong methods but we still seek and attempt to be known by the other. Some have never experienced an authentic relationship, but they still desire it. It is written in our very being and it is very good.

Of Concrete and Grass

I have been fascinated of late with a bizarre institution of the modern culture (it may go back quite a while but I have no desire to investigate how far). It is the institution of concrete walking paths through grassy fields. This is probably the most universal movement in our culture and so possibly the foundation of the rest of the culture. It strikes me for this reason. I like concrete for foundations, roads, and other utilitarian things (although even occasionally in jewelry), and I like walking on grass. If I were allowed to create my own version I would walk on grass and look at other plants whose design and life are much more dynamic than grass. The concrete would be under my house and between it's bricks. This I think would be a positive improvement for several reasons.

First, concrete is very hard, I have had the opportunity of sleeping on concrete on occasion and I have decided that it is the hardest substance I have every slept on. In relation to this, there are an enormous amount of advertisements which offer a relief to back pain. I would advertise my grass paths as another relief to back pain.

The other plants which I would grow in place of the vast expanse of grass would be far more clear in their purpose than grass is. With grass it is necessary to post little signs which read "please keep off the grass". If only the walkways of grass were lined with roses and Iris and a myriad of different bushes those signs would no longer be necessary. There are few people aside from those striving to master their purity who prefer walking through the rose bush to the grass walkway.

Finally, the reduction of concrete would, if I understand at least one of the reasons city streets get so much hotter then fields, reduce fatigue of those who walked, simply be being a few degrees cooler.

I am sure that many reasons can be given against my grass walkways, primarily mud, worn out grass, and an inordinate amount of places for small children to hide (this is worse to some than small children walking on grass). Those, I think, could be dealt with easily for the benefit of all.

Manalive

“Man found alive with two legs” is a telegram sent from one Innocent Smith to an old college friend Arthur Inglewood in G.K. Chesterton’s fiction piece titled Manalive. Innocent Smith is a sane man who has discovered that the key to keeping existence new and exciting is to depart from all that he loves for some period of time inorder to return to it anew. The telegram itself is never specifically explained but might have been the result of having tied up his legs, and after hobbling about on his knees for a day and he is exhilarated at having rediscovered the ability to walk and run and kick once again.

This idea is prevalent in much of Chesterton’s writing from one of his earliest works, Orthodoxy when he speaks of the youthfulness of God, who, like a child playing a game cries, “do it again”, but to the sun to rise again and for the grass to grow again. He creates daisies like a child will draw flower after flower, simple because he enjoys creating them. It is by growing old in sin that we grow tired of these things.

Nearly a year ago I asked a man I was working with at the time if he were going to have any fun that weekend. He replied something along the lines of, with a wife and child he was no longer able to do fun things.  At the time I laughed it off with him, but later as I considered those words I was saddened by them. That is indeed a popular sentiment at least in the current media; television sitcoms especially hold those tenants.

I didn’t get married to no longer have fun. I got married because I wanted someone to share all the fun with (I know there is suffering in marriage, I am not addressing that right now). The tale of Manalive offers something greater. It claims that you can have all the fun. Innocent Smith will break into his own house and steal his own wine. He will elope with his wife, a thousand times and a thousand different ways. He does this because he remains in love with her enough to pursue her time and time again, and pursues her time and time again, in order to remain in love with her. In this way he can do things that look from an outward observer to be the sins of adultery and stealing, but these actions, because it is with his wife and his house, are perfectly innocent.

Deo Gratias