Saturday, October 23, 2004
Homily
Well, it turns out the definition for this word "a lecture or discourse on or of a moral theme" wasn't quite what I imagined. Striving for the post heading (the convention shall be a single word), my definition -- the use of simple story through metaphor to illuminate a moral lesson -- was a bit astray from that claimed by the Church -- "a commentary... the aim being to explain the literal, and evolve the spiritual, meaning of the Sacred Text..." (link).
Still, it is adequate enough for this musing. A question as to why humanity (for I speak for the trees) tends to set aside the simple explanation for the more grandiose, complicated version of the why and wherefore. Hell, Ockham's Razor would seem to point to us that when choosing between two similar theories, choose the simpler one (love that Wikipedia). And yet, it would seem that with simplicity comes a great unease that, with all the brain power evolution has bestowed upon us, an answer could be arrived at with so little strife. That comprehension can take little effort.
Most people (since I speak for the trees) spend a lifetime seeking meaning and purpose for existence. Searching for that one immense thing that they were put down here to accomplish, and I am in this club. But what if we are here simply to exist, interact and enrich? And be good to each other.
And that's where a show like Joan of Arcadia can struggle...against the irony of the times. Granted, shows like Seventh Heaven and Touched by an Angel can make the path difficult: platitudes fed with sugary sweet coatings that strike a little discordant. But Joan of Arcadia is messy, with wrong decisions and uneasy answers to commonplace issues and experiences.
Forget that there is a television show at the heart of this ponder -- that is just my muse of choice today -- and remember that sometimes the answer is simple, sometimes it feels easy. Because sometimes the simplest answer is the most difficult to implement because it is so obvious.
Just be nice to people and think before you act/speak. I try to.
Still, it is adequate enough for this musing. A question as to why humanity (for I speak for the trees) tends to set aside the simple explanation for the more grandiose, complicated version of the why and wherefore. Hell, Ockham's Razor would seem to point to us that when choosing between two similar theories, choose the simpler one (love that Wikipedia). And yet, it would seem that with simplicity comes a great unease that, with all the brain power evolution has bestowed upon us, an answer could be arrived at with so little strife. That comprehension can take little effort.
Most people (since I speak for the trees) spend a lifetime seeking meaning and purpose for existence. Searching for that one immense thing that they were put down here to accomplish, and I am in this club. But what if we are here simply to exist, interact and enrich? And be good to each other.
And that's where a show like Joan of Arcadia can struggle...against the irony of the times. Granted, shows like Seventh Heaven and Touched by an Angel can make the path difficult: platitudes fed with sugary sweet coatings that strike a little discordant. But Joan of Arcadia is messy, with wrong decisions and uneasy answers to commonplace issues and experiences.
Forget that there is a television show at the heart of this ponder -- that is just my muse of choice today -- and remember that sometimes the answer is simple, sometimes it feels easy. Because sometimes the simplest answer is the most difficult to implement because it is so obvious.
Just be nice to people and think before you act/speak. I try to.
# posted by The Muser @ 11:06 PM 
